Scoring points as a Google Local Guide
- The easiest way to earn points is to rate places. This is the simple star rating that you select and submit.
- If you want to put a bit more effort into it, you can leave a written review. Tell people about the place you’ve visited with a much or as little detail as you like. Be descriptive and share what’s good or bad, what does it look like and what is the vibe like. Anything that you think might be useful to future visitors. Reviews also help business owners refine their service with the feedback they receive. If you’re going to be critical, make sure your concerns are legitimate and written in a reasonable manner if possible, let’s all try to be kind people!
- A higher earner in Local Guide points is the photograph. Upload as many as you like, they help people get a feel of what the place looks like and what they might experience. Let’s face it, if you go somewhere with your phone you’re probably taking pics while you’re there so share!
- You can also add a venue or place. Some businesses don’t have a Google My Business page setup or claimed so you can help them out and put them on the map. There’s also something very satisfying about being the first to add a place to Maps.
- Along the same lines as this is editing existing information that’s out of date or no longer relevant. So if you look up a business and it says it’s open today and you get there are it’s actually closed, that sucks for everyone involved. In this case, you can suggest an edit for opening times, the category of the establishment or contact details for example.
- As you get a bit higher up the levels, you will be asked questions about places you’ve visited and reviewed. These questions earn you points and are useful for future visitors. A few good examples of this might be something like does a restaurant serve only vegetarian food or is a place suitable for children.
- And you can check facts about businesses. Like is that business still located at that address? If it’s not, you can say it’s permanently closed. By the same token, you can say that a business isn’t permanently closed even if some unscrupulous competitor says it is!
Google Local Guide points are your stepping stone up the levels, from one (the starting level from zero points) to level ten (100,000 points +). When you get to Level 4, you get a neat little badge that accompanies your reviews.
For more on Google Local Guides, check out our blog on Becoming A Google Local Guide.