Maps
No, we are not discussing the hit song by the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. Today we’re all about the digital maps, the ones we plug an address into on our phones so we can take all brain power out of driving anywhere.
Sometimes people will tell you that their GPS took them to the wrong location instead of to your office. This is because the pin is wrong, and the Maps directions take you to the pin instead of to the correct address.This issue arises with Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, Bing Places, and more. Just depends what GPS the person is using on their phone! I like Apple Maps and my husband likes Google Maps, so we use Apple Maps. My husband is in the majority - 72% of people use Google Maps as their preferred navigation.
Google Maps - this is directly tied to your Google Business Listing. The second you list your business address, they drop a pin on Google Maps. Don’t worry, you can move this pin if Google gets it wrong! Easy fix.
Apple Maps - my good old friend. Apple Maps is important because it’s a huge part of the search ecosystem. As of 2023, businesses can manage how they appear on Apple Maps via Apple Business Connect. This is important!!!! Apple Car Play is now standard on over 80% of new vehicles.
Waze - this is Google’s cute little stepchild. They own it, but while Google pulls data from partner sources, Waze data is strictly pulled from other users in real-time. Pros and cons to both but I’m not here to sway you one way or the other. I’m Team Apple Maps anyways. Your business listing on Waze is important to overall SEO!
Bing Places - the black sheep of the Maps family. Does anyone use this on purpose? The first article that pulls up when you search “bing places and seo” is titled - Bing Places, Is It Worth It? Lol!! Either way - we think it is. Better to have all your map listings optimized!
It’s important to maintain accurate and consistent location info across the various apps, search engines and social platforms your customers use. If you were to for example relocate your office, it can be hard to get it updated across the board in real time. You don’t want Apple Maps showing the old address and Waze showing the new one (embarrassing). That’s why we partner with these platforms to seamlessly sync your data all at once, sometimes in as fast as just a few seconds.
Even if your geodata is already flawless across the web (congrats by the way, we’re impressed) our favorite GPS apps have more to offer than just an address. We make sure they’re all looking right and tight with photos, captions, keywords, and anything else they make available. We’re scanning to identify discrepancies, duplicates, and unauthorized changes. Basically we’re making sure your customers and potential customers have the most accurate and up-to-date information on your location, so getting to your agency is a breeze.