Why do people ask that a point on Google Maps is not visible?
When asking this question on the product expert forum, card users have three different cases in mind:
- The first ones have difficulty confirming the points on Google Maps.
- Others do not understand why, looking directly at the map, their company is not visible.
- The third case is that they cannot find their company on the map by keyword or query requested.
I am not sure if my business is verified, registered and present on Google Maps.
During the process of registering on the map, you need to carefully study the rules for publishing on Google Maps, to comply with them and successfully publish your business.
You can also check the status of your company. There are the following statuses:
- Verified: Your business is verified and published on Google Maps. You can find this by searching for “your business name + address.”
- Processing: Your business is being reviewed for compliance and is being prepared for publication. If the status is blocked for more than three days, you should contact support to resolve the situation.
- Blocked: Your business has violated the rules for publishing on the map and is currently unavailable.
- Duplicate: The algorithm believes that your business already has a location on Google Maps. You can appeal this status through support or request to merge your points if you have the ability to manage both.
- Verification Requested: Your business has not been verified by Google. You can do this using one of the suggested methods.
I zoom in on Google Maps and I can’t see my company location.
Google’s algorithms work in such a way that only a few points are visible at a given scale at a time. In most cases, these are the most visited places in the city, city attractions, large shopping malls, popular bars or restaurants. The system also shows the most visited places or those it deems important, specifically for you, if you have given permission to collect such data.
If you zoom the map to the desired location, the same rule applies, but only for that specific location. You see the businesses that the system has selected for you. In the second screen you can see that the businesses displayed on the map are different from those listed in the business directory at this address.
However, this does not mean that all businesses at that address are visible. This is because a business on Google Maps must be developed and its visibility does not only depend on user actions, such as posting reviews or photos, but also on the actions of the business itself. Look at the following screenshot, where we clicked the “Show all” button at the bottom of the list.
So we have seen that there are actually 16 businesses at this address. This means that four businesses deserve to be present at the address with the greatest approximation, and none of them are developed enough to appear on the general panorama map of the city.
You can read the instructions on how to increase the visibility of your business in local search results.
Error:
However, it is worth remembering that when collecting data on Google Maps, an error occurs that depends on the accuracy of the GPS transmitter of the user’s device. For example, people who go to a large shopping center with many businesses will be recorded as visitors to one of the 100 square meter points, provided that these people have not interacted with a specific business in that shopping center. On Google Maps, for example, they may be displayed as visitors to the same business, even if they were not actually there.
Recommendations:
In reality, finding a solution to this problem for your business and for you is a waste of time, because less than a hundredth percent of users search for nearby businesses using a simple map view.
In 99% of cases, people search for a business by name if they already know it, by category (clothing store) or by keyword (buy clothes in Kiev), etc. So let’s move on to the third question without any problems.
I can’t find my business by keyword or category.
Google Maps’ search algorithm analyzes the data you provide on your business profile, your website, and across the web to determine information about your business, the quality and quantity of your content, and what other people are sharing about you. This way, your company’s internal ranking is based on the main keywords and links that people use to search for your business. If you can’t find your business through the requested query or business category, it means that the work done is not enough.
In addition to the instructions above, it is recommended that you pay attention to the following actions to promote your business:
- Compliance with Google Maps publishing guidelines
- Description of your services in your business listing
- Regular updating of your business information
- Availability of product descriptions in your business listing, if possible
- High-quality photos of your location, avoid using images that do not belong to you
- Availability of 360-degree panoramic images
- The availability and quality of your website
- Availability of information about your business on other sites
- The presence and quality of your social networks
- SEO optimization
