Most local business owners often aren’t aware of the multiple kinds of online map platforms which can represent their office or store locations. There are dozens of online mapping platforms, each of which has its own unique features.

These business owners typically only know about Apple Maps, MapQuest, Google Maps and perhaps one or two other similar services. Interestingly, they usually don’t even know about the various kinds of maps which can be made just within Google’s mapping service. This post will go into many of the versions which could be applicable to a local business in a large city or serving an area outside of major city, with a “major city” defined as being 400,000 or greater population. 400,000 is chosen as that is roughly where the top 50 U.S. population cities ends according to this resource:

Here are several examples of the various kinds of Google Maps which can be used:

1. The regular Google Map for a local business. In this case it is for a piano bar in Downtown Houston, using the regular “map” view. This shows the number of reviews, average star rating, address, and nearby landmarks in that city.

2. Here is a similar map, except from satellite view for one of the piano bar’s other locations. In this case it is in Fort Worth, and this may help show where the location is relative to which side of the street & other helpful tips for directions.

3. This local HVAC company services several counties north of the Dallas Fort Worth area, up to the Oklahoma (Texoma) border. Instead of a specific location, this map shows the company’s service area:

4. This business in the Dallas area (Garland) serves both a local audience as well as a statewide customer base. Reviews are heavily needed in this particular industry, so this Google Map shows the location as well as the top reviews since the company started its Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business profile):

5. This map combines location plus examples of a specific service often desired by people searching. In this case, a chiropractor in the North Dallas area uses a ProAdjuster machine for those who don’t respond well to manual chiropractic adjustments. The machine is sought by those who moved to the area and were familiar with the machine previously. Since it is not common across chiropractic clinics in the area then the prospective patient may be seeking a clinic with this specific machine. The map shows a photo of the specific machine, the cleanliness of the office, and a map location.

6. Another chiropractic clinic, this time in a suburb of Dallas, wants to emphasize its proficiency and care for those who were injured in auto accidents. One of the practice’s 5-star reviews in Google mentions this specifically. You will see the location pinned on the map; but this time you will see a specific review which emphasizes the care received after a bad car accident:

7. Similar to the above example, this used auto dealership in Plano (just north of Dallas) wants to emphasize its proficiency in providing its customers for specific makes/models of cars. In this case, the Map shows the location and all reviews - instead of just one specific review - which people left about pre-owned Jaguar vehicles:

8. As mentioned earlier, some Maps offer the ability to emphasize a specific service. However, sometimes video is more compelling than image content. In this example, a Portland Oregon pest control service has a Map which shows its location as well as a short video about how it naturally prevents rodents from entering local homes:

9. Proximity, sometimes based on urgency, is a major decision factor when people are looking at whether or not to use a local business. In this case, a pest control company with an office in Everett, Washington has a driving directions map. This example shows directions to the nearby yacht club, as such a business may want proximity and urgency should rodents appear and risk upsetting its members:

10. Some people make decisions for local businesses based on the ownership. For example, some people may wish to use only women-owned businesses, even for a service like a local plumbing company in the suburbs near a major city. One such Map which could be shared, which mentions the women-owned status for the business, can be seen here:

You may combine this with video confirming the ownership and/or showing the person(s) who would be inside one’s home performing a service like plumbing. An example of this is mentioned in this post:

Please note that all of the above examples are just tiny pieces of a larger strategy to help your business increase its rankings & traffic to your Google Maps (Google Business Profile) listing. There are at least 50 different steps which need to be taken regarding your Maps profile, besides just getting more favorable customer reviews, to help it rank better.

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