How to become a Google Local Guide

A Google Local Guide is an intrepid local adventurer who leaves reviews, uploads and compiles photos, shares local knowledge and fact checks local business information to help keep Google Maps up to date, and help visitors stay informed about their area. In return these guides are rewarded with a points system and a ranking for their work. If you achieve a particular level, Google starts rewarding you with perks and products. Mostly these avid volunteers do it out of a love of helping guests experience their town or area in the best way possible (not unlike our Freebird Club hosts and Homebirds).

We know a few Freebird Club members who like to partake in keeping their local area on the map and making sure their region’s visitors have the best experience so we thought we’d share how you can become a Google Local Guide and how you can do it well.

If you like being a Google Local Guide then chances are you’ll also like being a guide in person to visitors of your town. Freebird Club acts as a hub for intrepid travellers and equally intrepid guides and hosts in the over 50s category to meet share stories and potentially visit each other. You can join the club here.

Contents:

1. How to make a Google Local Guides account

2. How to leave reviews

3. How to upload videos

4. How to suggest edits to a business’s information

5. How the points and badge systems work

1. How to make a Google Local Guides account

Firstly, you want to visit the Google Local Guide site which you can find in this link.

The page looks like this:

You’ll then be asked to add the details of your chosen city or region. This will be your speciality area. Make sure to pick the place you live in because most likely that’s where the businesses, landmarks and facilities that you’ll be leaving tips and reviews for others are.

After that you’re taken to a welcome page which you click through and finally you’re taken to Google Maps where you can get to work, clicking on businesses’ locations and writing your reviews and advice. Just remember that Google monitors what’s written and anything inaccurate or offensive can be removed. Businesses can also flag reviews they think are inaccurate or unfair.

You can also see your profile on the left that shows your Local Guide Level and below are the points you’ve scored which we’ll get onto later. Below that you can see the reviews, photos and suggestions you’ve made to businesses’ information.

2. How to leave reviews

Reviews help people make decisions on whether to visit a place so as a Local Guide you can offer your two cents via a review to help steer people in the right direction. In order to leave a review you just have to click on the business or landmark on the map like so:

Then scroll down on the section on the left with all the business information to write the review:

You’ll also see options to answer visitor questions and suggest edits to the businesses information. People can then like your review if it resonates with them.

3. How to upload videos

Perhaps you’ve eaten somewhere unusual or got the special of the day and you want to share how the restaurant feels and how the food looks through the medium of photography. As a Google Local Guide the art of taking photos and uploading them is a useful one.

The process works much the same as leaving a review. You just click on the location you want to upload photos of and scroll down on the section on the left:

This will then bring up a box where you can click to upload photos either from your computer or your phone, or photos you already uploaded to Google:

In order to upload photos from your phone to your computer you can see this Google’s guide for Android phones and Apple’s guide for Iphone.

4. How to suggest edits to a business’s information on Google

Accuracy is crucial in making sure that visitors to your town get the best possible experience, so ensuring business listings are accurate is an important starting point, especially when you think about how many travellers use Google Maps to navigate their way around new places.

The process for suggesting an edit for a business’s information on Google has the same starting point as leaving reviews and photos, you just click on the business to bring up the section on the left:

Below the address and contact details of the business you can then click suggest an edit which brings up this box below:

You can then choose to change the name and contact details or if you know the business is closed you can update Google about that too.

After clicking on the option to change the details you’ll be presented with a box where you can make edits and submit them to Google who will review them and, if they confirm the changes are correct, will have them updated.

1. 5. How the points and badge systems work

As a Google Local Guide you earn points for each review you leave, photos of a place you upload and for online questions you answer left by visitors. These points contribute to your Local Guide level, the higher the level you have the more virtual rewards you receive as well as having more authority in the eyes of viewers of your profile. Google implemented this system to incentivise activity from users to keep Google Maps up to date.

Here is a list of activities you can earn points for:

• – Write a review – 10 points
• – Write a 200+ character review – 20 points
• – Rate a business – 1 point
• – Upload a photo – 5 points
• – Tag a photo – 3 points
• – Upload a video – 7 points
• – Respond to Q&As – 3 points
• – Edit information – 5 points
• – Add a place – 15 points
• – Add a road – 15 points
• – Check a fact – 1 point
• – Publish an eligible list – 10 points
• – Write a description (in list) – 5 points

And here are the amount of points you need to earn for each level:

• – Level 1 – 0 points
• – Level 2 – 15 points
• – Level 3 – 75 points
• – Level 4 – 250 points
• – Level 5 – 500 points
• – Level 6 – 1,500 points
• – Level 7 – 5,000 points
• – Level 8 – 15,000 points
• – Level 9 – 50,000 points
• – Level 10 – 100,000 points

In the previous years Local Guides used to earn discounts for Google apps and Google products although it seems Google have phased this out, instead occasionally offering early access to their new products. You do get new badges for each level you achieve, these go on your profile and act as a stamp of authority for the advice you give.

Google Local Guides is a great way to start trying your hand at offering local advice and building your knowledge of your area for visitors. If you’re looking to become a fully fledged Freebird Club guide you can join our community of guides, hosts and travellers to learn more.