Can our entire universe fit into a marble?
The end of Men in Black makes us think about this. We have already become accustomed to the fact that the world fits in our pockets. More than a billion people regularly use the Google Maps app, so the whole world is available to them - at least it feels like it - and of course only online.
Google Maps has fundamentally changed the way we navigate, search and interact. We rely on it to find, discover and we move according to its directions. It is therefore not only a digital window into the world, but also a very powerful tool that literally puts the globe in our hands in a controlled way.
So how do we manage to use this tool for ourselves?
First of all, it should be mentioned that if we do not take care of our company profile on Google Maps ourselves, Google will do it for us, which of course will not be as attractive as if we did it ourselves.
Why am I talking about "attractive" in this context?
Here is a brief digression into psychology:
Research shows that attractiveness has a significant influence on social perception and interactions.
- The "halo effect" leads to positive characteristics being attributed to attractive people. Attractive people are often perceived as more successful, friendly and social. 1
- Physical attractiveness influences many areas of life, from relationships to career opportunities. Attractive people tend to date more and are more likely to be hired for jobs. 2
- The "what is beautiful is good" stereotype is a classic phenomenon in social psychology. People tend to judge attractive people more positively. 1
The psychology of attractiveness in search
The attractiveness effect applied to Google Maps marketing therefore means that visual appeal also strongly influences the engagement of searchers.
Studies show that people make decisions about the attractiveness and trustworthiness of a website within milliseconds. This "first impression" can be decisive for whether a user clicks on a search result or not.
As we are seeing a clear trend in Google search away from blue links towards Google Maps results, we are focusing particularly strongly on supporting this local search offering. Google Maps is clearly ahead in this area and is also becoming increasingly important.
But what makes a company more attractive than others in these local search results?
- Google My Business Profil
This is your digital business card. A fully completed profile with up-to-date information on your name, location, services, opening hours and contact details is the first step to becoming attractive.
- High quality images
Your offer should be clearly recognizable in photos. Depending on the industry, a certain aesthetic also helps of course, but be careful, authentic presentation has a very high priority here and increases the degree of attractiveness to a certain extent. It is therefore not always about the "beauty" of an image, but much more about the clear assignability. Attractive photos and videos of customers and the company itself can make all the difference. They give potential customers a very important first impression and ensure that they may not look at a competitor as intensively.
- Ratings & Reviews
These are worth their weight in gold. 5-star reviews not only increase your attractiveness, but also your ranking in local search results. Respond promptly and professionally to reviews - especially negative ones. From our point of view, it makes little sense to have them deleted, especially as the "Report" function has been optimized by Google and has already been used by our customers.
- Consistent NAP data
Name, address, phone number (NAP) should be identical everywhere on the web. This consistency increases your credibility with Google and users and is therefore also attractive as it offers a certain degree of security
- Rich Snippets & Knowledge Card
Take advantage of all the options for adding structured data to enrich your search results with additional information.
- "Surprising" search results
Real attractiveness arises when you not only fulfill the expectations of the searcher, but also significantly exceed them. On the one hand, this happens simply by providing relevant, correct and useful information that answers exactly what the user is looking for. If this information then perhaps even offers a little more than expected, you can already speak of increased attractiveness.
Conclusion
With the idea of carrying not the entire universe, but at least the entire world in your pocket, we have reached dimensions that few people would have imagined in 1997 when MIB came out.
For companies, this development represents an unparalleled opportunity. And to compare it with the beginnings of the internet, which is available to everyone: It's no longer just about showing up in the search results with an SEO-optimized website. It's about being attractive - exactly where your potential customers are looking, on Google Maps, but don't tell anyone *flash
