E-Reputation

This lesson will provide an overview of:

• Crowd-sourced mapping
• Adding a place to mapping sites

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Understand the reach, application and integration of these mapping sites
• Understand how to appear correctly on these sites
• Add a place to these mapping sites

There are a number of apps or sites besides Google Maps where it is worthwhile listing your business. Although you may not use these sites yourself, they are a free source of potential customers, so take a few minutes to list your business now.

Apple Maps

On iPhones and iPads, Apple Maps is the default mapping app, not Google. When someone does a web search for a local business on an iPhone or iPad, the top result is typically from Apple, and voice search (Siri) also uses Apple to find local businesses. This makes it worthwhile spending a little time to list your business there.

How to add your business to Apple Maps

Go to https://mapsconnect.apple.com/ to get your business listed. The following video will show you how:

• https://youtu.be/PO5Ac_ucTsw

Waze

Waze is a popular traffic and navigation app which is crowd sourced - users provide on-the-go information about traffic conditions. Just like other mapping apps, it can search for any address that is on the map but it will only show the business located there if someone has added the business manually.

How to add your business to Waze

1. Download the Waze app for either Android or iOS
2. Once you open the app, click on Reports at the bottom right of the screen (you might have to go outside for this step in order to get a GPS signal)
3. Next, click on Place
4. Take a picture of the outside of your business building, so Waze users can see what it looks like.
5. Enter your business' name and any other details you'd like to show, such as phone number, website, hours, etc.

Maps.me via OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap is a crowd-sourced project to collect map data. While not very user friendly by itself, it is the source of data for a number of other mapping apps, including Maps.me. The big attraction of Maps.me for tourists is that it provides downloadable maps that can be used for offline navigation. This is particularly useful for travellers as they may not always have mobile data available.

How to add your business to Maps.me

Check if your business is already present inMaps.me. (make sure that you have the latest version of the app, you can check for updates in App Store or Google Play and update maps) and at OpenStreetMap.org (OSM) website, where we take the map data.

If you business is present both in Maps.me and OpenStreetMap (OSM):

Ensure that information provided is accurate. Adjust or add missing info such as name, address, business hours, phone number, website, etc.

If your business is present in OSM and missing in Maps.me

Most likely it was added in OSM recently and will appear in Maps.me in their next update of map data which occurs approximately once a month.

If your business is missing both in OSM and Maps.me

You can add it directly via Maps.me.

Summary

• Mapping apps are a free source of potential customers and assist travellers in finding your business.
• On iPhones and iPads, Apple Maps is the default mapping app, not Google.
• Waze and Maps.me use crowd- or open-sourced data; this means that anyone can share mapping and traffic information.