Hi community! I’m seeking for your support as probably there is something I don’t understand.
I usually write very well detailed reviews for the places I visit (especially restaurants) adding plenty of photos.
I saw all my photos has thousands of fees (in some cases also hundreds of thousands), but my followers are not increasing.
Anything related with my settings? Any suggestions?
Hi @Decben
I took a look at your profile. Your photos look great and you focus strongly on high-end restaurants. You must be spending a lot of time writing your reviews.
I get the sense that your food review ambitions are high and your reviews could deserve to be published in a magazine or newspaper rather than on Google Maps.
Remember that Google Maps is a very “fast” medium focussed on navigation where few people have or take the time to read very long and detailed reviews.
Google recommends that ONE paragraph is a good length of a review. Your reviews are a lot longer. Furthermore, when users browse restaurant reviews they will only see the first 1-2 sentences (only a fraction tap “More”). Hence your most important message should be at the very top of your reviews should you want more Maps users to see them. Currently, you use the first 1-2 sentences to ease into the reviews.
Getting followers and likes on reviews on Google Maps is relatively difficult compared to using other types of feedback like the number of views on our photos.
There are no settings to invite or attract followers. You already have 31 followers, so your profile is not set to private.
Don’t let the low number of followers discourage you. The reality is that few people read very long reviews on Google Maps.
I hope this helps a little.
Cheers
Morten
Ciao Francesco, @Decben , benvenuto in Connect.
Si, vedo che le tue recensioni sono molto molto molto molto dettagliate. Bellissime in un blog, in Maps molto meno perché quasi nessuno arriverà alla fine della storia, anche se la tua esperienza di ristoranti italiani in Asia mi ha colpito molto
I follower sono una cosa strana in Google Maps.
Io ad esempio seguo solo persone che conosco e che visitano luoghi che mi interessano, e non ho idea del perché molti mi seguano, anche se la mia impressione è che parecchi lo facciano solo per vedere se inizio a seguirli a mia volta, e se non lo faccio dopo qualche giorno non mi seguono più.
Da qualche tempo comincio a guadagnare followers in Giappone, il che probabilmente significa che Google sta suggerendo il mio profilo nell’area di Tokyo. Credo che questo potrebbe accadere anche a te, ma non so esattamente come venga costruito il “ranking” su cui l’algoritmo di Maps suggerisce i profili da seguire.
Posso solo consigliarti di continuare a scrivere.
Buona fortuna
Interesting question @Decben . I’ve been studying this from the opposite perspective. I don’t do anything to attract followers, but sometimes I get a message on Maps - You have a new Follower. I don’t know WHY they want to follow me, or if it is a good thing or bad. I feel uncomfortable when I see the person who is following me is not active on Maps, as they have no photos nor reviews, or perhaps their profile is set to private. My own activity consists of a lot of photos and videos, but I don’t often do reviews, so I’m not certain which one actually attracts the most followers.
@Decben I’m curious where followers come from, as well. I don’t follow anyone but still have accumulated 100+ followers. Many come from right here on Connect. I suspect there may be some additional exposure from getting on the Explore tab. I have been working on video contributions and have been posting these directly to Explore in order to add captions. In the same period, I’ve noticed followers coming on. Perhaps you want to reserve a photo or video from a visit to a POI and post it directly through Explore to see if you can get featured for the day/week. This will give your Maps profile quite a bit of exposure.
Grazie per i consigli e per aver speso tempo a leggere le mie review, Ermes!
Hi Morten, thanks for your suggestion. I’ll try to open with 1 paragraph, summing up all the info at the top of the review. Good idea
Hi Tony, thanks for sharing your experience. I post lost of pictures and video in each review. Some picture had more then 200k views, but still no followers 
Thanks for your interesting comment. How to work on the Explore tab? If I click on it, I can just explore what is around me
Thanks for the encouraging message Morten!
Hi @Decben
Please know that hitting reply does not help us understand who you are responding to. So it is recommended to always tag who you are responding to.
Use the tagging tool when replying to someone here on Connect. Type @ followed by the username. Type slowly. Then we get an e-mail notification and you are more likely to get a prompt reply. Just hitting Reply does not ensure we get notified by email.
Cheers
Morten
@Decben When on the Explore tab, you should see a little “Add a Post” to the lower right corner. If it isn’t there, swipe up slowly from the bottom until it appears.
Something that worked for me was following other local guides, only local guides, not the other users and since then the number of followers increased from 0 to almost 400, I don’t know why this is but it worked for me.
That’s a good idea @Adrianniux
Then you know you’re following quality active guides, and having them follow you as well.