How to be an effective and a true local guide.

I am fond of travelling both within my country and abroad. I go on long drives frequently, since there are a lot many beautiful and wild places and a number of ancient temples and monuments scattered all over my state of madhya pradesh. Moreover my country India is a land of rich culture. As a local guide of level 7, I always try to follow some self made rules while adding a new place or posting photos and reviews. I want to share these tips to my fellow local guides and the new comers, which are as follows,

1) Post honestly: It is sometimes very frustrating and annoying to a visitor who traveled a long way and found the place totally different from the photograph or review he saw in the google maps. This happens when the local guide adds the pic of some other nice place or puts false or over exaggerated comments in the review. It is something like posting the photo of a beautiful khajuraho temple for an ordinary village temple. Please add the actual photograph or just describe the place in your review if you don’t have the photo of the place.
2) Post inf****ormative reviews: Merely writing “nice place”, “beautiful place” or “Jai Shri Ram etc.” as review is not of any help to the searcher. One may write a brief history or description of some special features of the place or monument. It is very helpful to mention about the road conditions if it is not clear from the satellite view. Information of the short cuts, if any or better options, known only to local people may be provided in the comments. Moreover, if the location is remote, wild or if the route is notorious, safety tips such as appropriate visiting time, local mechanic, police station, tea stalls etc. can also be mentioned in the comments or indicated on the map.

3) Post relevant photographs: Just posting the photograph of yourself with nothing of that place in the background is very irritating. If you cant resist from showing yourself, then at least put the posted place in the background. Add closeups of patterns or sculptures and long shots of the scenery or structure. Add one or two photos of the surroundings also as it helps the visitors in anticipating the unknown area.
4) Post clear and attractive photographs: To make your post more attractive, choose different angles and compositions for your photos. Also, if possible, wait for the better sun position so that appealing photographs are obtained. Morning and evening times are better for taking photos. Avoid back-lit photos unless it is adding some artistic sense.
5) Add new place with precise location: If the satellite view is not helping much as in case of a small temple amidst big dense trees or a structure in a very congested locality, it is better to physically visit the place and using the GPS, locate the place and add to the google maps.
6) Add supporting places: It can be particularly of great help if the added place is in some interior wild region or in some far of remote area. Adding supporting places on the route such as restaurants, tea-stalls, car mechanic shop, Tyre repair shop, general store, medical store, police station, or hotel can be a great help to a visitor travelling in his own vehicle, particularly.
7) Information about local rituals, religious functions, local festivals etc.: Such information can be included in the review comments, which shall be one of the deciding factors for a person to visit the place.
? Add unknown or ignored but good and worthy places: It happens that some good and worthy places remain ignored or unknown, even to the nearby local people, merely due to their remote or hardly accessible locations. Some justice should be done to such places also. Try visiting and adding such worthy but ignored places. Once people will come to know their specialties, they shall star flocking to the place.
In addition to the above tips, the local guides should be in frequent contact with the nearby guides and communicate with far off ones also. Arranging meetings, besides sharing information and ideas should also go on.
I hope, the suggestions if followed shall definitely enhance the contribution quality and effectiveness of a local guide and the society shall be benefited more.

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@pankajsrivastava17 Good tips.

Hi @pankajsrivastava17 .I have just released your post from the Spam Filters. I would like to apologize for your post being marked as spam. Our filters run 24/7 and they can be a little harsh at times. You can visit this article to learn more - Why was my Connect post marked as spam?

Hi @pankajsrivastava17 ,

Welcome to the community and thanks for these great tips how to contribute better as a Local Guide. Your photo taken at Interlaken, Switzerland is really amazing! I’m looking forward to see more of your great photos here!

Tell us more about yourself and say “Hi” to the new members in this topic - Introduce yourself - November.

As you’re new on Connect, please also review these links to help you using Connect and following the guidelines:

I’m going to move your post to the Local Stories board on Connect where the Local Guides are sharing how they improve Google Maps.

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