How to write an effective review of different places?

Google Maps tips & tricks
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This is Shah Imran Sheikh. I have started contributing to Google Map from 28th June 2017. It’s been 2 years of contribution. I have provided reviews of different places which are mentioned below.

  1. Restaurants
  2. Institutions
  3. Historical Landmarks
  4. Residing Hotels
  5. Amusement Parks

Review Language Issue:

As I am a user of Bangladesh which is situated in Asia Pacific Region, our mother language is Bengali. I have seen so many local guides writing reviews in Bengali Language. Regarding this matter i have found some questions.

  1. Is it ok to write reviews in Bengali language about the places located within Bangladesh?
  2. If anyone types the review in both Bengali(1st Language in BD) in English(2nd Language) simultaneously then will it be ok?

Standard Review Templates

As I write in Journals, I have seen so many writing styles with different formats those are called Templates. Say for examples, If we want to write a review about restaurant then we should cover the points (like quality of food, stuff behavior, time consumption to serve food,hospitality,food taste,food menu, food cost, shop accessibility) about a restaurant to make the review effective for other people.

If there would be standard review templates, then we could have been able to provide some handsome reviews which will improve the quality of review.

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I am expecting Hon’ble Moderator @SumaiyaZafrin to provide a solution to these problems.

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Hi @Dr_Shah_Imran ,

You are most welcome to write rewiews in any language you want. Google Maps will try to translate rewiews for Map users into the language they have chosen to use on their phone/computer. So you don’t really need to write reviews in two languages.

Other local guides have also shared what they consider good restaurant reviews:

https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Tips-for-writing-a-useful-restaurant-review-on-Google-Maps/m-p/1441916#M351663

https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/How-to-write-a-helpful-review-about-a-restaurant/m-p/1461977

https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/How-to-write-a-good-review/m-p/1430824

All the best

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Hi @Dr_Shah_Imran ,

To answer your questions, yes you are allowed to write reviews in your own language. You will find that reviews written in foreign languages are translated into your language on Google Maps, depending on your language settings on your device. So whichever language you are most comfortable with, feel free to use it.

As far as I am aware, there are no official rules with regards to writing your reviews in two languages. I have seen posts on LGC (like this one) of other Local Guides doing so. It is important that you familiarize yourself with the official contribution rules. You can find these official rules and guidelines for contributing reviews here:
https://support.google.com/maps/answer/6230175

Personally, I would be very careful with short reviews in two languages though, as it may appear that you are trying to get the extra points for lengthy reviews, whilst you are actually writing 2x the same short review.

With regards to your own style of writing reviews, with or without the help of some sort of template, it is totally fine as long as you are not duplicating reviews (let’s say visit one McDonald and give the same review to another McDonald). Use a template to structure your reviews? then yes, cool.

There are indeed a very large number of ways to write reviews. I have seen people give stars to different types of things (e.g. quality product, quality service, the location, the accessibility, etc) and then sum up the average as their main star rating. Other people consistently use tags like #dogfriendly or #childfriendly to help Google Map users.

When people like your review style, they may wish to follow some of your reviews, so do consider creating Lists on Google Maps. This is a great way to promote collections of places with your reviews.

Happy Mapping!

JeroenM

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Whilst I was still typing, @MortenCopenhagen just published his response. He shares indeed great examples of great posts on Local Guides Connect (LGC) that you may find interesting. The trick is to use search at the top of the page, to find a treasure of great posts on almost every topic :wink:

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Your questions is interesting, @Dr_Shah_Imran , and you have already received two great replies by @JeroenM and @MortenCopenhagen , who covers both parts of the question.

The point that is missing is: why?

Let me explain, asking you a question first.

When you write a review, who is the person who you expect will read it? A local, or a tourist? Personally, I expect my review to be read by a local, so I always write my review in my own language, if I am in my country.

The reviews will be automatically translated in the the language of the reader, according to the settings on his device, but in any case I am writing my review for the locals.

We are LOCAL guides, isn’t it?

What about a review about a touristic place? Should I write my review in English?

To answer to my last question, I need a short introduction. I am traveling frequently, as this is part of my job.

When I travel, I usually check the reviews, before to go in some place. What I have discovered is that, if there is a review available, written by some Local Guide from my own country, I will see these reviews first. Why? Because the algorithm is suggesting to me reviews of people who, coming from my own country, may have the same feeling about the place, the food, the atmosphere. So, even abroad, I can choose to write the review on my own language, as my review will be suggest first to people who speak my own language.

What I do as a rule, when I am abroad, is to check first how many reviews the place have. If the place have just a few reviews, I write my review in English, otherwise I use my own language, especially in touristic place with a lot of reviews.

Try to be kind with the tourist, using English in a touristic place, will probably be useless, because there are really a few possibilities for your review to be read.

Hope this will explain why, being Locals, we can use our own language

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts @ErmesT . This is what I like so much about you. You often come from a totally different perspective and share valuable insights.

I was confused by your last sentence though:

“Try to be kind with the tourist, using English in a touristic place, will probably be useless, because there are really a few possibilities for your review to be read.”

It makes no sense to me…
@Dr_Shah_Imran told us that English is understood by a lot of people from his country, or did I get that wrong?

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You are absolutely right, @JeroenM , a lot of people speak in English in Bangladesh, BTW.

My answer is general, not related to a specific country. The simple fact that @Dr_Shah_Imran is asking about the use of local language, accessible to everyone, Vs English, accessible to a large part of the Local people, justify the answer. We want to be inclusive, this is one of the scope of Google Maps.

Going in detail: Bangladesh. One of the most important celebration in Bangladesh is related to the mother language. Isn’t it, @Dr_Shah_Imran ?

This because in Bangladesh it was not possible to use, for a long time, to use their own language. So the use of the mother language is synonymous of Freedom, an important word that should not be hidden.

So, why to use a foreign language if:

  • The foreign people probably will not see your review, send down by the algorithm
  • Using your own language, you will cover 100% of your audience
  • Your language is so important, in your country

Sorry for not explaining thay part clearly, as for me the history of Bangladesh about freedom was considered (wrongly) as obvious

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Now it all makes sense. Thank you for explaining it further, @ErmesT . It was actually the “few possibilities for your review to be read” that I did not fully comprehend.

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Hello @Dr_Shah_Imran , @JeroenM @MortenCopenhagen and @ErmesT provide you great insights, that I believe that can help you and other local guides.

Like @ErmesT , I prefer to write reviews in my language (Portuguese). I do that even if I’m traveling abroad because I noticed that Google Maps show s up first the reviews in the language that you use on Maps. So, I understand that I’m helping other Brazilians when they are visiting the place (I can share, for example, if there are people who speak Portuguese, if it is similar or different to our culture, etc.). But, it’s just my option, like very well said, you’re free to review places in the language that you prefer.

See you around!

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