1 - Background
As Local Guides we’ve been adding reviews and photos on Maps for a number of years now, however, there can be little doubt that the new frontier is now video. On this we’re told that more users are coming to Maps on mobile (see the first Contributor Conversations) and that it’s a continually growing group of users who are known to enjoy popular and somewhat addictive social media apps like Tik-Tok and Instagram, full of short videos with resultant high levels of engagement.
There are also new Maps features being rolled out to encourage us to contribute more video content and a great example of this is the new Explore tab on the Google Maps app. This was only just announced by @KarolinaPysz in her post New: Discover an area through videos in the Explore tab on Google Maps. This exciting new feature allows us to share our videos of our rich experiences at the places we enjoy so that others can get a much better appreciation of them and make much better informed decisions about visiting these places that we so love. If you haven’t as yet seen Karolina’s post then I encourage you to check it out, pronto 
Against this background, I think it’s time that the Top 100 leaderboard posts that have over the past 3+ years been regularly posted here on Connect, move with the times and encompass video. I firmly believe that by sharing our contributions and achievements we can learn a lot about how to improve and achieve even better outcomes in terms of the impact that our Maps contributions have on our communities. We have been doing this successfully with photos for the past few years and so now we can do the same with videos and this is precisely what this post is about. It’s the first cut and I know that in time, together we can shape this into something much better and much more exciting. So let’s see if we can learn what type of videos work “best”. On this point, when it comes to measuring the performance of photos, the base metric that we have been using to measure their impact is views and while this may not be the best metric for video, we really don’t have much choice because at the moment at least, this is the only available information we have. However, I do hope that we might one day have other metrics available to us such as perhaps the number that liked our videos or perhaps even better, the number that watched all the video or the average seconds watched.
So while the Local Guides, 2023 Album of Star Photos post is an “album” if you will of Local Guide star photos, this post is an “album” of Local Guide star videos. It’s the place to showcase our “best” videos and will be fundamental to a set of planned new Top 100 leaderboards focused on the performance of these videos. Now I do realize that it’s late in the year to start something like this, however I propose that we use this period to learn more and improve on this idea so that by early 2024 we will be much better prepared for it. So let me explain how this will work.
2 - Questions:
Firstly, because we want this post to very much look like an album, if you have any questions or wish to comment about star videos generally, or the specific star videos in this album, or on how to participate here or on the Top 100 leaderboards, then please don’t add these in comments in this post. Instead, add them in a comment on the recently renamed Discussion on Star Photos & Videos post, a post specifically setup for this purpose. Please note that any such comments added here will be moved to the special discussion post.
3 - Steps to add your star video:
To participate, you need to take a screenshot of your star video thumbnail shown on Maps and add it in a specially formatted comment on this post. Because we want a consistent format of entries in this album, please follow the basic formatting criteria as outlined below. A good idea is to use the steps mentioned as a checklist and make sure you cover each step. Your screenshot should:
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[20 points] include only one image of your star video, clearly showing the current star views overlaid over it. Larger screenshots are best but do not over enlarge your screenshot at the expense of quality/resolution;
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[20 points] only be of your star video and not show any Maps details other than those overlaid over your star video itself on Maps;
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[10 points] preferably be taken in portrait (more tall than wide) layout as this Google’s preferred orientation,
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[10 points] be posted centered,
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[5 points] have only one blank line (i.e. no text) at the top between the screenshot itself and your Connect avatar and post date details,
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[20 points] include a caption using the following format
Caption: Star video by @YourConnectUsername of [name of the place] uploaded onto Google Maps on [include date uploaded] and showing star views of [enter star views] as at [include star views date]
Notes:
- If you’re participating in the star videos leaderboards, the caption to be used will be automatically generated for you
Just copy and paste it with your screenshot; - If you’re adding your screenshot on a desktop PC then add the caption as part of the Insert Photos process (
) so that it is better integrated with the screenshot itself.
- If you’re participating in the star videos leaderboards, the caption to be used will be automatically generated for you
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[10 points] The caption shows the correct star date & star views (screenshot) date.
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[10 points] The star views shown on your caption must be the same as that shown on your screenshot and if you’re a Top 100 Local Guides leaderboard participant, it must also be equal to the star views you have entered for your star video on the Top 100 System!
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[5 point] Add one blank after your image and caption but not before!
Note: The Connect editor at times adds extra blank lines and for best readability on mobile devices we don’t want these extra blank lines, thank you! So after you save your screenshot post, check it and if you see too many blank lines, delete them. In my own screenshot post here, for better readability I have also added one blank line at the end of my screenshot post
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[20 points] Add the name of the place, city and country as a heading and that heading must be the shared link of your star video on Maps. Interested Local Guides can then simply select your heading to visit and watch your star video on Maps.
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[20 points] Immediately under the heading (no blank lines before) tell the story about your star video or the place or meal etc. This is important so make it interesting so others, including Search Engine robots, will enjoy reading and like your story and you just never know your star video might be featured in other places on Connect as well as the Web and thus build on its impact
Things you could mention include:
(a) Is this your best video?
(b) Was this just a point and shoot video?
(c) The camera you used. Mention the brand name and model (e.g. Canon, EOS 7D or Google Pixel 6a ) so for example, don’t just say “I took this photo using my smartphone”, be more specific.
Important Notes:
- After adding your star video screenshot, you should check it on both mobile and a PC for formatting and consistency (especially line spacing). Soon you will be able to compare yours with others in the album;
- The points shown in red against each of the above requirements (maximum 150), are used to measure how well your star video screenshot fits in with the specified formatting criteria and is explained in more detail in the Discussion on Star Photos & Videos post.
- Why did I say use your imagination and make the story about your star video or the place or meal etc interesting so others, including Search Engine robots, will enjoy reading it? It’s because our contributions are not only shown in this album on Connect, they are also shown in the public domain and therefore will end up on general Google Search Results Pages (SERPs) etc. If we make our descriptions interesting, this will help generate generic “hits” to our videos which means more views So when writing your description for your star video screenshot, think of it as a mini post of it’s own. Give it some thought, make it interesting but there’s no need to go overboard!!!
4 Examples of star video screenshots
For a great example of how to post your screenshot of your star video, I encourage you to check out the star video post by fellow Connect Moderator @LightRich.
5 - Updating your star video:
From time to time you might wish to edit or update your star video. For example, you have made a mistake in your post or the star views may have increased or you might even have a new star video! Simple! There are two different scenarios here, (a) editing or updating your existing star video and (b) adding a new star video!
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when editing or updating your existing star video, you simply re-visit your existing entry in this post and update it using either of the two procedures mentioned in Sections 5.1 and 5.2 below, which as you can see depends on whether you are or are not currently participating on the Top 100 Local Guides leaderboards.
** It’s important to note that when editing or updating your existing star video you must not start a new comment for this.
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when adding a new star video, you add it in a new comment on this post following the steps detailed in Section #3 above.
5.1 Participant on the Top 100 Local Guides leaderboards
- Visit your Maps profile and take a new screenshot of your new or current star video thumbnail showing the current star views and in the format as specified in points 1 to 3 of the formatting criteria in section 3 above.
- Update your star video details on the Top 100 Local Guides system.
- Copy the caption suggested on the Top 100 Local Guides system
- If you are adding a new star video as described in point 5(b) above then add this in a new comment in this post following the steps detailed in Section 3 above and then go to step 16 below. If on the other hand you editing or updating your existing star video (see point 5(a) above) then continue on with the following steps.
- Find your star video as you previously added in this album post.
- Select the ellipsis menu (3 blue dots)
- Select Edit Reply
- Select the screenshot of your star video
- Select the pencil icon to activate the edit function
- Delete your old star video screenshot
- Add the new screenshot showing the updated star video views
- Paste the caption copied at step 3 above.
- Select Done
- You could add in your description a brief mention of the change in video’s star views for example:
Date Star views
Feb 2023 540,000
Mar 2023 765,000
Apr 2023 867,050 - Select Save Changes
- Job done! Grab a coffee!!
5.2 Non-participant on the Top 100 Local Guides leaderboards
- Visit your Maps profile and take a new screenshot of your new or current star video thumbnail showing the current star views and in the format as specified in points 1 to 3 of the formatting criteria in section 3 above.
- Find your star video as you previously added in this album post.
- Select the ellipsis menu (3 blue dots)
- Select Edit Reply
- Select the screenshot of your star video
- Select the pencil icon to activate the edit function
- Take a copy of the current caption
- Delete your old star video screenshot
- Add the new screenshot showing the new or updated star video views
- Paste back the old caption
- Update the star views and star views date on the caption
- Select Done
- Select Save Changes
- Job done! Grab a coffee
6 - The Top 100 Local Guides Star Videos leaderboards:
As mentioned in the introduction above, as well as adding your star video in this album, if you wish, you can also join the soon to be released Top 100 Local Guides Star Videos leaderboards. If you wish to join this fun, motivational and educational adjunct to this post, then hit this link. As well as the Star Videos leaderboards, you will also see how you can join other Top 100 Local Guides leaderboards, namely the Points, Photo Views and Countries focused leaderboards which are described here.
7 - Conclusion
OK so now let’s start learning what are the best type of videos to contribute to Maps. In the meantime, if you have any questions then add them in the Discussion on Star Photos & Videos post.
I do hope that you will join me and the many other Local Guides interesting in learning how to improve the quality of our video contributions to Maps.
To stay consistent with how other Guides were picking their Star Videos based on the highest number of views, I used the new tip I learned and found my actual star video.
