The long road from level 8 to level 9

I have been in Level 8 since February of 2019. The gap between level 8 and level 9 is very large, and it’s starting to frustrate me because I’m still in level 8 after 2 years. I consider myself a fairly active contributor and I post reviews, photos, and answer questions soon after I have visited a location. But perhaps due to COVID-19 I am not traveling enough, or maybe I’m not posting enough photos. Any tips or advice for me to get to level 9 at a quicker pace?

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Hi @leung1245

Make edits to improve Google Maps.

The Local Guides Clean The Map project can be a huge inspiration.

Cheers

Morten

PS the road from 9 to 10 is even longer.

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Hi @MortenCopenhagen thank you for sharing the link as a suggestion. I recently have added a few new places and added phone numbers and websites to several businesses in my neighborhood. However, adding and editing businesses may require time and effort to get correct business information and add to google maps.

I also think I need to increase my frequency of posting, reviewing, and editing. in order to reach level 9 quickly. I hear that some people spend 2 hours per day on google maps or 10 hours on the weekends on google maps. I got a busy life and I can’t spend that many hours on google maps, but perhaps I can dedicate some of my downtime on google maps.

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Hi @leung1245

As well as @MortenCopenhagen 's suggestion, you could look at other ways of contributing including adding Roads (15 points per road added) and Map Lists (10 points per eligible list + 5 points per description added), Respond to Q&As and Answer questions. While looking at cleaning the Map I suggest that you also take a look at doing some cleaning of your photo contributions. As Local Guides, at all times, we must make sure that we comply with the Community Policy and Maps User Contributed Content Policy and in particular, check that we haven’t accidentally violated:

(a) the Prohibited and Restricted Content policies and
(b) the Format Specific Criteria?

Duplicate or near duplicate photos are in violation of the policies and users who duplicate photos across locations, … will be removed.

Keep guiding and

Happy Anniversary

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@leung1245

One example:

Earlier today I made about 200+ edits to a chain of real estate agents who was not aware that adding marketing slur and street addresses in the title field (the business name) is against the guidelines. So I systematically searched for all of the branches and removed this keyword stuffing. So I made at least 1000 points in half an hour. You need to study the guidelines - also for businesses. And then it becomes very easy to spot guideline violations. Use of all caps is another easy one to fix.

Cheers

Morten

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@MortenCopenhagen i need to PM you on this edits to chains of real estates to seek your knowledge on this one

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@leung1245 we are at the same boat. Just be patient you will get there in no time

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Please do, @Erna_LaBeau

Cheers

Morten

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@leung1245 If I can be honest, I’m in the same position. With the rate of how I contribute to Maps, level 9 feels so distant. But in the end, does it really matter? I always value quality over quantity, and it’s also the same mindset I follow when contributing on Google Maps.

10 high quality contributions on Google Maps will be much helpful for others compared to 1000 low quality contributions. You can follow tips from others in this post on how to increase your contributions rate, but my advice would be not to think about points progress to much. Just enjoy the journey, keep making high quality contributions while doing your daily life as usual, and eventually you will reach the next level (literally and figuratively) :slightly_smiling_face:

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@MortenCopenhagen that is an interesting case with these real estate agents and very impressed that you made that many points so quickly. Thank you for sharing.

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@iyudhi thank you for your encouraging words! I agree what you said and I will stay positive and continue to contribute to google maps at my own pace and not worry about the points too much. But I do appreciate different people’s tips on how to earn more points.

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@leung1245 I totally agree with @iyudhi . I am also at level 8 and the road to level 9 is getting quite hard, however,I am a faithful believer that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to contributions, as I stated in my last post.5 tips to become a top Local-Guide

It would make me very happy if you guys would take a look at it and give me your opinion. And remember, you’re not alone in level 8…we could even start a Club LOL :joy:

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Iran

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Hi @leung1245

I have read and commented on your post before but had it in the back of my mind after having just posted about Is it possible to become a Level 10 during a pandemic without adding any reviews or photos? which, additional to the advice given by my other colleagues here, might inspire you. I hope it does.

Adam

@AdamGT @CaroGuiniazu @MortenCopenhagen @iyudhi Thank you all for your tips and suggestions! I went through my maps profile and cleaned up a few of my previous submissions so that there’s no duplicate photos. I also didn’t realize I could upload videos (!!!), so I was able to upload tons of videos from my recent trips. I also realized some of my past reviews didn’t have any photos attached (!!!), so I uploaded photos to those reviews too. Finally, I drove up and down the main road in my neighborhood and edited the information for many local shops. I was able to rack up 2000-3000 points from all of this. That’s major to me. Again, thank you all!

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Well done @leung1245 .

Keep guiding and cleaning

Happy 5th Anniversary

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@iyudhi this is some great perspective and advice. Thank you for sharing it. I’m in a similar boat to @leung1245 but and I’m sure that at some point we will both get over the hump, and then the insane push to level 10 will begin.

One thing that I have been trying for myself was just carving out a bit of time each week to contribute. Previously I would only add something if I went to a place for the first time, and I could create the post before I left. Now I have time to think about the content i want to talk about and make sure that I touch base on the things that I feel will really add to the community. This really helps me move my reviews into the detailed review category which really helps the points add up quick.

Once I get into a groove I can knock out many in short order and still feel like I’m putting out decent quality content. 30 minutes to an hour tend to allow me the right amount of time to get about 7 or 8 completed if I’m adding photos and a good review. If I was to enter each of these right after the visit it would take at least ten minutes for each one.