Last month, Google sent shock waves throughout the local search engine optimization industry when they separated out Google My Business data from Google+ company page data.
What does this mean for small business owners and local search marketers? The practical implication is that there is no longer an easy, one-click way to send happy customers from a web page directly to a Google My Business page where those clients can post a review. As of last month, a company’s Google+ page no longer includes an About tab with a “write a review” link.
You may be scouring the Internet right now for a solution to this problem and have stumbled on this blog post. Congrats! We have a way that works (for now anyway) – and you can get back to your online customer review and reputation management campaigns without missing a beat.
Let’s get started.
How do you generate a one-click link to your Google maps page?
- Run a search for your business name or a targeted keyword search on Google Search until you can find your business listing in a 3-pack listing (see screenshot in #1 below)
- Click through to your listing on the Google maps results page
- Get the maps CID code from the Google url in the browser bar or via the alternate Google CID extraction method below
- Insert the ID at the end of this link: https://maps.google.com/?cid=
- Test the link and see if it redirects to your maps page. Boom.
Here is an example:
OK, I am going to do an example using Duct Tape Marketing, and be sure to read how Duct Tape Marketing has helped my digital agency grow.
1. Run a Google search on your business name or a targeted keyword phrase. Find your business listing in a 3-pack like this:
2. Click through to your listing on the Google maps page view:
3. Get the maps CID code from the Google url in the browser bar:
4. Copy the CID Code and add it to this url structure: https://maps.google.com/?cid=
https://maps.google.com/?cid=11200367961685677579
5. Test the link and see if it redirects to your maps page. If it get to your maps listing page (even if it redirects), it works.
https://maps.google.com/?cid=11200367961685677579
6. Scroll down to the bottom left side of the page (in desktop vied) and you will see the familiar “WRITE A REVIEW” in the bottom left hand corner.
The Link Test Didn’t Work?
Some people may have trouble getting to a 3-pack result that shows their business listing, thus cannot get to the maps view page needed to the CID code.
If the above method doesn’t work, you probably have the wrong CID code, and there are so many numeric code strings in various Google urls that its easy to pull wrong code if you can’t get to the right page. There are several different Google Maps page views, but you need to get to the one above to be able to pull the CID directly from the url.
There is a sure fire way to get your CID every time, but it takes a teensy weensy bit of technical skills to get it, but really its pretty easy:
Alternate Google CID Code Extraction Method
Here is quick summary of how to get a Google CID number, with a live example below:
- Run a search for the company name in Google Maps search
- Get to the single view listing in Google Maps
- View the source code of the page like this: replace http:// with view-source: in the browser bar (see example below)
- On the source code view, run a find on page search for “ludocid”
- Get to the string that starts with “ludocide\\”
- Copy the CID code and then use the method above
Example For How To Get The Google CID For A Business On Google Maps
1. Run a search for the company name in Google Maps search
2. Get to the single view listing in Google Maps like this:
3. View the source code:
4. Do a page search for “ludocid“, then get the number after the the uoo3 and before the #lrd.
For more of our best local search engine optimization tip and tactics, download our eBook: Local SEO.
Do you have a better way to get a direct link or have comments on Google My Business related to this post? Let us know.
