{"id":4652,"date":"2022-02-25T19:47:04","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T19:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpmudev.whitespark.ca\/interactive-local-pack-map\/"},"modified":"2024-10-28T16:03:28","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T22:03:28","slug":"interactive-local-pack-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/blog\/interactive-local-pack-map\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Pack Update Allows Searchers to Interact with the Featured Map"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Searchers can now interact with the map featured in the local pack. The map now displays zoom in and out buttons, as well as a button that opens the local finder for additional results. What\u2019s most interesting is the freedom to interact with the map. By hovering over a business\u2019s pin on the map, the searcher will see the business name, rating and review count &#8211; and not just for the three top ranking businesses featured in the local pack. <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Interacting.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"\" height=\"\" \/>Manipulation of the map does not change the three businesses listed in the local pack.<\/p>\n<p>The local pack traditionally features the top 3 local results and a Google Map of the local area. This new option to interact with the map in the local pack follows the <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/google-rolling-out-new-map-and-local-interface-in-search-377169\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">December 2021 redesign<\/a> of the Local Pack.<\/p>\n<h4>The previous version of the local pack:<\/h4>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/old-pack.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"\" height=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<h4>The redesigned local pack, as it appeared January 2022:<\/h4>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/redesigned-pack-2021.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"\" height=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<h4>Today &#8211; the local pack with interactive map:<\/h4>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/today-pack.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"\" height=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Map Navigation<\/h3>\n<p>There are now buttons on the map to zoom in and out of the map. The searcher can also drag to navigate around the map and to other localities.<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Zoom.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"\" height=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Access to the Local Finder<\/h3>\n<p>In the top right corner of the map is a button that opens the local finder.<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/OpeningLF.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"\" height=\"\" \/>The new functionality of the desktop local pack leans closer toward the current mobile and app experiences.<\/p>\n<h2>How does this affect my local SEO strategy?<\/h2>\n<p>Your best chance of turning the searcher using this feature into a customer is still to <a href=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/local-pack-finder-individual-ranking-factors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">increase your local pack\/finder ranking<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/blog\/whitesparks-guide-to-optimizing-google-my-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">optimize your Google Business Profile<\/a>. But this update does once again shine a light on the <a href=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/blog\/why-google-reviews-are-important\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">importance of Google reviews<\/a>. Businesses that aren\u2019t ranking in the top 3 positions may still have a pin on the map, and now a searcher can hover over that pin and see the business\u2019s review stats at a glance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Searchers can now interact with the map featured in the local pack. The map now displays zoom in and out buttons, as well as a button that opens the local finder for additional results. What\u2019s most interesting is the freedom to interact with the map. By hovering over a business\u2019s pin on the map, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4660,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"The static map featured alongside local packs is now interactive, with the ability to move around, zoom in and out, and interact with business pins.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"classification":[],"class_list":["post-4652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4652"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5091,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4652\/revisions\/5091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4652"},{"taxonomy":"classification","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/classification?post=4652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}