Location Sensor Can Help Visitors Find Your Store

Posted by CiCi in Research, Store Locator, Store Locator Plus, Web Presence

Finding  Locations Near You

How important is it for people to find a location nearest them?  “Near Me” has been a top-ranked search term on Google for the past seven years. This may be the number one reason to use a location sensor.  Research indicates that the common phrases of “near me” in Google searches is a top-ranked query.   The phrase “handyman near me” might return a  cloud based app that in turn redirects  the users search to some  popular apps but how does your browser,  Google Maps or other platform know where you are?

Location Sensor

Enter location sensor, a browser-based tool that detects where a user is at the time of search.  On GPS-enabled mobile devices it returns the precise location using the device’s built-in GPS sensor.  For the Store Locator Plus users the location sensor can be enabled by checking a box under General Settings.   WordPress Plugin users will need the Power add on.   MySLP service users will need to be subscribed to the Power, Professional, or Enterprise plan.

Mobile App using location sensor
Location sensors in mobile apps can guide people to your store.

Using HTTPS Improves Sensor Performance

Google Chrome’s v 50 and higher ( the most popular browser with the largest market share  at this time)  requires site urls to be served over a secured site before it will allow the location of the user to be transmitted.  They have stated that location is sensitive data and determined that HTTPS versus HTTP  be  required to protect the privacy of your users’ location data.  Other popular browsers , such as Mozilla Firefox, may submit a pop-up box asking the user to grant permission for their location to be known.

In short, if your site is using the location sensor feature it must get an SSL certificate and be serving pages on an https address.   Many browser disable multiple features if you are not a secure site, including the location sensor.   It won’t be long before ALL browsers disable location sensor support if you are not hosting an https site.

Location Sensors Can Increase Sales

If you have a physical location that counts on people walking in the door to make a sale, adding Google Maps and employing the location sensor can have a notable impact on your walk-in traffic.    Your first step is to get an SSL certificate on your site so you can serve secure pages; This also helps boost your Google search rank.   Once you have that completed put Google Maps software that supports the locations sensor on your site.     Add a couple of posts to your site that relate to your business such as “Boutique Near Me” and drop the map code on that post.   It won’t happen overnight, but as your site starts to generate traffic the map will lead people to your store.

 

Have questions?   Contact us.

Store Locator Category Checkboxes

Posted by lcleveland in MySLP SaaS, Store Locator Plus, WordPress, WPSLP

Store Locator Plus adds the ability to select categories of locations using checkboxes with the Premier add on and Power add on installed.

For WordPress plugin users, you will need an active Premier Subscription to enable the new feature.  It will also require SLP, Power, and Premier to be updated to version 4.8.4 or higher.

MySLP Enterprise level users will be getting these updates in the 17.10 upgrade to the service later this month.

Premier + Power = Category checkboxes with 4.8.4
Read More “Store Locator Category Checkboxes”

Store Locator Software Updates

Posted by lcleveland in Map Software, MySLP SaaS, Store Locator, Store Locator Plus, WPSLP

In preparation for feature updates to our Premier (checkbox category selectors anyone?), Power, and Experience add ons, the free Store Locator Plus base plugin was updated to version 4.8.4 today.   All of the updates including the premier add on features will be rolled out in MySLP 17.10 to our monthly service users later this month.

Speaking of the MySLP service, for those that haven’t already heard, it is a version of Store Locator Plus that runs on any website or mobile application that supports embedded JavaScript.  That includes WordPress.   Our servers handle all the locator updates, location storage, and the overhead of managing the plugins.   The only thing you need on your WordPress site is to paste a JavaScript embed code in text mode while editing a page or post and the locator magically appears.   You don’t even need the Store Locator Plus plugin or add ons to make it happen.

Back to the Store Locator Plus WordPress plugin update for those that like to have full control and manage their own software and websites…

The following updates have been made in Store Locator Plus 4.8.4:

  • Fix apostrophe in description on editor.
  • Fix admin page detector. Fixes category icon/marker selector for the Power Add On.
  • Fix the admin pages related settings highlight.
  • Clean up some of the admin locations interface elements. Use jQuery base dialogues from Theme Roller.
  • Simplified object loader to reduce overhead.
  • Minor performance improvement on admin page saves.
  • Directory Builder no longer supported, it is part of the Power Add On.
  • Experience 4.8.3 or higher is required.
  • Dropped slp_save_map_settings_inputs filter.
  • A half-dozen old-school style map markers (pin_red, marker, icon_entertainment, bubble_person, box_teal_airport, box_gray_house, arrow) have been removed. They can be added to WP media manager or a newer style selected in its place.

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