Make your places easy to find in search

The three things a search actually reads — names, categories and descriptions — and how to write each so visitors find the right place first time.

A visitor can only find what your text describes. Mapvera builds each place's search text from its name, its categories and its description — get those three right and almost every search lands on the correct place.

1. Name it the way people say it

The name is the strongest signal. Use the words a visitor would actually type, not internal codes. "Information Desk" beats "IP-01"; "North Gate" beats "Entry B". If a place is widely known by another name, work that into the name or description rather than hoping visitors guess yours.

You don't need to add synonyms for everyday facilities — Mapvera already maps loo/bathroom→toilet, drinks/beer→bar, medic/first aid→medical and many more. See How map search works for the full list.

2. Put every place in the right categories

A place's category names are part of its search text, so a café tagged Food is found by someone searching food even if the word "food" is nowhere in its name. Open a landmark and use the Groups field to assign one or more categories — hold Ctrl (or Cmd) to pick several.

Because categories feed both search and the on-map filter chips, tagging generously is one of the highest-value things you can do for findability.

3. Write a description that carries the keywords

The description is searched too, which makes it the natural home for the extra words that don't belong in a short name — brands stocked, cuisines served, services offered, alternative spellings. A stall named "Green Bowl" whose description mentions "vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free" will surface for any of those searches.

There's a dedicated guide, Write great place descriptions, on getting these right.

Show categories and descriptions in the list too

By default the list shows names only. Two settings under Settings → Directory (search / list panel) add a helpful second line under each name:

Setting	Effect
Show category under names	Adds the place's category beneath its name — useful when several places share similar names.
Show description under names	Adds a short snippet of the description beneath the name.

These only change what's shown. Categories and descriptions are searched whether or not you display them, so turning them off never hurts findability — it's purely about how tidy the list looks.

Don't hide what people search for

Ticking Hide from directory on a landmark pulls it out of search and the list completely (its map pin still opens it). Reserve it for zones and backdrops — never for a place visitors are likely to look for by name.