2023 was a big year for the MetaLocator team. The software was constantly evolving to help our customers grow their businesses, and 2023 has been a great time to do that.
Some statistics from our development team include:
301 Closed User Stories and 1454 commits to the code base have yielded hundreds of new features, fixes and improvements. This included a total of 17 million lines of code added, and 18 million removed.
MetaLocator itself supported a total of 146,815,372 total user actions, such as searches, leads, calls and more.
Below are some of our favorite features and updates this past year.
1) HIPAA Compliance
In 2023, MetaLocator took a large step forward in servicing customers in the medical field by becoming compliant with HIPAA laws. HIPAA is a series of federal regulations that requires national standards for protecting sensitive information regarding patient health. Security and data privacy has always been at the forefront of MetaLocator’s business, this achievement puts MetaLocator in an even stronger position to work with enterprises and large corporations that require HIPAA compliance.
2) Display Response Time
This feature displays a dealer’s average response time. This data can give customers an idea of how quickly they will hear back on their inquiries, this can help temper expectations on response times. Response time can also help customers prioritize which dealers to contact. Customers can see which dealers reply the fastest, this also provides incentive for dealers to respond faster to inquiries to boost their average response time displayed.
3) SOC2 Type II Certified
In 2022, MetaLocator successfully completed a SOC2 Type I audit. This independent audit is done to ensure that MetaLocator’s data handling processes are all secure. This year, MetaLocator completed the next step by becoming SOC2 Type II certified. This certification differs from the original by requiring a company to be observed over an extended period of time to prove that they not only meet the requirements, but can uphold them over extended periods of time. The biggest benefit for customers of a dealer locator that is SOC 2 Type II certified is that it provides assurance that the locator services company has implemented effective controls and safeguards to protect the data of the consumer.
4) DNI
DNI (Dynamic Number Insertion) creates a way for MetaLocator users to track phone calls. Specifically, DNI measures quantity, duration, source and status of phone calls to numbers listed on a Web page. It works by swapping in special tracking phone numbers in a business’ profile as shown on a Web page, or in a locator. DNI can help a business owner track the return on investment of your locator software and marketing efforts. The dynamic number insertion helps businesses measure the number of calls generated by the locator software. Administrators can also see which locations are receiving the most (or least) call, providing additional insight into the business.
5) Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Integration
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) was introduced in 2023, users can use GA4 in tandem with MetaLocator. MetaLocator users can utilize GA4 to track events beyond just page loads. GA4 can track events in MetaLocator such as Click to Call or Open Marker Window, which don’t require a page load action. GA4 can track user behavior, following how users are interacting with the locator and how they navigate it. This can provide insights to the owner to better understand what features of the locator work best for the customers and how they prefer to utilize its features. GA$ has the ability to track many other valuable insights for businesses, one of them being conversion rates. By tracking the number of purchases while tracking the number of users in the locator, business owners can see how many customers the locator is pulling in.
6) Unsubscribe from Lead Emails
Unsubscribe from Lead Emails is a feature that gives people in your network the option to no longer receive your business’ lead emails. There can be multiple reasons why one may no longer want or need these emails, such as they no longer stock your product. There can be multiple other reasons. By weeding out the people who no longer want your leads, businesses can actually increase their response rates. Other reasons this feature is beneficial is that it can signal a relationship issue between your business and a partner. Seeing the partner unsubscribe from leads could help trigger some sort of relationship maintenance action.
7) Custom Map Colors and Styles
This year MetaLocator took custom designed locators to the next level by introducing the map colors and styles feature. This allows users in Pro accounts and higher the ability to custom control all of the colors in the map.This includes water, land cover, global land, land use, and transportation colors. This feature gives MetaLocator users multiple new advantages, one of which is increased brand presence. Users can have all elements in the locator aligned with their brand colors, making the locator integrate better with the website as well as looking more professional. MetaLocator’s interface builder makes it simple for users to adjust and change colors as they see fit.
8) Multiple Hours Ranges
A feature particularly useful to our international customers, MetaLocator supports a specially formatted field that allows users to create multiple ranges of hours. These hour ranges are additional to the standard open hours. For example, if your business has a brief closure for lunch, additional ranges can be specified and displayed in the locator.
9) Search With Product Image
A new visual feature for users in 2023 is the Search with Product Image. This gives users the opportunity to filter in-stock product items by selecting images of the products themselves. The Category Images in Search feature allows users to be directed to the nearest store with their desired product faster, while also presenting a unique and aesthetically pleasing search form.
10) Re-Send Leads
In 2023, MetaLocator gave admins the ability to re-send leads to partners in their business network. This provides the opportunity for unacknowledged leads to be re-sent. Re-sending leads also allows for emails that were deleted, lost, filtered, or forgotten to be re-delivered. This feature gives leads another opportunity to to be picked up, in turn, this can improve business overall.
As MetaLocator looks forward to 2024, our mission is to continue bringing our customers the most value to their locator software as we can. 2023 was a year full of valuable new features and updates to help our customers grow and there are no signs of that slowing down into the new year.
Check out MetaLocator’s software in action by visiting our demos page, featuring demonstrations of our locator software in various configurations.
To learn more about MetaLocator and our products, visit our products page.
Keep up with the latest on MetaLocator by following us on social media.