An elementary piece of furniture for most web sites is the location map. Often what is offered up is pretty to look at but seriously underwhelming in terms of informational content and functionality. Here’s a good tip and it won’t cost you a penny.
One of the reasons for online maps being so poor is that bespoke ones can be expensive to commission. But even then, what the user is presented with is ultimately a collection of pixels that form an image that’s difficult to relate to in any meaningful way.
So ditch coloured blobs and arrows for something a bit more whiz bangy by simply inserting a link to Google Maps.
Go to http://maps.google.co.uk and enter your business name and postcode. In most instances this will instantly retrieve a road map and details of your location, along with options to get driving directions to and from the target location and to conduct a further search of the general location. This is an example of a Google Map for HIE’s headquarters in Inverness.
If your business can’t be found, hit the back button to return to the Google Maps start page. At the foot of the left hand column is a link for business owners to add or edit their business. This process for obvious reasons requires verification and can take a few weeks from initial submission to the entry appearing.
To submit a business entry it is necessary to sign in with a Google account to access the Local Business Center (sic) and other Google services. If you don’t have one, register – it’s free and doesn’t take long. Once in, the entry submission process is straightforward but necessitates a delay as paperwork is sent to the business address for written confirmation by return before a business is listed.
That part sussed then, you should now be looking at a location map of your premises. The scale is typically quite small, so to zoom out, click and drag the slider tool on the left of the map image until you are happy with the scale. You can move the map around by clicking on the map image and dragging the hand cursor around or by using the pointer arrows immediately above the slider tool.
On the top right hand corner of the map image are three buttons. The first one presents a traditional road map view while the satellite button changes the image to a picture taken from low earth orbit. It’s pot luck with the scale. Some areas of the Highlands and Islands appear to be of more interest for satellites than others. Inverness, for instance, is zoomable to about weather map dimensions while Lerwick and Stornoway command views where it’s possible to pick out individual cars on the roads and boats berthed in the harbour. (A better scale and resolution may be available via Google Earth but this requires a software download to view the imagery. More about this another time.) The third button is marked Hybrid and is, as the name suggests, a cross between a road map and a satellite image.
Okay, when you are happy with the view and the scale of your map image, there’s another vital click to make. Just outside the map image and directly above the Hybrid button is a text link saying ‘Link to this page’. Click this link and the address in the browser bar changes to the precise location of the image being shown. Copy and paste this new link, which is about two foot long, into Notepad and store safely. If you were to copy the URL in the browser bar without having first clicked ‘Link to this page’, the hyperlink would point to the Google Maps home page.
The big advantage of sending people to Google Maps is that they can quickly get their bearings, and by clicking the ‘Get directions’ link obtain door-to-door driving directions to your establishment and then print out or email to themselves the directions and map image. It may be a good idea to explain this on your site or alternatively link to a map image with driving directions from a central point which site visitors can edit themselves. See this page for driving directions from Dingwall to HIE’s Cowan House HQ as an example.
Someone living on Old Evanton Road, Dingwall could go to the page, replace Dingwall with their postcode or address and obtain updated door-to-door directions, the mileage and estimated journey time. Clicking the reverse directions link would then provide the directions for the way home, while the option to add in a destination gives the user the opportunity to make a detour on the return leg.
Now, do you still think that three colour line drawing you call a map still cuts the mustard?
Next time: My Maps, Google Earth and other map tricks and hints
