One of the main functions of a business website is to allow potential customers to find you faster. If you have a physical location, you need to make sure you give visitors all the information they need to get there. In most cases, inserting a map is more effective than just typing in your address.
Fortunately, you can embed a map in several ways. In this article, we are going to talk about how to do it using:
- A plugin for WordPress.
- The Google Maps embed feature.
- Your WordPress template.
We have a lot of information to cover, so get out the map and let’s start exploring!
Whether you’re just starting out or experienced with websites, has the plan you need for your WordPress site. Take advantage of our offers!
Why add Google Maps to WordPress
Google maps are accurate and highly interactive.
Adding a map to your website is a far superior option to simply displaying an address. With a map, people can get a quick idea of what street you’re on, what’s nearby, and how to find it.
Deciding what type of map to add is a bit more complicated. Some people only include screenshots taken from internet sources. However, that is an inferior alternative when you have options like that available for free.
Here are some of the ways embedding Google Maps in WordPress can enhance your site:
- They are interactive, so visitors can move around the map until they have a better idea of where you are located.
- You can use Google Maps to highlight any location you want, or even multiple locations.
- Visitors can switch between map and street views, allowing them to see what the place you are in looks like from the outside without leaving their home.
- Users can quickly send maps to their phones, where they can get directions on how to navigate to your location.
Of course, there are others apart from Google Maps. However, Google has the advantage of being a household name. Therefore, most of the people who visit your site are probably already familiar with how Google Maps works and it will make them more confident.
The bad news is that WordPress does not include built-in features to embed Google Maps on your site. However, that can be easily fixed using plugins, themes, or even the built-in functionality of Google Maps.
How to embed Google Maps in WordPress (3 methods)
By now, we hope you’re convinced that Google Maps is at least worth adding to your WordPress site. For the rest of this article, we’ll walk you through three ways you can do that. We’ll start with plugins, then add maps manually, and finish by looking at templates. Let’s do it!
1. Install a Google Maps plugin for WordPress
Google Maps is such a popular feature among websites that it should come as no surprise how many Google Maps plugins for WordPress are available.
For example, with you can add maps to your pages using shortcodes. Additionally, this plugin also gives you options to customize your map markers, choose from various themes for your maps, and more:
In our opinion, WP Google Maps is one of the best options as it also supports advanced features like multi-support and Content Delivery Networks (CDN).
However, there are other plugins that you can use. it’s a solid choice. This plugin supports multiple markers, provides mobile-optimized maps, and offers various customization settings:
When you add a new map using WD Google Maps, the plugin guides you through the process using an intuitive builder that includes built-in preview features.
Finally, it is also one of the best Google Maps plugins for WordPress. This particular plugin is super easy to set up. It allows you to add thumbnail-sized maps to your WordPress sidebar (or footer), which visitors can enlarge with a click:
This is a useful tool if you don’t have space on your website, as you can include widgets almost anywhere.
However, for commercial sites, we are more in favor of including full-size maps, as they are harder to ignore. With that in mind, let’s talk about how to use the WP Google Maps plugin.
First, go to your WordPress dashboard to the tab Plugins > Add New. Use the search bar to search for the plugin WP Google Maps. When you see it appear in the results, click the button Install Now which is next to it:
Activate the plugin and a new tab will appear called maps on your desk. Clicking on it will cause the plugin to display a short introduction page. However, you can press the button Skip intro and create a map to get straight to the point:
On the next page, the plugin will inform you that you need one to work. Get yours by clicking the link Create an API key now (Create an API key now):
Google will ask you to agree to its terms before you can create an app and get an API key. After accepting, Google will set up a new project for you and you can immediately generate an API key:
We are hiding the API key here as you should never share yours with other people. After all, it’s associated with your account, and you don’t want others to access it. In either case, your API key will be a long combination of letters and numbers. Once you have it, go back to your dashboard and paste it where the plugin asks for it:
You should see a success message and you can now start working on your first map:
As you can see above, the plugin takes the liberty of setting up a test map for you, which you can edit and use on your website. To do so, click the button Edit below the map name. Now the plugin will ask you to choose which platform to use for your map. Choose the Google Maps option:
The first thing you need to do is give your map a name. Then you can change its width and height. The default width of 100% will automatically create a map that scales to your site’s resolution, so it’s almost always the best option:
You will also see an option to modify the initial zoom level of your map and decide what type of layout to display. For example, you can use classic road maps or terrain maps. In most cases, the former is the best option, as it is more useful to your visitors.
Then scroll down to the section Markers . Here you can specify which location you want your map to show by typing its GPS coordinates. You can also scroll the map to the right and right-click on any location you want to mark:
below settings Address/GPS of your marker, there are also options to add simple animations to the map. For example, you can make your marker jump a little when the map loads, which looks pretty cool. You can also set your Google map to display a popup box next to your marker, which will display your full address.
When you’re ready, click the button save bookmark and the page will reload. Then press the button Save Map in the middle of the screen, and the plugin will save all changes.
You can embed the Google maps for WordPress that you create with this plugin anywhere on your site. You can find those shortcodes inside the tab maps on your desktop to the right of each entry:
That is all! You have just inserted your first Google Map into WordPress. With this plugin (and others like it), you can create as many maps as you want.
2. Use the Google Maps Embed feature
If you don’t want to use a plugin to create Google maps in WordPress, you can do it manually. There are built-in built-in functions that you can use to embed Google Maps in WordPress. However, a much easier alternative is to use a service that allows you to generate embed codes for Google Maps on the fly.
is a perfect example. It allows you to search for addresses using the default Google Maps interface and adjust the size and zoom level you want your maps to have:
Once you have configured this series of settings, you can click the button Get HTML-Code and the site will generate a snippet of HTML code that you can add to your website.
Copy that code now, then head back to your WordPress dashboard. Next, open the editor for the page you want to add your Google map to. Select the tab Textwhich supports HTML code:
Paste the code where you want your map to appear on the page. Then save your changes and take a look at your page on the front-end:
The downside of this approach is that you will have to generate new embed codes for each map you want to add to your website. On the plus side, is that once you add a map via HTML, you will be able to see it in the tab Visual from your publisher:
This will allow you to continue working on your pages, without having to do everything with the page editor. Text.
3. Add maps through your WordPress theme
Google maps are so popular in WordPress that there are even some themes that allow you to add them to your site with the built-in functionality. This means that you will not have to use any plugins or add HTML code to your site.
However, finding a theme that supports this feature can take a bit of work. In most cases, only premium themes will include this option, so this approach may require you to spend a bit of money. However, if you’re going to buy a premium theme, you probably won’t go for it just because it supports Google maps.
If you don’t know where to start looking, multipurpose WordPress themes are probably your first stop. These types of themes include a lot of features, so you can use them to create any type of website you can imagine.
One of the most popular multipurpose themes is called . This theme offers a number of benefits, including its own visual page builder:
When you create pages using , you can divide them using rows and columns. You can then add specific modules within the resulting slots:
If you have a good eye, you’ll notice that one of the modules in the screenshot above is called map. Click on it and the theme will ask you to enter your. In case you don’t have one, we already covered the generation process in the first method of this article.
After pasting your API key, you can choose the location your map will display and add as many markers as you like:
Other examples of themes that allow you to embed Google Maps in WordPress out of the box are , and . It’s a very popular feature among real estate and travel themes, but you can find it available for other types of themes if you look around.
conclusion
There is no better way to…
Facebook Comments
Disqus