How many of you know Google Maps?
Wrong Question?
Must have asked how frequently do you use Google maps to find a location.
Google Maps have made life easy, you don’t have to worry about forgetting the route. It offers the best possible direction to reach a destination. You don’t have to spend too much time asking around for directions. All you have to do is set the destination you want to reach and google maps will direct you. There are many navigation apps available, but smartphone users mostly prefer Google maps. The reason why most people prefer it is because it provides with clear directions that even non-drivers can navigate around comfortably, offers preferred features and has a user-friendly interface.
Many people have a problem with navigation. But thanks to Google maps you don’t have to worry about taking a wrong turn or entering a wrong lane. Travelling is now easy and comfortable, as you don’t have to worry about getting lost in the new city or finding a destination. Businesses are also integrating maps to make it easy for their customers or clients to find them. More than 70% of smartphone users use navigation apps. Google maps dominate other navigation apps. You can get directions for walking, biking, driving or public transit. It shows the best direction in blue.
Did you know you can create a custom map on Google maps? You can customize it as you please, as the possibilities are endless. Imagine how convenient and comfortable it would be to view all your favourite or important locations on one single map. Sounds cool right?
Here are ways to create a custom Google Map.
Google maps website
If you want to create a custom Google map, follow the steps below.
Step1: Open Google maps in your device
Step2: Click on the menu button present on the top-left corner.
Step3: Select Your places in the menu, then click on the map tab.
Step4: In maps click on the create map button, Once your map is created name it and add a description.
Step5: Customise your map by adding marks of your desired locations. You can label them, change colours or shapes, add descriptions and images.
Step6: Add walking, driving or biking paths between the two destinations.
Step7: To add additional layers, click on the Add layer button. Adding layers is beneficial if your map has lots of paths and features.
Create using maptive
If you need to map excel data, you can do that with a tool like Maptive. Follow these steps to create your map:
Step1: Go to Maptive website, if you already have an account, log in. If you don’t then sign-up.
Step2: Once you have finished logging-in or sign-up then select create new map button.
Step3: In the create a new map page, name your page, add the description and then press continue.
Step4: This software allows you to select your data source also. You can upload an excel sheet, use google sheets, copy-paste data or add locations manually too.
Step5: Once you have added the data then click on place a marker on the map button.
Step6: Move on the map and click on the location you want to mark, if you want to add more markers repeat step 5 and 6.
Step7: Once you have added all the markers you can share your map by clicking on share map.
Conclusion
If you have good programming skills you can create a custom map using Google API. You can use either mapping software such as maptive or Google maps website to create a map, it only depends on your needs. Mapping softwares provide you with lots of functionalities that will allow you to customize your map. If you want a basic simple map then create it using google maps website. But, if you need a custom map that is not available on any software then you should create the map using Google API. Next time you’re creating a custom Google map you can use the above-mentioned methods.
