One of the finest ways to emphasize your business locations is to use a map on your website so that users can easily find the quickest route. Google Maps widget is such a helpful widget for any business that wants to add a map location widget to a site.
In this article, you will find the top five free Google Maps widgets to use on your site.
5 Tips to consider when using Google Maps on a website
- Pinpoint all business locations – If your business has multiple locations, make sure to add them so Google Maps will suggest the closest site based on the user’s location. Most Google Maps widgets listed below support it.
- Embed on suitable locations – Some Google Maps plugins for websites might cause the site’s loading speed. Therefore, embed it only in suitable places such as your site’s “Contact page.” Additionally, you can test using a service such as Google Tag Manager or Zaraz by Cloudflare to load the Google Maps widget’s script asynchronously to find out the impact on page speed.
- Set map controls – Make the Google Maps widgets easy to use by enabling map controls such as map types (roadmap, satellite, terrain), zoom, scale, rotate, fullscreen and more.
- A/B test – Try different map colors, widget placements, etc., to determine the performance.
- Use other conversion boosting elements – Suppose you have set up your business’s Google My Business profile. So, why not embed Google Reviews on website?
Best Google Maps widgets for Your Website
Note: You might have to create an API for Google Maps on your Google Cloud platform, which might cost based on your usage.
ElfSight Google Maps Widget
ElfSight is a popular service that provides different plugins for websites such as Event Calendar with CTA button, Yelp reviews, Coronavirus stats, Audio player, and Testimonials slider.
Its Google Maps widget is filled with many features and lets you seamlessly create custom responsive Google Maps widgets for your website.
Key features
- Make your business easy-to-reach with detailed contact info – ElfSight’s Google Maps widget lets you show different types of contact info on the map: Add markers and display maximum details in their info windows, including phone, address, opening hours, and more; unite all your locations into a single list on Location panel for user-friendly view.
- Automatic route search and time calculation – Your website visitors will be able to see the most efficient walking or driving route and route calculation on the directions panel without leaving your page.
- Five map layers – POI (Points of Interest) (a dedicated geographic entity such as a milestone, an institute, a heritage site, or a corporate office), Traffic, Transit, Bike, and Street View. You can enable all items on a map.
- Multiple locations and 50+ icons – Add an unlimited number of markers to your map: stores, restaurants, public places, and parks – choose from a library of 50+ categories, each with its icon.
- Map controls – ElfSight Google directions map widget lets you enable controls such as map type (satellite, terrain, roadmap), Streetview, zoom, scale, etc.,
- Custom Google Maps styles (JSON) – There are four built-in styles (Default, Silver, Night, Retro), and you can create a custom color map or add one using JSON. You can create a custom Google Maps style through Google Data Studio (here is a tutorial) or Snazzymaps.
- Actions on marker click – Open info window (a panel containing details you specify), Redirect to URL (best to direct users to appropriate pages such as booking or sign up page), None (nothing will happen)
- Animations – Take readers’ attention with marker animations.
- Embed on any site – No matter whether you use WordPress, Google Sites, Blogger, Brizy, Weebly, Wix, Webflow, Squarespace, Clickfunnels, or any HTML site, you can easily install the Google Maps location widget by placing the code snippet.
- Statistics and site control – Find out how many views each widget has received and on which sites widgets were embedded. You can block sites from your ElfSight dashboard easily – An excellent option for agencies.
Google Maps widget generator
Create your own Google map widget by registering your free account from here.
Here’s a video on using ElfSight to create a Google Maps widget for website.
Pricing
ElfSight has two pricing models. Single app pricing and all app pricing. Pricing for the Google Maps plugin only is shown below.
- Lite – FREE – 1 website, 200 views per month, 1 widget, ElfSight logo
- Basic – $5/month – Unlimited websites, 5,000 views per widget per month, 1 widget, No ElfSifght logo
- Pro – $10/month – Unlimited websites, 50,000 views per widget per month, 3widgets, No ElfSifght logo
- Premium – $20/month – Unlimited websites, Unlimited views, 9 widgets, No ElfSifght logo
All apps packages include the Google Maps widget and 80+ other apps, such as the All-in-one reviews widget. Pricing details are shown below.
Click here to try ElfSight Google Maps widget.
Powr Maps plugin
Powr is a site like ElfSight that provides powerful plugins to upgrade a site. Currently, there are over 40 different apps on the Powr apps library. Countdown clock for emails, pricing table maker and count-up timer are some of them.
Like most Powr apps, the Powr Maps plugin is feature-rich, and unlike the ElfSight Google Maps widget, Powr does not require a Google Maps API key.
Key features
- Two map providers – Open Street Map or Google Maps.
- Up to 5 location pins – Pin point up to 5 locations on your Google Maps widget.
- Interactive maps for any location – Users will be able to zoom, scale, change map type, etc., directly from your site.
- Location panel for quick navigation – List all the locations you want to highlight, and people can click on each item and see the exact location, distance, and route from their current location.
- Nine unique display styles – Adjust widget style to resonate with your website theme.
- Supports text in any language – Localize widget with custom texts
- Custom fonts, colors, backgrounds, and more – Select from 10+ different fonts, change font size, text colors, and more.
- Customize widget size – Adjust the widget’s width.
- Custom CSS – Powr lets you style the Google Maps plugin with custom CSS.
- Custom JavaScript – Execute JavaScript codes when plugin loads on a site.
- Install on any platform – Easily embed the Google Maps location plugin on any platform by copying and pasting the HTML code snippet.
Here is how to create a free Google Maps widget for a website with Powr Maps plugin.
Demo
Pricing
Powr’s Google Maps plugin is free of cost. However, you might have to upgrade to a paid plan to use extra features such as mass location import via CSV and displaying the nearest location.
- Free – 5 locations, Powr branding on the widget
- Starter – $5.49/month – 10 locations, search bar, custom pin, display nearest location, No Powr branding
- Pro – $13.49/month – 50 locations, search bar, custom pin, custom CSS & JS, display nearest location, mass import via CSV, No Powr branding
- Business – $89.99/month – Unlimited locations, search bar, custom pin, custom CSS & JS, display nearest location, mass import via CSV, No Powr branding
Click here to try the Powr Map plugin.
WP Maps
In case you are using WordPress to power your site and looking for a maps plugin, WP Maps by flippercode is an excellent one with tons of features and customizable options.
Key features
- Unlimited maps and locations – Pin unlimited locations with various information on unlimited maps.
- Customize markers – Assign your own markers to categories or choose colorful markers from 500+ readymade markers from the Maps Icon collection.
- Four map types – Roadmap, Satellite, Hybrid, Terrain
- Street view – Enable street view, Pov (Point of view) heading, and Pov Pitch for street view.
- Map Stylization – Custom Google Maps from Snazzymaps.com.
- Search control on frontend map to search location
- Multilingual support, 45° imagery functionality, and more.
WP Maps is a free maps plugin for WordPress. Its paid version (PRO) includes more features such as importing/exporting locations, direction and route suggestions for visitors, and multisite support.
Snazzy Maps
Snazzy Maps is an online service that lets you generate stylish Google Maps widgets online for free. All styles are licensed under creative commons and are completely free to use.
Key features
- Style library – There are thousands of Google maps widget styles, each with a favorite score based on people’s choice. You can explore thousands of styles, get their JSON codes, and use the styles when building embeddable Google Map widgets.
- Build own Google map widget styles – Step by step process makes it easier to create your own style.
- Build a map – Use a map style, set widget’s size and locations, add markers, customize language, controls, and behavior settings and generate source code for Google Map.
- Plugins – Use the WordPress plugin to build and install Google Maps inside your WordPress site.
SnazzyMaps is a free website that lets you explore Google map widget styles, create your own styles, and generate embeddable Google Map code for the website.
WordPress Maps Plugin for Google Maps
If you are using WordPress to power your site and looking for a maps plugin, the Google Maps widget plugin by WebFactory Ltd is excellent.
Key features
- Custom Google Map size
- Choose any Google map type – Road map, Satellite map, Terrain map, Hybrid map.
- Google map color schemes
- Link type – lightbox map, custom URL
- Control zoom level
- Set Google map language, custom pin icon, shortcodes to embed Google map anywhere on your WordPress site, and more.
WebFactory LTD provides another plugin called “Map Block for Google Maps” for the Gutenberg block editor.
The plugin is free of cost. There is a Pro version that includes more features.
Final Words on Best Google Maps widgets for websites
Using the correct widgets in the right places can turn poorly performing campaigns into break-even or profitable ones. Our previous articles shared how to add a custom PayPal Pay button to the website, countdown timer widgets for websites, etc., to improve your sites’ conversion rates. Likewise, using a Google Maps widget on a website is particularly helpful for local and international businesses.
Personally, I recommend using a service such as ElfSight and Powr since those provide more widget types that will come in handy in the future. Check out this ElfSight vs. Powr review for key differences, pros, and cons, etc.,