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How to Add Google Map to WordPress Website without Plugin

In this article, we will discuss how to add an external source to your WordPress website. Whether you have your shop or delivery pick-up point, you may need a Google Map to visualize your location and make it easy for your potential clients to find you. Let’s see How to add Google map to WordPress website without plugin. All the methods included won’t need WordPress plugins, and there is a reason for that, but we will discuss it below.

Check out the outline to navigate through the article:


Why add a Google map to the WordPress website?

Convenient for customers

Why would you even want to add a map to your website when it is enough to put your address? The clients can google that anyway, and it’s not a particularly hard thing to do, isn’t it? Still, it is an action that needs to be performed. What is the probability that your potential customer will be too lazy or too busy to google your location? It depends, but your chances of getting visited still will become lower.

The customer may forbid the idea of reaching out to your shop or pick-up point. After all, maps do not only show your exact location but also the region where you are. The client can look up and pinpoint that you live close to each other, so it is an excellent idea to reach out to you specifically. Plus, a Google map is an important visual communication element, especially when you can customize its design. Clients may search for a specific item (let’s say, a set of watercolor paints) and skim through many web stores, not even reading the text but looking at the images. One should bear in mind that people nowadays perceive information visually. So in order to attract customers’ attention, you need to put something bright and catchy.

If your website or an online store looks good enough to catch the attention, you will still need to make it easy to use. Adding Google Maps is one way to do that. Because when your customer finds the product they need, they can track down the store it is available in. Maybe you have stores in many locations, and in one of them, the product is not available, the customer won’t waste time visiting that store, and you will save your face, in this case, business image.

Increased traffic of the store

Now, this argument comes from the previous one. When your website is attractive to the customer, they will bring a good attitude with them to, for example, the store and perhaps buy even more things that they originally aimed to. In the first place, it will give you more income. But the client may also recommend this “very nice shop that is close to our neighborhood” to their friends, thus increasing the on-foot traffic of the store.

Good for SEO

Also, as the visitor won’t need to go to another site to search your location, they will spend that time on your website, possibly interacting with the map. That will show Google SEO’s that your site is relevant. This is a nice little detail to keep in mind when debating over the need to put a Google Map on your website. After all, it is not that hard to do, even without plugins.

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Why should you add a Google Map to WordPress without a plugin?

And here we come to an important point in this article: why you better not use plugins if you want to add a Google Map to WordPress? Well, there are several reasons for that. First of all, some plugins, including the ones for adding Google Maps, are paid. Yes, there are free versions, but they are little of use, and the pro plans are pricy. Still, we don’t think this is the most important con of a google Maps widget for WordPress.


What is more relevant is the efficiency of the website. Plugins affect it seriously, making your site slower, which can negatively affect your site’s reach and traffic. We advise you to avoid using plugins where it is possible, thus making the most out of your website’s efficiency potential.



Google Maps API Key

Since 2018, working with Google Maps requires authentication credentials to secure the host from unauthorized users. API keys are individualized identifications associated with your website. 

To create an API key, you should:

  1. Go to Google Maps Credentials page.
  2. Click on Create Credentials, then on the API key. That’s it!

We will show how to use API keys later in the article.

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How to add a Google map to your WordPress website?

Now that we are done with preparation let’s begin the embedding process itself.

Manually from the Google maps with the link

The first method is quite simple, whether it comes to the algorithm itself or the final look of your map:

  • First, you go to Google Maps and search your address.
  • In the left corner menu, find the share button.
  • A window will appear with the link to share, but you have to click on embed a map tag. Choose the size of your map.
  • Copy the Google map iframe code. 
  • Paste Google map iframe in your WordPress website. For that, you have to create an HTML block, where you will put the embed code. 
  • Save the changes on your page.

Using Google’s My Maps service

Google map has another service to embed maps to your WordPress website, and that is My Maps.

  • To begin with, you go to the My Maps website and create your own map.
  • You provide public access to the map in the settings.
  • There you have to generate an embed code for your map.
  • Add your Google Map API code
  • Add the created Google map iframe code to your WordPress website.
  • Save the changes.

Via the Storemapper

There is another method of adding maps using the store locator app. Basically, the Storemapper is a google map location widget for WordPress. It is easy to use and has a lot of handy features.

  • First, register in the Storemapper account.
  • On the main page, click on add locations button and find the address that you need.
  • Then, generate your API keys by clicking on the eponymous tag.
  • Then, you will get an embed code, which you can install on your website on WordPress.

Still, we do not recommend it, as you have to pay additionally. Yet, if you do want your maps to be highly customizable and use maps from companies other than Google, you may try a 7-day free trial.

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How to keep your website efficient with Google Maps?

When adding a new feature to a website, be it a google map WordPress widget or a footer widget, one should always remember about efficiency. How healthy is your website, how attractive it is to customers, how high are the SEO rankings – all about that. We have already discussed why you should not use WordPress plugins in situations where you can do without them. But it concerns the speed of your website. When it comes to SEO, there are a few handy tips in Google Maps itself you can do to improve them.

  1. Of course, having embedded Google maps is very good for SEO. If you add your business to Google maps, people will be able to click on location in maps and see your business’s site.
  2. You can also claim your listing there, so you can add a lot of information to your location. Plus, Google search engines will put you higher in the search.
  3. It is also useful to add some beautiful photos that come in a variety. Remember the rules of aesthetics – it does play an essential role in attracting customers.
  4. Provide essential information – whether it is on your website or in Google Maps.  

All of that will help you to level up your website traffic and SEO rankings, which will eventually contribute to your business. 

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Summary

As you may have noticed, in this article, we examined the benefits of Google map embedding from the point of view of people in business, offline-store owners, etc., but it can be useful for other projects as well. Adding a Google Map to your website on WordPress may seem a tedious task, but it is actually relatively easy.

It takes about seven minutes to do so. The major thing that you have to remember is that the map will not work without the Google map WordPress API key. It is also important not to use WordPress plugins if you have other opportunities to do whatever you aim to do. As you can see, there are many ways to add a google map to WordPress without a plugin, which will make your website pleasing for customers and efficient for SEO rankings.


See our three recent articles:

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