How To Display Events With Google Maps On Your Website

Did you know your event location plays a pivotal role in encouraging people to attend it? You might be surprised to know that people even take the decision to attend or not attend a particular event based on its venue. That is why displaying event location with Google Maps on your events website can be beneficial for you and your attendees.

Google Maps adds amazing visuals to your WordPress site that makes it easy for your attendees to find the exact location of your event.

In addition to that, it lets website visitors identify their nearby events with ease; in simple words, Google Maps can be an advantageous addition to your events website. Now the question is how to add it to your WordPress website. Read this article thoroughly to get all the answers related to adding Google Maps to your WordPress events site.

Can you use Google Maps in WordPress?

It is easy to use Google Maps on your WordPress events website with the help of a WordPress plugin. We recommend the Google Maps addon from WP Event Manager for your WordPress website. The plugin is enriched with some amazing features that highly improves user experience on your website. To use this, you need an API key about which you will learn in our next segments.

Why use Google Maps on my events website?

• Currently Google Maps is one of the most popular navigation apps in the world. 
• It makes it easy for your website visitors and attendees to find the event location with ease. 
• It also helps people find nearby events. 
• Adding Google Maps to your WordPress events site can also be beneficial for its SEO as it increases visibility in local searches.

How much does it cost to add Google Maps to a WordPress events website?

Adding Google Maps to your WordPress events website is affordable when you use a WordPress plugin like WP Event Manager. Its Google Maps extension is not only available at a reasonable cost but now you can also purchase it in a bundle along with other useful plugins. The pricing structure for all premium addons of WP Event Manager is built to make the products available to businesses of all sizes.

As mentioned earlier, you need an API key to start working with the Google Maps plugin. So how to get the API key? To find out the answer go through our next segment.

How to get the API key for Google Maps?

An API key is created to protect Google Maps platform products from unauthorized uses. It is nothing but a unique identifier that validates requests related to your project for the purpose of using it. You can create an API key using your Google Console account.

Once you get the API key you can start working with the Google Maps addon. As the Google Maps plugin is an extension to WP Event Manager which is a free WordPress event Management plugin, you need to install the plugin as well.

The installation process for all the premium addons offered by WP Event Manager including Google Maps is the same.

How to add Google Maps to your WordPress site?

After getting the API key, installing WP Event Manager and Google Maps, here are the steps you need to take to add Google Maps to your WordPress site.

1. Insert the API Key into the backend of your website and follow the path, WP-admin >> Event Manager >> Settings >> General >> Google API Key.
2. Save changes.

Before making the Google Maps addon active on your website, you need to make some changes in the Google API Library. Follow the below-mentioned steps for that:

1. Open your Google Console Account.
2. Go to APIs & Services >> Dashboard.
3. Click on the “+ENABLE APIS AND SERVICES” link showing at top of the page, you will be on the “Welcome to the API Library” page.
4. Here, enable the following APIs: Maps JavaScript API, Geocoding API, Geolocation API, Places API.

The Google Maps addon gives you two options to display your event location on your website:

1. All events in one Map

Here are the steps you need to take to display all your events in a single map:

• Go to WP-admin >> Pages >> Add New.
• Add this below mentioned shortcode into the text area of the page.

[events_map maps_type="ROADMAP" height="100px" width="100px" categories="Comma separate s

• Maps_type: Mention the map type like roadmap, satellite, hybrid or terrain. Click here for more info.
• Height: Set the map height in pixels.
• Width: Set the map width in pixels.
• Categories: Give category slug separated by comma.
• Event_types: Give event type slug separated by comma.
• Featured: Featured events true / false.
• Location: Set location value (ex: Berlin,London).
• Keywords: Set Keywords value (ex: party,meeting).

2. Single event location map

Using the Google Maps plugin, you can display Google maps on your event detail page as well.

1. Go to WP-admin >> Pages >> Add New.
2. Here, add below shortcode into text area of the page.

[single_event_location_map event_id="123" maps_type="ROADMAP" height="100px" width="100px"]

• Event_id – Give a particular event id.
• Maps_type – Add the map types like roadmap, satellite, hybrid or terrain. Click here for more info.
• Height – Set the map height in pixels.
• Width – Set the map width in pixels.
• Event_id – Give a particular event id.

The Google Maps addon offered by WP Event Manager is one of the best WordPress plugins that you can use to add Google Maps to your events website. You can explore the knowledge base section of our Google Maps addon to get a detailed guidance on how you can use the plugin and what the are the steps you need to follow for each function.

The best WordPress plugin for adding Google Maps to our events website

While searching for a reliable plugin to add Google Maps to your WordPress site, you will come across multiple plugins to choose from. So what makes the Google Maps addon the best among all? It is because of its features.

1. It lets you highlight your event location with an indicator image or icon on your website which is known as Google Map Marker. 
2. It simplifies the process of searching event location through the Google Maps autocomplete feature.
3. It allows your website visitors to search for events in a particular place through location filters. 
4. Users can also select their preferred distance unit between miles and kilometers. 
5. It also helps users customize the map view and add effects based on his or her preferences. 
6. With Google Maps, shortcodes can also be used to display maps for a single event. 
7. Current location tracking facility is also available with this addon.

To know more about the entire list of its amazing features, explore the plugin now.

Conclusion

Google Maps can be a beneficial addition to your events website. It not only makes it easy for your attendees to reach the event venue but also helps them identify and choose which nearby event they would prefer to attend. If you are thinking of adding this facility to your WordPress site, we hope that this article will be helpful for you.