United States Interactive Maps - Archives

United States Interactive Maps | Archives

April 14, 2010

How to add an Interactive Flash Map of the United States to your Site
Many companies need a clickable interactive map of the United States. A USA map provides users with a much better navigation experience then searching through a list of state names or even using a drop-down menu. These maps are often used for real-estate websites, dealer locators, displaying branches, and linking to state resources.

However, the prospect of creating such a map is daunting for many small business owners. Making a clickable map is quite difficult to do using HTML alone. While possible, solutions using HTML don’t look professional and often take up a lot of space causing increased loading times. What’s the alternative? An animated flash USA map.

Flash is a programming language that was developed by Macromedia and later purchased by Adobe. It is used by many websites to display movies, animations, and interactive tools. Flash files are called SWF files. When you go to YouTube, you are watching a Flash file.

Flash maps are great alternative to traditional HTML maps because they are smaller and more flexible. With Flash, the United States will respond to your mouse with effects. When you hover over a state, that state can change color, get larger, and display additional information. For an example, see these interactive maps of the U.S. using Flash.

But is it hard to implement? Many people worry that creating a Flash Map requires expensive software and complicated coding. And while it is possible to make your own map and recreate the wheel, there is no need to do so. Many companies sell prepackaged states maps that are ready to go out of the box. You can get a high quality map for anywhere between 45-65 dollars.

When you choose a map, make sure to use one that is powered by XML. XML is a very simple way of storing data. All you need to do is open the XML file in a text editor and change the links and colors accordingly. Make sure not to buy a map that requires that you have Flash Software. Flash software can cost hundreds of dollars. Also, make sure that the map is scalable so you can change its size to fit the space you have available. Lastly, make sure to buy a map that includes the full source code. This will give you the option of making substantial changes to the map in the future. That way, if you need to add Canada or Puerto Rico to your map you won’t have to start from scratch.

So, which map should you use? I’m impartial to the one I built at FlashUSAmap.com. It is full-featured and easy to customize and install. But, don’t take my word for it, you can download a flash map demo and try it out yourself. There are also lots of maps you can find with a simple Google search. Just keep in mind, there is no need to pay hundred’s of dollars to buy special map software.

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Note: I wrote this up to submit to article sites and promote my site. However, I think it will be just as beneficial to post it here. Hopefully, people wanting to know more about interactive maps can find it.