Maps are very intuitive to consumers and an excellent way render information. This is the first installment in a series dedicated to the Google Map API, one of many approaches to generating a map that shows where properties are located.
At the recent NAR Convention, members asked he how maps worked and if CRT could publish some information on the topic. This is a tall order given the variety of approaches that can be used. I have chosen to start with the Google Map API. If you like this kind of information or would like us to publish approaches using other APIs, please let me know.
Google allows you to plot property locations on a map using functions called the Google Map API. The following steps present the basics of generating your first map.
STEP 1
Register your website. You need to register with Google to use the API. To do this, go to their website to register. At this page, you should enter the URL of your website after reading and agreeing to the Terms of Use. I would like to emphasis the last point because many people click on the “agree” button without reading.
STEP 2
Create a Google account. If you don’t already have an account, follow the link on the right side of the page to “Create an account nowâ€?. You will be prompted for your email address and a password to use for your new account. As a side note, I think the Google folks did a nice job explaining why you should pick a good password.
At the bottom of this page you will also be asked to enter the word that appears on the screen (this is an example of CAPTCHA technology). Your account information will be mailed to you. You should save this information for future reference.
STEP 3
The page you should now see contains your KEY, the DOMAIN some SAMPLE CODE. We will use this information in Step 5 below.
STEP 4
Using the API is simple, but you must addresses that are “geocoded�. A geocode has latitude and longitude components. Many MLS operators have geocode information available for listings.
If your MLS does not geocode information for listings, you will need to find a way to do that to use the API. There are a number of ways to do this. Some good places to start are commercial products such as the following:
- melissadata.com
- geocode.com
- geocoder.us (free for non-commercial use)
Of course, there are services that do not cost money such as:
- yahoo.net (limited to 50,000 per day)
If you are a large organization, you could also download freely available TIGER data from the U.S. Census Bureau, but why would you “reinventâ€? the wheel when if you don’t have to?
STEP 5
Put the sample code obtained in STEP 3 on your website as geocodeTest.html. If you enter the following in your browser:
http://{YOUR_WEBSITE}/geocodeTest.html
You should see a map.
The next installment will start from the SAMPLE CODE and begin to tailor it for displaying listings.
