Google Maps is one of the most powerful tools available on your computer, smartphone or tablet. It can help you get to your destination, find places to get gas or eat, see remote locations at ground level, view satellite and terrain features and so much more.
If you don't have Google Maps, you're just missing out.
Even better, the mapping service gets regular updates with cool new features. The best part is that it's free for personal AND business use. When you're trying to bring your business overhead under control, any great free tool is welcome news. For personal use, well, let's say you don't have to fold a map anymore.
Before I go into those, make sure you have the most up-to-date version of Google Maps on your phone. If you are using an older version, you may not have all the goodies I am about to share with you.
While you're at it, grab Google Earth that used to cost $400, but is now FREE. Yes, you can now get the $400 Google Professional mapping program free. You can get it now, or anytime, at this link on my site: Google Earth Pro. Ready? Let's get started!
1. Traffic Alerts
Arriving late to an important meeting is never a good thing. That's why you should leave early and take the best route. However, what you think is the best route might turn out to be a traffic nightmare.Google has just added Traffic Alerts to the Google Maps app that give you the best real-time option. Simply put in your location and destination like normal and Google will give you several routes you can take.
In addition to the usual distance and time, Google will tell you which one is the best route based on current traffic conditions. It also takes into account anticipated traffic conditions.
If you're on the go and something along your planned route changes, Google will alert you. It tells you what obstacles or traffic jams are in your way and how long it will take to get through it. If there's a faster route available, Google will give you the option to switch to that.
2. Offline Maps
Not everywhere you're going to travel is going to have cellular or Wi-Fi, especially if you do business in remote locations. Before you head out, download the Google Maps data to your phone so you can use it even with no Wi-Fi or cell service.Open Google Maps and search for a city or region, like "Phoenix, AZ." Once it loads, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to get the area's infocard. Then tap the three vertical dots in the upper-right corner and tap "Save offline map."
Now you can pan and zoom to capture the area you want. Then tap "Save" to download it to your phone. Note that depending on the area it could take up a lot of space on your gadget. Also, you'll want to do this over Wi-Fi so you don't burn up your data plan.
3. Share your location
When you need to share a meeting location with a client or employee, exact directions are really important. Maybe they wrote down the wrong location or your directions weren't quite correct.Sidestep the confusion by sharing the location direction from the Google Maps app. Simply tap the location you want to meet and hold until a red pin appears. Then tap the pin and tap the Share option.
You can send the location to the person through text, social media, email, cloud services and much more. It will open for them in their Google Maps app, and they can easily get directions from wherever they are.
4. See where you've been
Knowing where you're going is important, but it also helps sometimes to see where you've been. Maybe you need to expense your miles driven, or you just want a record of the stops you've made.By default, Google tracks your location and stores the data for 30 days. You can bring it up in the Google Location History page. Click here to find that page, and learn how to turn off tracking when you don't want it on.
5. Plan the best route with multiple addresses
Google Maps is good for finding a good route to one or two locations, but what if you need to plan the most efficient route to a dozen different locations? That's a bit more than Google Maps can easily handle.Fortunately, you can use Google Earth Pro instead. As I said above, it used to be a $400 program, but now it's free for everyone. It lets you easily add and import addresses to create custom routes. You can also use it to see demographic and business information to help you expand your business.
If you're trying to find the most efficient route, however, you might want to take a look at a third party like RouteXL. It's powered by Google Maps, but makes it easier to import addresses and create efficient routes. You can then print, download or share the route. It's free for up to 20 addresses.
