How Do I Create my First ZIP Code Map?

Many first-time users land on MapBusinessOnline because they looked up the search phrase “ZIP code map,” or something relatively close to that phrase. Typically, these new users have a spreadsheet or a basic list of ZIP codes and they want these ZIP codes highlighted on a map.

MapBusinessOnline can quickly achieve your ZIP code map and more. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. If you’re new to business mapping and you’ve got a list of ZIP codes, this is how you import them.

Read More About ZIP Code Maps

Tweak Your Spreadsheet

Give your spreadsheet a little tender loving care. Look at your list in Excel or some other database tool. Make sure you don’t have any superfluous notes on your spreadsheet – just headers and data. Put a heading on your ZIP code column. Maybe call it, “ZIP Codes.” You choose. If you don’t add header rows the application uses the first row as a header and you lose those data records.

Feel free to add other related data if you have any – a column for territory names, sales data, or the number of ATM machines per ZIP code. Whatever data is most relevant to your business.  All that extra data comes along for the ride and may be useful to you in MapBusinessOnline.

Import Your ZIP Code Data

With your spreadsheet cleaned up and any relevant data included, you’re ready to begin the import process.

  1. To directly color code ZIP codes areas choose the Create Territories button on the master toolbar – six buttons in from the left. Use this button even though you may not feel you are creating territories. Go ahead and click the Create Territories button
  2. Click next through the spreadsheet example
  3. Select the top options and browse to your data location on your desktop/laptop. Select your data and then select the sheet in your spreadsheet you want to base the map on. Click Next
  4. Review your data column selections in the geocoding drop-downs. All you need is to make sure your ZIP column is being pulled by the ZIP drop-down
  5. Click Next to Creating Territories. Make sure to select ZIP 5 code both as your Territory Name and as the Create Territories By option. Click Create Territories

Now you should see your ZIP codes color coded on the map with labels displayed for each ZIP code.  Hover over the Territory layer in Map & Data and click the Edit Gear to turn off the labels, or to re-color code by Demographic Data.

There are more things you can do with your data uploaded:

  • You can adjust the transparency bar in Map & Data on the ZIP code layer making those ZIPs a little see-through, so you can see the map data through them
  • You can pull from your imported data and append up to five flexible label fields underneath your ZIP code label
  • You can add demographic data to your ZIP code labels
  • Add other dataset fields you’ve imported to your labeling options
  • Color code your imported ZIP code data by Demographic Data category

ZIP Code Maps  are a popular basic map for projecting your business location data onto a business map for new perspectives. Another approach to ZIP code mapping is heat mapping. Read more about Heat Mapping here.

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Find out why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com for their business mapping software and advanced sales territory mapping solution. The best replacement for Microsoft MapPoint happens to be the most affordable.

To access MapBusinessOnline, please register and then download the Map App from the website – https://www.mapbusinessonline.com/App-Download.aspx.

After installing the Map App, the MapBusinessOnline launch button will be in the Windows’ Start Menu or Mac Application folder. Find the MapBusinessOnline folder in the Start Menu scrollbar. Click the folder’s dropdown arrow and choose the MapBusinessOnline option.

The Map App includes the Map Viewer app for free non-subscriber map sharing.

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Contact: Geoffrey Ives geoffives@spatialteq.com or Jason Henderson jhenderson@spatialteq.com

About Geoffrey Ives

Geoffrey Ives lives and works in southwestern Maine. He grew up in Rockport, MA and graduated from Colby College. Located in Maine since 1986, Geoff joined DeLorme Publishing in the late 1990's and has since logged twenty-five years in the geospatial software industry. In addition to business mapping, he enjoys playing classical & jazz piano, gardening, and taking walks in the Maine mountains with his Yorkshire Terrier named Skye.
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