Create interactive maps to impress

We live in a global community. Communicating who, where, and how we interact within this global economy with simple, eye-catching, interactive and statistical maps gives you an advantage over competitors. Beautiful and informative visuals always win!

At Infogram, we offer you the tools to create various types of maps that are interactive and take your audience beyond a 2D model (all without creating a single line of code).

This article covers the basics of where to use interactive maps, the types of maps Infogram offers, how to get started, and frequently asked questions. Don’t worry, we’re handling the complicated technical pieces, allowing you to focus on creating engaging, exciting, and educational content that will delight your customers.

Where to use interactive maps

Maps are ideal when sharing geographic data. A visual representation of statistics or numbers tells a much more compelling story than a list of data and comparisons. Maps can be used to show country statistics, sales by region, voting results, weather updates, and more.

Infogram’s maps can live beyond basic reports (although they’re great there too!), our maps are ideal in your next infographic, presentation, news article, or social media campaign. Create a map to share your data in a way that’s compelling and quickly engages and educates your audience.

Explore more than 500+ types of maps

Infogram map maker offers you more than 500 interactive maps that can be shared via social sites, landing pages, and presentations. Below are some of the more popular types of maps we offer.

Choropleth or Heat Maps

These maps use world map coloring or patterns to display numerical data for specific areas or regions. Choropleth maps can display population density, income, political boundaries and other information. Explore

chropleth maps

Icon or Marker Maps

Icon (marker) maps illustrate different topics by regions using relevant icons or dots. The icon (marker) size is directly proportional to your data. The higher the value, the bigger the icon. Explore

icon map examples

Topographic maps

Topographic maps show the shape of geographical surfaces using contour lines. They can visualize different types of landscape: mountains, vegetation, and elevation. Explore

Cartograms

Cartograms visualize statistical information about geographic areas. Cartograms distort the size of regions proportional to their data values. You can use cartograms to show travel time, population, GDP, and more. Explore

Subway maps

Subway maps illustrate underground public transportation routes, stations, and platforms that are connected with straight and curved lines. Explore

Climate maps

Climate maps represent weather patterns based on geographic locations. They show temperature, rainfall, snowfall, wind and more. The colors of climate maps represent different climate zones. Explore

Everybody loves Infogram

Many of our clients are excited by the service that we deliver. Read about what some have said about us.

“With Infogram we turned our service reporting into the cutting-edge category and receive amazing feedback from the user community”.

Andreas Igler
Director of IT & Operations

“I’m a data nerd, so I love tools that help readers better visualize information. We use a tool called Infogram at TechCrunch for data visualization. It’s super-easy to use, and you don’t have to be a data analyst or graphic designer to use it”.

Travis Bernard
Director of Audience Development

“Infogram has taken our stats to the next level. It's great to be able to upload a spreadsheet and turn it into a beautiful interactive piece for our clients to enjoy”.

Kris Carpenter
Director of Marketing

Browse all map templates

Ready to make your own interactive map? Infogram has over 200 customizable templates. We recommend browsing this selection for inspiration; you’ll be amazed by the options and places you can take your content. View more templates

Get inspired by map examples

Trying to find an inspiration for creative new ideas? Check out a wonderful collection of impressive maps created by Infogram users. View more examples

Frequently asked questions

1. How to register an account

Click on the Get started button in the top right corner of the homepage.
Sign up with Google, Facebook or email. Infogram lets its users sign up with a Google or Facebook account, or register with a work email. If you choose to sign up with Google or Facebook, simply login to your account when asked to do so. If you wish to sign up with your email address, enter the email and your desired password, then hit the sign up button.
Provide some basic information about yourself. Enter your first and last name, indicate what kind of organization you belong to and specify your role. You will then be able to continue with the basic plan or choose from any of the available paid plans. View more

2. How to create a map

Infogram has made this easy with five steps:

Log in to Infogram.
Choose a map type.
Upload or copy and paste your data.
Customize your look/feel with labels, colors, fonts, and graphics.
Download your map, or embed on your website.

No need to create code. We took the technical steps away which allows you to be a map creator and effectively engage with your audience.

3. How to create an icon map

Infogram icon (marker) maps allow you to place an icon or symbol anywhere in the world. You can change the default circle icon to any image from our large icon library.

Click on the map you’d like to edit
Choose ‘Map Properties’
Select ‘Icon Map’ under ‘Map type’
Click ‘Select Icon’ to search our library for the perfect image

create icon map

4. What are map drawing best practices

Use simple outlines and avoid design distractions. Less is more.
Select colors wisely. Use color or text to emphasize important data. For map color gradients we suggest you check out ColorBrewer
If you need to show regions with common data or patterns, we suggest you arrange them into groups, which is easy with an Infogram “Area map”

Need more tips? Watch our webinar: How to Make Maps Like an Expert.

5. How to create a single map

Select the Responsive web and mobile layouts option at the top of your Library. You will find the option to use a single map on the left side panel. This is the best choice if you plan on creating a map without any additional objects, such as images, charts, text fields etc.
Select or search for the specific map you are looking to use.

6. How to create a map in a template project

Select a template or a blank template.
Click the Add map button on the left side panel of your editor.
Browse the map library to select one or search a keyword in the search bar.

We offer a few free maps, as well as hundreds of regional, country and city maps from all over the world. To unlock these maps, you will be required to have a paid subscription. View more

7. How to place markers on your map

By default, every new map added to your project is an Area map (regions represented with a color variation). However, you can switch to an Icon map (where points on the map are designated with icons or symbols) anytime.

To switch to an Icon map:

Click on the map to select it.
Click to expand the Map Properties drop-down in the right sidebar.
Select Icon map under Map type.

Pro tip: You can change the default circle to any icon from our icon library. Unlocking icons search with a 200 000+ icon library will require you to have a paid subscription.

To change the icon type:

From the Map properties tab in the right sidebar, scroll down to the Select icon field.
Click Change to see available icons.
Click on an icon to select it. You will see the new icon update on your map.

8. How to make an Infogram map using Google Sheets

Infogram offers an integration with Google Sheets. You can create a map connected to live data that updates automatically based on changes to your spreadsheet.

Choose a “Map Type”
Select “Edit data” and click Google Drive green icon
Connect to your Google account
Select the file you want to use
Customize map colors

9. How to add and edit map data

After you’ve inserted a map in your project, you can add or edit its data set at any time. Simply double-click on a map to edit the data table.

When importing data, be sure to keep the following formatting and layout of the default dataset for the map to display correctly.

Column 1: country/region names
Column 2: numerical data
Column 3: grouping entries (this column will be used if you have selected the Grouped map style in Map properties drop-down, in map settings)
Column 4: coordinates (automatically populated when Column 1 is filled out)
Column 5: labels (whatever you insert in this column will be displayed in the map tags when you hover over data points) View more

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