The Grantham Journal is “using a map to track a rogue heron that has taken a fancy to the town’s pond life. Readers and journalists plot the heron’s whereabouts,” reported the Press Gazette.

The Los Angeles Times has a map documenting local murders, which can be tracked using criteria such as cause of death, age or race. The maps links back to articles and comments, and even offers customized RSS feeds.

Some newspapers may have wanted to include maps but felt they didn’t have sufficient technical knowledge. That’s not a valid excuse though.

“How do you get a Google Map on to a newspaper website? Well, you can simply create it and link out to it, as the Grantham Journal does, or you can embed the map into your website by copying the code the map generates,” reported the Press Gazette.

Granted, including maps is slightly more complex than simply pasting a link. One must create the map in order to link to it, and this can be done using free services such as Map Builder, Map Maker, YourGMap or Community Walk, all of which walk the user through the process.

Newspapers can also sign up to Google Maps and use its Maps Application Programming Interface, which is free and enables users to embed maps on a free website.

Although this might take a little getting used to, this is one among many viable online features that can help a newspaper retain and engage its readers.

Source: Press Gazette through IFRA Executive News Service