So you’ve got a storage facility and you need a map. Cool. Let me tell you what I wish someone had told me when I first started this whole thing.
I remember the first map we put up on our website. Embarrassing doesn’t even cover it. It was basically a Google Maps screenshot with some red circles drawn on it in Paint. Yeah. Paint. I thought I was being clever. Customers would call and say “I’m looking at your map and I have no idea where to go.” That stung.
So I figured it out the hard way. Walked the property a hundred times. Redid the map maybe five times before we got it right. Made every mistake you can make. But now I actually know what works and what doesn’t.
Let me walk you through it.
First Thing First
Before you even open a computer, go outside. Seriously. Walk your property. Not from your car. Walk it.
Grab a notebook. I use those cheap spiral ones from the dollar store. Write down every unit number as you go. I cannot tell you how many times I thought I knew the layout and then realized I’d missed an entire row of units because they were tucked behind the office.
While you’re walking, take photos. Lots of them. Start of each row. End of each row. Any weird corners. The dumpster area. The gate. The office. When you’re back inside trying to remember which row had the weird curve in it, those photos will save you.
Here’s something I started doing that helped a ton. I walked the property at different times. Morning. Noon. Late afternoon. You’d be surprised what you notice. That row that looks perfectly straight at 10 AM? It’s actually got a slight curve that’s hidden by shadows in the morning light. Little stuff like that matters.
What’s Actually Important on a Map
This is where I messed up bad at first. I tried to put everything on the map. Every tree. Every light pole. Every parking spot. It looked like a mess. Customers couldn’t find anything because there was too much stuff.
Here’s what actually matters:
- Unit numbers that you can read without squinting.
- Which units are inside and which are outside.
- Where the climate controlled buildings are.
- Drive up access locations.
- The office (big and obvious).
- The entrance gate.
- The exit gate.
- Where to return moving carts.
- Bathrooms if you have them.
That’s it. Seriously. Don’t overcomplicate this.
One of our competitors has a map that looks like an architectural blueprint. It’s gorgeous. It’s also completely useless because nobody can figure out where they’re supposed to go. Fancy doesn’t mean functional.
Color Coding Changed Everything For Us
I resisted this for way too long because I thought it would look unprofessional. Joke was on me. Our map was the unprofessional one.
We started using colors and suddenly people understood the place immediately.
Green units are available. Red units are taken. Blue is climate controlled. Yellow is drive up access.
You look at the map for three seconds and you know exactly what’s what. No reading tiny numbers. No squinting. No confusion.
We also put a little legend right next to the map so people know what the colors mean. Seems obvious but you’d be surprised how many maps I see with no legend.
The Labeling Nightmare
Okay this one drives me crazy. I look at other facility maps and I can’t read the numbers. They’re so small. Or they’re in some fancy font that looks nice but you can’t tell if it’s a 6 or an 8.
Please. For the love of everything. Use a bold font. Make the numbers big. I’m not saying you need giant numbers but they need to be readable from a few feet away on a phone screen.
Because here’s the thing. People are going to look at your map on their phone while they’re sitting in their car in your parking lot. They’re not going to zoom in and squint. They’re going to get frustrated and call you.
We redesigned our labels twice before I finally understood this.
Oh and another thing. Use the same naming system you use in your paperwork. If you call it Building 3 in the lease, don’t call it Row C on the map. That’s just asking for confusion.
Digital vs Printed
You probably need both. Here’s why.
Your website needs a map. That’s obvious. But you also need a printed map at your facility. We have ours mounted on a weatherproof sign right at the gate. People pull in, they look at the sign, they know where to go.
We also keep printed maps in the office. Little ones on cardstock. If someone’s nervous about finding their unit, we hand them one and highlight their specific unit with a marker. It takes five seconds and they walk out way more confident.
And honestly? That printed map was one of the cheapest things we’ve ever done for customer service. People love it. They feel taken care of.
The Software Question
Look I’m going to be honest with you. You don’t need fancy software to make a good map. You really don’t.
We started with Google My Maps. Free. Easy to use. It worked fine.
Then we moved to Canva because I wanted something that looked a little more polished. Cost me nothing and I could update it whenever I wanted.
We only switched to the expensive integrated software because we grew big enough that we needed it to connect with our rental system. But that took years. You don’t need to start there.
If you’re just getting started, use the free stuff. It works. Save your money for other things.
Where to Put Your Map
This sounds dumb but hear me out. You made a map. Put it somewhere people can find it.
Not buried under three levels of navigation. Not hidden on a subpage called “Facility Information” that nobody clicks on.
We put ours:
- On the homepage under a button that says “View Our Facility Layout”.
- On every unit listing page with only the relevant units highlighted.
- In the confirmation email we send when someone rents.
- On a sign at the entrance gate.
- Printed on the wall in the office.
Basically anywhere a customer might need it.
We also started putting a QR code on the gate sign that links directly to the interactive map on our website. People love that. They scan it from their car and they’ve got the map on their phone instantly.
Stuff I Messed Up So You Don’t Have To
Let me save you some pain.
- First mistake. I made the map once and never updated it. Then we added some units. Then we changed some driveways. The map stayed the same. Customers got confused. We got angry calls. Now I put a reminder on my calendar to review the map every three months.
- Second mistake. I used abbreviations that I thought were obvious. “CC” for climate controlled. “DA” for drive up access. You know who didn’t know what those meant? Every single customer. Now we spell everything out.
- Third mistake. I made the map too detailed. It was cluttered and confusing. I learned to cut things out. Less is more.
- Fourth mistake. I didn’t test it on a phone. Looks fine on my computer screen. Looks like garbage on an iPhone. Most of our traffic is mobile. I was basically ignoring most of our customers. Fixed that real quick.
The Mobile Thing
I’m going to say this again because it’s that important. Test your map on a phone.
Pull it up on your own phone. Can you read the numbers? Can you zoom in without breaking the page? Can you tap on a unit and get information?
If any of those answers are no, you’ve got work to do.
We redesigned everything around mobile first. Bigger labels. Simpler layout. Bigger tap targets. The desktop version looks a little sparse now but mobile works perfectly and that’s what matters.
The Real Reason You Need This
I’m going to be blunt with you. A good map makes you money.
Not directly of course. But when someone can see exactly what you have and where it is, they’re way more likely to rent from you. They feel confident. They feel like they know what they’re getting.
And the opposite is true too. A bad map makes people leave. They get frustrated. They go to your competitor. They call you with questions that could have been answered by a decent map.
We started including a link to our map in our Google Business Profile. People click it, they see our layout, they see what units we have available, they book. It’s simple.
When people do rent from us, they show up and they know exactly where to go. They don’t wander around confused. They go straight to their unit. They unload their stuff. They’re happy. They tell their friends. We get more business.
A map isn’t just a map. It’s a tool. Use it right and it works for you.
One Last Thought
You’re going to mess this up the first time. That’s okay. We all did. The important thing is to start somewhere and keep improving.
Don’t wait until your map is perfect. It never will be. Put something up that works and make it better as you go. Your customers will appreciate that you tried.
And if you ever need help? We’ve been where you are. Drop us a line. We’re always happy to share what we’ve learned. Seriously. We mean that.
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