You cannot beat a great title. How about Will Cadell’s talk at FOSS4G: Why your map sucks and you don’t even know it. Now that is an attention grabber. Will runs Sparkgeo and is based in British Columbia (though his accent hints at him being a long way from his birth-place)

At FOSS4G Will talks about an innovative product Sparkgeo have released called Maptiks.

How is my map being used Maptiks?

Maptiks provides analytics on how your web map is being used. And the data it generates is truly fascinating. Watch Will’s talk. Maptiks tells us, for example, that on average 25% of your users are not clicking on the map. Why? These users think it’s a non-interactive picture! Now that is rather shocking. Talking to Will, in some case 25% is on the low end. That can rise to 80% in some instances. Imagine that you have spent time and money building your web map and your users think it is a static map.

Maptiks provides tonnes of data. Where are users clicking on your map? How are they using your map: pure visualization or accessing tools? PC versus mobile usage. On and on.

Insight into our users web map usage and patterns is invaluable. If you have not taken a look at Maptiks it is definitely worth your time.

Author: Matt Sheehan

Matt Sheehan is a Principal at WebMapSolutions. Matt evangelizes GIS and location intelligence around the world through keynotes, articles, tweets and his books. Follow him on Twitter: