How to Make a Service Area or Delivery Zone Map

Updated 6 October 2026

To make a service area map, place your location, add radius rings or draw your zone as an area, and download the image. For a more realistic picture, use the Route Planner to shade the places you can reach in 10, 20 or 30 minutes by road.

Three ways to show a service area

• Radius rings. Circles around a point, such as 5 and 10 kilometres. Quick, clear and easy to explain, but they ignore roads and rivers.
• Drawn zones. You click the map to outline the exact area you serve, for example certain suburbs or postcodes. It matches how your business really works.
• Drive-time areas. Shaded zones for how far a vehicle can travel in a set time. The most realistic for deliveries, callouts and commutes.

Radius rings in the Studio

1. Open the Map Studio and add your shop, depot or office with the Find box.
2. In the Areas tab, open Measure and radius rings.
3. Choose the distance in kilometres or miles and click the map, or the location, to place a ring.
4. Add a second or third ring to show different delivery fees or response times.

Draw your own zone

Open Routes and areas in the Areas tab, choose to draw an area, and click around the edge of your service region. Give the area a name and a colour. You can drag points to adjust the shape, and add icon notes such as a warehouse or a school. Draw several areas to show primary and secondary zones in different colours.

Make a drive-time map

Open the Route Planner, switch to Reach area, add your location and choose 10, 20 or 30 minutes. Each time band gets its own shade, so customers can see at a glance whether they are inside your zone. Our route and drive-time guide has every step.

Design it for customers

• Use the Light view. A calm base keeps the zones clear, and the map prints well.
• Limit it to three zones. More than that is confusing.
• Add a legend. Say what each shade means, such as "Free delivery" or "Same day".
• Add a scale bar. It lets people judge distance in kilometres or miles.
• Title it. Something like "We deliver within 20 minutes of Lahore" makes the purpose obvious.

Publish it

Download a PNG for your website, a JPG for email or a PDF for a printed leaflet. Add alt text on your site that describes the area in words, for example "Map of our delivery zone covering central Lahore", so everyone can use it. Update the map when your zone changes by reopening your saved project file.

A worked example: a neighbourhood bakery

A bakery wants to show customers where it delivers. The owner adds the shop as a single pin, then places rings at 3 and 6 kilometres. Inside 3 kilometres, delivery is free. Out to 6 kilometres, there is a small fee. The owner switches to the Light view, turns on the legend with the labels "Free delivery" and "Delivery fee", adds a scale bar and downloads a PNG for the website. The whole job takes about five minutes, and the map answers the question customers ask most often.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Too many zones. Three is the practical maximum. More shades blur together.
• Rings that ignore geography. A 10 kilometre ring across a river or a mountain can be a long drive. Use drive-time areas when the terrain matters.
• Colours that clash with the map. Use soft fills so streets and names stay visible underneath.
• No legend or title. A map without words forces visitors to guess what the colours mean.
• Forgetting to update. When you extend your area, reopen the project file, adjust the zone and download a fresh image.

Test it with a real address

Before publishing, pick three real addresses: one clearly inside your zone, one near the edge and one outside. Search for each in the Find box and see how the map treats them. If the edge case surprises you, adjust the ring or the drawn zone until the picture matches what your drivers or technicians would actually do.

Common questions

Are drive times exact?

No. They are estimates without live traffic. Treat them as a planning guide and tell customers that times can vary.

Can I show several branches on one map?

Yes. Add one location per branch, give each its own ring or area, and use a category colour for each branch.

Can I use the map commercially?

Yes, with the credits left in place. See the terms and the credits page for details.