Working with tourist sites has its own specifics. The main difficulty is to provide the user with exactly what he is looking for from a huge amount of information. With the right approach, a travel site can provide more than 60% of the total sales.
First of all, it is worth clarifying what is meant by the term “travel site”. It can be:
- travel agency websites;
- websites of tour operators;
- information sites about travel and tourism.
Each of them has its own specifics. We will talk about this later, now we will dwell on general points, more precisely, on the general requirements for tourist sites.
The standard requirement is that the design matches the theme of the site. Usually, this is achieved through the use of familiar images: globe, map, beach, sea, etc. But in such cases, it is difficult for a web resource to stand out among thousands of its own kind. Experts are working to avoid stereotypes and achieve unity in the requirements to create a thematic design. And at the same time different from others. So such travel web development can be profitable.
How to create a personal site or blog?
The main task of a travel site is to sell tours. It is important not to hide useful information behind a beautiful design, which is needed in order to turn a visitor into a customer. Design fades into the background, giving way to such requirements as usability and ease of navigation.
Tourism is an industry where information tends to quickly become outdated and outdated. Therefore, for a travel site, dynamism and flexibility are important in everything related to changing data. Programmers develop user-friendly CMS (content management systems) that allow you to independently make the necessary changes. Even non-specialists will be able to change most of the data, for this, there is no need to undergo additional training on how to work with the site. Tour agencies usually find freelance developers instead of having a main employee.
When developing a travel site, much attention is paid to search modules and information filters. As a rule, the visitor already has an approximate idea of how and where he will rest. On a good and convenient site, he should receive information on his request in a couple of clicks. In other words, in order to make a decision, the visitor also needs to quickly provide useful information that will “catch” and interest.
For websites of travel agencies and tour operators, it is mandatory to have an online booking module. Everyone can choose a tour and book it. As a rule, modules for accepting payments online are installed on such sites. Travel agency managers can only accept and process applications. Booking tours online requires the development and installation of a serious system. The user must provide reliable information about the exact dates, quotas, additional conditions, etc.
Errors in the software are unacceptable. Otherwise, the company will have problems and customers will lose confidence. It should also be mentioned that the online booking module usually requires the automation of processes in the enterprise. This is necessary in order to minimize the time and labor costs for data processing.
You can turn to the freelance exchange for help. But it would be cheaper to purchase a video course on creating custom websites with https://fireart.studio/web-portal-design-company/.
The first two types of sites tend to have similar structures and content. The main goal is sales. Sites of the third type are aimed at keeping the visitor on their pages as long as possible, offering him interesting and useful reading. In this regard, other requirements are imposed on sites of the third type.
For example, an online consultation module is important for the website of a travel agency or tour operator. Agents and ordinary users get the opportunity to receive the necessary information in real time, book a tour, find out the details of an upcoming trip. For an information site, such a module is not needed. its main task is long-term “surfing” of the user through the pages of the information resource.
How to promote a site or a blog right?
Stories, articles, travel reports – this information is commonly used on travel portals. Users independently form content by creating posts, posting photos and videos from trips, and leaving comments. Studios create sites where each user has the ability to quickly and conveniently add materials, take part in discussions. Moreover, for some projects, the installation of elements of a social network will be relevant, within which registered participants could exchange messages, create communities, add friends, etc.
For all travel sites, it is important to have a section with reference information. Usually there are forms, questionnaires for embassies, samples of contracts and other documents necessary for tourists.
How to earn on visits to the site?
Why create another travel resource or write posts on another travel blog, of which there are millions on the Internet? This is the very first question every budding blogger should answer.
If you choose the right vector at the very beginning and optimize the articles a little, then such sites literally climb into the TOP by themselves.
There are several strategies for the development of the site, and they all have the right to life. But the format of the forums somehow did not take root.
Creating an information portal, blog or forum is a rather laborious and financially costly exercise. You should regularly spend a lot of time and money. Such a project has a very long implementation period.
Initially, your resource will be little visited despite your efforts to promote. But if there is really valuable information on it, then the traffic will grow in proportion to the value of the material on the site.
To create a website or blog for the soul – many novice bloggers keep a “blog for themselves”, over time, such a project either develops into a good information resource (see above), or dies. It is very difficult to promote such sites, mainly due to the lack of structure.
Most of the “sites for the soul” are designed as a personal diary, on the pages, the author writes about his travels, as if keeping a diary – this is an intermediate stage. The effort involved in a quality blog for the soul can be enormous and the return is minimal. As a rule, authors spend a lot of effort on creating travel articles and do not spend at all on promotion and promotion.
Such resources place maximum emphasis on search engine optimization and attracting visitors from search engines. Very often, the authors of such a travel site have never traveled anywhere themselves, and they either buy, or rewrite articles from other resources, or steal.
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Choosing the direction of development of the site is the most important thing from which any conversation about the creation of a travel site should begin. Writing about things that are interesting to you is the easiest thing, and if it is also interesting for your readers, then you win double.
Be sure to check if there is a search demand. You should carefully choose a niche for your resource and future articles on it from the very beginning.
