Travel website starter guide

Further on this page:

• Introduction
• What makes a quality travel destination website?
• Commercial or not-for-profit site?
• Static website or goldroo website?
• Promoting your destination website
• Choosing your destination
• More content ideas for your destination website
• More information?

Looking for a great website idea?

This guide is written to help you get started with your goldroo directory script.

The goldroo software is developed mainly with local travel guide websites in mind, but can be used for any type of website, including niche directories or any other website.

Therefore the comments below are provided for people who are interested in starting a local travel site or improving an existing one, but most principles on this page are equally applicable for any other website.

 

Why is a local destination website such a good idea:

• Tourists and travelers frequently use the internet to look for reliable, complete, up-to-date and well presented information about their holiday or vacation destination.
• Tourism and travel related businesses and organizations often prefer to advertise on local websites that are visited by their potential customers.
• A destination website connects those seeking information and those providing that information.

 

WiZZ Partnerships provide the opportunity to benefit from joining a network of other local travel guides, and to create and promote a destination site for your local area.

This website however will hopefully provide good information about creating a quality site about your area (or any other site), whether you decide to use a goldroo directory script or not, or partner it with other destination sites through the WiZZ.to Travel Guide or not.

 

 

Don't be put off creating a destination website for your area just because there may already be an existing local website, or because you might think your area does not have much to offer to travelers. But we will say more about this later.

 

What makes a quality travel destination website?

One of the main criteria to building a successful destination website, is to create a user friendly website which is also search engine friendly. A goldroo website is designed to do just that, and you will also find some more useful resources here). On this page we will discuss in general terms what we consider to be the main requirements of a quality travel destination website .

 

Put your visitors first!

• Consider this question: What do you expect in a travel destination website if you are researching a particular destination yourself for a holiday?
• The main purpose of a good destination website is to expose the beauty, richness, culture and heritage of an area in detail, and then to show how potential visitors can come and enjoy these qualities.

 

Minimum information expected by most visitors.

• Natural, historic and other highlights of the area.
• Comprehensive accommodation information: from budget to luxury.
• Comprehensive attraction information.

 

Detail the location of your destination.

• Don't assume that your visitors know exactly where you are located. Maybe they have read about the area without knowing where it is and used a search engine to find out more and landed on your site. Or maybe they have followed a link from another site which did not explain where you are.
• The best way to show your visitors where your destination is, and the extent of the area covered by your website, is by providing maps on your site. Maps can also help to show the location of accommodation, attractions etc, and how to get to your destination.

 

Consider your international visitors.

• Provide all information in your local language and in English where possible.
• Use plain and simple language.
• Explain local concepts: not all terms have a similar meaning to international visitors, for example bed and breakfast, lodging etc.

 

Commercial or not-for-profit site?

Some people or organizations will create a destination website just as a service to visitors and their community, or as a hobby without requiring any further funding.

 

Other people operate a local travel guide to create more business or traffic to another website: for example a web designer might build a destination site to generate more website design work for the local tourism operators, or a camper van rental company might get more customers from referrals from the travel guide they operate.

 

Of course it is also possible to earn money from a destination site. Here are some ideas:

• Display advertisements for local businesses.
• List for free, and offer paid upgrades.
• Charge a fee to be listed on your website.
• Get local businesses to sponsor you.
• Invite donations from happy visitors or tourism operators.
• Display ads from Google Adsense, Yahoo! Publisher Network or any other ad publisher network.

 

Of course you can choose any combination of the above ideas.

As with any site, it is best to establish the site with complete information about the area and local tourism operators, before trying to monetize your site.

 

You can find more ideas here about monetizing your goldroowebsite

 

Starting a travel guide website for your area is not a quick get rich scheme, but a rewarding and satisfying activity or business with a prospect of long term income determined by your destination, business model and dedication.

 

Static website or goldroo website?

You can start a local travel guide by creating a static website, where you create all pages manually and make all updates on the pages yourself.

 

However, consider using a goldroo directory script to run your site, it has been developed just for this purpose.

 

Check out all the features of goldroo software

 

Promoting your destination website

You can join WiZZ as a partner to represent your destination on the WiZZ.to Travel Guide.

The WiZZ.to Travel Guide connects local destination sites using maps, menus and a search facility. This makes sure that WiZZ visitors find your site easily.

Every destination can only be represented by one WiZZ Partner and this encourages local tourism operators to have a representation on your site and therefore enables you to build a travel guide for your area which is as complete as possible.

 

 

Learn more about WiZZ Partnerships

 

Choosing your destination

When choosing the area you want to cover with your travel guide, consider that most travelers and tourists are looking for detailed information about the destination they want to visit, so don't try to cover too big an area. It is better to cover a small area in depth than to cover a whole country poorly.

 

If you want to represent your destination on the WiZZ.to Travel Guide, you can review the areas available by starting here. WiZZ destinations are centred around population centres, and we apply the same criteria in every country to create a list of destinations.

 

There might already be one or more websites for your area. That does not mean that your site cannot be succesful.

You can still create your website and represent your destination on WiZZ.to, and enjoy the satisfaction that comes from creating a unique and useful resource for travelers, and a window to the world for your local tourism and travel operators.

If your aim and strategy is to provide quality, up-to-date and complete information, then your site will grow into a well-visited trustworthy resource respected by both travelers and advertisers.

 

Here are some reasons why your site can outperform others:

• Accept all local tourism operators: do not restrict your listings to businesses belonging to a particular organization only, like a chamber of commerce for example.
• List businesses and organzations that do not have their own website.
• Think global: do not forget that your site will be visited by international visitors, and do not only address people who are visiting or planning to visit, but make sure you provide information for people interested to find out if your area is worth a visit.
• Get the balance right: concentrate on quality information, and cover all relevant topics for your area in the order of their importance. Do not provide only accommodation information for example.
• Build an accessible site: standards compliant, tested in all browsers and search engine friendly.
• Work together with like-minded webmasters and join WiZZ.

 

Don't think your area is too small or does not have anything on offer. Every destination has something going for it: being quiet might just be the attraction for some people who are looking for some peace and a relaxing holiday .

And do not think your area is not known well enough: it is your job to change that!

 

Look around you with the eyes of a newcomer, and start a list of everything that could be of interest to people visiting or passing by: picnic spots, hotels, parks, theatres etc. Think of what makes your place unique and tell us all about it.

Your website might just be what convinces some people to stay a bit longer who were only planning on passing through.

 

More content ideas for your destination website

As previously discussed, we found that the main ingredients of a good destination website are:

• Natural, historic and other highlights of the area.
• Accommodation: from budget to luxury.
• Attractions.

 

Here are some more ideas you should consider for your local travel guide:

• Activities: from bungee jumping to hot air ballooning.
• Food: restaurants, pubs, wineries etc.
• Art and History: galleries, museums,monuments etc.
• Tours: walking tours, personal guides etc.
• Transport: rental cars, taxis, campervans, etc.
• Entertainment: theatre, live music, cinemas etc.
• Maps: directions to your destination, and how to get around.
• Calendar: recurring and one of events, get your community to help out.
• Parks: from botanical gardens to wilderness areas.

 

More information?

• WiZZ Partnership information for existing destination websites.
• WiZZ Knowledgebase and Helpdesk.
• WiZZ Partnerships - Terms and Conditions.