Building a Successful Travel Website

Having a functional and informational website is crucial for any business, especially those who are in the travel industry. Your website can serve as a great tool for introducing your destination to potential visitors online that can help boost sales while giving viewers a preview of what you have to offer. 

Content can make or break your website. It can help persuade people to travel to your business over other places. Here are 6 key items to include when creating your website to help guarantee success. 

1. Strong Home Page
The homepage will be the first thing most viewers will see. It should be easy to navigate and all of the important pages should be easily found. The layout should be organized and contain professional graphics and images. 

2. Promotional Materials
Your website can serve as a great place to put your promotional materials. From commercials to photos, you can designate a page that is dedicated to introducing your business. You can also include the history of the business or fun facts to increase interest. 

3. Social Media Networks
You can invite your viewers to connect with you on social media networks by including recognizable social media buttons on your every page including the homepage. Your website visitors may check out these networks to gain more information about you business. 

4. Ratings and Recommendations
You visitors can also gain more information about you by checking out ratings and reviews before they decide to travel to your business. If there is a reputable site that you want your visitors to look at you can include a link to it. You could also promote testimonials on your webpage. To learn more about the importance of ratings and reviews, check out my older post on the topic. 

5. Pricing
Price can play a huge role in consumer decisions. By having a page that outlines the costs, customers will be confident in how much they will be spending. Whether you offer admission prices or certain types of packages, its important to include this information. You may choose to let customers purchase tickets online which may be more convenient for some visitors. You can also offer special online deals from time to time. 

6. Contact Information
Visitors need to know both your location information and how to contact you. You can list your physical address and even include a map provided by Google Maps that can help visitors get directions. You should include your phone number and email if you have one. If different staff members handle different inquiries, you should include their contact information. 

Below you will find a list of successful Midwest travel websites you can check out for some more great ideas! 

• Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, NE: www.omahazoo.com/ 
• Adventureland, Des Moines, IA: www.adventurelandpark.com 
• Mall of America, Bloomington NE: www.mallofamerica.com/ 
• Field Muesum, Chicago, IL: fieldmuseum.org/ 
• Indianapolis Speedway, IN: www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/

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The Importance of Ratings and Reviews in the Travel Industry

If you run a travel destination, you know that having good ratings and reviews online can have a huge impact on how how prospective travelers view your business or organization. When travelers search for information about you online, they may come across travel rating sites, blogs written by people who have visited your destination in the past, or even comments and pictures posted on social media networks. It's important to identify ways of managing your ratings and reviews online so it can become a part of your marketing plan.

One of the first things you should consider is how to handle negative feedback. If a customer has a bad experience, the first thing they are going to do is turn to the internet and complain. You can't just ignore comments, but instead you can find ways to make the situation better by reaching out to the customer and listening to what they have to say. Options could include offering special discounts to them for their next visit or just simply apologizing for their experience and promise to find ways to make improvements. If there are multiple complaints over a certain aspect of your business, it's very likely that changes need to be made internally.

When it comes to the travel industry, it's important to have a high quantity of reviews available online. Prospective travelers would be more likely to trust 100 positive reviews instead of just 5 on a rating site. If your site doesn't have very many reviews, you can encourage travelers to leave feedback. This can be done by first collecting customer information such as their email or mailing address and then contacting them after their visit to request for them to leave a review on a travel rating site or your Facebook page. You can even offer rewards to travelers who leave feedback for your business which may also motivate them to visit you business again in the future.

If your destination has reviews online that can help your business, it's important to make sure travelers can find them easily. You can place links to reviews on your website home page and even create a page dedicated just to customer testimonials. You could even occasionally post updates on Facebook or Twitter that will lead to the ratings and reviews. If you receive any special awards or rankings its important to highlight these as well in online advertisements.

With proper management, ratings and reviews can positively impact your business. If you have other ideas for incorporating them into the marketing plan leave a comment below!

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