How to Build a Travel Agent Website With Content

The Internet gives businesses an opportunity to promote products and services in unique and diverse ways. The travel industry utilizes Internet advertising extensively in their marketing. For a travel agent, building and maintaining a good travel website with fresh content constitutes a basic step in developing the travel agency. Travelers want to know the travel agent's areas of expertise, what the agent can offer and how to contact satisfied customers.

Instructions

1

Choose the web hosting company for the travel agent's site. Consider the type of content to upload to the travel website when making this choice. Decide which website software, such as a web forum or a travel agency e-mail program (e.g. xxxxxx@PortsTravelAgency.com), needs to exist on the site and check that the web host can provide these items. E-mail the web host's sales staff questions and ask to see other websites the company hosts. Watch to see how long it takes the web host sales staff to respond to questions--it gives an indication of the type of technical support to expect from the web host later. Contact the webmasters of some of the other sites to ask if they feel satisfied with the web hosting company's services.

2

Budget for the website's expenditures. Free web hosting companies--such as 000webhost.com or bravehost.com will provide free web hosting--though they offer only a few basic design options and often these free companies place their own advertising on the site. Other web hosting companies--such as dreamhost.com and webhostingpad.com--provide free domain name registration, additional disk space, more bandwith and a higher level of accessibility and uptime. Monthly fees for these web hosts vary widely depending on the options that the web host company offers.

3

Go to the Better Business Bureau's (BBB) website to review the web host company's BBB ratings and reputation. Make sure that no complaints remain unresolved. Look at the web host's contract to insure that any graphic content or text materials do not revert to the web host if the website owner decides to move the site to another host. Review the contract to insure that the web host spells out its responsibilities regarding site accessibility, performance, uptime and image. Ascertain what provisions the webhost makes to compensate a client if these promised provisions do not occur.

4

Plan ahead to decide how the travel agent's website content will upload to the web host's software program. If prepared files will upload onto the web host's software program, ascertain that the web host's software has the ability to upload the files in their prepared format. If the website owner plans to use the web host's simple word-processor-like software to create files directly on the web host's webbuilder template, ask for a demonstration to insure that the website owner can work easily with the software. Test the webbuilder program to insure that all desired content can upload onto the program's template and that, when viewing the website live, the website looks as the website owner wishes.

5

Choose a domain name for the site. The domain name, in a few words, represents the website's content and draws websurfers to the site through its name. Choose a name that reflects the site's content, activities, location and targeted population (i.e.: "WisconsinWanderingSeniors.com" or "TravelforSeriousSkiers.com"). Incorporate some of the site's keywords in the domain name to increase web traffic amongst web surfers who look for such a travel site. Register the domain name with a website registry such as DomainRegistry.com or GoDaddy.com. Some webhosts will effect the registration for their clients.

6

Upload the desired content to the hosting company's template. Transfer the desired content files and photos directly from the website developer's hard drive into the web hosting company's webbuilder template or cut and paste the text content into the webbuilding software and add photos as needed. Carefully consider the site content. Think about concentrating the content on a specific population (seniors? students?), location, mode of travel (trekking? cruises?) or type of travel (ecotravel? luxury travel?) and branching out as the travel agent's business grows.

7

Include satisfied customers' quotes to demonstrate the success of the travel agent's services. Add pictures and encourage past travelers to share their pictures as well. Consider adding an on-line forum to the website so that past and future travelers can communicate among themselves. Make sure that a forum has a moderator to prevent inappropriate comments from going up on the forum.

8

Learn how to update the website's content so that the travel agent does not become dependent on the availability of the website developer. Learn how to change files or change content and keep the content fresh and updated to keep visitors returning to the website.

9

Create crosslinks between all of the travel website's pages. Crosslinks allow for easier site navigation and allow websurfers to find the site through the search engines. Choose keywords for the travel website. Careful selection of keywords (a few words which describe the website and its content) will facilitate the ability of websurfers to find the website when they search for information with those keywords. Website developers embed keywords into a website's text and domain name.

10

Add "contact us" information on every page of the travel website. Visitors to the travel website may decide that they wish to contact the travel agent. Placing the contact information where website visitors will see it will facilitate these visitors who wish to contact the travel agent.

11

Place a web calender on the travel website to show website visitors the types and frequencies of organized trips that the travel agent organizes. Website visitors can keep updated on these calendars to decide when they can join a trip. The travel agent can easily update the content on a website calendar, such as the Google Calendar or SourceForge calendar.