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Design and Build your own
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View and download this guide - part 1 and 2 in .pdf format: Here
This article is part 2 on how you can design and build your own travel site about your destination of choice as I did, by making use of the best tools available, at minimal cost.
My story is that I wanted to design and build a professional travel site providing useful information about Cape Town set out in an attractive but straightforward easy to read manner - and not only that..
If I was going to spend a lot of my valuable time in researching and providing the type of content on my site that potential visitors to Cape Town would benefit from. I wanted the exercise to be worth my while.
There are some factors I had to take into consideration during my site preparation
I didn't want to be concerned about the technical aspects. Site design and search engine submissions is a science I still know little about.
Design and build your own travel site ..
You see, I wanted to make things as easy for myself as possible. I would be spending my time researching and gathering material for my travel site, so I wanted a reliable host and site building tools which would make the task of keyword brainstorming and website page design simple. I didn't want to have to worry about technical issues.
I found that there were a number of options available to me. I had never designed a website before and I had no idea how to go about it. A free website such as hosted by Yahoo! Lycos, or many other similar free-for-all hosts, was also not the way to go because I wanted to be professional about my travel business.
When deciding on the host for your travel site, consider the features on offer for the price you pay. I know that there is nothing comparable with the all inclusive package I use.
Here you can see some case-studies of successful web sites created with the system I use:
Case Studies
Here you can compare the system I use with others on the market Compare
Of course you could buy a course to show you how to build your site and take it from there. See what you get for your money. Could be useful yes, but ultimately there would be a lot of work to do.
Simply putting up a pretty website is not enough. If you want it to feature in the search engines, provide useful information, attract traffic and ultimately be financially viable there's a lot more to it than that. Firstly you need a reliable host as discussed. Then, besides keyword research, you would need to set up optimised travel information pages to attract traffic to your site, submit these pages to the search engines and build up from there. My system provides all those features and many more. Take the video tour to find out what they are.
You start by checking out your potential competition. Do a simple search on Google or Yahoo! using the main keyword associated with your travel site selection. eg. if you want to set up a travel site about New York, start with 'New York'
Research these sites for ideas. Find topics for your travel site which are original yet searched for by your visitors. Lots of work? Depends how you go about it. The task is that much easier if you make use of a good search tool. Here's one called SearchIt! You'll find it useful and indispensible.
Design and build your own travel site ..
You'll likely come across many sites containing lots of flash, ads. and color but minimal easy to find information. Your goal should be to put the emphasis on providing quality optimised pages consisting of the sort of travel information your visitors are seeking. This task is made much simpler by combining your knowledge with the right tools.
Get yourself a good text editor for a start. Preferably one which incorporates HTML editing and libraries. You'll need it for setting up your pages before uploading them. Here is my recommendation. It's freeware, easy to learn and simple to use. NoteTab Light
Here is another more advanced free html editor I also recommend, it has different levels of complexity and contains many useful scripts. 1st Page 2000 There is also an excellent Open Source WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editor called NVU (N-view) which is available as a free download. Get it here NVU
Your Domain Name
Designing your pages
Design and build your own travel site ..
An optimised, information rich, keyword focused travel site which attracts lots of targetted traffic, offers a number of income producing opportunities. There is the Google Adsense program, various affiliate sites marketing accommodation and tours, eg. Travel Now or Commission Junction, referral arrangements, advertising etc.
Researching your travel site concept, setting up your information and putting it all together in a keyword focused format, can be difficult without step by step guidance, not forgetting having to submit your completed pages to the search engines on a regular basis. So why not make use of an integrated set of tools that does all the hard work for you?
It was a user recommendation which pointed me in the right direction. I learned about the benefits of using a host and site building system incorporating a step by step Action Guide, all the tools I needed, and a reputation for promoting the success and financial independance I was searching for at a reasonable price. What could be better than recommendations in the form of case studies from actual users? case studies
Design and build your own travel site ..
Here is a guide to the outstanding features included in the package I use: Reference Guide
Design and build your own travel site ..
The correct domain name is essential and should be carefully researched. Not only is the name you choose a reflection of the destination you are promoting, it should contain keywords which are search engine friendly. Fortunately, following the Action Guide included in the all inclusive package I use makes your choice of an ideal domain name a snap. Building a travel site
'Keep it simple' is the rule. You need a logo to start with, and a straightforward template design which could be applied to all your pages. You could make use of graphic software such as PaintShop Pro for your logo. Do a Google search for template designs which are available on the internet. You'll also need a basic knowledge of html in order to set up your pages.
Getting traffic and monetising your site
By the time you get to this all important stage you will have set up a number of keyword focused information pages based on your destination of choice, and your site would be listed at least on the Google, Yahoo and MSN search engines. Of course being listed in the top 10 or 20 on these top SE's is what you should be aiming for because that's where your traffic will come from. You achieve this goal with quality content on your pages containing relevant optimised keywords, a strong linking program and lots of dedication.
Without the Action Guide I would have been unable to achieve my travel site goals and make the exercise financially viable.
What You get:
Here's a step by step:
Video Tour
View and download this guide - part 1 & 2 in .pdf format: Here
Return to: Design and Build your own Travel Site .. Part 1.
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