The Internet has changed the way people search for information and plan travel. Today, on Tourism website -designed pages a person can research local attractions, hotel deals, and vacation packages via smartphone apps or online travel sites. Businesses that have websites can easily social media share their latest blog posts to increase brand awareness and attract new followers. A well-designed website is an essential marketing tool for any business operating in today’s digital age. In this article, we list 8 key steps to design an effective travel website for your business:

Belize Tourism Website Design Travel Market

Before you design a tourism website for your business, answer this question: who are you planning to serve with your site? The market for your tourism website will largely determine the general design of the site. Knowing your target market can help you determine the best travel website design for your business. Your travel market can be anyone who wants to travel. You can also serve industry niche markets such as destination wedding planners, adventure travel agencies, or tour operators. With this we need to be able to reach that market and those interested, so we need to have an online presence that is broad enough to reach multiple countries. We need to also understand where our travelers are coming from.

Research Your Destination

Next, research your destination and its related travel market. You can do this by using travel websites, social media, and aggregating industry content to get a good overview of destinations, visitor demographics, how people travel to destinations, and what people find at destinations. Take note of the trends and insights you gather on your destination as these will help you refine your tourism website design. In Belize, we have a very diverse set of tourist destinations that appeal to various different types of tourists, due to this we have to be very versatile with our marketing to capture as many customers as possible.

Developing a Content Strategy

Once you’ve researched your destination and its related travel market, it’s time to develop a content strategy for your travel website. You’ll need to first determine the content types that best fit your travel market. Common content types on travel websites include blog posts, photos, videos, and infographics. Other types of content you can use on your travel website are customer testimonials, listing services, event calendars, and booking engines.

Developing User-Friendly Navigation

When developing an effective navigation system for your travel website, keep in mind that users are increasingly using mobile devices for travel planning. Therefore, you’ll want your navigation to be mobile-friendly. You can also consider using a hierarchical navigation system for your travel website’s navigation. This way, users can easily navigate your site and find the information they need.

Ask yourself Why? — Ultimately, You’ll Know

When designing navigation, ask yourself why you want certain navigation elements on your travel website. For example, if you want a contact form on your site, why is this important? In addition, how can you best use it? By asking yourself these “why’s,’ you can better direct your design decisions and navigation design choices. Not only do we have to ask why but we need to define the who. Who are these customers, and what brought them to your site? What will make them stay on your site and purchase a tour?

Bottom line

When designing a travel website for your business, you’ll want to keep these 8 key steps in mind. Knowing who you are targeting with your travel website will help you define who you are and what your business stands for. Next, you’ll need to research your destination and related travel market to better define your market. Finally, you’ll need to develop a content strategy to best utilize your travel website content types.