How do you Market a Travel site?

Hi,

I was just wondering how you would market a travel site? I have tried everything from link exchanges to travel forums and other websites. I just can't seem to get it going...

 

Write a travel article for me and I publish it on my front page .

 

Have you tried article marketing? Write some 400-600 word articles with tips on how to save money while traveling, how to avoid common problems, etc. and submit them to the popular article banks. This might be a good way to get some exposure on other sites.

Rodger

 

I think the most effective way is through off-line marketing. A travel site is a high-involvement good meaning that recommendations is what really drives this kind of market.

As regards on-line marketing, try submitting to article directories, and try to write for a traditional magazine.

 

That is funny you mention that!

I actually own an article writing service and have dozens of DP members as clients. I never thought of using my talents in writing to help promote my own site.

Thanx for the suggestion!

 

Good content is the first step, with solid articles people will start finding you.

 

Why not invite people to share their stories or photos from their travels? You could run a contest and feature the10 best photos or something (with you judging), then have readers choose a winner for the best photo. Offer some kind of travel-related prize. Promote the contest through press releases. If you do them regularly it should help keep traffic flowing more regularly, and you may eventually attract sponsors for the prizes.

Jenn

 

More content will surely help your site. I poked around and noticed that there are hardly any pictures or objects to draw my eyes except Google Ads.

Take the homepage, I landed there and I'm already ready to leave seeing all these Ads. Remove some lol, or atleast put them at the bottom.

I (and my clients) have had a much better experience both from a financial and user experience standpoint by putting the ads on second tier pages. I see that you do that for the most part but I have some constructive suggestions for some of your pages:

1. In the Travel Directory.. Dang near everything about the fold is an Ad. I recommend removing that content and replacing your Links with a table. If I were you I'd give each item on your list 3 cells using two rows to work with, the first cell would be more like a <thead> data block where the link could sit, under that there could be divided cells where on one side you have your description, and on the other side some Google Ads. Heck, Google may ever serve you an ad for that placement that is perfect for the data about your entry.

2. In Reviews... Put more of these! They cannot be that hard to aquire, especially for exotic travel you may even be able to get permission to take feedback from a hotel/entertainment website and put it on your site.

3. In Tips & everywhere... Now I am not exactly the best developer in the world but there is too much centering goings on with the site. Block styled paragraphs resinate much better with users who actually buy things (graphics help too).

I'm not meaning to bash, but I see what you're trying to do and it's a cool idea it just can be optimized to really keep people at your site by driving them to pages which are going to convert better for you in the adsense payments arena of things.

 

From all of the business courses i have attended, it seems a website would be no different. You have to find your target market(visitors) and what they like. You can create a forum for them to tell there travel stories and what not. You could also allow them to upload there own photos. Each user could get a travel blog of their own when they sign up. I'm used to creating business plans for entrepreneurs, but i don't see why a website would be any different.

 

I don't own a travel site, however I known someone who has got a lot of exposure through their blog. Other sites are more likely to link to you through your blog, which can also lend you more credibility.

 

Pay me to promote it for you

 

You couldn't be more wrong lol

Whilst in principle how to market a website is the same, marketing a travel (and some of niche sites) site can be much more tougher due to the competiveness of the keywords. It amazes how many people I speak to who think that they can create a travel forum or blog and automatically create a thriving community, or earn a fortune.

In most people's mind travel is fun - and whilst running a travel site (I run a few) is great fun, and interesting, getting all these sites to rank well in the search engines can be frustrating as musicmysoul is finding it.

 

If you have serious travel site, serious marketing is required.

* Google Adwords
* Overture
* Magazine and TV advertisements
* Press Release (e-travel blackboard) is strongly recommended.
* Ofline-marketing (create business cards and distribute to as many people as possible)

Also fresh content in your site is vital and try to include unique pictures too.

 

But your point is only true if keywords and seo are your primary marketing method. While many webmasters instinctually turn to those things first, there are enormously more ways to promote a website (which in essence should be treated like any other kind of business if you want to earn a significant return). Drafting a business plan is absolutely the smartest step when starting a website where you intend to earn a profit. And an important part of that is creating a thorough marketing plan. In that marketing plan, it's up to the site owner to do the proper market research (or hire someone to) to find sites in their particular niche that would be direct and indirect competition. No good marketer would rely exclusively, or even that heavily, on keywords and seo. It's just one aspect of marketing a website in a sea of many. The problem is that most methods tend to be overlooked and underutilized... meaning they provide more of an opportunity for those using them, and not less. Just a few examples:

1. Offering a lot of free tools / features (not just the content)
2. Making sure the content is as extensive as possible and well-written (making quality readable content is more important if you want to generate a return reader-base than keywords are... it will also influence how well your site can be adapted to word-of-mouth marketing. Most people won't pass along info about a keyword-ridden site that's obviously written for machines and not people - while some people are good at incorporating both, more than a few are not.)
3. Holding contests.
4. Sending press releases, but most importantly doing them right. Don't do them for backlinks. Do them for actual coverage. If you hold a significant contest, write a good release and send it manually to travel magazines, websites, and blogs that might have an honest interest in interviewing you for a more detailed story.
5. Find other sites targeting the same general market demographics and partner with them with joint promotions (could be through a contest with them as a sponsor in exchange for you handling all of the promotion, or you could partner on a project and promote it together on both sites).
6. Join other travel communities and see what kinds of things people are asking for, wanting, or liking. Research is probably the most important part of marketing.

When you promote a travel site, or any site, think as a businessperson. There are a lot of successful marketing tactics out there that would work equally well online if people learned how to scale them and implement them. Be brave, and try something other travel sites haven't yet. If you deal with proper planning, you'll realize there's more to marketing an online business or website than the tried, true, and sometimes overdone standard internet marketing tactics. I'm not knocking their importance. But once you put websites, especially from even just one genre, into a "box" you're shutting yourself off from enormous potential opportunities.

Jenn

 

The best thing to do is put it up for sale for $10 opening bid in the sites for sale section on DP.

 

I doubt anyone can make a fortune with a travel site. Unless you own an airline. Niche sites can thrive if enough people create a cult around it. Travel doesn't seem that addicting on here.

 

Not true. It depends on the type of travel site and the target market.

 

I narrower niche may be the best way to go with a travel site. I would think you could have better luck targeting a smaller group who are passionate about something... such as just cruises, just Disney vacations, just all-inclusive resorts, just honeymoon destinations, adventure travel destinations... you get the idea. They already have their own little built in audiences. Making a really thorough resource site on just one very popular travel destination (with walking maps, details on attractions, details about the weather during different seasons, best places to stay... and all unique) could work well too. And if it did, you could always then expand into covering other locations.

Jenn

 

Interesting discussion

Narrower niche's are easier to market and optimise, but the travel industry is very competitive, and your fighting for that top spot with millions of other travel websites, so the narrower you go, the easier it is.

When I said competitive, I didn't just mean SEO, I mean actual business competition.

I run a few "narrow niche" travel websites (plus a travel blog) and a travel portal, with covers all aspects, from flights, insurance and car hire, to accommodation, in many countries across the world - now that is a challenge - which I personally love

 

You could also try a press release campaign to get the word out.

The first release you will publish will probably not have much of an impact, but if you publish a release every two weeks or so you will eventually get some quality traffic.

Regards, George