It’s that time of year again… back to school time for many parents.

But for many businesses – esp those in the US and UK, tourism and otherwise – this is also the time when the summer crowds are starting to thin, the sprint is sliding back into marathon mode, and it’s time to start taking a look at figures and metrics and figure out where to put some strategic focus.

So, to sharpen those pencils… I’d like to talk about websites for a minute.  And you know my fondness for metaphors, so let’s consider quality website design in terms of pens and pencils.

Pens and Pencils? Yeah, it's not the best metaphor.
But's back to school time - work with me here!

Websites That are Like Pens

Ok, so let’s think about your traditional pen.

• It’s pretty inflexible – built for one purpose, which it tries to do pretty well.
• When there’s problems, just shake it a bit – sometimes that fixes it.  (Or draw a bunch of circles until it starts working again.)
• When you make a mistake, you’ve got to scratch it out and start over.  Not easy to rework what you got.

I can’t help but think a lot of small business websites are like this.  It’s ok if you didn’t know what the hell you were doing when you built your site, but if you’re driving around in circles hoping for your problems to fix themselves, you’re crazy.

Websites That are Like Pencils

So, then we have your friendly, old fashioned but never out of style, pencil.

• It has an eraser.  Made a mistake?  Erase, rework, review.
• It has the option of sharpening it when things get dull.
• It has other uses too – this is not a one trick pony.

Fact:  Those phrases are nearly word for word things I’ve said before in website audits about good websites.  Ok, some wordsmithing would be required, but this really is how a good website should be.

First, you sharpen your focus, and you go for it.

If you find out you made a mistake, then  you course correct.

At some point, your marketing message might get a bit dull.  You sharpen.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Moral of the Story

If you need to use that eraser and sharpen up your website, then come join us on Thursday, September 29th at 2PM Pacific / 5PM Eastern for the Why Your Website Sucks & How To Fix It {Back to Basics Teleclass} we’re co-hosting with Brandie Kajino, the SOHO Solutionist. She’s a tech rockstar and has the answers to nearly any tech problem you can throw at her.

We’re going to answer all of your burning website questions, and if you book now, you can also get a copy of our popular guide, Create a Website Converts, for a huge discount.  It’s such a good deal it’s almost like getting the teleclass for free!

Click the button below for more details and to join us on the teleclass!

Photo by sk8geek

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Video content is VERY HOT and en vogue these days – and why not? Video cameras are now both cheap and high quality, and the tools are available to edit and publish your videos without a lot of hassle. Youtube (owned by Google, did you know?) is the king of video content hosting, with an archive that grows at an blistering rate every day.

I’m not here to try and convince you that you need video, nor am I going to share with you the bazillion other sites that are alternatives to Youtube for hosting your videos.  I love Youtube – it’s free, simple, and effective.  Today, I have three quick youtube embed tricks for making your website video clips more awesome.

For the beginners: An “embed” is taking some code from Youtube and using it to make a video appear on your own website. On any youtube page, you’ll see a button called “Share”.  Click that, and then click “embed” and you’ll get a cut-and-paste snippet of code to use for your site!  Here is the settings page:

Looks more intimidating than it actually is.

Trick 1: Enable Transparent Mode

This one is a bit of a hidden secret, but it is very important for anyone who uses pop-ups on their website. As you may know, pop ups can dramatically increase action to things like email newsletter signups or last minute special deals.
But most pop ups get a little upset when there is a video embed code on the page.  Here’s an example from my friend Nathalie (who I did warn I was going to blog about this, but perhaps I should have mentioned there would be screenshots!):

Pretty jarring isn’t it? It ruins the effect of the popup, for sure. But this is easy to fix with Youtube’s transparency mode. You just have to add ?wmode=transparent to the end of the Youtube URL. Here’s an example – the bold part is all I changed from my default youtube embed code:

<iframe width=”425″ height=”349″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/9_TyqJ-spAU?wmode=transparent” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

Warning:  If your URL already has some parameters at the end, replace the question mark with an “&” sign.  Example – http://www.youtube.com/embed/9_TyqJ-spAU?rel=0&wmode=transparent.

Easy peasy! Unfortunately Youtube doesn’t have an automatic setting for this feature so you’ll have to do it by hand editing the code after placing it on your site.

Trick 2: Turn off Related Videos

After a customer see’s your awesome video about your tour or hotel rooms, you don’t want them seeing some seemingly “random” video by someone else, do you?  That’s exactly what you get when your embeds allow related videos to show.

In previous versions of Youtube, this was enabled by default.  Now, it isn’t, but a lot of people still choose it because they think it means “show related videos by me.”  No, it means “show some crazy-a** random video from Youtube’s enormous archive.”  Not cool.

Even IF it did show just your videos, I’m not a big fan of how the related videos show.  It’s a terrible interface.  So just TURN THAT BABY OFF:

Do NOT tick this box. Unicorns, rainbows, and puppies will thank you.

Trick 3: Dump the Youtube Logo

Think that having the Youtube logo there is “low quality.”  Or just think their logo clashes with yours? You don’t need any fancy-pants tricks for setting up custom logos and stuff – just use the “&modestbranding=1” parameter on your URL and presto, the logo goes away.

Let’s use the same example we had before.  Here’s how you add the code if there is no parameter on  your URL already:

<iframe width=”425″ height=”349″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/9_TyqJ-spAU?modestbranding=1” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

But let’s say you already did your transparent mode, and now you want to be a REAL Youtube ninja and add in this feature too?  Simples:

<iframe width=”425″ height=”349″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/9_TyqJ-spAU?wmode=transparent&modestbranding=1” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

Here’s the result:

As the name implies, it is a modest change, but some folks love it. I should mention that when a user hovers over the title area of your video, the name Youtube is still visible.

Hope these Youtube embed tricks are useful – there are more tricks we’ll share in an upcoming segment.  Are you looking for other tips and tricks for jazzing up your web presence?  Then try out TOP Three for FREE – our quick business assessment to keep you on focus and on track.

What are you doing to jazz up your Youtube video embeds?

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This past weekend I found myself in a bit of a conundrum – a frustrating one, for sure.  I’ll spare you the specifics, but I was looking for a specialized tour operator and needed someone with a solid reputation to look after a worried traveler friend of mine.

It wasn’t exactly a slim niche – it isn’t, as I found plenty of people who appeared at first glance to offer the service I was looking for.  But time and time again, I banged my head on the keyboard in annoyance (which actually sent my web browser off in a different direction – not helpful).  In a fit of despair, I went offline and made a few phone calls and got a referral that got the sale – because THEIR website was a heck of a lot easier to find what I needed to make a decision.

During the process I noticed something:  many travel websites are either like coffee shops or glass towers.

Those Damn Websites Like Glass Towers

The frustrating websites that were like glasstowers…

• Had a design that didn’t really welcome me.  Think stock images, little content, no personality - no about page, gah who are you! Like a stiff uniformed guard in the lobby.
• Were really kind of difficult to get around – or at least find the options I were looking for.  Think no search options, obtuse menu labels, endless lists of things splattered everywhere.  Yeah, just like those ridiculous “directories” in a big building.
• Offered me NO CLUE as to how much they cost or even what the packages/options are.  I either had to call, or fill out a convoluted form to request a quote. Nothing wrong with that, but a ballpark figure would have been helpful – nobody wants to be embarrassed to ask and find out they’re in the wrong price bracket!  How long do I need to wait here with the receptionist….

As my co-author in our popular guide Why Your Website Sucks and How to Fix It, those glass tower websites were all about THEM and didn’t really care about ME.

Ahh… and the Coffee Shop-Like Websites

The person who got my money had a coffee shop-like website.  Why do I say that?  Because the site….

• Felt very fresh and active – there were testimonials everywhere, a current blog, some social media references – so it was easy to see that there was someone actually around!  Nobody wants to sit in an empty cafe – even if we’re the first to arrive, we can feel the vibe.
• Established trust, credibility, and personality – some of the website copy was almost too funny to be taken seriously.  But I enjoyed the laugh, the photos, and the ability to get an idea on what other people think by making the reviews easy to read.  Love the reviews posted on the wall, and for making the place special and different than the rest – a great experience.
• Gave me my choices easily laid out and it was easy to ask questions.  Packages make it easy for buyers to know what you do, and help them find the right choice.  But what if I don’t know?  Love it when you can see your options in the glass case or the menu, then ask an expert barista for a recommendation.

Everybody knows a good cafe when they see it – you can’t help but be drawn in for a closer look.  A good website does the same.

Photo Credits: Wirelizard, abragad

How to Figure Out if You’re a Coffee Shop or a Glass Tower

Take our awesome email-based class Market Less and Sell More to make sure you’re covering the foundations of a great website and marketing plan.  The first month is FREE, so what have you got to lose? (And our second lesson will very quickly tell you whether you’re a coffee shop or a cafe.)

Unsure what your next step should be? Then take our TOP Three for FREE.  It’s your opportunity to tell us about your biz, what’s hot, what’s not and we’ll give you our free advice and perspective on where to focus your attention. Click here to learn more.

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This past weekend, I was planning a few segments of my summer travels – to the US East Coast, if you’re curious. I can see why travel agents still have good business, because some of the website I was using frankly, sucked. These were both the official tourism websites as well as independent tour operators and information websites.

Here’s the one thing that got me quite often. I like to call it “the taunting photo effect.” One site had a photo similar to this one:

(this photo is from a Flickr user, McD22.  not from the original site, you’ll see why in 2 seconds.)

I was on this particular travel website looking for inspiration.  We were going to be stopping by this small town en route to another destination, and my traveling companion had suggested it as a possible place to visit as well as spend the night.  So I’m on the prowl for a reason why I should give a damn about Destination XYZ.

I see this photo appear rotating on the homepage.  It is GORGEOUS.  It is mesmerizing.  I want to go there.  Now.

Here’s the rub: the photo had no caption.  No click through link.  Nothing.  Nada.

This is bad for two reasons:

1) Some of your disabled and handicapped users cannot see that image.  They’d normally see the “alt” text which appears to give some context to those users on what they would be seeing if their device allowed it.  Those disabled users just saw a big blank space. So much for your mesmerizing destination.

2) Those of us (me) who could see the image got frustrated trying to figure out where the hell the picture was from.  To make matters worse, it rotated off the screen so I had to go searching for it.  I still don’t know where the damn pink sunset place is.  And I was so frustrated that I’m leaning towards stopping somewhere else who will tell me what I need to know.  Like most web users, I’m not looking for surprises, I have a question and I want an answer.

And there you have it.  The taunting photo effect.  Don’t taunt your potential customers.  Make sure all photos have a caption and a subsequent link for more information, if appropriate.  They sure as hell aren’t going to call you up and ask about it (if they do – you’re lucky.)

Get more tips like this on how to improve your website in our kick ass guide, Why Your Website Sucks, and How to Fix It.

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In our kick-in-the-pants guide, Why Your Website Sucks – And How to Fix It, we pay special attention to one special page of your website.  It’s not your homepage, and it’s not your sales pages.  It’s a page that is super critical for almost all travel and tourism businesses, and a lot of people screw it up.

(Keep reading.  It’s coming, young grasshopper.)

I do love business models and business trends, so I’m always watching what the crowing crop of creative entrepreneurs are working on.  Here’s what I’ve noticed in the past month:

• I’ve seen a new consulting website setup – an entire website and consulting package about one page of your website. Suggest it’s an important page, right?
• I’ve seen no less than three eBook guides, one which had a 90 minute audio call as well, about this same damn page of your website.
• Doing a fancy-pants Google search, nearly 600 articles (yes, six hundred!) have been written about how to improve this page of your website in the past two months. Geeze, you think you’d know by now.

This is the page where on-the-fence buyers often go to decide whether they’re going to go ahead and buy, or click the back button and try something else.

This is the page where scared buyers – the ones whose credit cards rarely see the glare of your monitor screen – go to decide whether or not you are  A SCARY UNETHICAL SPAMMER.  (There are a lot of those around, you know.)

This is the page where… oh for crying out loud, let’s just get it out in the open, right?

What Is the Page Everyone Is Talking About?

The About Page.  About You.  About Us.  About.

Dear Friend, if you do not have an About Us Page, please promptly close this window right now and go fix that problem.  Rejoin us when you’ve finished – we’ll all be here waiting, with baited breath.  Go on – we’ll wait – really – go, do it.  Now!

Does Your About Page… Suck?

So, for those of you with an About page, how is it?  Most About Pages are anemic, at best, and they suck, at worst.  It is no wonder, because an About Page has a lot of heavy lifting to do.  It needs to:

• Give me Context as to Who You Are and help me understand your values, oh, in about 10-15 seconds.  Not to rush you, but your customer is in a hurry.
• Show Me What Y0u Look Like. Yes, a team picture or your picture if you’re solo had better be there.  Always, no exceptions. (Yes, I know you are self conscious.  Still.  Pictures.  On the About page!)
• Encourage me to get to know you.  This isn’t the hard sell.  This is the “omfg-it-is-so-nice-to-meet-you-have-a-seat-cup-of-tea-how-can-we-help” sell.  Very different approach.
• Highlight why you are better, the best, the only, or different. Why you, instead of the other 100 options?

I could go on for days about tips and recommendations on how to make your about page perfect, but we have a perfectly good book (see above) that does that.  Here’s the super succinct answer:

Pretend like your about page is a New York Times Best Selling Book Sleeve.  The inside and outside covers.  It’s about, what, 300 words?   It has a picture of the author.  And it says WHY you will love the author and WHY you will love what is inside.

So, grasshopper.  How’s that about page of yours?

P.S.

We’ve spent at least 90 seconds, if not more if you’re a slow reader, talking about one page of your website.  But what about all the other ones?

Click Here to download our guide to help you make sure EVERY page on your website is kick ass effective.

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I’ve had more conversations than I’d like to count about online branding lately. But darned if it isn’t awfully important – just like in the real world, the first time I “meet” you and your company I’m quickly evaluating lots of different details to make a judgement call on what I think about you.  In seconds, I evaluate….

• the words you choose that tell me whether or not you understand me
• the graphics you choose  that tell me what kind of personality your business represents
• the experience you offer me that closes the deal in my brain on whether or not I want to move forward

Our brains do all of his activity in the blink of an eye.  Those fancy scientists call it “slicing”, but for us normal folks, it’s called a gut reaction, and we all have it. You sometimes can get over a first impression, but you rarely can get over your customer’s gut reaction.

Whether Its 3 Seconds or 5 Seconds Doesn’t Matter

In our super sexy guide to help make your website SELL MORE NOW, one of the exercises I walk you through is asking a stranger to look at your website for only 3 or 5 seconds, and then ask them to tell you what you sell.  The seconds part is because in testing, this is how long many uses take to do the aforementioned evaluation and gut check.

Often, this exercise is the most revealing out of any.  Why don’t we have a ‘lil fun this Tuesday and try it out together?

I caught a glimpse of a press release for a new website that recently launched.  Start your timer.  What do you think they sell, based on their header?

3…2…1.. DONE.

Could You Guess?

What did you guess?  I’m going to be respectful and not mention any of the wild-ass guesses I suppose are going to be out there (and if you comment below, please be respectful and keep it clean or else you’ll get moderated).

If you guessed discount train tickets, you won.  Somehow I don’t think you got there.

Close but No Cigar

So, here’s the rub.  Online, IT’S KIND OF CROWDED.  (Sorry for shouting, but it looked like you were fading.)  You really have to aim for two extremes:

• A Business That’s Super Obvious:  e.g. The Discount Train Guys.com
• A Business That Is So Unique It’s Almost Disgusting:  Red Spotted Hanky.com

Red Spotted Hanky isn’t a terrible move.  Guaranteed that nobody else would be hustling in on your precious google territory – you’d just need a bit of cash for some publicity, and some nerve to really do some sweet social media promotions with a box of hankies (cheap!), and you’re set.

But if you forget to add the “obvious” bit to your clever website, you lose. “Delicious Designs” doesn’t tell me crap unless you point out it is travel itineraries.  ”Upsidedown Adventures” doesn’t help me out until you point out you do hiking tours in Argentina.  ”The Fluffy Bunny” is toast unless you remind me that you’re the best place to sleep in the centre of Brighton.

Red Spotted Hanky could have fixed their woes with a simple tagline, and that would have fixed it.   Really, just a quick tagline would have been perfect.  Unfortunately, their tagline is on the homepage, hidden inside a video animation about all sorts of other stuff.

Sure, if you spent some time on the Red Spotted Hanky’s website, or the Delicious Designs Website, or any other fictional website I could come up with, you’d manage to figure out what they’re about, eventually.

But your customer doesn’t have the time or the patience. When it comes to web design, clever is cute, but optional.  Obvious and direct is mandatory.

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So, unless you were under a rock (which happens to me regularly, in fact), you no doubt heard all the fuss about our DIY Guide launch, Why Your Website Sucks and How to Fix It.  I’m happy to keep singing its praises because after a six month birthing process, I’m elated by the quality result and thankfully that it’s all over and done with.

But there’s more to the story.  I didn’t even tell Kelly, my co-author, about what I did.  It has been over a year since the TOP website launched, and we’ve had not one but two major overhauls since then.  By overhaul, I don’t mean we burnt it down and started over, but we did do some major tweaks and tightened some screws.

So, I decided to walk through the worksheet (all 28 pages of it), and do the exercises.  And implement the changes.  I did most of them right after the launch, so I’ve only had one month of data to evaluate the changes. (As mentioned in our Guide to Google Analytics, it’s a fine line between making changes proactively and allowing things to bed down.)  I’d rather wait a little longer, but since I’m already seeing some great results, I wanted to share them with you.

In Summary

I’m leading with the summary first, in case you’re short on time.  The thing I’ve learned over the years is that there is no perfect website, as was clear in our conversation about managing customer expectations.  I’d like to be more specific in that point:

• You don’t know what you don’t know. It seems obvious, but the thing is,there are lots of things you don’t know when you put up site content.  You don’t know what stuff will sell the best, you don’t know what will be confusing or unclear, and you don’t know how your business will evolve in the future.  So relax into the fact that your site is as good as it can be, and revisit it as your own business evolves.

Ok, so having said that, what did I change, and how did it affect our bottom line?

Chapter 9: Do Your Pages Flow?

Chapter 9 talks about do your pages flow.  Is your customer able to effortlessly get from point A to point B.  For me, an important metric here is newsletter subscription.  Many of our sales come from this platform, and existing customers love it, so I want to encourage it.

Before, our menu was two layers: Newsletter > Subscribe

You had to go to a specific page to subscribe.  A page that was kind of redundant, and an extra click.  Yes, there is a widget in the sidebar on every page, but the reality is that 75% of people visit the page to learn more before subscribing.

The Change:  So I dropped the second page, so you just signup on the main newsletter tab.

The Result:  Newsletter subscriptions have INCREASED by 200%. Almost everyone who gets to that tab signs up.  I’m blow away.  How could such a simple change make such a difference?  Because people are lazy, and I got in their way.

Chapter 10:  Page Layout

Kelly writes an amazing bit of text in this chapter about affiliate sales – this includes any sort of advertising for products other than your own.  She says:

[Promoting affiliate products ] could be worth squandering good will if the affiliate sales are so significant that your own (now lost) sales wouldn’t make up for it—

but now you’re in the reselling business, not the hotel business (or whatever your business is).

Don’t let this sneak up on you like so many business owners we talk with. If you decide to get in your own way, make sure you change objectives (change businesses) consciously.

Should you get in your own way? For most companies the answer is No.

The Change:  I’ve dropped all of the content we have that is for affiliates.  Only TOP products.

The Result:  It’s hard to pin this one down, but for me one of TOP’s biggest problems is that we have a LOT of great content.  Books, audios, videos – there’s a lot of great stuff.  So anything that doesn’t add value and isn’t at our core of what we offer has to go.

Chapter 4: Competing for Attention Span

So, chapter 4 deals with a problem that we all are well aware of: the lack of attention span.  As I just said, TOP has a lot of content, so for us, that attention span is a huge problem.

What I decided to do then, in a similar vein with the previous suggestion, is to go through every page on the side.  I worked through some of the worksheet exercises and:

• Reworked content on poor performing pages
• Dropped pages that didn’t add value
• Updated pages where the content really didn’t reflect our current offerings, added new links, etc.

The Change:  I ended up overhauling about 5 pages, and I dropped 17 pages!  17! OMG!  Crazy, right?

The Result: So, caveat: other factors could have contributed to these figures, because this isn’t a 100% controlled environment.  But after the tweaks have been in place for a month:

• Our bounce rate is down just over 4%.  It’s still high in places, but I’m happy with 4%.
• Our average time on the site is up 19%.  That’s a huge improvement! Whoo!
• Alongside the previous, our pages per visit on average is up 11%.  Yay!

I’ve noticed a slight uptick overall in our DIY guide sales.   Which would make sense because this is where many of the tweaks and changes were made.

So, how’s your not-so-perfect Website

I spent a few hours and I’ve made stupid, simple little changes that clearly are already making a HUGE improvement on our site performance.  (Don’t tell my co-author, Kelly.  She’ll just tell me “I Told You So.”  She’s classy like that.)

What would a few tweaks do to your site? Click here to find out.

P.S. – Not sure if the guide is for you?  Got questions?  Email me – I’d love to hear from you.

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Last week we had what has to be by far the biggest launch in TOP’s history, our simplified guide to website usability: Why Your Website sucks, and How to Fix It.  If you didn’t pick one up last week, be sure to check it out.

We’ve had some terrific feedback already, there’s a couple of questions that have cropped up amongst the crowd, so as promised, I’m addressing those here. Here’s the question:

We have a few different Ideal Customers.  Even so, how do we craft our content and site organization to account for so many possibilities, steps in the buying lifecycle, and just their mood on that day?  Gah! Help!

The Short Answer

You can’t please everyone, so aim for the middle, and do your best.  Highlight the most profitable products, the most common questions, signpost the easiest and most straightforward path.

You cannot build a website that meets everyone’s expectations all of the time (everyone being your Ideal Customers).

The Long Answer with a Story

Here is a great story to explain this principle.  Here at TOP, I tend to revamp/revise/tweak the site on a month basis, based on conversations with our less-than-tech-savvy customers as well as a review of Google Analytics.  I’m sort of neuro-compulsive like that – but I do try not to change things so much that it’s annoying like when your favourite grocery store changes the layout entirely overnight.

So, despite a continual march towards perfect (knowing I’ll never get there), things are never right for everyone. Consider a travel agent, who heard that we have a really good book about search engine optimization.  She went to our travel magazine first, a totally different site, first.  Thankfully that site is clearly consumer, so this travel agent found her way over to this site, landed on the homepage, and started scanning for the words SEO Book.

Didn’t see it so she clicked on articles and started scanning through the blog.  SEO book.  SEO guide.  SEO ebook. Nothing.

In the end, she emailed me and I sent her the link, as well as noodled around about how this problem came about.

What was her problem?

Was it this poor travel agent’s fault that she couldn’t find the book? No.  Was it our fault for not having SEO eBook loud and clear on the homepage?  No – not enough people come looking exactly for that.

The problem was that she had a very, very specific thing she was looking for.  So much so that she had blinders to any of the other clues that might have solved her problem (“Resources”, or “Search” for example).

This happens more often than you realize.  Until you can read minds and adjust you site automagically, you’ll just have to do your best.

Your best is all you can do.  So, the real question is, are you doing your best?

Make Your Best Better

If you haven’t have a look at our snazzy, simplified guide to website usability, click the image below to check it out. Your website users will thank you.

P.S. – Not sure if the guide is for you?  Got questions?  Email me – I’d love to hear from you.

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For what it’s worth, the most popular service here at Travel Online Partners is our professional website review.  I suppose part of that is because it’s what I did for years in the corporate world (so it’s a very good package) and few companies offer that service to small businesses at such a low cost.  Or perhaps because for a lot of people, their websites don’t do a very good job of doing the ‘thing’ you built the website for in the first place.

If you’re reading this, more than likely your site is to promote your products and services.  To sell you.

Does your site do that?  How well?

Introducing Website Usability

We’ve talked about website content and website usability before.  But do you know what usability is?  My definition is simple:

Making it as easy as possible for folks to decide to buy from you—and closing the deal.

- It’s not just about the content (copywriting).

- It’s not just about the colours/fonts/layout (graphics design).

- It’s not just about how the menus work and the pages link (technical design).

Usability is where all of those skills come together to make magic happen.  I say magic, because in today’s media-drenched world, you need magic to get eyeballs and attention and to make the sale.

When’s the last time you heard someone say “I want to built a travel website that is exactly like everyone else’s?” Small business owners like you don’t say that, but you’d think they did with a quick look at your average small business website out there.

Or how about a travel consumer emailing a friend to say “I saw these travel people and, well, they might work, but I’m not sure, and they kind of feel like a scammer, and, hmm, uhm, well if you take a leap of faith, maybe they won’t steal your credit card.”

Nope.  People don’t do that.  They move on until they find a travel provider who shouts out “Hey – I’m perfect for you. Let’s do business.”

Does Your Website Suck?

I’m pleased to finally announce that our simplified guide to website usability has just been released.  Why Your Website Sucks – and How to Fix It is a non-nonsense approach to get your website from now to WOW in the most straightforward way possible.

Myself and my co-author Kelly Erickson, of the popular blog Maxiumum Customer Experience, laid out all of the technical jargon, well-proven usability principles and practices, case studies and travel buyer information we had.

Then we wrote a guide that explained all that to someone like you: the average small business owner with not enough time, not enough leads, not enough money… and not enough website awesome-ness.

What’s In the Guide

Similar to most of our DIY guides, Why Your Website Sucks – and How to Fix It is action-packed with practical, action-able information.  Specifically, we’ve included:

• 126 pages of tips, information and explanations on how to walk yourself through a detailed usability review of your own website – all jargon-free!
• 28 pages of workbook assignments that will help you figure out what’s getting in your way and getting it fixed right now.
• 1 hour of recorded chat between myself, my co-author Kelly, and marketing expert Naomi Dunford about common misconceptions about websites and how to deal with the emotional state of the cold, heartless world wide web

It is an extensive package without being overwhelming.  And it’s affordable.  If you think your website sucks – even if just a little bit – I’d encourage you to have a look.  For most of you, the guide pays for itself after just one more sale via your website.

That’s a no-brainer investment in one of your most important marketing channels in today’s travel market.  Click here or click the banner below to find out more and to start improving your website’s performance today.

P.S. – Not sure if the guide is for you?  Got questions?  Email me – I’d love to hear from you.

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How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com

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I’ve just spent the best part of an hour wanderlusting at all the gorgeous websites in this roundup of inspirational travel website designs.  They are beautiful websites.  Some are more effective and usable than others, but all definitely easy on the eyes.

I couldn’t help but notice the comment “Frederica” left:

I noted that these hotels and resorts are almost all luxury hotel: it’s far more simple to design a beautiful website if you have awesome pictures!

Hmm.  I don’t think that is true.  Yes, pictures say a thousand words, as the cliché goes,  and if you don’t have any photos on your website, people will wonder what you are hiding.  Yes, they need to be professional photos – not expensive, but not lousy off-the-cuff shots with a blurry cameraphone.  (Side point:  It might just be me, but I would rather see photos that look like a tourist took them – instead of the overly glossy marketing photos.  Perhaps it is just me.  Personal preference.)

But no way do you need to have a million dollar facility to have great photos.  Here are some photos I just found from visitors to budget hotel properties – these visitors have shared these photos to their friends on Flickr.

Hotels

Here’s a nice shot of the “fasthotel” by Wolfgang Staudt.  It looks “pretty” and professional to me:

Or how about this lovely exterior shot of a Holiday Inn by Uggboy?

Tour Operators

You need ‘em too – pictures of people enjoying your tours.  This is a no brainer, and so many operators seem to think that I can just imagine on my own all these lovely places you want to take me.  Not the case.  You don’t need to spend a fortune though.

Look at this gorgeous shot from Lauren Kates of her tour guide in Jamaica:

Or how about Marcin Wichary’s photo of his tour guide of the Seattle Underground – an action pose:

The Seattle Underground is kind of dusty and dank.  It’s not photogenic.  But this is a great shot, no?

The Answer is Yes

Do you need pretty pictures to sell a travel product?  YES.

Do you need to spend a fortune on getting them?  NO.

Your customers probably have great ones you can use.  Just ask – more often than not they’ll be happy to oblige. Otherwise, there are photography students and amateur photographers – heck, even semi-professional photographers are very reasonably priced and can do a bang up job for you.  But you need good, quality photos.  No matter what kind of travel “thing” you are selling.

To Learn More

If you are feeling like your website is lacklustre and not converting browsers into buyers effectively, we can help.  Have a look through our resources, including our popular website review service.

Other people who liked this article liked these too:

How's your website doing? Our TOP resources make your online presence work smarter. Check out the latest news and tips: http://www.travelonlinepartners.com

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