Are you passionate about promoting Vancouver Island? Want to help expand on its tourism? Got any hotspots in your city you want to share information about? There’s nothing like having a website to spread the word about the Island’s best features. If you’re not sure what you ought to present on your website, here are some general ideas on what it should have, and what it should do.
Successful Examples of Tourism Websites
Company owners looking to improve their Island tourism website should look no further for a good example of a successful site than Harbour Living, one, if not the, top websites for advertising local events. They are continuously updating their events, advertising, home page design, and content to name a few. They stay in touch with the latest news and keep their finger on the pulse of what people are looking for: to keep informed about their own community as well as any exciting events taking place on other parts of the Island such as theatrical performances.
Another example of a great tourism website is HelloBC.com, which extends to all of British Columbia rather than sticking specifically to the Island. Their photographs are beautiful but used sparingly, making their response time to be excellent, and finding and booking accommodations for out-of-town visitors is straightforward and easy to do.
Main Features
To get the most out of your tourism site, here are the basics you’ll want visitors to see first and foremost on your home page:
- Search bar
- Easy-to-read menus
- Categories with matching content
- Limited number of professional photos/illustrations
- Contact information
- Calls to action
- An option to sign up for a newsletter (optional)
For the rest of the website, these features should also apply:
- An up-to-date calendar widget
- Up-to-date content about accommodations, events, tours, etc.
- A blog
- Social media accounts
- Active links to event organizers/local companies
- Payment information (if applicable)
What Your Tourism Website Should Ultimately Do
Like any website, yours should do the following: inform, educate, and promote local and ongoing events or tourist-worthy areas in the community. If it’s Vancouver Island-wide tourism, aim to help ALL communities, not just the ones nearest your business. If there are events cancelled or tickets are sold out, update that information immediately. If you want to inform and promote annual events, never forget to add the year the event is taking place on to avoid confusion between you, your visitors, and the search engines. If accommodation is required, make it simple, straightforward, and uncomplicated for your visitors to book a room or group gathering.
Having a responsive website, therefore, is key to success, which is why to use professional imagery in a limited quantity – too many pictures and the response time of your website will grow slower, leaving many visitors frustrated and more than happy to click away from the website. Applying these suggestions to a mobile website for tourism is also ideal given how huge the number of mobile users have grown over the past few decades.
Looking to have a great tourism based website designed? Contact us at V3 Media.