Travel Network

Some clients ask me about websites in general. Questions like how do you select a website? Which is the best website technology? How much should a modern website cost? etc.

I though perhaps in this blog post I will shed some light on what are the most important aspects to be considered while choosing a website having the above mentioned questions in mind.

You might have heard about the term CMS (Content Management System) which in short refers to an application in which you can systematically create and maintain your website and its content without having any technical knowledge what so ever. Basically if you can write a word document you are able to create and maintain your website content using a CMS.

There are tons of CMS out there in the cyberspace but which one is the right one for you to use? Please note that even though anyone can benefit from the notes below,  the following suggestions are prepared for small travel agencies who do not have enough know how and expertise in this field. So what we are trying to do here is to help them get started with almost next to nothing investment in order to get a catchy and advanced website running in no time.

So you have a small travel agency and don’t really have the need to go after a specialized website build with travel agencies in mind? You just want to have a web presence and you don’t have the need to maintain 100′s of pages every day but you still want your website to look like a million dollar website. Right?

So here are some pointers for you. Well you need a CMS (Content Management System) with the following characteristics.

1. You need a CMS that is used by millions of people and further developed by thousands of other people worldwide.
2. You need a CMS that enjoys availability of millions of resources that allows the website to be enhanced by new functions, features and look and feel all the time.
3. You need a CMS that is based on technologies that are hosted and maintained many places with almost next to nothing annual hosting costs
4. Ah and before I forget, it should also be free right?

There are tons of open source CMS out there in the cyberspace that you can use. How ever there are few of these CMS that have become so popular that almost all web hosting services around the world have a simple point an click installation process offer an automate installation of these on your hosting plan.

Few of these very popular CMS are Joomla and  WordPress. And it is no surprise that this website was also made using WordPress. It costs around 5-10 USD a month to host such a website.

So how do people earn their money when all this is free you might ask. The answer is simple they earn on providing services to folks like you.  For example if you don’t know how to install or how to use the system they will do it for you and teach you how to do it for a small fee. We take 6000 DKK to help you pickup a layout, install it for you and a few hours of training to get you going. If you want, you can get in touch with us.

Many small travel agencies spend a lot of money on doing things themselves because in turn they think it is cheaper for them to do it that way.

I have personally seen travel agencies who actually spend a lot of time handling the travel agency’s daily routines manually. This includes creating Invoices, sending offers to clients or even making websites (and i am not talking about maintaining content only. I am talking about making HTML, Design upload, download etc). All these activities take time and the time is taken away from resources that should be used for sales which generates income. Many a time a lot of resources are actually used on accounting as well because all the manual invoices they have created should be registered in the accounting system.

In this article we will concentrate on the travel agency website. Is it possible to get a FREE state of the art website for my travel agency?

The answer is YES WE CAN. The problem here is that not many people know the fact that there are tons of open source state of the art Content Management Systems (CMS) available for use that actually not only do not cost a dime but also give so many options and opportunities because they are used by millions of people around the world and further developed by many as well. In fact some of these tools are so powerful that within a few minutes you can turn your whole website into a full blown social networking website. So you might ask where do these people earn their money from when the software is for free?

Well the answer is simple. If you can set it up and learn it yourself, then it is completely free. If you cannot, then  you pay to some one to set it up for you and teach you how to use it. So in principal you pay for the services that you get from individuals who know how to help you get started.

In most cases we have dealt with, the process was as such:

• The client used a couple of hour with us to discuss their needs in order to choose the right CMS for them
• We showed them a few design layouts also completely FREE of charge to choose from.
• It took us a couple of days to setup their website, hosting etc
• and finally a couple of hours to train them in using it

The client paid us for the above services but not for the software itself. This gave them whole new opportunities for promoting their business.

Do you also have the same situation? then write a comment using the form below and lets find out how you can get your problem solved.

Some of travel agency websites we have developed with fully automated Search Engine Optimization SEO are as follows. Non of these sites need any human interaction in for SEO. The site itself is smart enough to make the optimization automatically.

Grace Tours

Travel To Care

To Bangladesh

Travel To Care Net

Live Travel

Ecotourismize

Ayurveda rejser

Today any business requires a website no matter how simple or advanced it is. Travel industry is among the world most advanced segments so far as Internet presence is concerned.

A large portion of travel business is on line and therefore the website becomes an important factor. In most cases website creations are very expensive to develop and maintain but it does not have to be that way. No matter how small you company is, with a little bit of knowledge, and help you can setup a state of the art website for your company with a fraction of the price that it could normally cost you.

We can assist you in getting the right website for your company and set it up for you. Best of all we can do this with very reasonable prices. For further information, please contact us.