Issues of Web Design and Structure

March 2011Kate Waite Dot Tourism

Dot TourismA digital branding & online marketing specialist for the travel and tourism sector

What we do- Website design- Search marketing- Social media- Content Management- Display Advertising- Email marketing

Who we do it for- DMOs & Tourist Boards- Tour Operators & Hotels- Travel PR & Marketing Agencies

Importance of the web in travel sector

The internet is dominating the UK travel market and according to Forrester Research (2010), by 2013 46% of this business will be booked online

There are over 28.7 million people in the UK online travel market. Of these people, 22 million use search engines in their customer journey, with 92% of those that purchase using search at some point. (Study conducted by Nielsen, concerning the customer process in the UK online travel market. Full report http://bit.ly/dTDOBn)

The majority of consumers will turn to the internet when planning a holiday to research, read reviews, browse photos, share information and to make bookings.

What purposes do websites have to fulfil?

• Information service, for example tourism board• Transactional, for example accommodation provider• Core business, for example e-commerce site like Expedia• Hobby or community site, for example travel blog

Website development – where to start

Understand purpose of the website. What does it need to achieve?

– Promote and inform about the brand– Generate discussion / social media– Collect data for future marketing– Make a booking / purchase product

Website development – where to start

Scope of the website

– What is the proposed budget?– What is the extent of the information it will hold?– What functions must it fulfil?– What technical elements must it include?– What database requirements are needed?– Who are the intended audience? Are different variations of the site

needed for visitors in different countries?

Development processElements of website development

– Strategy: define a strategy that takes into account existing and future business objectives, marketing needs etc.

– Architecture and design: Interface and information design. Visual elements that communicate with target audience. Clear navigation.

– Content: Creation of original content optimised for the web

– Programming: Data design and site architecture. Front end and back end coding.

Development processData gathering – the planning and discovery phase

– Is this a new site or redevelopment of an existing site– How much time can the client devote to content creation / updating– Is there existing branding / information that needs to be incorporated– What is their end goal for the website? What is considered a

successful visit? – Questionnaire on current site if appropriate– Study site analytics and traffic

At the end of this stage you will have a project brief outlining the business, creative, technical and content requirements. An outline budget, schedule and resource plan.

Development processProduction

– Creating a wireframe– Design– Front end coding (XHTML)– Cross-browser testing and validation– Back end development and CMS integration– Content loading– Optimisation– User testing

Development processDesign

– Easy to navigate– Focuses user attention on most important elements– Quick to load– Works across browsers on all screen sizes– Accessible– Fits with brand image

Development processCode

– XHTML– CSS– JavaScript

Mahindra Homestays Wireframe Dot Tourism

Mahindra Homestays Design Dot Tourism

Mahindra Homestays Cross Browser Testing Dot Tourism

Content Management• Tool to allow users with no knowledge of website coding to manage and

edit content on a website within set parameters.

• Popular content management systems include– Expression Engine– Joomla– Word Press

Accessibility• Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web.

– Font size, Colours, Screen readers, http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/

Search Engine Optimisation• Majority of web traffic is driven by the major search engines Google, Bing

and Yahoo.

• Essential that you web site is found and indexed by search engines.

• Nielsen found that 90% of searchers who purchased travel products used generic search highlighting the importance of the online travel industry investing in organic SEO to focusing on generic keywords.

• The online environment is becoming increasingly competitive, and those companies who perform SEO will have a decided advantage in visitors and customers.

Search Engine Optimisation• Keyword research – working out the value of keywords• Understanding long tail of keyword demand• Never duplicate content• Site optimisation

– Link structure / architecture – SEO friendly code

• Content optimisation / on page optimisation– Title tag– Header– Body copy– Bold text– Image alt tags– URL– Meta description

• Link buildinghttp://guides.seomoz.org/

Content creation – Blog post for Mahindra Homestays -Keyword research Dot Tourism

Competitor Analysis

On Page Analysis

Optimisation Report

SEO guide from Google• Make pages primarily for users, not for search engines. Don't deceive your

users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as cloaking

• Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link

• Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content. Make sure that your <title> elements and ALT attributes are descriptive and accurate

• Keep the links on a given page to a reasonable number (fewer than 100).

Search engine marketing (SEM)• Pay per click• Search engine optimisation• Contextual advertising• Banner advertising• Affiliate marketing• Behavioural targeting

Pay Per Click (PPC)• PPC is an internet advertising model used on websites, where advertisers

pay only when the ad is clicked• Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook, LinkedIn

Analysis• Websites are constantly evolving• Analysing site traffic shows you how people found your site and how they

use it. Using this information you can enhance the visitor experience and direct visitors towards goals.

• Google Analytics is leading web analytics tool http://www.google.com/analytics/index.html

– Track sales and conversions– Measure site engagement– Study entrance and exit paths

Google Analytics to help redesign• What browsers should be supported?

• What country specific pages or languages should be supported?• Which landing pages are effective (and which need reworking)?• Where customers are being lost during the goal / conversion process?

Google Analytics to help redesign

Goal funnel visualization –graphically shows where visitors are leaking out of your conversion funnels.

For example this client was loosing a lot of visitors at the sign in / registration step. We were able to identify that the registration was too long and so in the site redesign have streamlined this process considerably.

Maintenance • Websites need ongoing development and support• Adding new products / services / content• Evolve with new technology and mobile platforms• Review usage and make improvements• Search engine optimisation• Landing page optimisation• Hosting and database management

What makes a good site?• Fulfils purpose• Good design• Well optimised

- http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/- http://www.blacktomato.co.uk/- http://www.originaltravel.co.uk/- http://www.statravel.co.uk/- http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/- http://www.withinwarwickshire.co.uk/

Case study: Within Warwickshire Dot Tourism

Case study: Within Warwickshire Dot Tourism

Case study: Within Warwickshire Dot Tourism

Dot Tourism integrated a white label solution on offer from National Tourism Open Platform allowing us to tap into the national database with comprehensive, high quality product data.

Further information

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Emailkate@dottourism.com