How We Built Our Travel Website

Once upon a time we wanted to build a travel content website. We've written for lots of prestigious publishers, but when you write guidebooks you get paid once and that's the end of it. They call it 'Work for Hire'. Apart from one or two publishers, you don't get royalties. So you write your purple prose and then kiss the words goodbye.

We knew a few writers who had published their own websites, so we wanted to try it. But where to begin? You need a dozen different skills to produce a quality website, and we only had a few of them! We knew we could write, but even that wasn't straightforward. Writing for the internet is very different from writing for the printed page.

We started to learn about internet writing through becoming Feature Writers at Suite101, Mike writing about travel in the UK and Ireland and Donna writing on travel for the Southwest USA and Hawaii.

We entered the murky world of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). They were both a long way from the world of travel.

We bought some website design software, Microsoft Expression Web, and scratched our heads as we tried to get to grips with it. Our first attempts at designing pages looked pathetic... as did our second, third and fourth attempts. We learned a little about domain names, and FTP, and sizing photos for web use, and Google AdSense, which made NoSense to us.

We realised that writing the site – the one and only thing we felt confident about – was only going to be 10% of the job, if that. We knew we were in for the long-haul, and even a primitive website looked to be at least 12 months away.

Then purely by chance we found a website that said 'Powered by Site Build It!' across the bottom of the page. The site looked quite impressive, so we clicked on the link. And our lives changed. We don't say that for dramatic effect, it's just a statement of the truth.

We took a look at this page of Successful Case Studies, with a very close look at the travel websites, naturally. It was this more than any other page that made us take SBI! (Site Build It) seriously. If they could do it, so could we.

And we looked at this page, about working from home. And this page on how to turn your knowledge into revenue.

And finally this page, on turning your travels into an online business.

And after a day or two of mulling it over, and wondering what the catch was as it seemed too cheap to be so good, we went to the Order Page and signed up. 

Within a week we had our domain name registered and our home page started, and within a few days we had several pages online. 

That first site was Pacific Coast Highway Travel. It was so successful for us that we started a second travel website: this one, Greece Travel Secrets. 

The main difference between Solo Build It! and other website building services is this. Other services will let you build your own website easily. What Solo Build It! does is teach you how to build a commercially successful website. There's a world of difference. If you just want a website and don't care about making money from it, use WordPress. If you want to learn how to make a website that makes money, do what we do and use Solo Build It!

VIDEO TOUR

If you want to see if Solo Build It! might work for you, and how it works, take this free and fun Video Tour of SiteSell.

SBI!
Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Latest Posts

RSS

  1. Greece’s November 20 Strike to Disrupt Ferry Services and Public Transport

    A 24-hour nationwide strike is set to disrupt transportation in Athens and travel across Greece on Wednesday, November 20, as public transport and ferry employees join a general strike organized by Gr…

    Read More

  2. Museum of Modern Greek Culture

    A New Cultural Jewel in Plaka

    Read More

  3. Zakynthos: Greek Draft Law Plans Ticket Requirement for Navagio Beach

    Visitors to Navagio Beach (Shipwreck Beach) on the island of Zakynthos will be required to purchase tickets for entrance once it reopens to the public, according to a new draft law proposed by the Gre…

    Read More

  4. Musicians Ex Machina Breathe New Life into Greece’s Mountain Villages

    A band of motorcycle-riding musicians is sending a powerful, melodic message from Greece's remote mountain villages that are at risk of being left deserted.

    Read More

  5. Thessaloniki Bites: 6 Fresh Culinary Gems to Savor Around the Film Festival

    With the 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival in full swing, we take a look at the city’s newest cafes, bars, and restaurants, along with some exciting culinary developments in the city.

    Read More

  6. Athens Metro Lines 2 and 3 Extend Weekend Service Hours Until 2 AM

    Beginning November 1, Lines 2 and 3 of the Athens Metro will extend their Friday and Saturday night service until 2 o’clock in the morning.

    Read More

  7. History of Thessaloniki

    Alexander-the-Great-statue-Thessaloniki.jpg
    Greece Travel Secrets outlines the history of Thessaloniki, Greece’s second city, from its origins through Roman times and the Ottoman period through to today.

    Read More

  8. Autumn Escapes: Discover the Timeless Charm of Ioannina

    Spend two days in Ioannina, the historic capital of the Epirus region, which is more beautiful in the autumn than any other city in Greece

    Read More

  9. The Odysseas Elytis Museum Opens in Plaka

    A new cultural landmark in Athens celebrates the life, work, and legacy of Nobel laureate Odysseas Elytis.

    Read More

  10. Gastronomos Awards 2024: Celebrating the Best Artisans of Cycladic Gastronomy

    The highly anticipated list of award-winning producers was presented in the capital of the Cyclades, Syros, by Gastronomos, Greece’s top culinary magazine, published by the newspaper Kathimerini.

    Read More