Tips for creating a website to showcase your travels

By: Kim Friesz of SnapPages.com

Start the website before you leave:

This will allow you to update friends, family and colleagues on your adventures along the
way and keep you from forgetting some of the great highlights of your trip. Think of your
website as a travel journal and be sure to let those that will want to follow your travels
know about your new website.

Choose a website tool that is easy to update and maintain:

Choose easily updateable and very accessible. You want to spend more time enjoying and
less time “working”. Not to mention, if you aren’t carrying your computer, you might be
paying for internet service in a café perhaps. SnapPages is a great solution for those that
want to create and update a site quickly and easily from any computer that has an internet
connection. This makes it ideal for the traveler.

Be Sure to Keep a Blog on Your Site:

Blogs are a great way to document your travels day by day or more or less often as you
choose. You can often embed video, pictures, and of course text. These entries can also
be categorized so people can search for topics they are particularly interested in – ie.
travel sites, people visited, dates, etc… In your blog, also note tips for other travelers that
visit – ie. be sure to eat here, if you take this sub be sure to…

Take and Add Lots of Photos To Your Site:

Photos capture and share what you see and are a way of bringing along a person on the
trip that couldn’t come. A good website tool will allow you to interact with your photos
in Facebook and Twitter (so you can easily share pictures between applications). I like to
create albums based upon dates and/or locations or sites. I then display them in
slideshows and galleries on my site, and post as images on pages with related content. Be
sure to include a title of each photo if you have time. This is a great time and cost saver
not to mention inbox saver for you and your friends and family. Imagine not having to
email a million photos, not running to the local print center except for the truly greatest
shots, and not filling up your friend’s inbox with a massive graphics file. I know it’s
saved me some family griping.
The embedded SnapPages Photo tools include all of this functionality, including editing
and adding effects and are easily added into your site.

Include a Calendar:
Prior to leaving, update it with where you are going and when. This will allow people to
anticipate your next stop and perhaps add interaction such as do not miss sites, places to
eat and souvenirs to be sure to load up on. I have also seen people post savings ideas.
When you update your calendar, update your blog. Or if you want feedback on a location,
be sure to request it in your blog.
Home Page News or Blog Section:
This is a great way for people to quickly see your latest updates if they are following your
trip progress.

Embed Your Twitter Feed:

If you are a regular tweeter, be sure to include a section where any tweets you posted are
automatically seen. On your SnapPages website, this feed is automatically updated every
time you “tweet”. This is a great option for those who want to send a quick fun update
say from the top of the Empire State Building.

When you update your website let people know on Facebook and Twitter:
If you use these types of accounts, let people know you updated your site. I recommend
not providing the address en masse unless you are doing this for a business or magazine
or blog related purpose. Provide a note saying you just updated your travel website. Prior
to departure, email the people you wish to share the site with and let them know of your
website and its address.

Finally, upon your return add any details and photos you missed along the way and share
your completed website with everyone! They will find it interesting, and many will find it
useful in planning their fun vacations. Viva La Vacation!

Article Provided by SnapPages.com