Earlier this week, I gave a presentation at a Georgia tourism event called Winter Chautaqua, hosted by the Greater Rome Convention & Visitors Bureau. Romega Digital redesigned the CVB’s website last year, and they asked us to share some thoughts and advice for other CVB’s at the conference.
A “Chautauqua” is a gathering of people bringing education and enrichment with speakers, teachers, entertainers and specialists. I wanted my presentation to help educate and empower tourism officials who may be considering a website project.
Here are the highlights.
They’re geared specifically for tourism websites, but the concepts can be applied to any industry.
- Consider whether you need an all-new website, or if your current site just needs some tweaks to make it more effective. Improving your web presence doesn’t always have to mean a huge investment.
- Think about how you manage your current website. What are your “pain points”? What would you change about the user interface if you could?
- What is the most important action or information on the site? Know what you want your visitors to do on your site before you start designing.
- Look at other convention and visitors bureau websites, as well as other general tourism sites. What do they do that you like? There’s nothing wrong with taking inspiration from a CVB that’s doing it right.
- Think about each audience type that visits your site. Do you need to organize your content by who will be viewing it? Make sure each audience type — general visitors, meeting planners, sports planners, etc. — knows exactly how to find what they need.
- Include strong visuals that tell the story of your community.
- Most CVB websites include listings of hotels, attractions and restaurants. Standardize these listings so each has the same layout. Your users will appreciate being able to find admission prices, hours, etc. at the same place on each page.
View the Prezi
For more visuals explaining these points, view the Prezi I used at the Chautauqua.
