Writing a Travel Book Part 5 - Developing a Website for Sales

During our time putting together our first self-published travel book, The Long-Term Traveler's Guide, we had to spend a lot of time learning about the self-publishing process and the travel book industry in general.  In order to save future author's time and money, this ten-part Writing a Travel Book series was born! 
The following is a quick list of the entries into this special feature. To learn more about our book launch and other information associated, please check out the Travel Book sidebar on this site.
Part 1 -  Finding a Niche and Writing
Part 2 -  Editing and Formatting
Part 3 -  Evolution of a Cover Design
Part 4 -  Digital Packages and Special Features
Part 5 -  Developing a Website for Sales
Part 6 -  Distribution Companies
Part 7 -  Pricing Development and Launch
Part 8 -  Affiliate Sales Programs and Tips to Succeed
Part 9 -  The Cost of Writing and Sales Summary
Part 10 - Final Thoughts
Writing a Travel Book Part 5 - Developing a Website for Sales
For the purposes of this post, we will not be discussing ways to build your website through the Thesis Theme or coding.  Other websites have valuable tutorials for those that need assistance.   Instead, this post features what should be included in a website dedicated to a product and built for sales, how to put them together, and what items to avoid.
All products looking for credibility in the marketplace should be backed up with a dedicated internet presence to represent it. As much as we would like this blog to be the home base for The Long-Term Traveler's Guide, having our product solely affiliated with our blog rings out lack of professionalism.  There is nothing wrong with intensely promoting it on our site, but using this blog as the central source for information on the guide does not make logical business sense for a number of reasons:

• This blog is our personal voice on the topic of all things travel.  The Long-Term Traveler's Guide has its own unique message that should not be blended with our own.
• The goal of a good promotional website is to retain interest in your product, and this blog gives perspective customers a number of exits to outside information which would decrease sales.
• As much as the website design should be focused on sales, it is also a sales pitching tool for perspective publishers.  While we would like them to visit this site for other promotional ideas, it is best to only have the one topic for their attention.
• A separate website will have its own unique placement in search engines and not be tied with non-related information from your personal site. Unfortunately, that means building up new SEO as well.

Building the Website

Having a dedicated website extension with the same name as your product is an act of simplicity and continuity.   If your customer knows the product name they can easily find the website and remember it for future use.  As the website should be focused about getting a potential customer's attention and keeping it there, this is one of the easiest things you can do.
Being familiar with website design for many years, we chose Wordpress.org with a custom Thesis Theme to give us the most flexibility in developing the website.  This is a good option for those who know a bit of HTML coding, but not a whole lot of design languages like CSS.   For a nominal registration fee and $100 to purchase the Thesis Theme, you cannot go wrong.  A few days of playing with it, your website will have a great aesthetic design that is hard to match.
Regardless of how you make your website's visual design, there are some pages that should be universal to all products as a means to give your customers information about your item and why they should buy it. The following are a list of some of the top items to include, and each of these topics are linked to the pages we made for The Long-Term Traveler's Guide's website so you can see how we put them in action:

• The Pitch - The main pitch to get people interested in your product.  This may double as the landing page for search engine traffic to the product's homepage.
• Extended Pitch (optional) - A second, slightly different pitch to build up interest.
• Sales Information - Finer details about what your product is about, what it includes, where to buy, and price.  This is the landing for those selling with sites like ClickBank when your product is found through their marketplace or via affiliate links. Be sure to include a small pitch to encourage people to stick around and learn more.
• Influential Reviews - Links to published reviews to give your product more credibility and praise.
• Read a Chapter - A reader cannot thumb through your book online, so a few chapters are good to throw out there for free.  A few quick formats and upload to Scribd.com does the trick.
• Author Profile -  You may not be a world famous writer yet, but your author profile has to display your credentials to the topic you are selling. 
• Contact Page - An easy way for all visitors and members of the media to get in touch with you.
• Media Press Kit - A special page dedicated to the media for anyone looking to promote your product, publish a review, or more!   Include things like synopsis, author photos, and book photos to freely use in any publication.
• Affiliates - There is no shame in advertising your affiliates program on your product's website.  A future affiliate may even make you more sales than you can do yourself!  But they have to find you somewhere, so a prominent link to this page is worthwhile.

Good Site vs Bad Site

Just to see what kind of competition is out there, we searched the term "travel guide" on the ClickBank marketplace.   As their service forces you to have self-hosted sales page, we thought it would be worthwhile to see what others are doing to sell their products.  Clicking through the first few items available, we were shocked by the low quality formatting of the sites.  Some of the products displayed on the first page had such poorly designed websites that the first words that came to my mind were "possible scam" and "low quality."
Rather than showing screen caps of these sites without permission, we recommend you visit the ClickBank marketplace search results for "travel guide" and click on a few to see what we mean.   When finished, you will probably have come to the same conclusions we have and outlined below:

• A good site shows the physical product (if available) and not just a digital mock-up on every page. 
• A good site separates the pages into individual topics and does not force them all on one long page.
• A good site is aesthetically pleasing and looks like it took more than 5 minutes to put together. 
• A good site has reputable reviews from professionals in the industry and not random purchasers.   (These are good too, but Tom Smith doesn't carry as much weight as MSNBC or a well known website)
• A good site incorporates social media to capture popularity by the masses.
• A good site sells the value of your product.

Why are the previous bullet points critical to your success?

• Images of a tangible product gives a concrete idea of the item that is available and reduces the thought that it may be a scam or of low quality.
• Separate pages let the reader focus on one point rather than being bombarded with information they may not care about.  Rather than being encouraged to click more, they will click out of your page if they have too much to read and nowhere else to go.
• Reputable reviews give your products credibility from brands your customers know and trust.  At the very least, a link to a blog hosted review is infinitely more credible than a standalone quote.
• While 15 reviews from people no one recognizes may not help you, a Facebook counter with 150 'Likes' will as it gives a quick visual snapshot of your product's following.
• If there is no perceived value to your product than what can be found in a 30 minute internet search, you have no business selling a product in the first place.

The Ultimate Goal
The ultimate goal of any website developed for sales of a product should be able to pass the three major roadblocks in advertising:

1. The 30 Second Test - A poorly designed website will only generate one click, the close button.
2. Generating Interest - Spark an interest, make it stronger, and encourage people to stick around and learn more while minimizing ways to leave.
3. Sales - Always offer a quick option to purchase your product at any page of your site.  You never know what page will be the one that seals the deal, so it is best to always give the purchase option at every corner.

If your website can successfully pass these three roadblocks, you have done well than most every other self-published product out there!  Enlist a few friends who are familiar with your product or area of specialty and get their opinion.  If it checks out, you are ready for launch.
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This ten part feature on writing and self-publishing a travel book is based on our experiences with our first book, The Long-Term Traveler's Guide, and is provided free of charge for those looking to write a book or e-book themselves. Other authors typically charge a modest price for an e-book that contains this information in such a fashion. Rather than requiring a purchase for this information, if you like what you have read please Reweet, Stumble, or 'Like' this post, use our affiliate links when registering for the companies we've recommended, or purchase a copy of The Long-Term Traveler's Guide to help us out! 
Thank you for your support and happy travels!