5 Essentials Every Tour Operator Website Should Have Create the best possible tour operator website

How do we gain new clients? It's a question every tour operator faces, and finding the means to do so is pivotal for a successful business.

One of the major keys to attracting clients is through smart use of the internet -- chiefly, having a killer website.

The ideal tour operator website will serve to build brand awareness, drive engagement among potential and current customers, build buzz across social networks, and of course, look perfectly professional and trustworthy.

To succeed in each of these facets, tour operator websites should include the following five essentials.

1) Attractive, Optimized Homepage

The first thing a new client is likely to see is your homepage, so it's critical that it appear attractive, with high-quality images and impactful text. This will give the impression of professionalism and trustworthiness that we mentioned above.

Of course, before these potential clients come across your website, they must first find it. This means that your website should be optimized for SEO so it can be featured by search engines like Google, and also optimized for mobile platforms (phones and tablets), which are increasingly the primary devices people use to search online.

2) Customer Engagement and Analytics

Every business owner will tell you the value of customer engagement. It's critical for a tour operator website to include CRM abilities through customer interaction notes and contact management. Additional B2B co-marketing should also have a presence on your site, as it enables referrals.

Of course, you'll want the ability to measure the effectiveness of advertising channels and your customer engagement with powerful but easy-to-use analytics tools.

3) Appointment Scheduling

Your website will do little to serve your business if clients can't actually schedule appointments, or tours, online. A successful tour operator website will offer clients the ability to schedule their tours, and also get reminders sent to them. If it's necessary for your tour operator business -- as it is for most -- the site should also allow for digital signing of contracts.

4) Payment Management

Making sure you're getting paid for your services is obviously top of mind for most tour operators. Having a reliable system for managing payments, as well as having the ability to offer discounts and payment with gift cards is also vital.

5) Social Management

Social media is a core driver of interaction with current and future and clients. Your tour operator website should include tools for managing social media, as well as functionality for a newsletter or blog which will help your site's SEO and help you build meaningful relationships with your clients.

Review sites like TripAdvisor can also be a useful way to increase your appearance of trustworthiness, and your site should also have positive review integration available so people can read your glowing reviews.

These five website essentials will deliver exceptional ROI to tour operators, the trick is to create a website that incorporates them all. Though the option exists for tour operators to build a website using DIY tools, most are inexperienced in the world of website development and design and will struggle to do so. It's also possible to hire a developer to do the job, but that is typically a very costly option.