A travel website is a perfect way to share your adventure and experiences with your fellow travel enthusiast audiences. Besides, it can be the platform for people to get the chance to experience what you have experienced.
Apart from sharing your travel stories with your audiences, you can let them book a trip from the comfort of their chair using the travel website. It can become the best choice for making money and scaling your travel business.
It’s always fun to know how well a simple website can make things easier for you no matter what niche you follow besides travel and adventure. However, the uncertainty that always hits your mind revolves around the common question, how to do it?
Well, don’t panic, take diazepam! WordPress and WordPress themes are there for you to get you out of the dilemma of options.
There are different WordPress themes specifically designed for travel websites. If you explore the WordPress marketplace, you can come across free and premium travel WordPress themes packed with advanced features.
You should donate some time to research before selecting the perfect theme for your travel website. Whenever you look for a theme, ensure that it meets the basic principles that include responsiveness, search engine optimization and is entirely customizable.
In the meantime, if you want to let your users book different trips through your website, you need to ensure that the theme you choose supports different travel booking and management plugins.
This is just a general guide on how you can choose the travel WordPress theme depending on your needs. However, that’s not all!
There are many other factors that you should consider before picking the theme for your travel website. In this thorough article, we will guide you through the entire process of how to choose the best WordPress theme for your travel website.
Let’s get started!
What To Look For In Travel WordPress Themes?
It is always troublesome when you have to choose the best WordPress theme for your travel website. This generally happens when you don’t know what you should look for in travel WordPress themes.
Travel themes differ from each other. They have some unique features and functionalities which distinguish them from one another. However, they all hold some significant features required to run a travel website.
When looking for a travel WordPress theme, you should always consider its design and customization abilities. It is vital to personalize your website to reflect your brand best. If you can make your website more attractive and user-friendly, you are likely to attract more visitors.
Speaking of attracting more visitors, you need to make sure the theme you choose follows the best search engine optimization protocols. This is very important to ensure your website appears top in the search engine results so that your travel enthusiast audiences can easily find you.
Other than that, your theme should be mobile-friendly and should include some advanced features like Google Maps integration, an advanced search bar, and much more. Compatibility with the WooCommerce plugin and multi-language WordPress plugin is a bonus.
Having said that now is the time to explore these key features of WordPress theme for your travel website in detail:
1. Design and Simplicity
Firstly, it is highly recommended to go for a theme that features minimalist yet impactful design. A travel WordPress theme with a simple and feature-rich design lets you create a user-friendly website for your travel enthusiast users.
The research performed to ascertain the impact of the web design came up with the result that the website’s bounce rate is directly related to its design. It means that if your website’s design is vague, they are likely to storm out of your website in a flash.
Not just we are saying this! Another research on this topic reveals that 38% of visitors leave the website if they find the layout unattractive and disorganized.
The website users pointed out these common design-related issues:
- Fewer navigation aids
- Dull design and irregular color combination
- Slow page load speed
- Complicated layout
- Crowded texts
- Poor search index
To ensure that your travel website performs well, you need to pick the best travel WordPress theme that holds a visually-appealing design and layout. Moreover, the theme you choose should be simple and elegant to use so that your users would find it effortless to interact on your website.
2. SEO Friendly
Search Engine Optimization, or in short, SEO, is the best practice of driving traffic from the organic, free, editorial, and natural search results. In more simplistic terms, it is the method of enhancing the quantity and quality of the global traffic to your website through organic search engine results.
Based on the research by Brafton, 95% of search engine traffic directly goes to the pages displayed on the first page. If you can place your blog on Google’s first page, it will likely get 95% of clicks. The increased click-through-rate (CTR) relates to more traffic, and increased traffic implies more income.
Therefore, make sure your travel website’s travel theme comes optimized for search engines. SEO allows you to rank your travel website higher on search engine results and grants you greater visibility. With that, more people can explore your website and help you scale your travel business.
3. Fully Responsive & Mobile Friendly
Responsiveness and mobile-friendliness are key factors for running not just travel but any kind of website. A plethora of website users often explore their desired website from mobile phones. If they find any disturbances and disbalance in the performance, they are most likely to leave your website and look for another.
As per the research carried by Statista, about half (50%) of internet traffic comes from mobile devices. Based on these stats, you should ensure that your website is fully compatible with mobile phones to keep yourself up in the growing competition.
To do so, you should always use mobile-friendly travel WordPress themes that are responsive across all devices and screen sizes. To be precise, the responsive design of your WordPress themes adjusts the resolution of your website to suit different sizes of different devices. It also enables your users to experience the same interface across all platforms.
4. Customization Features
When you look for travel WordPress themes in the marketplace, you should always put customizable features as your priority.
Why?
With the customizable features, you can adjust the content on your website as per your preference.
Any theme you choose for your travel website should allow the flexibility to customize your website with a logo, well-organized content, background images, and screenshots properly. Similarly, you should get full control over typography and color combinations.
If you have a pleasing visual style, your users will remember you more easily and return to your website.
5. Call-To-Action Buttons
A CTA or Call-to-Action button is an invitation for your users to take the initiative. CTA buttons are important for any WordPress theme, including travel themes. You must create a better CTA to make your users engaged with your website and use the services you offer.
It is beneficial if you choose a travel WordPress theme that backs multiple CTA buttons. Here are the main advantages of multiple CTA buttons:
- Multiple CTAs aid help increase your conversion ratio significantly.
- Multiple CTAs ensure your content fits your marketing plan, which helps drive visitors to your website.
- Multiple CTAs channel your visitors to take decisive actions and help to increase their involvement with your business.
Types of CTA Buttons:
A CTA button is essential in the travel website to elicit a particular response from people immediately. Here are some of the regularly used CTAs for your travel website:
- Learn More: This form of the CTA button helps direct your clients to your travel booking page to get more details on your travel offerings. You can place this form of CTA button on your homepage, social media profiles, and email newsletters.
- Contact Us: This type of CTA can help your users to get in touch with you directly. When they click this button, they can instantly email or message you without the need to be directed elsewhere. You can use this CTA button on your social media pages or in promotional materials.
- Sign Up: This type of CTA button channels your users to sign up to your website and learn about your brand. This button can provide a link to your clients to learn more about your values or stay up to date with your new offers.
- Download the Guide: This type of CTA button’s main objective is to urge your visitors to access or download travel guides from your website. You can ask your visitors to provide you with their email addresses. This process also helps you to grow your email marketing database and convert leads to sales in the feature.
- Book Now: The Book Now CTA button is one of the most valuable CTA travel buttons. This button directs your visitors to the booking form where they can fill out their details, reserve their trip, and pay their deposit.
6. WooCommerce Compatibility
It would be best to look for a WordPress theme that is compatible with the WooCommerce plugin. This feature lets you sell your products or services online. With that, you can easily increase your sales rate.
7. Testimonials/Review Section
The appraisals and recommendations of your visitors are crucial if you want to scale your travel business. Hence, you should look for a WordPress theme supporting testimonials/review sections to get immediate feedback from your users.
An ideal travel website communicates what the business is about and, at the same time, develops trust in the business among potential clients. Having a testimonials section on your travel website helps gain your customers’ trust in you.
8. Social Media Integration
In the present context, social media plays an integral part as one of the major marketing channels. Whether you run a travel website or any other website, you need social media to promote your respective business.
A study conducted by Statista reveals that 43% of internet users use social networks to research products online. As a result, social media is the most effective way to stay connected with your users and make them consistent contributors to your business.
When you seek a WordPress theme for your travel website, you need to check whether it supports social media integration. Pick the theme that supports this feature so that you can easily place links to your social media in noticeable areas of your website. It will help your interested clients stay in touch with your website through your social media profile.
9. Advanced Features & Functionalities
The following are some of the advanced features and functionalities that can make your travel theme more powerful and convenient:
- Advance Trip Search:
Advance Trip Search can help you boost your travel business by making it more user-friendly. This feature allows your customers to easily search trips based on destination, duration, price, and activities. With that, they can sort out the packages conveniently and book for their desired trip.
- Google Maps Integration:
Google Maps can help you boost your audience’s engagement to your travel website. If your theme supports the Google Maps integration, you can pinpoint your different locations on a map to grab your viewer’s attention.
- Plugin Compatibility:
Plugins offer essential and unique features to make your website more efficient, engaging, and eye-catching. They help to provide better functionality and improve user convenience.
You should choose the travel theme that supports and is compatible with the popular travel-related plugins. For instance, you can go for a theme that is fully compatible with the popular WP Travel Engine plugin, which is a popular travel booking WordPress plugin.
WP Travel Engine plugin enables you to create custom trips with detailed itineraries and FAQs easily. Besides, you can also make trips to multiple destinations and add numerous activities to the individual trip. Besides, the plugin also allows your users to book the trip that they like right away.
- Multi-language Support:
When you design a website, you need to make sure that it fits the diverse audiences, regardless of the language they prefer. As a result, you should always pick the website that supports the multilanguage WordPress plugins, including Polylang and WPML.
WPML and Polylang allow you to translate your website into multiple languages and easily create a multi-language website. Similarly, if the theme comes translation ready, you can simply add a translation file, and your website will be translated into the language of your preference. Additionally, make sure to look for the theme that supports RTL scripts so that various types of languages like Arabic can be displayed properly on your website.
10. 24/7 Customer Support
You may not be a WordPress expert. Using a WordPress theme can be tricky at times. You may have to face irritating bugs or some annoying technical issues that can make it difficult for you to solve. Therefore, you should always fancy a WordPress theme decorated with a dedicated technical support team.
The best thing about having a dedicated technical support team for your theme is that they are always there to help you 24/7. You can connect with the support team through call, email, or built-in chatbots to inquire about theme installation, integration, compatibility, and similar issues.
Generally, most of the travel themes offer extended technical support for a year with enough documentation. After that, you need to pay a certain amount for added support.
Is Travel Booking Pro Theme Best for Your Travel Website?
Well, yes! Travel Booking Pro theme assembles all the advanced features that you require to run a travel website. The theme comes fully compatible with the WP Travel Engine plugin, the popular travel booking WordPress plugin.
With Travel Booking Pro, you can quickly create a travel booking website for your travel or tour company. It introduces the One-click Demo Import feature, which allows you to import the ready-made content and settings from the live demo of this theme with a single click. It helps you to spend more of your time on your venture than on setting up your website.
This travel theme consists of five predefined header layouts, three banner layouts, and four custom page layouts to give you enough design options. The built-in live customizer enables you to customize your website and track changes in real-time. You can pick from a wide range of theme colors and 700+ Google fonts to make your website more attractive.
Travel Booking Pro supports the WP Travel Engine plugin, allowing you to easily create custom trips with detailed itineraries and FAQs. Besides, your visitors can book the trip that they like right away.
Travel Booking Pro comes optimized for SEO and speed, a big plus when you are looking to get higher ranks on search engines. It is fully responsive and mobile-friendly, which ensures even performance across all devices. Similarly, the theme integrates with the WooCommerce plugin, a must if you want to start an online shop.
Travel Booking Pro also supports the popular WordPress multilanguage plugins like WPML and Polylang. Additionally, it comes translation-ready and supports RTL scripts.
Features of Travel Booking Pro:
- One-click Demo Import
- 5 predefined header layouts, 4 custom page templates, and 3 banner layouts
- Responsive and mobile-friendly design
- SEO and speed optimized
- Compatible with WP Travel Engine Plugin
- Advance Trip Search feature
- Compatible with Trip Fixed Starting Dates, Trip Review, and Group Discount extensions
- Unlimited colors and 700+ Google fonts
- Social media integration
- Compatible with the WooCommerce plugin
- Compatible with WPML and Polylang plugins
- Supports RTL scripts
- Translation ready
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
How do WordPress travel themes work?
Firstly, WordPress travel theme templates are written in PHP and HTML, and they end in a .php file extension. All of your travel website’s unique information includes its name, blog posts, and every comment, is stored in a MySQL database. This unique information is then retrieved from the database using the programming language PHP.
Finally, the retrieved information is shown via your theme’s template files using HTML and CSS.
How to install and use the free travel WordPress theme?
To install and use a free travel WordPress theme, you need to first log in to your WordPress dashboard. After that, go to Appearance > Themes from your left side panel. Once you get redirected to the next step, click on the Add New button at the top of the screen.
Following that, use the search bar located on the right of your screen to input the name of your free travel WordPress theme. Once you find your suitable theme, click the Install button to install the theme and activate it by clicking the Activate button.
What is a responsive travel WordPress theme, and why is it important?
A responsive travel WordPress theme follows the best design to create a travel website that offers an optimal user experience across various devices and screen types. A responsive theme simply adjusts its layout based on the screen size and screen resolution. It means that your travel website looks equally good on mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops.
As the majority of website traffic comes from mobile devices, it means half of your users access your website using a mobile device. If your website is not responsive and doesn’t fit their screen properly, they will likely leave your website resulting in your increased bounce rate. This is why it is crucial to use responsive themes to create user-friendly websites. Keep in mind that a responsive theme offers better readability and useability on smaller screens.
Should I use a premium or a free travel WordPress theme?
If you are new to WordPress and website creation, we recommend getting started with WordPress using a free travel theme. However, a free theme comes with many limitations and restrictions. For instance, you won’t get many customization options, layouts, plugin support, and other necessary features.
Once you are properly acquainted with WordPress themes, you need to upgrade to the premium package. A premium WordPress travel theme offers you multiple benefits so that you can create a professional travel website. These benefits include:
• Easy-to-use interface
• User-friendly options
• Unlimited customization options
• Major plugin support
• Advanced booking systems
• Multiple demo sites
• Easy browsing experience
• Customer support
Conclusion
It’s a proven fact that an engaging and user-friendly travel website attracts more audiences and grants you the opportunity to scale your travel business. Speaking of which, you should first make sure that your website appears on the search engines’ front page to be effectively recognized.
To make sure your website complies with the best search engine optimization practices, you need to choose an SEO-friendly WordPress theme. Plus, ensure that the theme you select is fully responsive and designed to fit all screen types.
This is our take on how to choose the best WordPress theme for your travel website. One way or the other, a theme that stands out should include advanced features required to run a travel website, including different customization options and an effective booking system.
We hope that you find this article helpful in finding the best theme for your WordPress travel website. Don’t forget to share your experience and understanding in the comments section below!
