This post is part of the Waikiki Site Series, in which I’ll show you how to build a successful travel niche website from concept to reality.
So I’ve framed up a basic site. There are still a ton of broken links along with missing content and I’d say the site is about 5-10% done, but I promised I would show you the site today so I will.
Feel free to check it out as the site progresses. A lot of work is still going on behind the scenes including finishing the e-book that is advertised on the right column, but the look and feel will stay much the same, just needs more content, video, and images.
Feel free to share your input and thoughts on the site as it progresses!
Mahalo!
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
I must say, it’s a really good idea. I had the same idea for a different location and was surprised to see that someone within the same “scene” had the same idea. Yours is clearly in a much further stage though.
One thing I’d be concerned about is if Wordpress is really the best choice for such a big site, I figured it was more for blogs? While for full blown websites it’s more Joomla, Drupal and so on. Of course that depends a little on your goals, I’ll just assume that you really thought this through.
I’ll keep track of this.
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Ryan Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
I’m not so concerned with the platform. There’s a plugin to remove time stamps so nobody will really know it’s a blog per say. I also wanted to integrate comments, rating plugins, photo gallery plugins, and the ease of use I’ve come to enjoy with wordpress.
The vast majority of people probably won’t even realize it’s a blog platform since it looks like a normal website. You should try it with your area as well… it’s been fun building this so far.
Ryan´s last blog ..Waikiki Site – ExploreWaikikiBeach.com
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Its alive!!! Congratulations Ryan. Looks great so far.
LeanLifeCoach´s last blog ..What’s your magic number? The (literally) million-dollar question
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Ryan Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
Haha, It’s a monster! Oh wait… that’ll be when my face is on it
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Went to the site. Saw the “Current Weather” (80 and partly cloudy), and became instantly jealous.
No I’m just kidding… but not really…:) (Dodge ball, anyone?)
The site looks great, I’m thinking you will make some good money from it seeing as how there is a market for it and your site is really well done. I would love to pursue a similar venture, I just need to find a market for something in my area.
myfinancialobjectives´s last blog ..The Ultimate Motivator: Compounding Interest
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Ryan Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
I think it’d be possible to something like this for any city of a decent size since anybody moving to or visiting an area will most likely google it before they get there.
“I found that if you have a goal, that you might not reach it. But if you don’t have one, then you are never disappointed. And I gotta tell ya, it feels phenomenal.~” (dodgeball as well)
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It sure likes like somewhere I would like to be about now.
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Ryan Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
It’s warm… but it’s a great place to part with your money!
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It looks like you’ve put in a great deal of work. I am wondering if you find the process of getting your site linked on others tedious – like submitting to blog catalogs and what not. Also, what did you use for your translation on the right if you don’t mind me asking.
Jeremy Johnson´s last blog ..A Second Child Is Born, Sienna
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Ryan Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 8:35 am
Hey Jeremy,
The plugin I use is called “Global Translator” To answer your question I find it actually a bit fun at first to build links at first and enjoy the beginning stages of projects more so than maintaining them when they’re up and running. I kinda look at each backlink as building another brick into the my virtual “house”.
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Jeremy Johnson Reply:
March 15th, 2010 at 11:06 am
I will try that global translator out. Thanks and the site is looking great!
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Looks good, Ryan. You’ve really put some serious thought into this one – it’s certainly not going to be a micro site when it’s said and done, I’d say you’re going to end up with at least 100 pages based only on the links you’ve already built up. If that doesn’t scream “Authority” to Google and the other Search Engines, nothing will.
I’ve never “framed up” websites from the start, always been afraid my laziness will get the best of me and I’ll end up with a half-built domain. I’ve always added content as I went along. But your way is really clever, I might have to give that a shot – maybe it’ll inspire me… somehow…
… but what is inspiring me is how much effort you’ve been putting into Planting Dollars AND this Waikiki site. I don’t know how much you sleep, but I’m betting on “not much.”
Search Engine Viking´s last blog ..The Boise Website Series: Intro
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Ryan Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 8:37 am
Lol, you can sleep when you’re dead.
I find it easiest to just have a complete rough draft going for the site because it lets me have my ideas on paper in relation to where they should be on the site. When the site is starting out nobody will really be visiting anyways so it works. Worse case scenario I have a fair amount of visitors and the site isn’t complete, but is still more helpful than quite a few travel sites I’ve been to.
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Hi Ryan, Looks great and as others have said the idea of framing up the site from day one is an excellent one.
I tried to create a site about one of my passions a couple of years ago, and it fell down because the structure was such that I had to create content all day long. Your information/authority/info approach is far superior.
My only comments at this stage would be to consider moving the Search bar over to the right where it normally is on sites (perhaps above the banner with some sort of info run up there, if you’re worried about distracting from the sign up) and also to consider whether a smaller logo might be useful in the long-run, as you’ll probably want to put a banner up there some.
(Yes, I realize Monevator also breaks both these rules – I speak from experience!
)
Good luck with it!
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Ryan Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 8:43 am
Thanks for the advice, I’ll shift it later today since I agree with you.
On both the Waikiki site and this site I try to focus on timeless content that doesn’t have to be updates much. The only area that might need to be updated would be restaurant information, current events, and maybe a hotel review or two. Everything else can last years. Doing this gives me the most bang for my content buck. What was your original site about if you don’t mind me asking?
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Ryan,
Looking at the site, wow, you’re doing a really good job and building up a lot of content. Right now, the links on the left are blending into each other, but I figure you’ll fix that as more time goes on.
Great idea, and I’m jealous! I’ll definitely be following idea.
Moon Hussain´s last blog ..My Three Pronged Approach To Creating My First Niche Website
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Ryan Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 8:23 am
Yea, I’ll agree I’m not happy with how the links look, but will be changing it… lots of work to do on it, much like this site.
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Money Funk Reply:
March 15th, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Site looks great, Ryan! I have the same issue: the links on the left are blending. Basic CSS stylesheet issue.
I can’t wait… I’ll be in Maui April 1st. Weather looks like its still holding nicely.
Money Funk´s last blog ..Book Review & Giveaway: Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel
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Ryan,
New site looks great, I’m going to take a closer look later but first impression is very good. Certainly an idea I could do to be investigating.
Regards
Paul
Paul´s last blog ..When the time is right!
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Ryan Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 8:25 am
Absolutely, could be done for any location really and it’s kinda fun just talking about where you live.
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Um . . .wow. I’m new to this series.
Can I just say, this is a great idea–I may someday steal your idea and use it for a site on France. I love that you’re doing it with a blog. I think it’s also very clever to link to your new blog with your established blog.
Stating that you are a local and writing in the first person is a nice touch. As I read, I actually wanted to know even more about you (putting myself in the place of someone who would be visiting). What about a photo (even non-identifying) and a (teeny) bio that helps people understand why you are “in the know.” I realize you state that you live there, but something visual that pops out at you might help . . .if you have it on another page and I missed it, you might want to bring it forward.
I am complete nube when it comes to blogging, but I’m going to throw out one thing that kind of put me off as I read the site (small, but possibly significant to your readers). The first three lines that popped out at me:
Welcome to Explore Waikiki Beach!
The Most Comprehensive Guide to Waikiki Beach
Explore Waikiki Beach . . .
It felt kind of redundant, almost spammy–off-putting. You may be doing this for a very good reason (SEO ??) that someone like me may not appreciate. But I think your target audience is likely to be people interested in travel in general, not necessarily experienced bloggers.
But that’s just a nitpick–take it or leave it, obviously.
Thanks again for sharing a great project.
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Ryan Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 8:47 am
Glad you like the site idea! I think France as a whole might be a huge site to tackle, but you could start with the city you live in and then expand it from there if you are still ambitious.
I see what you’re saying about it being spammy and will be editing again in the near future. Not sure how I want to reword it, but I agree with your thoughts. Maybe I’ll take out the tag line. Thanks for your super comment!
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I took a look around and here are my comments:
Given that this is a site for tourists to explore Waikiki, shouldn’t it be less visually stimulating? There is a lot of text right now and I think people looking to get a good feel of where they are going would be worried that they have to read too much.
If you are going to keep the same amount of text, I would suggest spacing out some of the tabs on the left side-bar so it doesn’t seem like a paragraph.
Also, because it is a new site, I understand the need for an introduction on the first page, but I think you should display the search process directly on the first page rather than talking about the site. I would definitely transfer that to an About page. If I click on ExploreWaikiki, the first thing I want to see is best places to stay, the current weather and activities. I think you should make those more prominent, while also organizing those links in the sidebar.
Can you tell that I spent a lot of time there? I’m not even going to Waikiki any time soon…
Investing Newbie´s last blog ..I’m a Bi-Monthly! You?
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Ryan Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 9:07 am
I agree, I’m going to change bold to headers to separate paragraphs more because it’s a lot to digest and does seem to get crammed in there. Still undecided about the best way to approach the opening paragraph, basically I’m trying to avoid the corporate feel with the cheapest flight and hotels advertised with big flashy ads. I’ll share with them how to get them, but not so sure I want to “bling” up the site like a Christmas tree.
Lol, but after you read this site it’ll be next on your destination list right?
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Great job so far! I liked the video that you created, although some of scenes moved to quickly for me, so I didn’t get to drool too much on my keyboard, very nice!
Money Reasons´s last blog ..What I Have Learned To Date From Blogging!
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Ryan Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 9:09 am
Will keep that in mind, that’s a test video and I’d like a longer one, but will need to purchase the animoto subscription. If you want to drool more feel free to check out the flickr page for the site!
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Good stuff Ryan. What are the other 5 in the Top 10 things to do in Waikiki? I’m assuming this is a work in progress. Looks pretty sweet!
Also, is waikiki and beach somewhat synonymous? What are your thoughts on http://www.explorewaikiki.com without the word beach?
Cheers
Financial Samurai´s last blog ..The Art of The Interview
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Ryan Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Jury’s still out on the other 5
Like I mention in the post, it’s probably only 5-10% done, what you see right now is basically a skeleton. Long ways to go still.
Waikiki Beach is SEO friendly since yea, they are a bit synonomous based on what people search. Explorewaikiki.com is already taken anyways. Trying to win the Waikiki and Waikiki Beach pageranks basically.
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Great job Ryan,
I hardly believe you could come up with this project so soon. You are really determined and i encourage your efforts.
I visited the website and it really has great content, well organized.
There is just one critic i would like to share; hope you love critics… I think wordpress is certainly not the best platform for the project. I think it will limit it’s flexibility.
But, if you are more concerned in having a website you can easily manage, then your choice is the best.
innocriss´s last blog ..Social Entrepreneurship – Now is the Time
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Ryan Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
No issues with critics, that’s life.
Although I like criticism, I do enjoy constructive criticism… which platform would you have chosen and why?
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Please don’t mind me if I study you closely, I will be doing a travel site on the Dominican Republic in the beginning of 2012 (after a year and a half of living there), I’m leaving on a way one ticket March 29th ! Yay me! Lol. But really, all kidding aside, I truly want to build a great site about it, so keep up the great work and I will be taking notes Ryan!
Dave
Mesothelioma Symptoms´s last blog ..Respirator Masks Can Save Lives Of Workers In Asbestos Exposure Environments
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Great site Ryan! It would appear as though you’ve thought it out considerably even before you put it into action. I love how you implemented the language translator. Keep up the great work Ryan, you are helping so many people.
Jarrod@ Optimistic Journey´s last blog ..The Benefit of Living an Optimistic Lifestyle
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