I thought it would be helpful to create a website resources page for anyone who is read to launch their first travel website or ready for a re-design. All suggestions you find below are products, services and tools I have personal experience with! For a full list of all the travel blogging and travel writing resources please visit my Resources Page: Recommended Tools & Resources for Travel Writers, Bloggers and Photographers
WEBSITE HOSTING AND BLOGGING TOOLS
WordPress This is your #1 choice for building your blog or website (and I mean WordPress.org NOT wordpress.com). I love WordPress.org. I’ve worked with Joomla and Drupal and think WordPress is the easiest.
Elegant Themes
Hosting
Godaddy I use Godaddy as my website host. You can purchase your domain, get web hosting and even WordPress set up with Godaddy. There are a bunch of web hosting companies out there, but I’ve worked with Godaddy for years with both of my websites. Another hosting and domain company I have worked with in the past and trust is Hostgator.
I’m in the process of researching a new hosting company to work with and I’m looking at SiteGround and Media Temple as my options. I did an informal survey and these are the two companies that have come up, time and time again with other blogger and entrepreneurial friends of mine. If you do a quick search for SiteGround they have received a customers rating of 4.60 out of 5.
Email Marketing and List Building
I’m in the midst of moving to Active Campaign after using Greenrope for the last year. I’ve done a lot of research and talked with many other entrepreneurs and bloggers and the three email marketing solutions I recommend at the moment are:
Active Campaign This is the my current email marketing platform and it’s one of the easiest out there. Send newsletters, design beautiful email campaigns, and keep in touch with your contacts and customers starting at $9 per month. They also offer a FREE 14 day trial.
Mailchimp A great email service if you are just starting out. Free for up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month.
Convertkit This is a newer platform that I see several top bloggers moving to, including Pat Flynn. This platform was built specifically for bloggers and like Active Campaign, it helps you manage emails lists and drip campaigns. The price tag is a big higher, starting at $49 a month for up to 3,000 subscribers.
SumoMe – I am in the midst of documenting my journey using SumoMe for list building. This FREE tool is a must if you interested in building your email list. The plugin also offers several other free tools as well as a Pro paid version.
For a full list of all the travel blogging and travel writing resources please visit my Resources Page: Recommended Tools & Resources for Travel Writers, Bloggers and Photographers
BOOKS
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase. Please understand that I have experience with all of these companies, and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals.