A great travel website should transport the visitor virtually to another place. The person should feel as if he or she is already on vacation, with the sounds of an ocean in the background and a cool drink in hand.

It’s possible to do this (as much as it can be done online) through imagery, animation, and other effective design tactics. But a surprising number of travel sites totally lack the imaginative, captivating style that does the job to pull in customers. Instead, these sites are bland, they skimp on imagery, and they fail to create the customer experience people respond to.

That’s the antithesis of a great travel site. If a website doesn’t inspire its visitors to take action and book a vacation, the company won’t be able to stay in business. In a highly competitive market, the great website is one of your few top tools for survival.

Here are 10 key suggestions to make the most of your website.

  1. Use Large Images

Of course, high-quality images are vital, but size also matters. Today, the most inspiring and artful websites present large images, some of which stretch across the entire screen. This is a great way to stir emotion on your site. Emotion is what causes people to book a vacation.

  1. Show Travel in Action

You should dedicate pages to show people what they might do on their vacation. Expedia does this with its excursions pages. The company uses images and text to describe what it’s like to participate in such activities as whale watching. This shows visitors what it’s really like to travel and why booking an excursion of this or that sort will be such a memorable choice.

  1. Make Search Simple and Broad

Search should be easy to use on your site. It should appear prominently on your homepage. The search results should also be fairly broad but still hit the mark. Too often, travel searchers don’t know exactly what they want until they begin their search, or even after they’ve been searching for a while. If make the search results broad, your site visitors will have more options to choose from, which will inevitably boost conversions.

  1. Improve Your Navigation

How easy or difficult a time consumers have when they move around your site has a huge influence on their subsequent decisions. When they visit popular travel websites like Travelocity, they know exactly where to go from the homepage, and it’s easy to get to any interior page. Competing with major online services like that one isn’t going to happen without great navigation.

  1. Be Unique

The high competition in the market should not be underestimated. The travel industry is huge, but it’s also one of the most difficult markets to penetrate.

According to research from Smart Insights, this business has the lowest conversion rate in all of the industry. If you can stand out, the returns could be well worth the stress and effort you put into it, but that’s going to require something special.

Try to come up with something that no other website offers, such as a unique color scheme, exclusive vacation images, or a company slogan that will set your operation apart from the thousands of others.

  1. Use SEO

Another worthwhile factor for getting your site to stand out is using search engine optimization (SEO). SEO determines where your website shows up in search results – in other words, how close to the top — and it’s crucial for page views and conversions.

If you’re running a young travel site, you probably won’t hold a candle to major players like Expedia or Travelocity, but you have a shot at beating other outfits. Through keyword optimization, high-quality content, and a solid marketing strategy, you’ll have a shot at making a lasting mark.

  1. Conduct A/B Testing

This will help determine your updated site’s effectiveness before you launch it. The testing will identify weak points and make suggestions about what to improve before the official launch. It helps to ensure approval once the site is published.

  1. Survey Consumers

If you want to know what consumers are looking for in a great travel site, it can be highly instructive simply to ask them. As with A/B testing, their survey responses can shape the final website after it’s been published. You can achieve a better user experience after you’ve talked with the users directly.

  1. Experiment with Video

Video is one of the most arresting forms of content marketing in any industry. Research from HubSpot shows that consumers are 64 percent more likely to make a purchase after they see a video because videos can generate emotional responses beyond any other form of media. You need emotional responses to generate conversions.

  1. Blog for Consumers

Your blog posts have the power to boost conversions if you post compelling, insightful articles. Keep your paragraphs short, and use rich-text format to capture their attention. When coupled with excellent still photos and videos, your website’s blog will generate leads and encourage bookings.