Finally, Version 1.0 of my Website is Complete

Over the past few months I have slaved away at this site trying to bring it to a point where all the information and pictures I’ve collected over the past year and a half are posted and in a navigable format. It’s been a lot of hard work but I can finally say that version 1.0 of ADayTrip.com is complete. But there’s still a lot more to do…

To date, I have completed all the major goals I originally laid out for myself:

Purchase a short, easily memorable web domain
Implement a website layout that was interesting and easily navigable
Convert all the notes I’ve taken over the past year or so about my adventures into easy-to-read reviews, tips and suggestions
Upload, categorize, and water mark all the pictures I’ve taken during those trips
Create a town page for each associated destination, with a history, at least one relevant picture, list of related day trips and a list of each individual activity with a short review
Publish at least one helpful article

When I originally set out to create this site, I vastly underestimated how long this would all take. But now that I have a better sense of the work involved, I can better pace myself and set a more realistic schedule/deadline to get things done.

Having finished this first iteration of my website, I am now at a stopping point where I would really appreciate any feedback. You can comment on this post below or you can email suggestions@adaytrip.com.

Do you find the site helpful? What more information are you looking for that you didn’t find here? What other kinds of activities would you like to see reviewed? What activities/events specifically would you like reviewed?

Feedback about the mechanics of the site would also be helpful: Does the site take too long to load? Is it easily navigable? Is the picture nav bar at the top helpful/interesting?

For all of you that take the time to give me this valuable feedback, I thank you.

Here is a taste of things to come, I’ve created a long list of goals for version 2.0:

Continue adding more day trip reviews in different cities/areas than the ones already posted
This means also adding more city coverage to the “Activity” directory
Adding a “sort by activity type” functionality to the site (i.e. being able to search by categories such as shopping or hiking in addition to by city/town)
Adding an email list
Adding an “About” page, with an introduction to the site and a write up about myself
Creating relevant useful content for the email list
Continue writing helpful articles
Create a Facebook, Twitter and Google+ presence
Monetizing the site in a tasteful, non-invasive way that does not degrade its quality

On that note, I am now opening up my site to company advertising. The advertising needs to be relevant to this site – something the readers would use or should know about. If you are interested please contact me at: Craig@adaytrip.com

Whew, that was a lot. Now, I need to get to work on this list for 2.0, so I will talk to you guys later

Craig