IgoUgo.com: Travel Website Review

It's all well and good to read travel brochures and promotional websites, but when you're about to visit a new location, wouldn't you rather hear about it from the people who have actually been there? That's where IgoUgo.com comes in. You can read fascinating first-hand accounts of thousands of destinations while also enjoying a sneak-peak of these destinations through high-quality photography.

Reading IgoUgo

On IgoUgo, you'll find reviews of lodging, dining, activities, experiences, and resorts (timeshares). Each traveler submitting a journal is also encouraged to include an overview, a summary of their entire experience. So while someone might post an account of his recent vacation to Los Angeles and review the hotel where he stayed, the museum he visited and every restaurant at which he dined, the overview will give you the highlights of this trip and helpful tips for your own visit.

The overall design of the site is clean, attractive and easy to read. If you're just browsing, you can check out the editor's page for top journals and contributors. The featured article and links on the site's homepage are typically to popular destinations, but it's extremely easy to find a specific location or attraction through the search bar at the top of each page. If your favorite vacation destination isn't represented, then spread the word by adding your own journal!

Contributing to IgoUgo

If you're a writer or photographer dying to share your latest travel stories, then IgoUgo is the perfect venue for you. Even if you don't travel much, you can contribute journals, reviews and photos of attractions in your own area.

Registering for the site is easy, and they don't require any personal information beyond name, gender, location, date of birth and e-mail address. Your account is created instantly, and you can get right to work on creating your travel journals.

The web interface for adding your own journals, reviews and photos is easy to use. If you're having trouble coming up with ideas, sidebars offer helpful suggestions on things you should be sure to include in your comments.

If you're someone who likes to multi-task be careful of the journal entry timer. You have 30 minutes from the time you load the page to finish your entry or save a draft of it.

Your journals, reviews and photos won't be immediately available because they must first be reviewed and rated by an editor. While those who are impatient to see their words on the web might not like this, it's worth it for adding to the overall quality of the site.

One unique aspect of IgoUgo is GO Points. These are points that you earn for making contributions to the site. Every journal, review and photo is worth GO Points as long as you make quality entries.

There are several ways to earn bonus GO Points right when you begin, making it much easier to reach your first reward. You get points for completing your user profile and uploading a picture, for instance. I appreciate this approach because I find that when you're working towards a points-based reward, it can be discouraging to feel like you'll never reach it when you're just starting out.

You can also earn GO Points by spreading the word about IgoUgo.com. Options vary from putting flyers around town to adding a button to your website to appearing on national television in an IgoUgo T-shirt. The site seems to realize that some of the best publicity comes from satisfied word-of-mouth advertising.

GO Points can be redeemed for gift certificates from several major stores, frequent-flier miles, and travel reports, compilations of the best information IgoUgo has to offer on specific destinations. They even offer reward options for contributors from across the globe - Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. This seems like a no-brainer for a travel site, but a surprising number of places don't look beyond the U.S. and occasionally Canada and the U.K. in considering their writers.

But GO Points are just one aspect of the site, a way to draw you in and a thank you for your hard work. What will bring you back to the site is the chance to contribute your thoughts and experiences to the community and to readers everywhere.