The Challenge
Selling Travel is the UK’s leading independent B2B travel trade publication. Since its founding in 1990 as Selling Long Haul, it has been a trusted source of news, destination insights, and specialist guides for travel agents across the UK. Over the decades, the brand evolved into Selling Travel: The World in One Magazine, expanding its coverage to global destinations, cruise markets, sustainable tourism, and more. Alongside its bi-monthly print edition, Selling Travel has built a reputation for producing highly valued destination guides such as the Guide to the Caribbean and the Visit USA Travel Planner.
However, despite its strong editorial heritage and industry standing, the magazine’s digital presence was failing to keep pace. The website had become outdated, both visually and technically. It was difficult for the editorial team to update, failed to retain visitors, and was not delivering on its potential as a revenue-generating platform. Advertising opportunities were limited, and sponsored content lacked the visibility and structure needed to make it an attractive proposition for clients.
Selling Travel needed a complete rethink of its website — both as a publishing platform and as a commercial channel — to match the ambitions of its print title and to meet the demands of a modern B2B audience.
The Solution
Plugged In Media was engaged to deliver a ground-up redesign of the Selling Travel website, addressing not just the aesthetic shortcomings but also its functionality, usability, and commercial viability.
We began by working closely with the Selling Travel editorial and commercial teams to understand their workflows, their pain points, and their aspirations for the site. Based on these insights, we developed a completely new design language that retained the authority of a B2B media brand while adopting the more engaging, dynamic qualities of a modern B2C outlet — with the goal of improving visitor retention and engagement.
The site was restructured for clarity and usability, making it easier for visitors to find the content they need and for the team to showcase the breadth of their coverage. We migrated the entire platform to WordPress, providing a far more intuitive and flexible content management system. This change empowered the editorial team to publish and update articles quickly and efficiently without reliance on developers. To ensure the team could make the most of the new tools, we delivered tailored training sessions on WordPress usage, SEO best practices, and site maintenance.
From a commercial perspective, we introduced several new advertising-friendly features. A dedicated “hub” section was created to focus on specific countries or regions, which could easily be sponsored by tourist boards and destination marketing organisations. We also introduced a new “itinerary” section, designed as an additional sponsorship opportunity for partners. Sponsored content was given clearer visibility and better integration into the site’s structure, making it more appealing to advertisers. To support ongoing operations, Selling Travel was given access to our dedicated support ticketing system for fast resolution of any technical or editorial issues post-launch.
The Results
The transformation of the Selling Travel website delivered measurable improvements across all key performance areas.
By blending the styling and feel of a modern B2C media outlet into the B2B publishing context, we helped the brand achieve a more engaging and contemporary online presence. Visitor retention increased by over 50%, while overall visitor numbers rose by 25%. Bounce rates, which had been a persistent issue, fell by 45%, indicating that users were finding the content more relevant and the site easier to navigate.
Perhaps most significantly, the redesigned website delivered a substantial commercial benefit: Selling Travel’s digital advertising revenue increased by 25% year-on-year, thanks to the new sponsorship-friendly features and improved visibility of sponsored content.
The client was equally pleased with the collaborative process and ongoing support:
“Working with James has been an easy and pleasurable experience. Unlike other contractors, he worked with the team to create the desired outcome. He managed to hit our deadlines as required and was quick to address any issues faced pre-launch. Since launching the new website we’ve seen wins across the board from analytics to revenue. Our team are also grateful for the extra support we receive through the ticketing support system. We look forward to working closely in the future with Plugged In Media to improve our digital offerings.”
By delivering a modern, user-friendly, and revenue-generating website, Plugged In Media helped Selling Travel reaffirm its position as a leader in the UK travel trade media space — ensuring its digital presence now matches the quality and reputation of its print heritage.
