Starting your own travel blog sounds like a dream come true for many people. Although travel is amazing.. it can also be quite expensive.
For this reason, many people who love to travel have decided to start a travel blog. Success will not come overnight.. but if you work hard, remain dedicated and stay focused.. you could become another of the extremely successful travel bloggers.
Do you love traveling and have been thinking you might like to become a travel blogger but you’re not really sure what all it entails.. or how to get started?
ead on! Below, we have offered some suggestions to help you in your quest to start a travel blog and make money as a travel blogger.
WHEN STARTING A TRAVEL BLOG – DEFINE YOUR NICHE:
Before you start your own travel blog.. the first thing you have to do is define your niche. Although you might think your niche would simply be ‘travel’.. this topic is actually much too broad.
You would have a very hard time trying to compete with all the well-known travel sites as well as a large number of travel bloggers.. whose sites have been online for quite some time and have built up a lot of authority in the travel niche.
You will need to niche down somewhat and come up with a sub-niche that will make it a lot easier for you, as a beginning travel blogger, to get your site ranked in Google.
There are various sub-niches you could focus on. Are you a solo traveler? That could be a niche to start with. You could write articles on what you have learned as a solo traveler. Are there any particular advantages.. or disadvantages to traveling alone?
If you’re a female traveler.. your sub-niche could focus on women traveling safely. You might provide tips and advice as to the safest places for women to stay, as well as the safest parts of the city or country that you are currently writing about.
You might choose a niche focusing on budget travel or luxury travel, or travel to different cities in a particular country or region.
Don’t be concerned that in niching down a bit this will limit your progress. Once your blog begins to become established.. you can always start expanding and slowly begin covering a broader selection of travel topics.
To read more about niche selection, registering your domain name and obtaining reliable website hosting.. read the following posts:
* Choosing a Blog Niche
* Registering a Domain Name
* Best Website Hosting Services
ESTABLISHING YOUR BRAND AS A TRAVEL BLOGGER:
After you’ve chosen your sub-niche, it’s important that you establish your own brand. When you start a travel blog, you want your visitors to keep coming back to read more of your content.
They can find articles on travel pretty much anywhere, so why would they choose to go to your site for their information? This is where creating your own brand comes in!
It should be your intention from the beginning to become a well-known brand and position yourself as one of the leading go-to travel experts.
Your visitors will want to return to see where your latest travels have taken you. They will be interested in seeing and hearing all about it. Where did you stay.. what amazing dining experiences did you have.. what attractions did you see.. and which were your favorites? How was the weather.. and would you go there again?
You want to create your own legion of loyal fans in order for your travel blog to become truly successful. In order to brand your blog.. you have to come up with just the right name. Something easy to spell and easy to pronounce so they can easily refer their friends to your amazing site.
The overall look of your blog.. as well as the tone of your writing.. are also important considerations in creating your brand. For example.. you should choose your brand fonts and colors which will remain consistent throughout your entire blog.
To read more about Branding.. read our post:
* The Power of Consistency in Branding
CREATE AN EXPERIENCE WITH YOUR TRAVEL BLOG:
After you have gotten your blog setup.. chosen your colors and fonts.. it’s time to start creating your content! Obviously, this is the most important part of your blog as it is essentially your compelling content that people are coming there to read.
When you’re creating content for a travel blog.. talk to your readers as if you were having a conversation with them in person. Treat them as you would any of your friends with whom you enjoy sharing your photos and experiences from your latest vacation.
Your visitors may be considering a trip to a destination that you have visited. They will be eager to hear anything and everything you can tell them about your trip.
Make sure to publish lots of photos of where you stayed.. the things you did.. attractions you visited.. the places where you ate that you would like to recommend. Just giving them a list of names and places is not as intriguing as showing them exactly what everything looks like. As the saying goes.. a picture is worth a thousand words.
The best thing you can do is to combine different types of content. Turn a few of the most interesting photos into pins for Pinterest and images for Instagram. Create smaller versions of your pins to insert into your blog post so visitors can re-pin to Pinterest.
TIP: Be very careful about getting too involved with social media. That can quickly turn into ‘overwhelm’ when you start trying to do too much. I know you want to get your blog up and generating traffic as quickly as possible. But, try to establish a nice comfortable pace for yourself. You don’t want to find yourself feeling burned out after only a few months.
CREATING AUTHENTIC CONTENT FOR YOUR TRAVEL BLOG:
While creating your content be sure to do your research and, of course, optimize every blog post using SEO to the best of your ability.
FYI.. I would not suggest becoming involved in the travel niche if you aren’t someone who does a fair amount of traveling. If there are no photos of you in the actual locations you are covering that is a giant red flag that you have very likely never been there.
If all someone is looking for is generic travel information they can find that on sites like Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, etc. They have come to your site in hopes of finding more personalized information and more in-depth reviews from someone who has been there and has all the best tips.
Additionally.. Google is not a huge fan of “armchair” travel bloggers. Google knows that when someone is planning a vacation they would prefer to hear of first person experiences. They want to visit a site where they can rely on the tips and suggestions from someone who has actually been to their planned destination.
To learn more about Content Creation and SEO.. read the following posts:
* Creating Content for Your Blog
* SEO for Beginners
HOW TO MAKE MONEY AS A TRAVEL BLOGGER:
Once you have published a decent number of posts.. you will want to start considering all the different ways in which to monetize your blog.
One of the best ways to monetize any blog is with the use of affiliate marketing. Apply to be an affiliate for products and services that align with the content of your blog. You can place affiliate links to various products and services throughout your blog posts.
When a visitor purchases a product through one of your affiliate links you will be paid a small commission. This way of earning money will be quite lucrative as the traffic to your website increases.
For more information on affiliate marketing.. read the following post:
* Make Money with Affiliate Marketing
Another popular method of monetization is sponsored content. Many companies in the travel niche may wish to pay you to write a blog post or review article featuring their products and/or services.
The amount of money you are able to charge for sponsored posts is in direct correlation to the amount of traffic to your website.
Also.. these types of monetization are considered ‘sponsored‘ and must be disclosed as such on your blog post.
Another easy way to monetize is by showing advertisements on your blog. You may get requests from other travel and service-related companies who would like to purchase advertising on your site.
These ads can be placed above headers.. or in sidebars.. or anyplace on your blog as agreed upon between you and the advertiser.
Again.. keep in mind.. the amount of money you are able to charge for that advertising will be in direct correlation to the level of traffic your website is getting. This is another of those things that will not be extremely profitable until you have more traffic.
Lastly, you can also create and sell your own digital products. The biggest advantage of digital products is that you only have to create them once and can sell them indefinitely from then on.
When your audience purchases your digital products.. this provides you with recurring, passive income.. which you can use to travel and expand your brand.
BEST PERKS AND BENEFITS OF BEING A TRAVEL BLOGGER:
Successful travel bloggers are also eligible for a variety of amazing travel benefits. As your blog gains popularity, you will have the opportunity to receive free hotel stays, free cruises and all-expense paid vacations to various destinations.
These are some of the amazing perks you will be able to receive once you reach that prestigious level of professional travel bloggers who are lucky enough to be included in these types of promotions.
When a travel company wants to promote their hotels, cruises, vacation packages, etc. they will often pay for your vacation. In return, you share your amazing experiences and encourage others to patronize their businesses.
These sponsored trips are, of course, the ideal situation for travel bloggers, since you will get a free stay, and often times meals may be included as well. These trips provide you with more content for your blog as well as providing more business for these companies. It is the ultimate win-win!
However, these kinds of offers are only available to professional travel bloggers who have a very large audience. It may take a while for you to get to this point.. but definitely something worth working towards.
UPDATING AND IMPROVING YOUR TRAVEL BLOG:
Always remember.. a blog is NEVER finished. It is and always will be a work in progress. It is important to be continuously adding new content.. updating older content.. always improving your blog and your brand.
You might also want to advise your audience as to upcoming trips you have planned. Ask if there is anything, in particular, they would like to see from these locations. By including your audience and asking for their opinions and contributions you create a feeling of having a more close-knit community.
This makes sure your visitors will keep coming back. They are not only interested in your travels and enjoy reading about your experiences.. but they begin to feel more that you are like a friend whose opinions they trust.
About the Author: Sherry Bennett
Ms. Bennett is a Professional Blogger, who has been earning a living online with niche websites for 25+ years.
Through hard work and dedication, she has turned her passion for blogging into a 7-figure business.. and you can do the same.
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* If you are a new blogger just starting your blogging adventure
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