How to Become a Travel Blogger
How to Become a Travel Blogger
If you are an adventurer with memories to share and endless destinations on your bucket list, you might be looking into how to start a travel blog. Whether domestic or international, travel blogs have been around for some time and stay consistent in their popularity!
Learn how to become a travel blogger and share your unique take on a little corner of the earth through your site.
What is a travel blog?
A travel blog is an online hub of informational content that showcases experiences, itineraries, and spots around the globe to the reader. Travel blogs can take different approaches. Some blogs showcase travel from a personal standpoint or past experiences, while others can serve as an online tourism guidebook providing resources for planning excursions.
How to become a travel blogger
Now that you’ve decided to begin documenting destinations for others, you can officially call yourself a travel blogger. Before you pack your bags, check a few items off your list to start a travel blog.
Determine your niche
With such a broad topic – truly the world is your oyster! – you will need to determine your niche. This will help you organize your content and reach a particular audience.
For example, you may choose to showcase international travel or teach your audience all about budget travel to any location. Maybe you want to showcase family travel with kids, or travel that focuses on culinary experiences or historical tours.
What are you already passionate about? Start there!
Write down your goals for your blog
It’s probably a given that you have a case of wanderlust, but you will need to narrow down some specific goals for your blog. This will help guide your content decisions and keep you focused with so many wide-open opportunities. A few questions to consider:
- Do you want to generate income from your blog?
- Do you want to pursue free or sponsored trips?
- Do you want to reach a specific audience (families, foodies, thrill seekers, outdoor adventurers, etc.)?
- Do you want to work while you travel?
Choose a name
You’ll need a name for your travel ventures. You may have a name that is near and dear to your heart, but it’s important to go through all the steps to ensure you can secure a domain with your label. Check out the post on How to Choose a Domain Name to secure your page on the web.
Set up your website
Now to begin setting up your site! We recommend that you use a self-hosted WordPress site to start a travel blog. You’ll find lots more on why this is our preferred way to begin in The Best Platform for Blogging Success.
Next, finding a fantastic theme will be essential in showcasing your travel content. We recommend choosing a Restored 316 theme. Learn all about themes and hear from Lauren Dierschke of Restored 316 in podcast episode 51: Setting up Website Themes.
When choosing your site layout, make sure your blog clearly shows what you offer and takes your reader on a journey through your content. Have resources easily available and a method to capture email addresses to begin building an email list.
Do your research
Similarly to taking the proper steps to research your travel blog domain name, you need to also take a look around at the competition in your niche. What can you offer that sets you apart from the rest?
Take time to understand SEO (search engine optimization). You may have the dreamiest vacation or the easiest way to jet-set, but if it can’t be found easily, your blog will struggle to grow. Understand the basics of structure, formatting, length, and keyword research.
Keyword research will take you miles farther than most strategies! As you learn how to become a travel blogger, explore more about SEO and keywords in What is Keyword Research?
Create content consistently
Typically, the more content you create, the faster your blog will grow. There is no specific number of posts per week, however, commit to creating quality content on a regular basis. When determining what you create, remember that it is most important to create GOOD content versus a large volume of mediocre content.
To help you plan to consistently create travel blog material, determine your content pillars (key topics and categories you will base your information around). Learn about organizing your content and establishing content pillars through podcast episode 78, How to Use Categories on Your Blog.
Follow up, adjust, and improve
In any new venture, take time to evaluate what works and what doesn’t, and make tweaks as you go! Here are a few things you can do to monitor results:
- Install Google Analytics and track your metrics (page views, traffic sources, and more)
- Update content after 12 months, if needed
- Be open to receiving feedback and creating more content around what is already doing well
How much does it cost to start a travel blog?
There is no set price as costs vary greatly depending on how much you are willing to invest upfront. Many people will tell you to start for free and invest later. It is certainly important to keep costs down prior to earning a profit, but we believe some investment is necessary if you want to grow a business long-term.
Some of the costs you will encounter are domain purchase, hosting fees, WordPress theme, additional plugins, photography, branding, legal counsel, and more. Here is a more in-depth resource to help you plan: How Much Money Does it Cost to Start a Blog?
Can I make money from a travel blog?
Yes, the opportunity to make money from a travel blog is absolutely there! Keep in mind that blogging is never a get-rich-quick scheme, but you can certainly build a business with a solid foundation.
The options to make money through travel blogging are as plentiful as the ideas you can generate – or the places you can travel! Here are some common ways that travel bloggers can monetize their sites:
- Sponsored work
- Ad revenue from display ads
- Affiliate income from recommending products and services
For more ideas to launch your adventure, listen to podcast episode 4, How to Make Money Blogging.
How to get help with starting a blog
We know – you just want to get on the road and share those digital postcards! When learning how to start a travel blog, there are so many routes you can take. Fortunately, you are not alone in your blogging journey – we have the solution to help you navigate the details.
Check out our signature course, The Ultimate Blog Bootcamp. This course was designed to guide you in making a plan for your business, setting up the technical aspects of your site, and sharing your content with the world.
Join today and start your next adventure!
