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10 Useful Tips for a Travel Blog

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We live in a global world where millions of people travel every day. The Internet allows them to discover interesting new destinations to visit as there are many websites that recommend where to go and what to do. Some of these travelers share their experience afterwards, usually in a personal blog. Today, we will share what you need if you want to start a travel blog as well. There are certain good practices you can follow to make your blog more appealing. Some of them apply to most types of websites, but others are relevant specifically to travel blogs.

So, why a travel blog?

The obvious answer is to share your experience with the world. This is the easiest way to tell people where you have been, what you have done or tasted there, what people you have met. Of course, there are other reasons as well:

  • Preserve memories. You probably have a lot of memories and pictures from your travels, but will you remember all the small details from your trip? Writing blog articles about your experience is a great way to preserve your memories. Your blog will be like an online journal of your adventures.
  • Find fellow travelers. Sharing your experience with the world can help you to find people with similar interests who can travel with you in the future or who can advise you about a future destination from their own experience. If you have a blog, such people can easily find you, especially if the blog visitors share your articles on social media or via instant messengers.
  • Improve yourself. Blogging about your travels can help you to get a better insight on your experience. You can look at your adventures from a different perspective when you write about them. Writing articles regularly will also help you to improve your writing skills.
  • Monetize it. Last, but not least, you can make some money from your blog. Depending on its popularity, you can make just enough to pay for the hosting service, or you can make good money. There are different ways to monetize it – display ads, participate in an affiliate program for related products/services, sell merchandise, etc. You may even find a sponsor in exchange of mentioning their name or displaying their brand name on some of the photos from your travels.

Are there any challenges?

Of course there are. If it was easy, everybody would have created a travel blog. Some websites are more successful than others, and this is valid for travel blogs as well. Here are some things you should consider before you start:

  • It takes time. Writing quality articles and adding photos takes time. The more content you want to add, the more time you will need for that. It is possible that you may reach a point where you must choose whether you will travel or you will write articles. You will have to find the right balance, if you don’t want other people to help you with the writing. Otherwise, you may have to travel less to have enough time to write about your previous trips.
  • Many travel blogs already exist. You will find lots of travel blogs online. Some of them are well established, with lots of content, and even a whole team managing them; others have only a handful of visitors. Of course, this isn’t something that should discourage you. With the right content and a good strategy, you can build a successful travel blog.
  • Planning may be difficult. You have been to a number of places, and you have posted articles about them. What follows next, though? If you want to keep writing, you should keep traveling, and this could be a challenge. Regular posts require regular trips, which involve time, money, and careful planning.
  • You need Internet access. If you want to publish articles regularly, you will need Internet access. This way, you can publish your impressions of places, events, and people while they are still fresh. The alternative is to keep a written or a digital diary and write one or a few articles when you are back. The lack of Internet access could be a problem if you take a longer trip (or you may have to pay a significant amount of money for it).
  • You may need a team. If you don’t have the time or the skills to set up the blog, to proofread articles, edit photos, or plan trips, you may need a team. If you are a solo player, it could be challenging to find the right people. Your expenses will be higher as well.

How to start?

Since you want to create a travel blog, you need blogging software. You will find some online services that allow you to start a blog with ease. They have certain limitations, though – no access to the files, no email service, or limited customization options, for example. This is why we recommend using WordPress, the most popular blogging platform out there, together with your own web hosting plan and domain name. As soon as you install the application, you can go ahead and start composing your first post.

If you use our web hosting services, you can install WordPress with a couple of clicks. Using our WordPress MultiManager, which is available in the Account Panel, you can keep your blog updated to avoid security issues and to use new features from your themes and plugins.

The WordPress Manager, which is available in the hosting Control Panel, will allow you to generate on-demand backups as often as you would like to make sure that your content is always safe.

Our tools allow you to install and manage your travel blog with ease. On-demand backups, updates, server-side caching, and various optimizations are some of the things you will be able to access.

Ten useful tips for your travel blog

Find the right niche

You should find a topic that will keep you engaged for some time, not just for a few articles. Consider your interests. Think about what you like to do or where you like to go. Having a travel blog does not necessarily mean going to exotic locations. You can explore local villages, hotels, food festivals, adventure parks, family-friendly locations, etc. Find a niche that will fit your lifestyle and will not require too many changes. Consider your potential audience as well, as this can help you to choose what to write about.

Choose an appealing name/brand/logo

Do some brainstorming to shortlist a few good names, and then consider the most suitable one. It should be unique, and it should describe your blog. Avoid generic names or names that are very similar to those of existing blogs. The blog name and the domain name you choose can include the brand, your name, or something connected to your travels.

Find a good design theme

While you can use any theme you like, there are themes that were created for travel blogs in particular. You will find free themes in the WordPress repository, and paid ones in theme marketplaces such as Envato / Theme Forest or Creative Market. The advantage of using travel-oriented themes is that there may be demo content and useful plugins already included. Premium themes are often bundled with paid plugins, so you can save some money.

Choose the right plugins

You don’t need many plugins for a travel blog as you should focus on your content, but there are a few useful ones, which can help you to manage the blog. If your theme doesn’t suggest what plugins to use, or you want to use additional ones, here are a few you should consider:

  • Travelpayouts. Add a flights and hotel search on your site, which allows you to earn a commission.
  • Akismet. If comments are enabled on your blog, make sure that you have this handy plugin to fight spam. It usually comes with new WordPress installations, but it is not activated by default.
Traveler's Map (left) and Comments Not Replied To (right)

Of course, you can also add general-purpose plugins for SEO, content caching, image optimization, etc. These plugins are not travel-specific, so it is up to you which ones you will use.

Choose the right style

Content is important, but so is the look of the site. Choose 2-3 colors for the design and 2-3 fonts for the text content to make sure your blog looks neat. If you use more colors or fonts, your visitors may be distracted.

Reply to comments

Comments from https://www.neverendingfootsteps.com

This is something quite important if you want to create a loyal community. Some bloggers have disabled comments under their articles, but others engage in exciting discussions with readers. People may have an interesting insight into your experience or may simply want to know more about your travels. They will be more likely to follow your blog regularly if they see that you reply to their comments. Such conversations can give your site a small SEO boost as well.

Optimize your photos

A good travel blog should have images. People may like your stories, but nobody likes seeing a wall of text. It is up to you whether you will have in-line images, or you will have a larger gallery between paragraphs. Make sure that you optimize your photos. Use web-friendly formats and proper sizes that will not slow down your blog. Use descriptive names and alt names to give your blog a little SEO boost. Names like IMG12345.jpeg that cameras use by default are not suitable for a website.

Best File Formats for a Website and Five Tips for Your Images
Find out which formats are suitable for your travel blog in our article.

Create an appealing About page

It is important to show who you are and to tell people why you want to share your experience with them. Giving the page a personal touch will show them that your travel blog is not just another website on the Internet. Share what you like to do, why you want to travel, and why people should follow you. And of course, add a personal photo. Your visitors should see that you are a real person.

Be consistent

Try to post articles regularly. It may not be possible to always do that, but your audience will probably expect a new article every week or every month, depending on what you are writing about. If people visit your blog a few times and there is no new content on it, they may not come back again. If you have a few articles ready, post them over a certain period, not all at once.

Nonetheless, quality is more important than quantity, so you should avoid posting content just for the sake of it. Always proofread your articles before you publish them.

Promote your blog

Attracting visitors is not an easy task. Search engines may bring you some organic traffic, but you should be active on social media as well. Create pages on your preferred social networks and update your profiles regularly with text and images. Add social media buttons for easy sharing, so your followers can easily share your articles and galleries.

Sometimes you may be more active on social media than on your blog, especially if you don’t have much time. If this is the case and you use Facebook or Instagram, you can take advantage of our SocialSync service. You can add the social feed to your travel blog, so you will have all your content in one place. In addition, SocialSync will back up your posts, so they will be available online no matter what.

Back up your social media accounts and add your feed to your travel blog with ease.

Wrap-up

A travel blog is a great way to preserve your memories and to share your experience with the world. You can also find fellow travelers for your next trip. You will find various platforms that allow you to start a travel blog, but WordPress is the most popular one. You can install it with ease, and then choose a good theme and suitable plugins that will add various functions to the blog.

Make sure that you present yourself well on the About page and always reply to comments to show people that you care about your blog and about their opinion. If you choose the right niche and write good articles, your travel blog can quickly become a successful one.

Author

A web hosting provider since 2001. We host over 58,000 websites for customers in over 140 countries around the globe.

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