Introduction
Starting a travel blog and making money from it is a dream of many travel enthusiasts. Though it is not easy yet, it is never too late or impossible to become a travel blogger from scratch.
Even if you are a newbie, you can work hard to stand out from the established travel bloggers and create a source of passive income for yourself. The money will keep pouring into your account, and you can enjoy your dream life.
But, the majority of the travel blogs do not survive.
What is the reason behind it?
The reason is that, though creating and managing a travel blog is not impossible, it is not easy also. It is tough. You must:
- Work hard consistently
- Maintain self-discipline
- Be in research mode all the time
- Learn professional blogging
- Learn to market and promote your blog
- Build a community of loyal audience
- Have time and money to invest
Travel blogging is like any other business that needs to be nurtured regularly to gain results.
Here in this article, I will explain how you can start a travel blog from scratch, become successful, and earn a source of passive income.
Why do you Want to Start a Travel Blog?
You should be aware of the reason why you want to start a travel blog. This reason will motivate you to keep moving forward to achieve your goals even when you feel tired or experience setbacks.
You might want to start travel blogging to:
Share your personal experiences: If you are adventurous, love to travel, and want the world to explore different places through your articles and videos, then you can create a personal travel blog. But, travel blogging is not only about sharing personal travel experiences and memories with people. If you think this way, then your blogging journey will end soon. Also, if you want to earn from your blog, then be ready to work hard to reach your goals.
Build a community: You can start a blog to inspire and help people plan their trips. You can share a list of do’s and don’ts while travelling to a particular place. This way, you will create a community of people who get inspired by the valuable content on your blog. Also, the valuable inputs that you get from your community members will help you grow fast.
Be a part of the tourism industry: Travel blogging is a gateway for many people to enter the tourism industry. But, it would be best if you did not look for free or discounted stuff from the travel operators till you have established yourself and can offer something of great value in return. To get something in return, provide value in the form of high-quality content on your blog. The opportunities will automatically start coming your way.
How to know if Travel Blogging is Right for you?
Travel blogging is like any other business. So, you must know what qualities you should possess if you want to start a travel blog.
Have a passion for travelling: You should be enthusiastic to visit new places, meet new people, learn new stuff, etc. You should be curious to explore new destinations to create engaging content about exciting topics.
Treat it like a business: Travel blogging is not the same as going on a vacation. It is like your regular job. You have to create a work plan, follow a schedule, and make sure you can accomplish all the tasks you planned. You cannot sit, relax, and enjoy.
Be a consistent traveller: You cannot become a travel blogger by travelling just once or twice per year. You have to be consistent in your outings and develop a habit of working while travelling.
What you have to do as a Travel Blogger?
Travel blogging is not only about travelling, getting discounts, and free services. In reality, there are many tasks that newbie bloggers are not aware of. As a travel blogger, you have to:
Be a jack of all trades: You must know how to write, edit, research, click and edit high-quality photographs, communicate with people, promote content, etc. It is required as you might not have enough funds in the beginning to outsource work.
Develop a regular reading habit: You should read about different places, their culture, famous restaurants, travel destinations, sights, landmarks, etc. In this way, you can create new and valuable content for your readers regularly.
Be a storyteller: As a travel blogger, you must learn the art of storytelling. Everyone can’t visit each place. But people can visualize and learn about various destinations and their culture by reading your stories. You should create a clear picture of a place or thing you are talking about and share your real-life experiences to establish an emotional bond with your readers.
Challenges you might Face as a Travel Blogger
Travel blogging is like a full-time job or business. It does not involve only glamour and visiting exotic locations. You cannot achieve success overnight, and all the established bloggers have put in lots of efforts for several years to reach where they are at present.
Here is a list of difficulties you might experience:
Fierce competition: Only loving to travel will not help you create a successful travel blog. You cannot build an empire with this kind of mindset. There are many travel blogs on the internet. So, if you want to make big in this field, you have to offer something unique to stand out from your competitors.
No fixed salary: Most people love the concept of receiving a fixed salary so that they can create a plan around it. It is not possible with blogging. The amount you earn varies every month. Also, you have to invest in starting a blog, such as buying a domain and hosting, travelling to new places, etc. So, you must learn to manage your finances and have a decent amount of savings in your bank account.
Learn to overcome writing block: You need to travel to explore new destinations and create quality content consistently. Also, if you have tied up with travel agencies to promote their packages, you might have deadlines to meet. But sometimes, you might feel exhausted and get confused as to what to write about. You may feel disappointed. At this stage, you can take a break for a day or a week. You can indulge in your hobbies or do relaxing meditation exercises and start again.
Define your travel niche: Like other fields, travel is also a broad niche. You can talk about many different things. But if you want to engage your readers and develop long-term relationships with them, you have to focus on one thing. If you write about everything, you will not add value to your readers’ lives. For example, you can combine travel with cooking, music festivals, fashion, vacations, etc.
Choosing a Name for Your Travel Blog
Select a suitable name for your blog. It is your brand’s representation and helps in attracting visitors to your blog. Once purchased, you cannot change it. So, you must spend time selecting an appropriate name for your blog.
Here are a few tips to consider before buying a domain name:
- It should be short
- It should be simple, easy to pronounce and remember
- Do not include symbols, hyphens, and numbers
- Try to get .com extension
- Use keywords
- It should be unique and create an image of your blog’s niche in people’s mind
After this, purchase a hosting and either design website yourself or hire a professional designer.
How to Write and Create Great Blog Content?
Everyone has their working style. You cannot copy anyone else’s content creation strategy. You have to experiment and devise your method of creating content regularly.
However, there are a few things that you can keep in mind to create unique and valuable content.
Create unique content: The travel blogging niche is saturated. So whether you write articles, make videos, or click pictures, you need to provide unique content to your audience. Unique content will also help you create a solid personal brand.
Create content for your audience: Create content keeping in mind the kind of audience you want to target. In this way, you will create content using the right style and tone that will keep your readers engaged.
Write long-form content: Aim to make each article at least 1000 words long (Google loves long articles) and write with keywords in mind. People search using keywords on Google. You must include keywords in your article so that it ranks higher in the Google search results. It will drive more organic traffic to your blog.
Write what you know: Do not try to imitate other bloggers and write about every aspect of the travel niche. In the beginning, focus on your interests and expertise. Later you can diversify in other travel sub-niches. I advise you to start writing on one topic. For example, you can write multiple articles about one country, area, city, etc., that you know well. Interlink the articles to show yourself as a topic expert to Google.
Start developing your brand: Developing your brand means choosing the right colors, creating a catchy logo and brand slogan. Everything you do should emphasize that your blog is about travel. Colors affect the psychology of people. So, do some research before choosing the color scheme for your blog.
Design a professional logo: If you have no idea of designing, you can hire a professional designer. Think about your niche, what you want your brand to represent, and how your audience should feel when they visit your site. You cannot rebrand yourself again and again. So spend a reasonable amount of time to create a strong brand from starting only.
How to Promote your Travel Blog?
Even if you create a beautiful blog with lots of relevant content, but without promotion, you will not build a loyal fan base. You must get your blog noticed if you want to become an influencer and earn passive income.
Here are a few measures that you can take to promote your blog:
Promote on social media: Social media is an excellent platform to share your new blog posts. It helps drive traffic to your site, and people can interact with you in the form of comments. You can join several travel-related groups. Be a part of the discussions in those groups so that people looking for services that you offer might notice you.
A few social media platforms you can explore:
- Facebook: Create a dedicated travel page and join niche-specific groups to make people aware of your services.
- Twitter: Create a travel blogger profile and network with other influencers in the travel niche to leverage a new audience.
- LinkedIn: Optimize your LinkedIn profile as a full-time travel blogger. Join travel-related groups and post valuable content consistently to get noticed, increase your followers and establish yourself as an expert.
- YouTube: Start a YouTube channel. Share your travelling experiences. Include a call-to-action at the end to redirect viewers to your blog.
Collaborate with other bloggers: Establish relations with like-minded bloggers. You will benefit from each other’s services. You can promote offers of other bloggers, and they do the same for you on their blogs. Blogging is not a race or a competition. It is a community of travel enthusiasts. Hence, there is enough opportunity for everyone.
Do guest posting: Many travel websites offer free guest posting services. You can write quality guest posts for free on these sites and add links to your blog and social media profiles. You can also approach established travel bloggers and offer a guest post on their blog. You get high-quality backlinks, and this improves your search engine rankings. It also expands your reach in front of a new audience.
Post comments: Write meaningful and helpful comments with a link to your post on others’ blog posts. You will gain recognition as a niche expert and increase your visibility in front of the right audience.
Start a podcast: Creating a podcast to share your experiences with your target audience is becoming popular day by day. You can promote your services, interview influencers, and appear as guest speakers on other people’s podcasts.Create a network of like-minded people: Networking with active and like-minded professionals in your industry has many advantages. You can help each other, develop long-term relationships, gain knowledge, build confidence, get advice, and build your reputation as a knowledgeable person. Creating public awareness about your brand is a must for personal and professional growth.
How to Earn Money from a Travel Blog?
You cannot start making money immediately after launching your blog. Your primary focus after creating your blog should be to create quality content, promote it, and build your audience. All the income sources are dependent on the success of these factors directly.
Here are a few ways in which you can make money from your travel blog:
Affiliate marketing: Affiliate marketing is one of the most common methods of earning money from your blog. In this, you place ads and banners displaying offers from a third party. A reader clicks the ad, land on another site, and they might make a purchase. In this way, you will earn a commission on every sale made. Your income depends on the number of people clicking your affiliate links and making a purchase. You can run promotional offers of hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, etc.
Writing sponsored posts: When your blog has gained enough popularity, you might get contacted by people who want you to write about them on your blog in return for money. These posts contain links to their websites. But, you should only write content keeping in mind your audience’s interests and not just to earn money.
Sponsored trips: Travel agencies contact prominent and popular bloggers to visit a specific destination and write a detailed review about it. They pay for their travel expenses and for writing about the packages they offer on their blog.
Advertizements: You can place ads on your site as soon as it’s live. But all ad networks do not allow small blogs to join their partner program. You have to search for ad networks that accept small bloggers also.
Sell a product or service: Creating your product takes time. As a beginner, you can skip this earning method. Later after you have enough experience, you can create your product, such as an ebook and sell it. You can also create an image portfolio page and sell your photographs. You do not need to be a professional photographer to sell images. But the images should be of high quality.
Conclusion
So now you know what goes into making your travel blog a success. This article covers all the basic requirements you need to consider before and after launching your travel blog.
You cannot succeed alone in the travel industry. If you run a travel blog, you must establish a bond with your audience, collaborate with other bloggers, and partner with industry experts. Always focus on creating valuable and unique content that educates and help people. This way, you can sustain yourself in this competitive field for a long time.
Written by: Preeti Shah
Evaluated by: Rajinder Soni
