How To Become a Travel Blogger: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide
The travel industry is booming, and 80% of travelers plan their trips online, so what better time to start a travel blog? Many travel bloggers earn a part or full-time income through their blogs. In this article, I'll share how to become a professional travel blogger.
Becoming a blogger isn’t a simple task. I've been managing my own blog and blogs for clients for more than five years. But knowing the right steps makes it easier.
In this article, I’ll share the steps for creating a travel blog, tips for becoming a successful blogger, and answers to common questions.
How do I create a travel blog?
As a blogger, you must create your brand, establish a blog, and grow your audience. Here’s how:
Step 1: Choose a niche
Step 2: Create your brand
Step 3: Pick a blog platform
Step 4: Design your blog
Step 5: Learn about SEO
Step 6: Write your first article
Step 7: Grow your audience
Step 1: Choose a niche
You've decided to want to learn how to become a travel blogger, so you already have a broad niche. But you must narrow this down to reach a target market more easily.
If your niche is too general, you’ll have more competition. Think of it this way–there are thousands of travel bloggers. But there are fewer budget-friendly travel bloggers, so this could be a good way to niche down.
Examples of travel niches:
Backpacking
Solo travel
Disney travel
Backpacking
Location-based travel
Luxury vacations
Family-friendly travel
For example, Great Wide Somewhere is a travel blog that focuses on budget-friendly tips and itineraries:
The Great Wide Somewhere: a budget-friendly travel blog
The Homebody Tourist focuses on US-based content for travelers in the States:
The Homebody Tourist: a US-based travel blog
These two bloggers focus on different niches and audiences, which allows them to stand out to their target market and see better results.
Step 2: Create your brand
Once you have a niche, it’s time to create your brand. Having a personal brand helps you grow an audience and build trust because it’s how people can identify and remember you.
When creating your brand, you need to consider your:
Blog name (make sure it’s not trademarked)
Logo
Colors
Fonts
Target audience (demographics, pain points, etc.)
Goals for your travel blog
Keep these consistent if you expand to other platforms besides your blog, like social media or YouTube.
Tip: You might hire a designer to help you create your personal brand. Many new bloggers use Upwork (a freelance platform) to find affordable brand designers. I worked with Magic Feather Designs for my branding–highly recommend!
Step 3: Pick a blog platform
There are many blog platforms to choose from, including popular options like Squarespace, WordPress, and Wix.
My all-time favorite blog platform is Squarespace, which is what this blog is through.
Squarespace: a website builder with various features, including blogging and selling ecommerce
Many bloggers use Squarespace because:
It’s affordable.
It has all-in-one features, including hosting, SEO optimization, and eCommerce integration.
There are many templates to choose from.
It’s easy to use and customize.
Its detailed analytics let you track your performance.
Read more: How to Start a Squarespace Blog in Less Than a Day
Step 4: Design your blog
Once you have an account with your blogging platform, you can design your travel blog.
How this works will depend on which platform you’re using.
For example, WordPress requires coding or plug-ins, whereas other options like Squarespace and Wix offer ready-made templates you can use and customize.
Remember to incorporate your branding with your logos, fonts, and colors when designing your blog.
Step 5: Learn about SEO
Before you write your first travel blog, learning about search engine optimization (SEO) is essential. SEO is how your target audience finds your blog.
You can use various SEO techniques, with keyword research and usage being one of the most significant, to ensure Google understands your content and who to show it to.
It’s okay to start with learning SEO basics and then learn more as you go. That said, the better you understand and incorporate SEO, the more successful your blog will be.
Step 6: Write your first article
Now that you understand how to become a travel blogger, it’s time to write your first article.
You can follow these simple steps to write a blog article your audience and Google love:
Do keyword research. Keysearch is a useful and affordable keyword research tool. (Use code KDISC for 20% off.)
Create an outline. Use Keysearch’s content assistant feature and the top 3-ranking pages on Google for your keyword to help you with an outline.
Write your content. Create valuable content by including real-life examples, statistics, personal experiences, and solutions.
Edit and proofread. First, use Grammarly to edit your content for easy readability. Then, proofread aloud to catch final areas of improvement.
Add images. You can find free stock photos on websites like Unsplash or use your own travel pictures.
Request indexing on Google Search Console. This lets Google know you have new content to crawl and show on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs).
Read more: Simple Blog Article Writing Steps (How to Write an Article in 5 Easy Steps
Step 7: Grow your audience
After you publish your first article, you need to continue growing your audience for success.
Eventually, your blog can create income if you have an audience.
Here’s how you can reach more people and increase your blog traffic:
Continue publishing SEO-friendly blog articles.
Use Canva to create a freebie (i.e., a packing checklist).
Start an email newsletter with Flodesk, and get people to opt in by sharing your freebie on your blog.
You can also use Canva to create graphics for Pinterest to drive more traffic to your blog.
Share content related to your blog via social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
What should I say in a travel blog?
Your travel blog should cover topics related to your niche and answer questions your target audience may have.
For example, if you write about solo traveling, you can create content about solo travel tips, the benefits of traveling alone, and the best solo travel destinations. These are called content pillars.
Blog tip: Use Answerthepublic.com to get topic ideas related to your niche.
For a customizable pillar and content planning template, check out my SEO blogging course.
Travel Blogging Tips
Find my favorite travel blogging tips below.
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Be Unique
With thousands of travel blogs on the internet, being unique is a non-negotiable.
Here are ways you can stand out and build a trusted audience as a travel blogger:
Niche down: Choose a niche that you’re knowledgeable about
Share personal experiences: Share details your readers can’t find on every blog
Be relatable: Speak to your readers and show your personality
Engage your readers: Make your audience feel like you’re reading their mind
Write Guest Articles
Writing guest articles for other travel blogs is an excellent way to put your name out there and reach more people.
Other websites often accept pitches from bloggers and then credit you by back-linking your blog. Backlinks is one of the best ways to boost your website’s SEO.
To pitch article ideas, find popular travel blogs with a "write for us" page that tells you the process for pitching them. I don't recommend cold-pitching blogs because you can better spend your time finding opportunities that welcome pitches.
Stay Consistent
To be a successful blogger, you can't post a few articles and then stop. Sure, if your existing content is valuable and SEO-friendly, you’ll keep getting traction. But eventually, Google will view your blog as outdated.
How often to publish new content is a topic that’s constantly up for debate. Some travel bloggers post daily, while others post weekly. Of course, the more high-quality articles you publish, the better.
In June 2022, travel blogger Amy Fillinger published nine articles and earned $4,223.94 through ads and affiliates. It’s important to note she’d been blogging for about four years at this time.
Consistency tip: Create an attainable blog schedule for the next three months and stick to it. For example, commit to one weekly blog post. Then, re-evaluate.
Keep Learning
If you want to be successful, never stop learning. There’s so much to know about blogging, and trends are always changing.
I share many relevant tips and resources for blogging on my own blog. I also keep my email list subscribers updated with the latest blogging news.
Hire Help
Once you start making money from your blog, you might hire help to publish and earn even more. If you have a good foundation of traffic and income streams in place, hiring help can bring you a return on investment, plus extra income.
I’ve actually worked with several bloggers to help them write a couple of blog posts per month so they have less on their plate but can meet income goals through their blogs.
You might also hire a social media manager or email copywriter to help you market your blog.
How to Become a Travel Blogger FAQ
Below, I’ll answer common questions about being a professional travel blogger.
Is it a good idea to start a travel blog?
Travel blogging is an excellent idea because many people search the internet for travel content, and there are various ways to monetize a blog, You can reach many people and earn money through affiliate marketing, ad revenue, and selling digital products.
Start your travel blog with ease by using this SEO blogging toolbox.
How much do travel bloggers make?
Travel bloggers can make anywhere from zero dollars to six figures monthly, depending on quality, audience size, and income sources. World Family Travel earned an average of about $1,600 monthly in 2021, while Travel Blog Viewpoint earned $24,758 in May 2022.
Is it hard to become a travel blogger?
Becoming a travel blogger takes a lot of time and effort. You need to spend time creating your personal brand, learning about SEO, and writing blog articles. However, the workload decreases once you have a good foundation.
You might spend a year devoting 10+ hours per week to your blog, then only spend a couple of hours per week maintaining it.
What are the disadvantages of travel blogging?
Disadvantages of running a travel blog include the upfront time investment, high competition, and difficulty keeping up if you're a full-time traveler.
Before you start a travel blog, consider your goals and weigh the pros and cons. Then, visit this regularly to ensure you’re on track to reap the benefits of blogging.
Conclusion
Starting a blog is a lot of work but can be a fun and rewarding way to create multiple income streams. I hope this article has helped you feel confident in learning how to become a travel blogger.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to write high-quality blogs that drive traffic and help you meet your goals, check out a free preview of my SEO blogging course.
