I get asked a lot of questions about what it’s like to run a travel blog and how to go about starting one. You may have already read posts on other blogs like this, but it’s time to share how I started my blog, my mistakes you can avoid and why you should start one.
Anything I’ve learned in blogging has been from doing (and doing it wrong) and from asking others. I’m not shy or protective of any of my “insider knowledge,” so if you have any additional questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below!
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Why Start a Travel Blog?
The first thing you need to consider is why you’d start a blog in the first place. Are you telling your friends and family back home about your graduation trip, honeymoon or gap year? Or do you want to share with others your tips that you’ve learned from your travel lifestyle?
Do you want to turn it into a business and create an income model you can work on from anywhere in the world? If it’s just a hobby or online journal, I don’t think it’s important to spend money on web design and hosting. But if this is something that could you could work on in the long haul, treat it like a business from the beginning.
For me, it started entirely as a hobby, something to keep my mind occupied as I went through a breakup. I’d read travel blogs from people like Nomadic Matt and Legal Nomads and wanted to start one of my own. But I wasn’t traveling during this time. Instead, I wrote about previous trips I’d taken and my life in Charleston. I grew a humble following of both my friends and family as well as people around town.
Over the years, others started reading my blog, especially when I wrote about my working holiday in Australia. It was here that I realized what my focus should be: alternatives to the grisly job market for recent college graduates. That’s why the header says “escaping the real world for a life of travel.”
That’s what I sought to do and what I hoped my readers would do as well. These days I write about almost everything, including how to be a writer, goals for myself and my trips around the South.
How Do You Start a Travel Blog?
Pick a Memorable Name
This is an important part of starting your travel blog, as it will be the name of your brand. I started my blog during the trend of personal name related blogs (Wandering Earl, Nomadic Matt, Adventurous Kate, etc) and I was inspired by both the 90s television show that shared my name and my love of cities all over the world.
If I had to do it all over again, though, I’m not sure I would have picked Caroline in the City due to lack of search engine optimization. But luckily for me, there’s a recognition in my blog’s name that sticks in people’s heads.
You want to use this name for all your social media handles as well for consistency. This is one of my bigger mistakes, as Caroline in the City was too long, so I have @cairinthecity for Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. However, I wised up when it came time to launch This Is My South and claimed all the names well in advance.
Set It Up
You can either get someone else to do it for you or do it yourself, as I did. My first blog was on Blogspot, a very basic look, before I moved it to WordPress.com. A few years later, I bought hosting on Bluehost and downloaded the WordPress self-hosting software.
Not long after that, I purchased a few themes from WooThemes’ Black Friday sale. I made a few changes for myself, like color choices and I created my headers and buttons on Canva. FirstSiteGuide has great resources on how to go about setting up your first blog.
What Should Else Should You Do?
Start an Active Community on Social Media
My social media following is an extension of myself. I don’t just share travel pictures on Facebook and Instagram, but also what I’m up to in my “real” life, whether it’s my foot post-surgery, the craft brew I’m currently sipping or a shot of my family. I do, of course, mix in almost live updates of where I am traveling.
It’s important to post different things on different channels because not all followers are the same. I love personally responding to comments and responding with emails when possible. This is how you build a community. It’s also important to set up a subscription system via RSS or email so that you can keep people following every day. I used to use Google Reader, but now use Bloglovin.
Create Content That People Want to Read
Unless you’re a video or photo blogger, people come to your website for your words. This is why it’s especially important that you write well. Spelling and grammar mistakes are a no-no, especially as they’re so easily fixed with spell check. Just run it through Word before you post. Do some research before writing posts to make sure information is factual.
Read quality writing on blogs and books. Writing better is more important than writing often, so if that means posting a great post once per week rather than mediocre ones daily, so be it. Break up posts with headings and photos to make it easier on readers.
So what do you want to write about? This part is entirely up to you. Write posts that focus on an area of expertise and set you apart from the thousands upon thousands of other travel blogs, including the new ones that crop up daily. You don’t have to be everything to everyone, covering luxury and budget and solo and family travel.
Pick your niche and become an expert in it. This post isn’t a great example, as you can find hundreds of posts on how to start a travel blog. But why would you want to write the same things as everyone else?
Splurge on Professional Gear
Most of the posts for the first few years of the blog were written on a beaten up white MacBook and most photos were on a Canon Powershot. As I started to move more from a hobby blogger to a professional blogger, I didn’t mind splurging on the gear to go with it like a new MacBook Pro, a Canon T1i with additional lenses and quality website hosting.
I’ve also spent money on a membership with the Professional Travel Bloggers Association, a group of like minded bloggers working towards further partnerships for our industry.
Ask for Help
If you know you want to start a top travel blog, don’t hesitate to ask the experts for help. Not only can you comment in this post or email me, but you can also join mentorship programs. Travel Blog Success is one of the most popular ones, but individual bloggers run them as well, like those of A Dangerous Business, Green Global Travel and Nomadic Matt.
Some of the Facebook groups are also helpful in answering smaller questions you might have like which hosting company is best and how much a Turkish visa costs.
Making Money
There are a few ways to do it, but for the most part, it won’t be your actual blog posts that make you money. There’s freelance writing, videography and photography, which you can acquire by using your blog as a portfolio. There’s consulting for social media and press trips. And you can also create your own range of products, whether it be a book, tours or a product like the Speakeasy Scarves or Aroamas travel perfume.
Final Thoughts
Travel blogging isn’t for everyone. It’s a lot of hard work for little or no pay. Don’t start a travel blog if you want to make quick money, if you want free stuff, if you want stability or if you want to have lots of free time. It’s taken me the better part of five years to get to where I am today.
I went on my first press trip in 2012 and didn’t go on them regularly until 2014. At times, I’ve been frustrated with my lack of progress, but I’ve always been a late bloomer, even in my career. There’s plenty of competition and infighting in the community, but the rewards include travel to far flung locales and lifelong friends.
Related Links
How to Start a Travel Blog in Six Easy Steps, Adventurous Kate
Should You Start a Travel Blog? The Dirty Truth, Twenty-Something Travel
Should You Start Your Own Travel Blog?, Leave Your Daily Hell
Some great tips! a nice basic article!
Great travel blogging overview! I’ve had a blog for about 6 months now and I appreciate your experience and tips. I do like your name, by the way, even though I understand the difficulties you outline in your post, but it’s catchy. I had to laugh when I read about your equipment. I wrote my recently published book on an old, white MacBook whose motor was so loud and hot that I sometimes had difficulty concentrating. I’ve upgraded computers, but I still use my Canon PowerShot!