To buy a ticket to the Caribbean and to lie down on the beach with a laptop on your knees… that’s how many people imagine the way to create a travel blog. But to launch a travel blog and convert it into a long-term project that will earn you some money is a full-time job.
Most of advices on how to start a travel blog from scratch recommend to use WordPress as a platform for getting it up and running on, which in fact means:
- buy a domain,
- choose a suitable hosting,
- install WordPress (and learn to work with it),
- download WordPress template,
- find and install additional plugins
and only then you can start writing.
Does it sound too complicated? Yes, it is.
In this article, however, we will show you that there is a much easier way to create a travel blog and it will take less than 10 minutes! Without any installation, updating or programming. Simply without WordPress.
We will also look at what’s good about writing, how to set up branding and how to make money while traveling thanks to the right ways to monetize blog.
How to become a travel blogger step by step
To become a travel blogger, you have to ask yourself at the beginning whether it’s a profession for you. Are you willing to share all your experiences with your audience? Will you have plenty of unique content that people will want to read?
If you answered yes, it’s time to get down to it!
Branding for your travel blog
The first step is to think about how your blog will be called. You should pay enough attention to the process of choosing the name, because it will accompany you for a very long time. The blog name should be brief and as memorable as possible.
By default, you are advised to avoid generic clichés like:
- “Adventurous (name)“ or
- “Nomadic (name)“
It’s true that the website called Nomadic Matt is one of the best travel blogs. But there’s already too many clones and are easily interchangeable.
Before you start with a travel blog, you need to think about one major thing in terms of branding. Check if the similar domain name and name on social networks is still available. It’s extremely important for the names to be consistent across all the platforms so that readers and fans can easily find you. With .com domains it can be quite a challenge because many of them are already taken, but for sure you’ll be able to come up with something original.
If you already have a name, it is good to get a logo. But this is not a prerequisite, because if you’re starting a travel blog, it’s sufficient to have a logo just in the form of a title.
Build social networks
To make yourself a full-time travel blogger, you need, besides the blog itself, social networks - at least Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. What is very important to realize is that social networks must always be seen only as supporting channels for your travel blog.
Building your travel blog just on Facebook without your own website would be very risky, because Facebook can change the rules at any time and “shut you off” from your own content.
Forget about writing a travel guide
The best travel blogs are successful thanks to not pretending to be a travel guide. Don’t write about things that anyone can find in one travel book or wikipedia. Be absolutely honest - don't try to make things look nicer or talk just about positive experiences. If something went wrong during the trip, write it exactly as it happened. The readers are interested in seeing a real picture of the country, not the ideal fantasy.
The basis is to be original and find your own writing style. Do not copy and try not to act like encyclopedia. This is the best way to become a travel blogger.
Choose a niche travel blog topic
The fact is that there’s lots of travel blogs out there. The key is therefore to differentiate you from anyone else. Offer your blog visitors such information they can’t find anywhere else. Or bring completely different view on the traditional travel destinations. Ideal is if you select one central theme - e.g. you’ll write about just one continent, or you’ll focus on places where you can find cheap accommodation. Or you’ll combine your travel blog with food blog. It’s up to you.
The fastest way how to start a travel blog
Starting a travel blog can be a nightmare, especially when you want to create it on WordPress and you never have worked with this platform before. Finding a domain, suitable hosting, installing WordPress along with the template and plugins is not only technically difficult, but also time consuming. Until you get to the writing itself, it takes quite a while.
There’s a way to create a travel blog much easier - without WordPress and even in less than 10 minutes. We’ll show you how.
Pixenio offers a perfect way how to start a travel blog right now
Unlike WordPress, the process of creating blog website on Pixenio is comfortable and exceptionally quick activity. You don’t need to worry about downloading or installing any software. You can manage to set up your website via a wizard from any web browser. The “rough” version of your blog will be finished within minutes and you can start writing practically instantly.
The layout and design of the website can be configured depending on the template you choose. Once you pick a template, you can choose a variant for your home page and color scale. Everything can be altered later on; you even can make a switch to completely different template and all your content stays intact.
You don’t need to look for hosting, as Pixenio takes care of this. As well as the domain - if you don’t own one, you can use the subdomain at pixenio.com. But if you purchased domain, you can easily link it to your website on Pixenio.
Prefer the simplicity of Pixenio to complexity of WordPress and create your own travel blog right now.
Set up a business plan for your travel blog
Almost all bloggers run their blog for business purposes and to make money while traveling. For some, this is a side, passive income. But the best travel blogs earn their creators fully-fledged livelihood. You can earn decent amounts of money with travel blog only if you do it full time.
The amount of revenue is directly related to the number of visitors, pageviews, fans and followers. Therefore, the key is the reach. The more energy you invest in the reach, the bigger audience you build and your traffic will rise sharply. You do not always have to wait for Google Analytics to see the numbers. Some ways to monetize can be set up right after the website launching.
8 TOP methods how to make money while traveling
Here’s an overview of the most effective methods that will help you to convert your blog to a money-making tool:
1. Showing ads
This is the most common form of monetizing your website. There are different providers, such as Google AdSense. Authors of high-traffic blogs usually switch to AdThrive or Mediavine, which are more complex tools, but provide higher earnings.
The disadvantage of this method is that you have to carefully consider the placement of the ad so it does not distract visitors and so that your travel blog doesn’t look like one big spam.
2. Affiliate marketing
The principle of affiliate marketing is that you add links to specific pages within your blog. If one of your blog visitors arrives to the website you’re linking to and makes a purchase, you get a small commission on the sale for a mediation.
Most common are affiliate links to electronic products (hostings, eBooks, courses…), online booking of accomodation via booking.com; but also physical products on Amazon where users can find e.g. their favorite travel suitcase.
But be careful! Sometimes less is more. Too many ad links can discourage visitors from reading your blog.
Remember how we talked about being frank when writing blog posts? The same applies to affiliate marketing - try to really recommend just what you have tried yourself and what you personally feel good about.
3. Branded content and sponsored trips
Once you have interesting blog traffic and the number of your followers grow regularly, it is possible that you’ll get contacted by large companies for cooperation. They’ll either ask you to promote their product (e.g. on Instagram) or will directly sponsor your travel to selected holiday destination / hotel and they will even pay you a reward for that.
Your task will then be to write a blog post; of course in a positive spirit. For most bloggers, however, sponsored content is only a secondary source of revenue.
4. Freelance writing
You can make money while traveling also by adding interesting articles to various travel or news portals.
5. Sale of your own online products
Do you have stable traffic and a large mass of loyal readers? Then your blog can also work as a sales channel - you can create an eBook from your blog posts, prepare online courses or travel guide.
The best travel blogs even have their brand and sell branded T-shirts, bags and other useful travel related items.
6. Sale of unique photos from the journey
If you have the talent for taking pictures, you do not have to post your photos on the blog only. If you visit interesting sites and go to places where ordinary holiday travellers don’t go to, you can get a lot of valuable pictures. Even such ones that portals like BBC or National Geographic will be willing to pay for.
7. Public speaking & conferences
Once you are experienced travel blogger, you can also get part of the income by lecturing at conferences and various workshops.
8. Patreon
Many bloggers and vloggers use the Patreon service to increase their revenue streams. Patreon allows creators to make money thanks to the favour of their fans = supporters (so-called patrons). Patrons pay small sums of money for the content, either on a monthly membership basis or for each post / video / podcast. The more patrons you acquire, the higher income you earn.
As you can see, there are really many ways to make money while traveling. It’s just up to you which one you choose - but it is ideal to combine multiple methods of monetization, because it allows you to build up monthly income from multiple sources.
So now you know how to start a travel blog and what you need to get it working and monetize it. Are you ready to create a blog on Pixenio in less than 10 minutes? It’s as easy as your Facebook or Instagram.
Try Pixenio free for 14 days.
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