Setting up a travel blog is something a lot of us have thought about at some point or another. There are different reasons you might have considered blogging about your travel experiences. You might just want to share them with the world as a hobby. You could also set up a blog as a way to make money.
There are different ways to make money from a blog, including affiliate marketing or selling your own product through the site. You can also sell advertising space on a travel blog.
Regardless of the reasons you’re thinking about doing it, the following are tips that can help you get started.
Setting Up a Travel Blog
Think About How You’ll Set Yourself Apart
There are a lot of blogs out there, and to be competitive, you’re going to have to figure out what’s going to set you apart and what you have to offer that no other blogger does. For example, you could choose a specific niche and focus your content on that.
One thing that you can have that no one else can have are your own images. The photography is a big part of a travel blog, and if you’re taking your photos, there’s no other blogger that’s going to have the exact same one as you.
You’ll have to pick out a quality travel camera to capture beautiful images. There are considerations with travel cameras that you might not have when you choose cameras for other purposes.
For one, a travel camera needs to be compact and convenient to take everywhere with you. A travel camera also needs to be durable. Along with being a well-made camera, you might want one that’s waterproof or shockproof.
Setting Up the Site
Once you have a good travel camera, you’ll want to start thinking about the logistics of creating the actual site. You’ll need a hosting service, and you’ll need to buy a domain. You’ll also have to pick a blogging platform. WordPress is always a popular pick, but if this isn’t a platform you like for whatever reason, other options are available.
Some travel bloggers might think they don’t need to purchase a domain name as they’re just getting started, but most people with experience will tell you otherwise. Even if you’re doing a blog as a hobby, it’s best to buy your own domain name. Otherwise, your site address is going to be long and clunky and it’s just not going to look professional.
You’ll need to choose a strong name also. You want it to be a unique name that’s going to make your site distinctive, but it needs to at the same time be simple and descriptive.
Some other considerations as you’re setting up your site include your theme and your logo. Take your time here—don’t rush through it because these elements are going to be defining features of your blog over time.
Take A Course
If you’re new to blogging or just to travel blogging, it can be worthwhile to sign up for an online blogging course. You’ll learn a lot about the technicalities such as SEO and how to structure your posts. You’ll also learn more about how to build an audience, and many of these courses also provide information on creating digital products.
There are resources all over the place where you can go to take a course on blogging, and you’ll likely be glad you did. It can help you build a solid foundation that you can build on later.
Spend Some Time Creating A Page About You and Your Blog
Before you publish a single post on your newly created site, create a page that highlights who you are, what your blog is about and what you hope to accomplish. This is going to be where a lot of your visitors go first to see what you’re all about, and this is a place where you can start building your unique voice.
You don’t have to tell your audience every single detail on your about page, but it’s a really good starting point, and it can help you drive the tone of your first blog posts.
Finally, once you’ve done all these things you can start building an audience. Once you build that audience, you can eventually take advantage of opportunities to monetize your site. You’ll want to choose methods that work well with the audience you’re targeting. You might join travel groups and forums, or maybe you’ll work on building an Instagram following and then using that platform to drive traffic to your site.
