The prospect of travelling while making money from it is what attracts most people towards becoming a travel blogger in the first place. But as utopian as it may sound, the profession demands many skills and much expertise. Realizing the difference between travelling as a hobby and turning it into a profession is the most important step to achieve your ultimate goal. Want to become a professional travel blogger?
Are you struggling with making the right decisions? Below are some of the best tips to start a travel blog, gathered from professional travel bloggers who have excelled in this field. Read on.
Procure necessary knowledge:
Before getting into actual blogging, it is necessary to peruse around and find inspiration from a few travel blogs. Gaining information as to how some of the most successful travel bloggers work and present content can never hurt. Some solid websites that can help with this issue are Nerd’s Eye View, Book Passage, etc.
Widespread networking:
Before you launch your own website, pitch your idea and theme on various other websites and blogs, network with many other professional bloggers, no matter what their arena of focus is. As long as you get visibility and recognition, you will be good to go when the time of your actual launch comes.
Designing the actual blog itself:
Choose a good platform to host your blog in, such as wordpress or blogger. Get some design inspiration from other travel website Such as HolidayMe.com or RoadsAndKingdoms.com platforms offer their services free of cost, which is a good thing. But read up on their important features as well and go with what you are most comfortable with after careful comparison.
Aesthetics are essential for any blog. It should draw people to navigate through the website. A theme which is specific to and indicative of your strengths and personality should be used. You can use a bunch of different plug-ins and templates to make your blog look different and appealing.
Pick a really good name:
Many people are trying to make it in the blog business. If you pick generic and overused words like traveler or adventurer, you are automatically attracting a lot more competition from the get go. You have to understand that in order to stand out from the crowd, originality and peppiness is of key importance in every step of the way. Pick a catchy name that doesn’t limit you to certain travel ways, but broadens your horizon of possibilities and experimentation.
Build a dedicated audience first
Although money is of prime importance if you are to make a realistic career in any field, in terms of blogging you have to prioritize networking and exposure over money at the beginning. Because if you don’t get enough hits on the content that you upload, you won’t attract potential advertisers anyway and even if you do, it’s unfair on the companies that are giving you money. But more importantly, if you bombard your page with too many advertisements and affiliate links, it will ruin the user experience, possibly causing you to lose recognition eventually with time.
Blog functionality
Making the blog easy to use and access is of primary importance. It needs to look simple and effortless and have better navigation facilities for viewers. Although I am not technologically proficient, platforms like Pingdom, GTmetrix can help to fasten the load time of content and that can improve the reader experience by multiple thresholds. Also, make sure that you have enough space for the blog to grow and become larger with time and that the stored content doesn’t reduce the blog’s credibility.
Unconventional Media of expertise
Sometimes reading can get boring, especially about places that are historical or have some informative value. In such cases, you can make videos or podcasts or create different stories that uphold the content in a more interesting manner. This will give you the necessary edge, which everyone looks for.
Better quality content
It is very important that the actual content of the blog itself is quality. The theme needs to be relatable but it also has to be creative enough to spark the curiosity of readers.
One of the most common mistakes that bloggers make is to give themselves more importance than the place and the backdrop itself. Rather than, “I went to this place to eat and the food was delicious”, write it like “The patisserie had scrumptious French desserts, a heaven for those with a sweet tooth.”
Make sure the actual writing is correct and error free because obvious mistakes can turn off many readers.
Better inclusion:
Keep in mind that many travelers strive for luxury and the absolute best while many backpack through the places and look for cheap alternatives. It is always better to ensure there is something for everyone. It definitely gives you more credibility as a blogger and guarantees a bigger reader base.
Uniqueness in perspective:
Two bloggers can create content on the same place during the same time of the year but what really sets them apart is their tonality and perspective. Not everyone sees one thing in one definite way. Instead of just going through the motions and following established patterns, make your own signature way of creating content. Individuality for the win!
Overall, there is no one specific way to go about creating and establishing your own travel blog. The ones I have mentioned above are the most fundamental of tips and steps in launching your own blog. But, there are more advanced steps after these too such as monetization, advertisement, publicity and what not. Most importantly, never lose the motivation and passion to venture into the unknown. Good luck with your endeavors!