Do you crave to live a lifestyle where you can work and travel at the same time? Well, having a travel blog is probably the best way to go. But how do you create a travel blog? What can you write about and how do you make money with it? Let me break it down for you in 6 simple steps.
How to Create A Travel Blog
Step #1 – What Is Your Definition of Travel?
Traveling is as vast as the whole world. Every one of us travels for different purposes and as a result of that, there are various sub niches to consider. To help you envision better, imagine yourself in an airport crowd. Where are these people heading to and what kind of travel niche is related to their destinations?
- A group of photographers going to exotic places is likely travel photographers.
- A group of food enthusiasts is most probably foodie travelers.
- A group of people on a fashion spree are most likely travel shoppers.
- A family with children is most probably on a holiday trip.
- A couple of solo travelers are likely backpackers.
And the list could go on. The reason I pointed this out is that it helps to break down your niche into relevant topics that you’ll be creating for your blog content later on. If you skip this, you could be writing almost anything under the sun.
That’s not entirely a bad thing either, but your topics might be too broad and uninteresting to read. Of course, you can always mix and match those travel topics as you see fit.
Step #2 – What To Name Your Blog?
When you create a blog, keep in mind that it will serve as a monetizing platform in the long term. In other words, think of your blog as an online business. After all, you can’t enjoy a desired lifestyle if you don’t earn any residual income, right?
By identifying the purpose of your blog and your targeted audience (Refer to Step 1), it would be much easier to search for a blog name. So, try to come up with at least 5 blog names (also known as domain names) and then, head over to SiteDomain for your registration.
For example, I am a big fan of photography and I found that ‘dslrtravelers.com’ is still available; the same for .net and .org as well. So, if you can find something with a top level domain, simply proceed to checkout to complete your registration
In case you don’t know, a domain name is an asset that appreciates in value over a period of time. By owning the proprietorship, you can build a blog with that domain in whatever way you want and sell it for a profitable price, if you decide to do so later on.
Step #3 – What Kind of Hosting To Use?
A hosting company is a service that stores all your website files. Without this service, no one will be able to search for your blog online. Ideally, you should get a host that is secured, stable and fast so that when people read your blog, the information can load fast enough.
There are plenty of hosting packages being offered online and you should review their service carefully before signing up. Some are cheap but offers very limited features while others can be slightly more expensive, yet they do a very good job in web optimization.
Step #4 – What Kind of Publisher To Use?
Essentially, when you are creating a blog, you are also creating a website. There are basically two ways you can do this; use a simple website builder or use an organized content management system (CMS).
Website builders like GoDaddy are easy to use and are suitable for most beginners. CMS like WordPress, on the other hand, is totally customizable, but there are a few things that you have to learn to set up before publishing a blog.
If you are serious about monetizing, WordPress is still the preferred choice here because;
- It doesn’t limit you to the number of pages/posts on your blog.
- It ranks better on search engines.
- It offers a better user experience for readers.
When you maximize all these three factors, your blog is more searchable and is able to reach a wider audience thus increasing your chances of conversions. If you like to know how WordPress works, check out how you can create one for free with SiteRubix.
Step #5 – How to Design Your Blog?
Regardless of which publisher you use, you’ll often start with a template or a theme first. This provides you with a framework for building content and website navigation. Some frameworks are pretty straightforward, while others have more depth. Some give you more designing flexibility and others are more restrictive.
Each theme offers a certain function so you’ll probably need to experiment with a few first to see which suits best to the concept of your travel blog. In addition, it also helps to understand the basics of website anatomy so that you’ll know how to arrange your blog topics accordingly.
If you are using WordPress (my recommendation), you will have a wide selection of free themes (or paid themes) to choose from and the good thing is, you can always change them without losing your blog content.
Here are just some of the themes that you can use for a travel blog.
Step #6 – How To Create Blog Content?
I hope I haven’t bored you with the first 5 steps, but they are important to know if you want to own a functional website. Now that you have all your web structure set up, you can finally start to write your blog.
Before you dish out all your ideas, here are some questions I would like you to think about.
- What kind of travel topics should you allocate for your main pages? (Refer to Step 1)
- What kind of topics can you write for the blog posts?
- (I hear you asking) What’s the difference between a page and a post?
- How frequent should you publish your blog?
- Do you know that using targeted keywords can make your articles rank better?
- How do you search for keywords? (Check out Jaaxy Keyword Tool)
- How do you optimize your travel photos for search engines?
- How do you share your blog online?
- And most importantly, how can you monetize from your own travel blog so that you can live that desired lifestyle?
Taking the time to address these content strategies will make your blog an interesting website and attract more online readers which are what you really want. If you are not familiar with these techniques, don’t worry. Most travel bloggers start from scratch too.
The Ultimate Platform That You’ll Need
Fortunately, there is training available that can help you step-by-step from niche research to content creation. I would like to recommend Wealthy Affiliate which has helped many people build successful blogging businesses over the past 10 years.
By taking part in the program, you’ll benefit from;
- Having a secure and stable hosting (Refer to Step 3)
- Learning and creating from WordPress websites.
- Tutorials and webinars conducted by the experts on how to produce good quality articles.
- Networking with other fellow bloggers who could also be in the same niche as you.
I hope this short tutorial has given you some basic ideas on how to create a travel blog. If you have any thoughts or questions, feel free to leave them in the comment area below and I’ll get back to you.
Hello there Cathy,
I’ve always wanted to do a travel blog of my own, what a timely article! I’m planning to start with covering my domestic travels though as I don’t travel overseas as often what with today’s economy here.
I just know I would have loads of content to write about because when it comes to trying out something new, I can’t seem to stop talking lol. It’s conclusive, I’m gonna start my own travel blog. Right after my next travel destination. Great article as always!
Great to have you back on my blog, Riaz.
Domestic travel sounds like a good idea and I think a lot of destinations could use some online exposure to promote local tourism. You can partner with online booking sites such as Airbnb and vacation packages to earn some commissions/perks too.
Hi its Alexey.
I had a good read. Thanks for a nice post on the 6 steps to create a travel blog.
Correct me if I am wrong, but can you apply those steps into a formula for creating any kind of online business? I mean, the definition of travel can be used for any topic that we want to choose to create a blog on.
By the way, is the Wealthy Affiliate training free to try? Thanks!
Hi there Alexy,
In response to your questions;
1) Yes. You are thinking outside of the box already 🙂 This step-by-step guide can be applied to any kind of blog that you want to monetize online. It’s all about finding that specific niche and populate content based on it.
2) Wealthy Affiliate program is free to join. When you join as a Starter member, you’ll get free access to the Premium membership for one week where you can participate in live chats, message members privately and watch the live/archived video training by Jay. Even if you don’t want to upgrade, you can stay as a free member for as long as you wish. No credit cards required.
Hope this information helps.
Hi Cathy,
Excellent advice there but I happen to live in a digital nomad hub in Northern Thailand where a lot of webpreneurs hangout, from the rich to the very rich! to the erm travel bloggers!
The travel bloggers I meet, and I do travel a lot, seem to earn chicken feed and stay and cheap places, do the room sharing in a hostel thing and eat cheap street food ..and tend to only travel a few months of the year.
With that in mind I see that a vast majority of travel bloggers don’t earn a proper sustainable income – even for cheap to live in Asian countries where the cost of living is 1/2 or 1/3 of that in Europe.
Also the travel blogs I have investigated are low traffic (15,000 visitors is considered good). I could do a travel blog no problem, but I stear clear due to the low income potential.
Thanks for your sharing your experience with us Derek.
But I have to disagree with you on a few points. Travel and tourism is one of the largest industries in the world that covers a wide scope, ranging from accommodation to entertainment. Just look at the airports – people love to travel these days, for whatever occasion. It would be crazy not to leverage from this crowd.
I am an avid traveler myself too, but I discovered some flaws which make most people earn chicken feed when it comes to indulging in their passion.
1) Travelers are not exactly skilled marketers. They see every opportunity as an enjoyment, not as a business.
2) They tend to think short-term and not long-term.
3) There are so many big ticket items in the travel industry but they don’t take advantage of it.
4) I hate to say this, but they are always talking about ‘chasing the wanderlust’ yet they don’t take solid actions to make this into something sustainable in terms of balancing lifestyle and income.
Don’t get me wrong. I am saying these because I used to be like that and it didn’t help me move forward in anyway. So I figured out that skills MUST COME BEFORE passion – find a specific niche, learn proper keyword research, write content and join a good training program that won’t rip you off your budget – and soon, you’ll be doing business and traveling at the same time.
I found this article extremely informative.
The interesting thing is that I have led a very nomadic lifestyle at times travelling the world and your article has given me that desire to go and create a travel blog! I might yet do it. What I like is there is more than enough information here to get started. I really think overall you have built a really cool website which is easy to navigate. I am not ready to build a travel blog as I have other niches but you have sown a seed.
Sounds like a plan, John. Keep following your passion – it will create more opportunities for you.
Hello Cathy.
You presented your tips clearly and straight to point, that everybody who wants to write blog, can follow your advice.
I think that your tutorial fit to all type of niches, not just for traveling.
You mentioned WordPress is a great option to create content for website. Previously, when I did not know about this method, I learned to code. Anyway, it takes a lot time compare with using WordPress.
Thanks for tips. They are informative.
Hi there Nemira,
When I created my first blog, I was already introduced to WordPress so I never got the chance to use codes to build a website. I heard they are pretty challenging. Although I use the visual editor most of the time, I still find the text editor helpful for embedding codes for widgets.
Anyways, WordPress should make bloggers life much easier now because it’s just click and install and your blog in whatever niche is good to go.
Hi Cathy,
This is an awesome website to learn about travel and blogging for everyone even if you are a novice at this.You have everything laid out for me on this one page so I do not need to ask any questions , because every thing I had a question about was answered.
Glad to know you found this article helpful, Carlton.
I love this well written post! I am a photographer and love traveling. This post offers good tips. Not only that, you have outlined the step by step out and clear!
If I follow the above steps, what else should I do in order to get my website be seen? I saw you mentioned Wealthy Affiliate, is that where I can really learn how to run my website?
Welcome to my blog, Alex.
Thanks for your keen interest in creating a blog. You can build your site using the SiteRubix plugin above and that will lead you to the community area within WA. Once you are in there, you can enroll in the Online Entrepreneurship Certification Course to start monetizing from your blog.
If you need any help getting started, just let me know.
I love traveling. It doesn’t matter where I go I just like to sight-see and meet new people from different walks of life. I had never thought of blogging about it before, but it would be a nice way of letting people know what to expect in different countries.
Wealthy Affiliate looks like it has everything I need to set up a website and blog about my travels and maybe earn some money as well.
Hi there Christine,
The programs at WA will give you some strong foundation to build your website. Meanwhile, the community is the one that will continue to fuel your blog with engagements and ideas. If you combine both of these, you can definitely create a profitable blog in any niche.
Nice job on the basic steps to create a travel blog. I think you nailed it and you did so in an easy to read manner to anyone can do it.
I didn’t know that the search engines rank the platform on which you build your site. I’m glad I’m using WordPress.
Hi there Debra,
Using WordPress doesn’t instantaneously make you rank better. It just gives you more advantages in terms of SEO plugins, marked up themes and many more factors for better visibility. Most of the time, you still need to implement some action to get the SEO stuff running. If you wish to know how to get better ranking on search engines such as Google, feel free to read my post about it here.
wow I love your post (and website!) It’s awesome.
I love the widgets in your right sidebar! =)
I don’t intend on building a travel blog but your step-by-step tutorial can definitely apply to any niche
Thanks for breaking it down in such a friendly, understandable and professional way!
All the best
Sarah
Hi Cathy,
My biggest passion is travelling and I was planning on beginning a travel for a long time! I’m a huge foodie-travel-fan so that would be my niche as well.
What do you think is better? Registering a blog on one of the common blog sites (blogger dot com for example) or hosting somewhere and building a whole new website. Isn’t it too difficult?
I’m ready to learn if you say it’s better to build site yourself after all. 🙂
Welcome to my blog, Daniel.
For me, WordPress would be the preferred platform because it has better selection for themes, it offers plugins for different functionality and overall, it just ranks better in the search results page. Blogger is okay if you are just starting out, but you’ll soon find that it’s pretty limiting.
If you don’t have any experience with WordPress, try one for free with SiteRubix, It creates a blog for you within minutes and you can start learning how to use WordPress on the spot. If you need any other help, just let me know.
Hey Cathy,
I’ve been interested in using a blog in order to travel for a while now. My girlfriend and I have been talking about taking a road trip across Canada and then down through the US.
I guess you would call us “Backpackers”? LOL
I really liked your step by step approach to starting a travel blog. It’s definitely something I can implement easily with the way you explained it here.
Thanks for sharing!
Welcome to my blog John.
That sounds like a fantastic plan to start creating a travel blog! Imagine all the things that you can write about – backpacker’s accommodation and bookings across Canada, road tips, handy travel gadgets, cheapest place to eat and etc. When you do get the blog up and running, do share them with us here.
Hey Cathy,
This is some really great stuff. Traveling while making money is the dream for many people and I think this article brings them one step in the right direction!
Hi Ryan,
I just want to show people through this article that you don’t have to be a web genius to create a blog in whatever niche basically. If you have an idea, just give it a go. Everything will follow through.
Hey Cathy,
Thanks for the inspiring post on travel blogs.
It’s so cool that in 2015 we have the opportunity to make legitimate money by traveling. I’ve seen several travel blogs do really well, and it’s an awesome opportunity.
Thanks!
Hi there Alex,
I believe that travel bloggers are some of the most successful webpreneurs out there who really live up to the concept of Time Freedom. Reading about the things that they can achieve while pursuing their life passion really makes people envious.
Thank you for the easy step by step guide to creating a travel blog! This basic overview makes it less scary when you take one step at a time. I appreciate the things to consider as well when you first attempt to blog. The little hints and suggestions are great and I will be sure to use or consider them if I start a travel blog.
Hey there Dinh,
I am glad to know that you found some value through this article. This step by step guide can also be applied to any niche blog that you intend to create.
There was a lot of good information in this post. I don’t travel much but when I do I’m a work traveler. I teach online and therefore if I’m away from home for more than two days I’ve got my laptop with me.
It’s funny you talked about being in the airport and wondering where people are going. I’ve done this many times as I look around and watch all the people.
One of the things I particularly like about your post is how easy it is to read and how you explain very clearly what website hosting is and what a domain name is. It made more sense after reading this. Thanks.
Rawl
Welcome to my blog Rawl.
I think you need to have some kind of self-organization when it comes to work traveling. I do that sometimes so things like where to store your files, how to get access to the internet and what are your back-up plans are extremely important to plan ahead of time, especially when you are running an online business. The good thing with technology these days is that you get to travel with the lightest gadget, have easy access to high-speed WiFi and can store a large number of stuff on the cloud.
Just out of curiosity, what do you teach online and what kind of software/program do you use to conduct your e-classes? Thank you.