travelling

how to Start A Travel Blog In 2024

I’ve made a respectable living from professional blogging for the past five years as a travel blogger and photographer. As a result, I frequently get a tonne of emails and enquiries asking for advice on how to launch a travel blog.
I understand, I know. It looks like a dream job when you see pictures of my crazy travels all the time on your Facebook or Instagram feeds.
I get paid to explore the world, after all! It’s a really good gig, I must say.

However, blogging about travel blog is more difficult than it first appears. Most people aren’t aware of the amount of labour that goes on in the background.
I therefore wanted to provide a helpful guide on how to begin travelling immediately.

The Journey of Travel Blogging

It’s actually quite simple to launch your own travel blog. You can launch your own blog right now if you follow my instructions.
However, launching your blog is only the beginning.

Now, keep in mind that some of these steps involve spending money, so the following advice is only for people who are ready to tackle travel blogging seriously.
You may always establish a basic travel blog for family and friends on WordPress.com if you only wish to blog as a side gig. It’s completely free!

However, if you want to earn money from travel blogging like I do, read on for more information.

đŸ’„ Crucial Initial Step In Beginning A Blog đŸ’„
You’ll need a (reasonably priced) domain name and hosting to get you started on the right track when creating a brand-new travel blog; to make things simple, we’ll be utilising the company I personally suggest.

Naming Your Travel Blog

1.Choose a name for your blog on travel.
YearAroundTheWorld.com was the name of my very first travel blog. Is there a clear issue with that domain name? I didn’t, at least not right away.
When I abruptly realised I wanted to travel for more than a year, I was backpacking around Central America, blogging about my v adventures, and having a blast. Whoops!

     

      • Make It Short & Memorable Your travel blog domain name should be relatively short, easy to type, easy to spell, easy to remember, and easy to share. I recommend brainstorming by writing down a bunch of words you think will best describe your blog.Adventure? Food? Culture? South America? What do you want to write about? Who are you? What is your passion? Write everything down and start playing with different combinations of

      • Avoid Hyphens & Numbers

      • This can be difficult to do these days, but it helps to avoid using hyphens or numbers in your domain name because otherwise you’ll be forced to explain it to someone. For example:

      • POTENTIAL READER: “You have a travel blog? Cool! Where do I find it?”

      • YOU: “Oh, it’s called expert hyphen vagabond the number 100 dot com.”

      • As you can see, this type of domain isn’t the greatest for word-of-mouth marketing, which happens to be a good source of promotion while you’re traveling and meeting people.

    Avoid Overused Words & Similar Branding

    Avoid trademarked company names or words that may be overused in the industry. Sure, you can pick something like Nomadic Bob, Adventurous Wendy, or Wandering Clarence.

    But domain names like that won’t stand out very much in the travel blogging niche because those ideas have already been taken by others who are more established.

    You’ll have better luck in the long-run with something more original.

    Try To Think Long-Term!

    Think good & hard about choosing your travel blog’s domain name, because changing it, later on, isn’t easy (or fun). Be careful not to pigeonhole yourself.

    If you call your blog Twenty-Something Travel like my friend Steph (sorry Steph!), what happens when you turn 30? Branding yourself is important in the travel blogging business.

    I was thinking long-term when I eventually changed my blog’s name to expertvagabond.com because, let’s face it, at 3 months in I was HARDLY an expert.

    Yet I was passionate about becoming a professional travel blogger and knew eventually this would be perfect. I’d just have to grow into my new name!

    2. Get Hosting For Your Blog

    What the heck is hosting? It’s not as confusing as it sounds. Most websites need to “rent” space on the internet. A place to store all your blog’s data, files, and photos so that people around the world can easily access it when they type in your domain name.

    Hosting can actually be pretty cheap. I recommend new travel blogs get hosting with BlueHost. There are many different hosting companies out there, but BlueHost is very affordable & makes setting up a new travel blog crazy easy.

    They offer quality shared hosting for a very low price (only $2.95 per month for 12 months through this link).

    [Full Disclosure: As an affiliate, I receive compensation if you purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you. But I’d still recommend them even if I wasn’t!]

    Eventually, when you have hundreds of thousands of visitors per month on your blog like me, you may want to upgrade your hosting to a dedicated server. But those can be expensive (mine is over $200 a month)


    So if you are just starting out, getting a basic hosting account with BlueHost is much more affordable.

    How To Set Up Your Travel Blog

    STEP A: Click the green button that says “GET STARTED NOW.”

    STEP B: Pick a hosting plan depending on your budget/goals.

    STEP C: Check to see if your blog name (domain name) is available.

    STEP D: Add extra features if you want to.

    The only feature I really recommend is Domain Privacy Protection. Otherwise, anyone can look up who owns your site, giving them access to your contact info. This way they won’t be able to.

    3. Install WordPress Software

    To start a serious travel blog, you want a self-hosted WordPress account. This means the WordPress software resides on your hosting company’s servers, not on a free WordPress.com account. What’s the difference?

       

        • Your website is “MyTravelBlog.com” rather than “MyTravelBlog.WordPress.com”

        • You own your data and have full control

        • You can sell advertising on your site

        • You can install plugins & custom themes

        • You can use Google Analytics tracking (important)

        • Yes, you want to use WordPress too. Not Blogspot, not Blogger, not anything else. WordPress is the king of blogging, and probably always will be.

        • Most professional websites use the WordPress blogging platform these days, even major brands like the New York Times, BBC, Time, Beyonce, etc. You’re in good company!

      ·       Hostinger Makes It Easy!

         

          • Installing WordPress with your Hostinger Account is super easy — because it’s done automatically with the click of a button.

          • Once installed, you’ll be able to log into the WordPress dashboard with your new username and password and start building your site. Welcome to the club! You now have a travel blog.

        4. Learn How To Use WordPress

        Feeling intimidated about WordPress? Don’t worry. Because it’s the industry standard when it comes to blogging platforms, and has been for years, there are TONS of useful tutorials online that will teach you about anything you need.

        Here is my favorite free WordPress training resources:

           

            • If you become a Hostinger customer, ask customer support about Blue Flash, their own series of free tutorials and guides.

            • Basically, spend a Saturday learning how to use your WordPress dashboard, how to tweak your site’s settings, how to post an article, etc. You’ll get the hang of everything with practice.

          ·        5. Download A Professional Theme

             

              • Your new WordPress blog comes with a couple of standard “themes”, or designs for your site. While this is ok for playing around in the beginning, if you want to take this seriously and eventually make money with your travel blog, you should buy a premium design.

              • Professional blog themes start around $50, and they’ll greatly improve the look and functionality of your site.

              • I’ve changed themes a few times over the years, but the current one I’m using is called Trellis. I’ve also used & enjoyed GeneratePress in the past. Both are fast, responsive blog themes.

              • Many professional themes provide a support forum where you can ask questions about customization, and someone will help you get the look you’re after using CSS/HTML coding. Or, you can hire a cheap web developer through Upwork to do custom design work on your site.

              • You may also want to have a cool logo created. I used a site called 99 Designs for mine. A professional logo really makes your brand stand out from the thousands of other travel blogs online.

            6. Install Essential Plugins

            You can think of WordPress plugins as third-party apps for your travel website. They give your blog additional features. Most plugins are free, some you have to pay for.

            You can download new plugins in the “plugin” section of your WordPress Dashboard.

            Here’s my recommended list of plugins to install with your travel blog.

               

                • Akismet – Protects your blog from spammers leaving comments on your posts. Not perfect, but probably the best one out there.

                • Yoast SEO – Very important plugin for optimizing your articles for Google search, plus integrating Google Sitemaps and Analytics.

                • Easy Social Share Buttons – Nice social media sharing buttons for your articles.

                • WP Rocket – Caching plugin that speeds up your travel blog

                • Imagify – Automaticaly optimizes your media library images for fast loading

              7. Craft Your Online Persona

              Create An About Page

              One of the first things you should do on your blog is to create an about page. This is one of the most highly trafficked pages on any travel blog, because it tells people who you are, your background, and explains why they should follow you.

              Embrace Social Media

              If you want to build a successful and profitable travel blog, posting regularly to social media is important.

              To begin, sign up for all the most popular platforms, and keep your social media username the same on all of them if possible. Otherwise, people can get confused.

              A note on social media. Sometimes people ask me if they should start their travel blogs on Facebook or Instagram instead of having an actual website.

              No, I don’t recommend relying on Facebook or Instagram. You don’t have any control over those platforms, and they could easily disappear in the future.

              Use social media to promote and support your blog. Don’t build your business on a platform you have no control over, it’s just too risky.

              8. Writing Your First Blog Posts

              Now it’s time to begin creating content for your travel blog. When you first start out, I recommend publishing new articles at least 1-2 times per week. But remember, quality is more important than quantity!

              Take your time to craft excellent, useful blog posts that have impact. You want your articles to inspire wanderlust, but they should include plenty of actionable tips too.

              In the beginning, maybe tell people why you are starting a travel blog. Or share what you’re packing for an upcoming trip.

              Share your favorite (or not so favorite) parts of a country. Give tips for fun things to do, share your crazy travel stories, show-off your beautiful images in photo essays, create a short video tour, or give food recommendations.

              Whatever the topic is, writing a blog post will help you understand how to publish images, headers, and all the other formatting that comes with publishing on WordPress.

              Try writing about different topics to find your voice, and see what kinds of posts actually resonate with readers.

              For example, road trip guides do really well on my site. But I didn’t discover that until later. You need to experiment!

              Need some ideas? Here are some of my most popular blog posts.

              What If You’re Not Traveling Now?

              Are you still planning your travels? Well, you can write about that too. Share different ways you are saving money for travel or maybe a bucket list of activities you want to try.

              However my favorite strategy is to write about what you know.

              As an example, let’s say you live in Richmond, Virginia. Maybe you don’t think it’s an interesting city to write about, yet there are thousands of people looking for travel tips about Richmond every day.

              Share what you know with them! Help these people have a great trip, and they will become regular readers.

              That’s easily a year’s worth of blog posts right there!

              Network With Other Bloggers

              Remember to read other travel blogs for inspiration and ideas, and leave thoughtful comments on their articles. Link to other people’s blog posts from your site when appropriate.

              Become an active member of the travel blogging community.

              9. Start Making Money With Your Blog!

              At first, your only readers will be family and friends. But that’s ok! We all started like that. To begin making money with your travel blog, you need to have a larger audience than just family and friend

              The more traffic your travel blog receives, the more money you can make with it. It takes time to build an audience and grow traffic. Don’t focus on making money right away, focus on building your audience.

              However, you can start earning income early with Affiliate Programs.

              Basically, affiliate programs let you recommend things like clothing, travel gear, photography equipment, tours, or even hotels you stay at within your blog posts. You then earn a small commission whenever someone clicks on one of these tracking links and buys something.

              Some of my favorite affiliate programs to earn good money on my travel blog include ,Amazon.com. There are many more too.

              Another option is showing display ads with Google Adsense, which lets other companies post banner advertisements on your travel blog.

              How Much Money Can You Make From A Travel Blog?

              Honestly, the sky (and your imagination) is the limit. In the beginning, you won’t be earning too much money though, and it really depends on how much time you put into it.

              Your income and success grow only when your audience grows. So that should be your first priority moving forward!

              Attracting new readers to your blog with great travel content.

              To give you an example, you might be able to make a few hundred dollars (or a few thousand) per month after a year of blogging. It really depends on all kinds of unknowable factors.

              Frequently Asked Questions

              Can You Really Make Money Blogging?

              Yes. To become a successful travel blogger though, you need to provide value to others. Blogging about your day is not the same as writing a helpful destination travel guide. In addition to the fun articles, produce stuff people are actually searching for!

              How Much Does It Cost To Start A Travel Blog

              The up-front costs for starting a travel blog are pretty cheap. If you sign up for hosting with Hostinger, it’s only $2.95 a month (for the 36 month package).

              Plus, you might want to download a profession theme for about $50. Not needed, but it does help you stand out.

              On top of those expenses, you may want a nice logo designed too. Using a site like 99 Designs, you can have one made for another $50. So all-in, you’re looking at spending about $150 upfront.

              Is Travel Blogging Too Saturated?

              While it may seem like everyone and their grandmother has a blog these days, most people don’t take it very seriously. Only the most dedicated make a living with it. So it’s really up to you how much effort you put in.

              Do You Need A Laptop & Camera?

              Yes, you’ll need both. They don’t have to be top-of-the-line, but you’ll want a computer for writing and sharing blog posts, and a camera for capturing images from your adventures. Here are my favorite travel cameras.

              Should I Enroll In A Travel Blogging Course?

              Happy Travel Blogging!

              Setting up a travel blog is easy, but please be aware that building an audience is much tougher. You shouldn’t expect to see any large reader numbers for at least a year, maybe longer.

              That’s one full year of blogging on a regular basis, and putting in at least 10-hours a week (most professional bloggers work 30+ hours a week).

              Yes, it’s a dream job, but travel blogging is still a job that requires hard work. Creating a successful travel blog won’t happen overnight either.

              But no risk, no reward! Good luck out there, and happy travel blogging. â˜