Learn how to start a travel blog in 2023!
If you think the only way to make money traveling in 2023 and beyond is through social media – think again.
How To Start a Travel Blog
A travel blog is still a fantastic way to make money, travel, and live your dream life.
What is a travel blog?
A travel blog is simply a blog that posts about anything travel related.
This could range from physical destinations to packing tips, to budget travel, and the list goes on.
Is It Worth It To Start a Travel Blog?
Absolutely! Starting a travel blog in 2023 is a fantastic way to make money, travel, and live your dream life.
Ok, so let’s jump into it:
How To Start a Travel Budget on a Budget
The steps to start a travel blog on a budget include:
- Pick a niche
- Choose your domain name
- Get your blog online
- Design your blog
- Start creating content
- Promote your blog
How To Start a Travel Blog Step #1: Pick a Niche
Your blogging niche is just the high-level topic of your blog.
It could be as broad as Europe or as narrow as Arlington, VA.
If you’re a beginner blogger on a budget, we highly recommend starting with a niche close to home.
The reason it’s important to choose locations close to home is that you need to be able to travel to all these places, experience them firsthand, take pictures, and write about your experiences online.
This is more affordable and efficient for beginner bloggers.
Also, keep in mind that when you choose your niche, it will most likely evolve over time.
So if you’re starting out today your niche may be Arlington, VA, then your blog may grow to revolve around the entire state of Virginia or various capitals around the United States.
Profitable Travel Blog Niches
- Couple travel: check out the best couple travel blogs here.
- Solo travel: check out the best solo travel blogs here.
- Digital nomad: check out the best digital nomad blogs here.
- Beach traveling: check out the best beach traveling blogs here.
- Budget travel: check out the best budget travel blogs here.
- Luxury travel: check out the best luxury travel blogs here.
- Road trips: check out the best road trip blogs here.
- Female travel: check out the best female travel blogs here.
How To Start a Travel Blog Step #2: Choose Your Domain Name
A domain name is your unique address on the internet.
It’s best to choose a domain name that will also be your blog/business name.
For example, our domain name is samanthadigital.com and our business name is Samantha Digital LLC (learn more about us here).
To learn more about how to choose a domain name that’s right for you, check out: Exactly How To Choose Your Domain Name (Plus Best Practices + Tips for 2023)
How To Start A Travel Blog Step #3: Get Your Blog Online
Once you choose your domain name, it’s time to get your blog online.
Getting your blog online is about a 5-minute process and I’ve created a separate video on the topic.
In short, if you’re serious about blogging, opt for a self-hosted WordPress website.
How To Start A Travel Blog Step #4: Design Your Blog with Elementor
There’s a common misconception that a free WordPress theme is enough when you’re just getting started blogging.
Unfortunately, that’s just not the case.
To be a successful blogger in 2023, you need a website that:
- Loads quickly: humans’ attention spans are decreasing by the year. If your website doesn’t load within a couple of seconds, your reader will likely leave your website).
- Offers intuitive navigation: there’s nothing worse than struggling to find something on a website. Most users will leave as soon as they think they won’t find what they’re looking for.
- Is on-brand: the best way to stand out and grow your blog quickly, is to stick to your niche and be true to your brand.
- 100% customizable: do you want the ability to customize your website’s pages exactly how you want? If so, you’ll need more than a free WordPress theme.
There isn’t a free WordPress theme that truly checks all these boxes.
That’s why we recommend Elementor.
Elementor is a page builder plugin for your WordPress website.
We can’t speak highly enough about Elementor.
In fact, we’ve included Elementor in both our list of Best Free WordPress Plugins all Beginners Must Have and the 10 Best Blogging Tools (To Skyrocket Your Growth in 2023).
While Elementor is largely intuitive, there is a bit of a learning curve if you’re starting with a blank canvas.
That’s why we created this Free Travel Blog Website Template for you to download to accelerate your journey as a travel blogger.
How To Start a Travel Blog Step #5: Start Writing Content
Once you’ve got your blog’s foundation in place, it’s time to start writing content.
However, before you jump into writing content, it’s important to establish your blog’s main categories.
Going back to the Arlington, VA example, I may choose restaurants, tourist attractions, and entertainment for my blog categories.
If my blog niche was all about Greece for example, I might choose blogging categories such as travel tips, destinations, and hotels.
It’s also very important to consider your target audience.
For example, if your travel blog focuses on luxury travel, you wouldn’t want to spend much time talking about public transportation.
Blog Post Tips
- Less is more: instead of writing 5 posts on Santorini, write 1 large guide that covers everything. For example, if you have a post on the Best 3 restaurants in Santorini, 7 Travel tips for Santorini, and 6 secret destinations in Santorini, Then it’s best to make this 1 large post. Keep in mind you don’t have to have all this content at once – you can start with the best 3 restaurants, and then make updates later.
- Continuously updating content: at least twice per year, review each blog post and ask yourself how you can make it better
- Always link your blog posts together: if you write a travel guide on Santorini, its safe to say your audience will be interested in a travel guide on Athens and Mykonos. By internally linking your pages, you are increasing your traffic potential and topic authority.
- Don’t ignore SEO: SEO stands for search engine optimization and it is the practice of optimizing your blog so search engines can understand them and list your content in the search results pages. The best way to get started with SEO is the Yoast SEO plugin. To learn more about SEO, check out our SEO for Beginners Guide: What Is SEO & How It Works In 2023.
How To Start a Travel Blog Step #5: Promote Your Blog
Now that you actually have content on your blog, it’s time to promote it.
There are various ways to promote and grow your blog, including:
Pick One Platform To Promote Your Blog
And we mean one.
You see, starting and building a successful travel blog is a ton of work, and committing to multiple social media platforms right out of the gate is a surefire way to get burned out.
Choose the platform based on your niche and your audience.
Connect With Your Community
Build Your Email List
Building your email list is a critical part of blogging.
In fact, you should start building your email list from day 1.
The best way to start building your email list is to create a digital download that people would usually pay for – and give it away for free. The best way to find ideas is through Etsy.
Conclusion: How To Start a Travel Blog
Starting a travel blog is a great way to make money doing what you love.
The main steps to start a travel blog include:
- Pick a niche
- Choose your domain name
- Get your blog online
- Design your blog
- Start creating content
- Promote your blog
If you have any questions, we’d love to hear them!
Simply post a comment below and we will get back to you asap.
Bonus! Travel Blogs To Inspire Your Design
https://thetravelbook.world/
https://travelingcanucks.com/
https://www.baconismagic.ca/
https://www.oneikathetraveller.com/
https://rudderlesstravel.com/
https://budgettraveller.org/
https://www.nomadicmatt.com/
https://travelfreak.com/
https://hikebiketravel.com/
https://www.divergenttravelers.com/
https://theworldtravelguy.com/
https://www.theadventurejunkies.com/
https://www.goatsontheroad.com/
https://londonerinsydney.com/
https://www.thebrokebackpacker.com/
https://drinkteatravel.com/
https://nomadicboys.com/
https://www.adventurouskate.com/
https://www.theblondeabroad.com/
https://the-shooting-star.com/
https://youngadventuress.com/
https://www.saltinourhair.com/
https://handluggageonly.co.uk/
https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/
https://www.spiritedpursuit.com/
https://limitless-secrets.com/
https://www.placesofjuma.com/
https://ofwhiskeyandwords.com/
https://travelhackingmom.com/
https://worldofwanderlust.com/
https://www.heleninwonderlust.co.uk/
