8 Ways to Promote Your Travel Blog
So you’ve written something amazing and you want people to read it. It is funny, profound and filled with great information. But nobody is coming over to your blog for a visit.
Let’s face it, most of us aren’t writing a blog for ourselves. We would appreciate an audience. But how does one get an audience, especially when they are first starting out?
You have to network. If people don’t know you are out there, they will never find you.
There are many technical things that can help a person to place higher in the search engines. If you show up on the first page of Google, you will definitely find an audience of people looking for advice and information. But that doesn’t happen overnight.
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cartoon courtesy of HardikPargi.com
So what do you focus on first?
You write great content. If you don’t write something of interest, people won’t come back. People want information, but they also want to be entertained. They want to know that when they come over to your blog, they will find something different.
Let’s assume that you already know the basics of blogging. If you don’t, head over to NomadicMatts website and buy his Book How to Make money with Your Travel blog. He has some great tips on how to start your travel blog.
So let’s get on with the post.
I was overwhelmed when we first started trying to get our blog recognized. I had been looking at all these “top travel blog sites” and “lists of the best travel blogs” and said..”I want on that. How do I get on those?”
I scoured the Internet looking for advice and found a lot of information at places like:
They have great information and The Travel Writers Exchange even has a forum that you can discuss issues and post questions.
We are by no means the top of the travel blogging community, but we have slowly started to figure out how to find an audience. We have reached that magic number of over 30,000 views per month. We are nowhere near where we want to be yet, but for a year and a half of work we are happy with our growth.
What we’ve done over the past 18 Months.
1. Write about what you know - We were lucky when we started our travel blog. We had been traveling for almost a decade and had already been to over 30 countries. We had a repertoire of stories that were just waiting to be told. In a sense, we could compete with the “big boys” of travel blogging because we had already done Burma, Laos, Borneo and the rest of South East Asia. We had been through Central America and Africa. People thought that we were already established bloggers. That doesn’t mean we were anything special, we just focused on what we knew; World Travel. But, if you haven’t been around the world don’t worry, focus on your expertise. Maybe you know all about sports of the world, or languages or you are an expert on one destination. If you write about what you know, people will come back. You will become the authority on that subject.
2. Find a Niche - There are a million travel blogs out there. Backpackers, solo travelers, travel couples, you have to find something that makes you unique. What are you passionate about? When you write, are you funny? Are you a straight and to the point type of person, do you like controversy and will rant about anything? We are an adventure travel couple from Canada. A lot of the world doesn’t know the little things about Canada, they think we are the same as the United States. We like to write about that. We also like to write with our hearts on our sleeve and discuss our insecurities, our accomplishments and our struggles. We like to take on extreme adventures are thrilled to be taking part in the Mongol Rally next year to kick start the adventure side of our blog again. With China, India and a 10,000 mile car rally coming up in the next year, we are back on track as being Canada’s Adventure Couple.
Network
3a. Leave insightful Comments – When we first started blogging, we would go to other people’s blogs and see the insightful comments and discussions going on between established Bloggers and we were blown away. Just by going through comment threads, we could pick out who was an authority in the travel market. The more we saw them around the Internet, the more we wanted to read about them. The ones that are big online, are the people that network well. They leave comments that add to the post not just a silly “great post” comment that does nothing for a person.
3b. Join forums – Places like the Travel Blog Exchange, The Travel Writers Exchange and BootsnAll are a great way to get your name out there. Introduce yourself and join the discussion. There are so many places that you can network with other Bloggers. There are even Travel Blog forums on facebook. Find the one that you are comfortable with and start chatting.
4. Write Guest posts - People are always looking for great content. If you approach a larger blog with something that you think would be suitable for their readers, people will most likely say yes. We accept guest posts. When someone emails us an article we read it. If we like it, we post it with their bio and a link back to their website. It not only introduces them to a new audience but brings new readers our way too. So don’t be afraid to approach blogs if you have a great idea, they may just say yes.
5. Write for websites – Take it one step further and write for websites like Matador, GoNomad or write a travel tip for JourneyWoman and put an article up on BootsnAll, This will give you a boost in traffic, build your name and your body of published work. Some larger sites even pay a small amount for your articles. Go for it, start searching for other online travel magazines and send in your submission today.
6. Build a Social Media Presense – Twitter, Stumbleupon and facebook are your friends. People may snub social media, but the referrals you will get from these sites are astounding. People will follow your facebook fanpage because they like you. If you engage with your followers on twitter, you will find that people retweet your posts regularly and drive traffic your way. There are many different Social Media sites to choose from. Some people may love Buzz or Digg. Whatever it may be, choose a couple and focus on them. The most important thing is to be generous. If you spend all your time promoting yourself, nobody will click on your stuff. The more you give, the more you get.
7. Offer an RSS Feed – We had our blog going forever without offering an RSS option (really simple syndication) to our readers. Boy I wish I knew then what I knew now. Give people the option to subscribe to your posts via email. They may not think of coming back for a visit when they are busy but if they subscribe to you and have regular updates in their inbox, they will be reminded to come over and take a look.
8. Persevere - Blogging takes a long time. You have to build an audience and sometimes it takes longer than others. There are some websites that explode over night but for the most part, consistency is the key. Keep posting, keep writing, keep leaving comments, work on building your friendships and contacts on your social media sites, work on becoming a better writer or photographer and stay true to yourself and your vision. Eventually it will pay off.
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Appreciate the tips. You hit the nail on the head with this one: “Blogging takes a long time.”
Can’t even begin to think of the hours spent writing, but it’s so rewarding too. Good to see some networking tips and some other websites to start writing for. That’s definitely where I need to go from here.
Good luck Tiffany, you are so right. Blogging takes time and I really don’t think anyone can be a success without loving it because it takes so much time! Looking forward to seeing your articles around the net.
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Great advice! Every tip is spot on, and especially #8…….if someone wants their travel blog to be a business (as opposed to a ‘hobby’, and there’s nothing wrong with that), then like any business it takes time and work to build it.
And thank you very much for the link love and kind words about Travel Writers Exchange – I appreciate it!
.-= Trisha´s last blog ..Optimize Your Travel Blog with Scribe =-.
Very true Trisha. Not everyone wants their website to be a business, for us, we do.
Great tips and I think we all can agree that writing is the main thing. From 8 tips, basically you have to write, write and write.
That’s why your site is growing because you have great content. Thank you for sharing as always!
Thanks Amy. You have been amazing and supportive since the beginning. It has been fun watching the two of us grow together. And you are absolutely right…write, write and write some more. Luckily, I love writing!
Well, as usual, I learn something on each one of your “how-to blog” posts. Again, you guys have been wonderful about pulling back the curtain to reveal some of the inner workings. I totally agree on your last point — takes a while. The key for me was moving to a self-hosted site, but I did it way, way too late. Wish I would have done that from the beginning.
Thanks ya’ll. Keep the tips and pointers coming. And thanks again for your StumbleUpon tips. You made my understanding of that tool a lot more complete.
.-= Michael Hodson´s last blog ..How-to- StumbleUpon to Drive Website Traffic =-.
Great point Michael about the self hosted site. dot Blogspot or .wordpress blogs just don’t show up in the search engines like a self hosted site. Glad to help anytime.
Some great tips and ideas. Have been enjoying your recent “how to” tips. They have been helpful with my new adventure sport website.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks Gregor, I am glad we could help. I will definitely check out your new website!
As a very new blogger (less than 2 months), I love these tips. I had kept trip blogs on other sites like travelblog.org in the past and finally moved everything into one place and launched my blog at the end of August. Now I’m trying to work on developing new content while I’m not traveling and doing a lot of what you recommend above – networking on Twitter and Facebook and I’ve even managed to do a couple guest posts on other blogs. I think #8 about perseverance is so important though – remembering that people are not going to immediately flock to my blog overnight and that it will take time (especially when I am currently at home saving up for another big trip).
.-= Katie´s last blog ..How Am I Going to Travel Gluten Free =-.
Good for you Katie! I think you are already making an impact. I have seen you around and already thought that you had been blogging for awhile! You are totally on the right track doing guest posts and networking. I think it is a great idea to build your blog before you travel too. Work on building friends and readers before you go and create a buzz about your upcoming trip. It will save a lot of work on the road if you do the tough stuff beforehand.
Thanks! Glad to know I’m on the right track. Now I just need that upcoming trip planned to start creating some buzz about it.
.-= Katie´s last blog ..How Am I Going to Travel Gluten Free =-.
Thanks again for the valuable tips. This came just in time for me, thought I’m not a travelling blogger, these are still helpful. I guess my main problem is time. How do you manage the time to do it all? I would love to read, comment and particiapte in so many blogs but it seams like time just fly out the window too fast. Any ideas?
.-= Merav | AllWays Car Rental NZ´s last blog ..Iconic Kiwi Food =-.
Thanks for the comment Merav. The time management part of blogging is the hardest part. Every day we are overwhelmed with the work load. As we have grown (and we aren’t claiming we are huge or anything, we are just growing steadily) the load becomes bigger. We are writing proposals, putting on presentations, going to meetings and events and trying to do all of the above listed in this post. We can’t seem to keep up, but a diligent schedule is the key. We try to write a post a day then head on to the social media part and then do research for sponsorship etc. Alicia from LifeBehindtheLens had a great tip…she has her computer tell her the time every hour to keep her schedule on track. Time can fly when you are on the computer and it is good to be reminded. My best suggestion…give yourself a schedule and stick to it. Don’t tweet too long, don’t facebook too long, get your work done and then go have fun commenting and networking.
Perseverance and patience rate highly in my opinion. One can follow a formula, it doesn’t mean it’ll happen overnight
.-= Corinne @ Gourmantic´s last blog ..The Heineken Experience in Amsterdam =-.
Thanks for the great info, Planet D! As always, you guys know how to engage your audience and provide useful information. I picked up a lot of great information at TBEX on ways to gain more traffic, but I’m just now getting around to implementing a lot of the technical details. When it comes to all the other stuff – commenting on other blogs, participating in online forums, social media, etc. – I *think* I’ve been doing an okay job. It’s tough, though. Writing, managing and maintaining a blog sometimes seems like a full-time job, but I guess if it’s going to be a job, it might as well be one that you do right!
.-= JoAnna´s last blog ..Two Hostels in Vietnam =-.
Very true JoAnna, at least we love every minute of it! You do an amazing job. You always have incredible writing and I see you all over the Internet. We are still working on the technical details too. There never seems to be enough time in the day. By the time we are finished writing posts, organizing photos, commenting on social media etc. We finally get around to doing the tech side of things and fall short. We have three weeks to bear down before China and I hope we can get a lot more done:)
Great tips for those just starting out. I personally think #8 is the most important. It takes patience and perseverance. I don’t know how many times over the last few months since I started this that I said to myself, “There’s no way I’m going to be able to make this work.” It’s a time consuming process that requires a tremendous amount of patience. Sure, you may think and hope that you’ll be the next overnight success story, but you simply have to be honest with yourself and realize that those sites are few and far between. You just have to plug along, write good content, and follow the very helpful tips you have outlined here, and the readers will come. It may be a very slow process, but seeing just a slight bump from week to week and month to month should be enough to keep you going.
.-= Adam´s last blog ..Changes they are a coming =-.
Great points Adam. I remember our first comments that came from someone other than our families or friends and we were so excited. When we cracked the 100 views in a day we felt so good. Every little step feels amazing. We still say to ourselves “how are we going to make this work” “how are we going to support ourselves?” We know that we have found our calling though, because even though we are not getting rich, we are loving the process. We are willing to work at it for as long as it takes because we can’t see ourselves doing anything else with our lives. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have little panic attacks now and then. We worry and fret as much as everyone. It takes time but one day we don’t mind the wait.
bravo! one of the most important things is the perseverance part. that, i think, is the most critical. great tips – esp for newbies – i’ve passed this url around a LOT this morning, LOL.
don’t forget that your audience shouldn’t only be other travel bloggers, but people you really want to meet – that’s the niche thing again. i am always so pleased when we have more and more wandering educators contacting us, to share their stories and journeys.
.-= wandering educators´s last blog ..Walking tour of Boston’s Big Dig led by architectural historians =-.
Very true and good point. Our audience shouldn’t be travel bloggers at all. We like to attract adventurers and people that love to travel. At the moment though, we are at a point where we are in the mood to write about our blog. We hit the road again in a couple of weeks and we probably won’t be writing any “how to” or advice posts for quite some time. While we are home, we might as well share some of our knowledge. But most of our readers come for the travel articles. Our top searches are for our travels and adventures. Travel Blogging is pretty low in our stats. That doesn’t mean that we don’t like talking about it though
Thank you for all your advice, I was about to give up blogging for various reasons, but after reading this I think I will give another go!! Thank you again from Venice!
.-= monica´s last blog ..25th Venice Marathon 2010 – 24th October 2010 =-.
I am glad to hear that Monica. Don’t give up, it takes time, but with persistence people will come over for a visit. You just have to love what you are doing and keep going through the tough times.
I love reading this blog because it’s always so fun and accessible — this post included. You guys are great.
A terrific post (especially for worried newbies). Your distinct voice in the bloggosphere is one of the things that helps you stand out, Dave and Deb. That’s something that can’t be “gamed.” You just “got it.”
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Fun Travel Accessories by Anne Taintor =-.
Thanks Jennifer, that means so much coming from you. The ladies of Vacation Gals are not only top Bloggers but fabulous people.
You guys are simply great. Not only are you fun to be with, you are also always so generous to share your tips and secrets of your blogging success. You never cease to amaze me – the range of topics you cover and of course your writing as well – very personal, “approachable” and fun to read. We never really needed to look anywhere else for insiration. You are the one-stop shop! Wishing you further success and hope to spend some time with you guys again – in Paris.
.-= Michael´s last blog ..A Day Of Easy Hiking In The Arches National Park =-.
Michael, thank you so much for your kind words. I am so sad that we couldn’t make it to France when our plans changed. But we will be passing through during the Mongol Rally next year so we will see you again! It was a wonderful experience spending time with you and Marlys in France. It was the highlight of our stay in Paris!
When I read this I realize how clueless we were when we started our blog. We had no idea about blogging lists and that there was a whole world of travel blogging. We started writing and posting photos about 6 months into our trip – I remember the satisfaction of seeing our site go live from an internet cafe in Tbilisi, Georgia and then returning to our home stay to drink some bad wine and celebrate. But, after a few months we realized there was a lot more to this game if we wanted to reach more people than our immediate family and friends – and we decided then that we did want to get a wider audience. This post really sums up some of the key issues and components bloggers should pay attention to and focus their time…I’m reminded that we have work to do on some of these points
.-= Audrey´s last blog ..From Hilltowns to Harvest- Tuscany in Autumn =-.
Isn’t that the truth. We started our blog for the Tour d’Afrique and simply posted every once in a while thinking that people would be so intrigued with the fact that we were cycling Africa that they would just come! Of couse, nobody but friends and family read it and we stopped blogging once we came home. When we relaunched the blog, we started to do the research that there is a lot more to blogging than just putting up a post. You two have definitely reached a wider audience. You are one of the top blogs on the Internet and living proof that we all started out the same way – Unsure about this whole blogging thing but if we stick with it, it will pay off. As I read my own post, I am reminded too that we have a lot of work to do. The list is never ending
Hi Dave and Deb, Thanks for the tips.
My blog started off a couple of years ago purely for SEO purposes, i.e sending links back to my main site. I didn’t put too much work into it and it floundered, with one or two posts a month. I wasn’t really looking for traffic.
This past summer though I decided to revamp it, take it in a new direction and really put my back into it.
So yes, perseverance is important and will do my best to keep it up.
Part of that was committing to a blogging schedule which I see all the time on blogs about blogging. I tell ya, consistently pumping out 4 bogs posts a week is hard work, for me anyway. AND I’ve only been doing that since the beginning of September
While I have certainly picked a niche and it is something that I know and love to write about, I don’t know how much of an audience there is for a blog about Thailand hotels and resorts….hehe
While I am doing the commenting and social media thing, guest blogging is certainly that I want to get into, but I guess I just don’t have the confidence to approach other blogs with. I am guessing that the best type of guest post you can write is something not only of interest to the readers of the blog that will publish your post, but also something that will bring in a certain amount of search traffic. Do that with a guest post and I imagine they would love to have you back.
.-= Aaron @ Thailand hotels blog´s last blog ..Agoda’s cancellation and refund policy examined =-.
Hi Aaron, I think that there is a niche for Thailand for sure and hotels are a big part of that. I wonder if you could spin it a little. Post something about Hotels maybe only once or twice a week and then post interesting Thailand facts? Thailand is a huge search and an expert on Thailand would do very well. It is one of the top tourist destinations in the world. I know it is difficult putting up posts, but it will get better. When I first started it took almost a day for me to write one post. Now I can write on very quickly. I just have to have an idea. If you are worried about approaching a blog, you can start here! We would welcome a post on Thailand. We have been there a few times and love it. We haven’t been back since 2004 so don’t feel right about blogging about it now since the information would be dated. But to put up a post about Thailand today…we would love it! We dont normally worry about search traffic for guest posts, we look for something that would fit with our blog. Destination driven, adventure, advice, budget, off the beaten path, travel as a couple. If you feel like writing something send us an email in our contact page and we can discuss it. Cheers and good luck! I dono’t
Thank you for the kind invitation, I will certainly do my best to send you something useful and interesting that you can use.
I’ll send an email through your site as suggested.
BTW, how did that thing with the stolen material go?
.-= Aaron @ Thailand hotels blog´s last blog ..Loy Krathong 2010 Hotel Packages =-.
Thanks so much for this. I’ve tried (poorly, I might add) to start my own blog, but I quickly became discouraged. I know it takes time, but I had hoped that SOMEONE would comment. This really helps me to stick it out- after all, I know I have something to say, and I’m sure eventually some people will start reading! Guess I’ll go back and start blogging again!
I didn’t read all the comments before I posted- what domain (I think that’s the right lingo) do you recommend? I didn’t want to put a lot (or any) money into my blog, so I just set up a blogger.com one…any thoughts on using that vs. a more unique one? I hope that makes sense; unfortunately I don’t really know a lot about the internet it seems.
.-= travelerkate´s last blog ..Ensuring The Perfect Vacation =-.
Thanks for the tips Dave and Deb. I think what I’ve found recently is to set myself realistic targets: get x number of views a day/week; get x number of comments per post etc. I’ve tried basic SEO, I’ve tried using Twitter, I’ve written an article for a travel website (I have had no traffic from that site!). My blog hasn’t taken off like I naively thought it might, so my targets stay realistic (low!) and my initial audience of friends and family remain appreciative! I find that most of my traffic comes from travel forums, so I tend to try and comment on them and on other travel blogs.
My blog is growing slowly but surely (although my trip is almost over), and I’m sure some of your tips will help me to get more readers. You’re definitely right when you say that even though I think the content is good, doesn’t mean other people will automatically find my blog. Of course, the catch 22 when you’re travelling is finding the time to put the tips you outline into practice!
.-= The Only Gringo´s last blog ..Want to feel famous for a day =-.
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Hi, thanks for this wonderful tips.
I started blogging before but after a couple of months, I got upset because I seldom have visitors. I’ve checked the traffic coming in and as months pass by, it gets lower even if I write 2-3 times a week. It is of my great passion to write but I think my fault is that I did not focus on one niche. I am so grateful that I read this post and I will surely follow your tips.
Thanks for this really valuable info! I have been doing most of the things listed for just over a year, and I’m not getting a ton of success, but I’m also juggling a full-time writing job in the travel industry unrelated to my blog, some unrelated freelance writing work, and for the last few months, I’ve also been planning my wedding! I have been tempted to abandon all social media/networking and purely focus on producing quality content on my blog, because sometimes I feel like there is too much emphasis on networking than good writing. But you’re totally correct that you need the networking to help actually bring readers to the blog! It’s a symbiotic relationship that can definitely be hard to balance when you’re very low on time. Thanks for these tips on keeping the networking going! You guys do a great job.
.-= Emily´s last blog ..Review- PakSmarte Packing Organizer =-.
thanks for the advice, am going to use what you have said
Hi Dave and Deb,
I enjoyed this post as I have many of the same challenges and I have wondered how others get so much traffic from their blogs. Some of these things I’ve known but it’s good to see a nice comprehensive list like this one.
Jason
.-= Jason´s last blog ..Sunday Morning Pickup Basketball In Cusco =-.
Nice advice.RSS and social media is must to be focused in the initial phase when you are promoting your travel blog.
Hi Dave & Deb, I’m SO grateful for these tips! I’ve learned many new things here. Despite having already traveled quite a bit, conducted anthropological research, and worked in documentary film, (all sort of relevant) travel blogging is still a whole new culture to discover. It’s incredibly helpful to have guidance from the “natives”
Thanks for being so generous & imparting what you’ve learned to those of us just getting started. Happy trails, Lorna
.-= Lorna – the roamantics´s last blog ..Rarotonga’s Giggle-Worthy Signs =-.
Thanks for the kind words Lorna. We know how you feel, it was almost a decade into our travels that we started our blog. That is the amazing thing about having all those years of travel though, you have an amazing amount of experiences to draw from and write about. Good luck with the new blog and we look forward to following you!
a list 8 plus pieces of advice, links to other resources on the web, thanks so much for the article on travel blogging howto’s
.-= greg urbano´s last blog ..Bok Tower and Gardens =-.
Your welcome Greg. Cheers!
Hi Guys,
I agree that the blogging thing can be daunting, but I got a tip from Social Media Queen Laura Roeder, who advised setting out to write down 52 topics in a weekly calendar. This is actually quite easy when you think about what your audience may be interested in hearing about. At least you’ve got an easy reference point for your blog posts, which can then be fleshed out from there. Of course you add more timely topics as need be, but a headline is a great starting point!
Can’t wait to hear more about your trip to China.
.-= Victoria Gibson´s last blog ..Hidden Gems of Shekawati =-.
That’s a great idea Victoria. Definitely something to think about for people having trouble coming up with topics. A good plan is always the best way to go in any business and blogging should be no different. Thanks for the excellent suggestion.
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Great tips! Thanks for posting. I’m fairly new to blogging, and have been trying to increase frequeny and blog daily. Tough to build the numbers and audience, but it takes a while to get a loyal audience. Thanks for suggestions.
.-= sheila gallant-halloran´s last blog ..Guest Blog- Some Q&As with Event Planner Cristie Vito =-.
Heya
Thanks for the great tips, they are so so useful and really inspiring. Well done for gaining 30 000 views a month that is AMAZING and you should be really proud. My first blog was a travel writing blog with me posting articles and photos from all my travels and trying to combine it with a quick and simple DIY project to go with it. I really enjoyed it at the beginning but have now found it almost impossible to gain readers. I have lately started a fashion blog and have realised how easy it is to gain followers for something like that and have been looking for something similar for travel bloggers and I think you have answered my questions. Thank you!!
http://www.onegirlswanderlust.blogspot.com
Great Job, One Girls Wanderlust. You are so right, once you find what you love and keep writing about it, people will come. If you love what you are doing, how can others not! Good luck with the fashion blog and glad we could help.
Blogging really does take a long time to get the ball rolling, I agree. I think just constantly putting up great new pics of your travel spots is the best way to generate buzz. It will obviously take a long time but the rewards are worth it. Good stuff
Posting great photographs definitely does help, you are right Tony.. Popular posts on our blog are photo stories and sunday snapshots. But we definitely like to mix it up, we don’t want to constantly just put up a photo, we have a photography blog for that.
Thank you for this post. I’ve been blogging for a while, but my latest blog is my first attempt to reach a wider audience. Your advice is fantastic!
Thanks Magda, good luck with reaching the wider audience, it takes time but it will happen.
Hello Dave and Deb,
I’m glad I read this today. I was virtually away from blogging for over a year and when I resumed last month it seemed a totally different thing, quite intimidating actually! It seems that having patience and celebrating little achievements on the way is a good approach. Thanks for your support!
Priyank
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Got some good tips for blogging and really appreciate your work of sharing them. Your blogs are really an interesting and do provide some good knowledge.
Thanks for the post and awaiting to read more.
Vacation Destinations recently posted..St Peters Basilica – Excavation of St Peters Tomb
I like your advices. Nothing fancy. Just the truth. Oh, and you are so cute together!
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Hi Guys,
First off I want to say that I really like your BLOG layout. It looks very clean and is easy to follow.
I like your tips for promoting a BLOG and have decided to give my Anza Borrego BLOG makeover.
Thanks for the inspiration. I think I need to organize my content a bit cleaner.
Best,
Bob
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Being a neophyte travel writer, I figure myself as hitting the gold mine with this post and I will consider it as a bible in my travel site administration. By the way, may I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt appreciation for your generosity in linking my site. Truly, exchanging links with a novice and struggling travel writer is no ordinary act, only the truly great-hearted and unselfish ones can do it.
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You are welcome Edilito. Good luck with your new blog and feel free to talk to people in the Travel Blog community. They are a very friendly and helpful group. This is by far the most complimentary comment we have ever received.
Great advice here, Dave and Deb. I’m a new travel blogger (leaving the states in May) and am finishing up my site as we speak. It’s been interesting navigating my way through the travel community – I’ve discovered some great people with awesome advice. Thanks!
This post is really helpful, thanks! I just started my travel blog two weeks ago, but have been consistently updating with new entries almost daily, as well as commenting on other blogs. While I still have ways to go before “making it big”, my hits have been steadily rising!
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Good for you Michelle. Good luck with the new sight.
Some really good tips on promoting your blog here, especially about joining communities and guest blogging. It really is all about building relationships with other site owners, and adding value to your off-site marketing efforts.
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I have been through the whole content of this blog which is very informative and knowledgeable stuff, So i would like to visit again
Thank you so much for all the tips. We started with our blog 8 month ago and now starting to promote it a little bit.
I was really looking for some pratical advise how to move ahead.
i am happy i landed here and its good to see real advise from the one who have build it from scratch.
They will gona to help me a lot and even bookmarked the site..
Thanks for your openness with advice. We also are a Canadian couple who love to travel. Not as experienced as yourselves but working on it. Just started blogging on some of our trips and enjoying the experience. We have found that by blogging we get to re-live the experience. That alone is great payback. Of course as time goes by we hope that our blogging skills grow as well as our audience.
Pat & Colin
Good luck with your new blog and great to meet another fellow canadian travel couple. We love blogging about our travels because like you, we get to experience it all over again when we go through our photos and write about it. I look forward to seeing your blog grow and hope that this post helps a little bit. Cheers.
Hi there
This is a fab post, thank you so much. I have been blogging for 4 months now and I absolutely love it. Then due to various reasons, I decided to throw in my corporate job and go travelling. There is a whole world out there and I am not going to see if if I am stuck in an office doing reporting, am I
You both are a wonderful inspiration, thank you!
Colleen
Colleen, thanks so much for the comment. Congratulations on going for your dream. Good luck with the new travel blog and we look forward to seeing you out there in the Blog world
Thank you so much for this piece. Your words, “I had been looking at all these “top travel blog sites” and “lists of the best travel blogs” and said..”I want on that. How do I get on those?’”
Thanks for sharing and Have a Great Day!!
BTW: Please forgive me for responding to this post 8 months after it’s posted.
Hi Terri, no worries about responding 8 months later. The tips are timeless I think. Hope you got some inspiration out of it. That is exactly how we felt. We wanted to be them. Now we have new goals and hope that we can fulfill those as well and then write about it to inspire again. Cheers!
I’ve read blogs on how to create a effective blog and so far so good and another thing blogs popularity will always depend on its content.
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Hey mate, good to visit your portal. I really enjoyed reading people experince. I would expect more on this portal. Thanks for posting.
Hmmm “insert insightful comment here” – done.
But seriously, great post guys. Having only recently come across your blog from twitter from your posts on the Mongol Rally I am loving reading through the back catalogue. Would love to be able to write a guest post some day and looking forward more to chatting more with you guys.
Trying to get it in to my head that blogging takes time is definitely a tricky one. I wish we were the ones exploding over night. Never mind. Back to the basics of writing for ourselves in the first place
Cheers
FourJandals
Hi Four Jandals, send us an email and we will happily accept a guest post. Cheers.
I’m trying most of the things you have mentioned but getting on average about 60 visits a day.
I think I have to persist on what I’m doing like promoting on social networking sites, blogcatalog, forums and others.
If someone will visit my blog and comment on what should I do more?
http://aceguide.blogspot.com
You have some great ideas here! Being fairly new to blogging, I’ve found that one of the most important aspects is just finding your voice, which gets easier and easier the more posts you publish. Also, it’s important to do your research – visiting other travel sites and blogs- so you can, not only understand what’s already out there, but also to get your mind working on ideas that could be successful on your own blog. I will definitely be using some of these tips!
Jade recently posted..The City That Never Sleeps
Jade, that is an excellent addition. Finding your voice is very important. I think that many people tend to copy what others are doing when they first start out. It is important to do what is right for you and write about what you are passionate about. It can be very easy to think that you have to do what the big guys are doing to succeed, but they’ve already done that. That is great advice about researching other blogs. I will read an article written by someone else and it will create an idea for another article for my own blog. It is funny, it may not be related at all, the idea my have sparked just from a certain sentence or the structure of the post and get my creative juices flowing. Good luck with your new website and all the best.
Interesting… i’ll try it…
* in case you need recommendation to go to Asia please kindly visit http://travelingasia.puppytraveler.com *
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Very interesting and helpful tips, many thanks for sharing them
I’m so happy to read this. This is the type of manual that needs to be given and not the random misinformation that’s at the other blogs. Appreciate your sharing this best doc.
I will try this tip thanks…
I will try this tip thanks…
Beautiful places of Darjeeling
very interesting, but how can i get more from search engine… do u have advices?
Nice post. Thank you for the eight ways you have shared.
Great article! Last summer my wife and I took early retirement to experience the planet through travel. Our plan is to see the world; one country at a time, one year at a time, for the next ten years. Our first country is Mexico where we have been living since July. We were initally on the Caribbean coast in the tiny fishing village of Xcalak, very secluded and off the grid, and now we are in mountains of Chiapas living in the lively town of San Cristobal de las Casas.
I have been blogging about it and slowly getting more and more hits but I think this article will help. Thanks and hope to see you “out there”.
learn so much from it…thanks a lot
Thank you so much for the multiple, marvelous blog-advice posts! My blog is strictly a leisurely pursuit, but I’m doing it to share my favourite things about travel, and your advice will definitely help focus my efforts and keep it going. Thanks and happy travels!
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Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I really feel strongly about it and enjoy studying more on this subject.
Thanks for the lovely advice here. Especially the last part on persevering! Good things take time to come to fruition indeed, but nothing comes from giving up. Looking forward to reading through your stories before I officially set off to travel the world!
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I think a lot of it comes down to just producing good content and letting Search Engines help you grow organically. You can promote the site a lot, but the more organic content there is, the more search hits you will get.
Driving traffic is always the hardest part of any site and 30k pm is a great effort!
Good point Shaun, we get half of our daily views from search engines. But then again, the other half is very much needed and that comes from referrals and social media. When we are getting upwards of 200,000 views per month, that means that 100,000 is coming from social media, referrals and links from other websites. So the trick is to have balance, because as you said, it is important to have SEO because 100,000 other come from that. Cheers!
Thanks for the information… i just make a new website and i don’t know how to promote it.
Regards
Putu Ariawan
putu ariawan recently posted..Security Forces Storm Kerobokan Prison after Second Night of Rioting
Thanks for the great advice! I’ve really enjoyed traveling my entire life, and have always enjoyed writing. I work in communications and love reading travel blogs and websites, so it finally dawned on me that I should try doing this myself. I know there are a lot of people out there doing the same thing, but I hope there is an audience out there who will enjoy reading what I have to say and taking a look at my photos.
Again, thanks for leading the way!
That’s awesome Glenn. I am sure that there will be an audience. It’s an exciting time to get into travel blogging and there is room for everyone. just find your voice and write about what you love and people will embrace you. It’s all about connecting with your audience and finding the people that have the same interest.
Thanks for this post. As a newbie blogger, this is really helpful, even two years later! I’m curious as to what your page views look like now and if there is anything else you would recommend doing that you didn’t think of back then.
Kate recently posted..6 websites that help you meet locals while traveling
Barca is vida loca! We had a great time and house through Barcelona Apartments. Not too noisy and for the right price
I would suggest to see what the competition is doing in terms of getting links. A lot of links are easy to get just by participating in travel forums or making profiles on social networks. Over the course of a few years if you develop good content on your website it will attract natural links. Dont skip doing initial link building getting some traffic is key even if you have great content – you cant attract natural links until you get some traffic to start. Focus on quality over quantity.
Thanks David, very good advice, strong content is key to get quality link backs.
Good tips – we are just starting out and we’re struggling to break out of the friends and family circles. If you would like to have some articles about Chile please let us know. Kind regards, Steve & Ada
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