So you've written and amazing travel blog something life changing 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.

cartoon courtesy of HardikPargi.com

How to Promote Your Travel Blog

Fast Facts – Quick ideas to start promoting your blog today:

• Start with your friends and family, promote your blog posts on your personal Facebook and social pages. It's a good place to start, we did.
• Start a social media account on all the places you want to start promoting your blog – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, StumbleUpon
• Put your blog url in all your social media channels
• Immediately start building your email list. Build your loyal following now.
• Be consistent. Choose a time and day to post on your blog, send out your emails and interact on social media.
• Enable social share buttons so others can share your content.

Tip #1 Content

Promote your Travel Blog Tips

It sounds cliché but you need to 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 our other posts:

• How to Start a Travel Blog – And In Depth Guide from the Experts
• How to Become a Professional Travel Blogger

“If you don't have good content, you won't have anything to promote.”

Tip #2 Courses and Communities

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.

When we started, there were a few resources like The Travel Writers Exchange and The Travel Blog Exchange, but today there are courses, communities, facebook groups and countless posts about how to be a successful travel blogger.

I think the best one is the The Superstar Blogging Course by Nomadic Matt.

He has a community you can network with and he has rotating experts run different streams of his course, so you can focus on what you need the most help with.

Superstar Blogging. Nomadic Matt changed his make money travel blogging book into the Superstar blogging course  Superstar Blogging Course. 

Business of Travel Blogging

He has split up his course into 4 different streams and has brought on different experts in their field to run and lead the courses.

These are intense in depth tracks that will help you succeed and he offers monthly mentoring and support through his teachers.

• Business of Travel Blogging: $300 (6 monthly payments of $50) and he also has a 30 Day money back guarantee.
• How to become a Travel Photography: $199 (5 payments of $39.99)
• How to be a Travel Writer: $485 (5 Monthly Payments of 97.00)
• How to Become a Videographer $349 one time fee

The First Year of Travel Blogging

The first year of blogging can be the toughest. It is where you may see the least amount of growth and may have trouble finding an audience. It's where a lot of people give up because they realize that travel blogging is a lot harder than it looks.

promoting your travel blog

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 travelled to a lot of different places and had a lot of information to share.

If you are thinking of starting a travel blog start writing today about the places you've been, the tips you can share and writing about the amusing moments you've had on the road.

Have fun and be you!

Dave being interviewed for a podcast

People thought that we were already established bloggers when we began ThePlanetD because we presented ourselves as professionals and travel experts immediately.

We could do that because we had a lot of travel experience in travel, adventure, couple's travel tips and off the beaten path destinations. So we stuck with that niche..

We didn't write about what we didn't know. We focused on what we had experience in and people looking for information eventually found us.

So even if you don't have a lot of blogging or even travel experience, you still need to present yourself as an expert in something.

Maybe  you know all about sports of the world, or languages, or you are an expert on one destination (if could be your home town or country)  If you write about what you know, people will come back. You will become the authority on that subject.

Fast Facts #2 – More Quick Ideas to Promote Your Blog

• Ask and Answer Questions in in forums
• Participate in Travel chats. On Twitter I have seen people's presences skyrocket by participating regularly in travel chats.
• Suggested Travel Chats #TravelSkills, #TTOT, #RTWChat, and #TNI – Once you start talking to other influencers you will raise your travel profile.
• Put your blog on social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon, bloglovin, AllTopTravelSites – You want to get people finding you outside your blog
• Share your content everywhere once it's published  – Tumblr, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest
• Share posts more than once. Not all eyeballs are on social media at the same time, so schedule them out at different times and days.

2. Find a Niche

The Planet D has an adventure niche

There are a million travel blogs out there.

Backpackers, solo travellers, 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 like cycling Africa or doing the Mongol Rally. But we are just every day people, so people can relate to us.

We're not trying to be a Bear Grylls or trying to be head above others in adventure. Our niche is to show people that if we can do it, anyone can! That's why our motto is “Adventure is for everyone!” By finding a niche as an adventure couple, we've been able to stand out from the crowd.

Tip #3 Network, Nework, Network

Networking is the best way to promote your brand

A great way to make a mark in the travel blogging community is to network.

Conferences and meet ups are a good place to start.

Travel Massive is an organization that is in cities all over the world and you can go out and meet like minded people. Travel Massive even runs tutorials and monthly information sessions.

TBEX, New York Times Travel Show, WTM, ITB are all travel conferences where you can network with other bloggers and attend sessions on travel blogging.

These are essential to attend.

I have seen people grow their name just by attending several conferences, getting to know the right people and being charismatic.

Meeting people in person goes a long way.

Online Networking

The beauty of the Internet is that you don't have to leave home to make connections. Here are ideas to raise your online presence.

Join forums

Twitter Chats, Facebook Groups, The Travel Writers Exchange, Lonely Planet   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.

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.

We accept guest posts here at TheplanetD. 

Write for travel websites

Take it one step further and write for websites.

What travel bloggers do you admire? Write to them and ask if you can write a guest post for them?

Send pitches and queries to places like Matador Network, BBC Travel, CNN, Huffington Post and Lonely Planet.

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.

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.

he 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.

Build a Social Media Presence

Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat and facebook are your friends.

The referrals and network you will build  these sites are astounding.

People will follow your Facebook fanpage because they like you. The may watch your Snaps or Instagram stories because you are funny!

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.

Offer an option to sign up for your newsletter

Your loyal followers will want to hear from your regularly. Give them a chance to sign up for a newsletter and then send it directly to their inbox on a regular basis.

It doesn't have to go out weekly, but just make sure you are consistent.

Are you going to send out news weekly, monthly or quarterly?

Decide and stick to that schedule. In your newsletter offer insider tips, discounts, and giveaways.

Give your followers incentive to sign up. This is an excellent way to remind people who signed up for your newsletter to come on over and check out your blog again.

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.

Thinking of getting into Travel Blogging? Read our post: How to Start a travel Blog in 11 Easy Steps

Technical help and Instant Community

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.

Join a community to learn from the best. Travel Blog Success is doing great things teaching travelers how to become professional bloggers.

We love  Travel Blog Success and their community.

We know the owner/mentor Dave of Go Backpacking.

They are truly the tops of the travel blogging profession and Dave runs one of the longest and most well established courses out there.

We, and other veteran bloggers, are a part of his private Facebook group where people can post questions to the pros. He has monthly online lectures, and his course takes you through a step by step guide on how to be successful.

If you want to start a travel blogging career, you could scour the Internet and even read articles on our blog, but if you are serious, we recommend signing up for their course.

We believe this is one course that will give would be travel bloggers the tools they need to succeed. Enroll in Travel Blog Success Now

Read Next:

How to Get Paid to Travel

How to Become a Professional Travel Blogger

From Trailer Park to Travel Blog, Our Path To Success

9 Strategies to Managing Your Travel Blog While Traveling

Tips to Keep Your Blog Running When Not Traveling