How I’d Start a Travel Blog if I Were Starting Over in 2024

Step 1: Pick a Travel Blog Name & Register It On All Social Media Platforms

As you might guess, picking a travel blog name is the first step in starting a travel blog. This can be a bit stressful since once you've picked one, you're stuck with it. However, the name of your travel blog isn't really that important.

• You don't need to have "travel" in your name but you can if you wish.
• Choose something that you want to represent your brand and that you feel represents your readers' interests.
• A general rule of thumb is to pick something recognizable, simple, and relevant.
• Pick something that means something to you. Of course, you'll need to check if the name isn't taken.

So, the first step is to...

Check if the domain name is available on NameCheap and on all social platforms. The domain registrar you choose doesn't really matter, that's why I use NameCheap for this blog and others as they offer the cheapest website domains.

Once you've got it, go ahead and register your social media accounts on the major platforms including:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Youtube
• Pinterest

If you think social media will be a big part of your marketing strategy, I'd go ahead and register it on absolutely everything– it doesn't take much time and you might be glad you did in the future.

I like to share my travel photography on Instagram but don't really enjoy marketing my personality, which is kind of essential if you want to be successful on these platforms.

Luckily for me, platforms like Instagram and TikTok don't drive that much traffic to your travel blog, since they are designed to keep users engaged with their apps.

In fact, you might be surprised to find out that Pinterest and more recently Flipboard is generally the most effective platform for bloggers. The second is Facebook. This is because Pinterest isn't really a social platform– it's a visual search engine designed to help people find relevant content.

About The Fabled "Self-Hosted WordPress Blog"

This is the part of this guide where I tell you that what you want to do is create a WordPress.org blog, not a WordPress.com blog.

You'll want to avoid the dozens of other alternatives like Squarespace, Wix, and other branded site builders as well.

What? - Don't worry, it's simple.

A self-hosted WordPress blog is the holy grail of blogging. It's easy to use, fast (if done right), cheaper, offers more flexibility and control, and has the best structure for SEO.

There's a reason why 40% of the internet is built on this platform.

Link Your Domain Name To Your New Hosting

What you will also want to do is install a free SSL certificate for your domain name. If you're using Managed WordPress hosting, this will be done for you.

Don't know what this is? Right now, look up on your browser next to the URL on this page. See that little lock symbol? That means that this website is secure and authorized with an SSL certificate (this means the website has "https://" in front of the URL, instead of "http://").

But, don't worry too much about what this means if this is getting a bit technical for you, just make sure you install one. These days, most Managed WordPress hosting services like BigScoots will do this automatically.

But, if you opted for the shared plans or Cloud servers you'll need to google their guides on how to install your certificate.

Step 4: Install a WordPress Theme and Plugins

We're now halfway through this guide on how to start a travel blog and you've already got your blog live on the internet. Your host would have installed WordPress for you– make sure this is done first.

Now, go check it out, if you've done it right, check by typing in your domain name in your internet browser.

Your new travel blog should pop up as a generic WordPress website, ready for you to customize and start publishing content on.

The next step is choosing a theme. Think of this as the facade of your house. This will dictate how your blog looks and feels.

Tip: Picking a Premium Theme (Personalized Travel Blog Layout)

When I started my travel blog I made the mistake of just choosing a cheap theme that I thought looked great.

Unfortunately, I had to change my entire website layout after I'd already published 300 blog posts because my theme wasn't being updated and was getting slower and slower.

If you're serious about travel blogging, I typically don't recommend a free theme. Trust me on this, it's a much better idea to buy a quality premium theme and not look back.

High-quality premium WordPress themes usually cost between $40 to $250 for a once-off-payment or yearly subscription.

If you really want to keep costs down, then the only free theme that I'd recommend anybody to use is Kadence. While I don't use this, I have used it on other blogs and it is possible to get fast and responsive layouts if you stick to the very basic blocks.

Otherwise, the fastest and best paid WordPress themes for blogs are:

• GeneratePress
• Kadence - with Kadence blocks plugin (use Gutenberg, not Elementor)
• Trellis (best for Mediavine publishers) - this is what I use now, although I paid a developer to customize it and make it 100% unique (not necessary when starting out).

A good quality theme will be lightweight and offer basic customization options to make your travel blog unique. My strategy is to avoid picking a theme with all the bells and whistles and instead keep things as simple as possible to focus on my content.

Install Your New Blog Theme

When you purchase a theme, you'll get a download link with a .zip folder. Every good theme will have a detailed guide on how to install it but generally, it's quite easy.

Here's how you do it.

Log into your WordPress dashboard, which is usually found under "yourtravelblog.com/wp-admin/". Here is where you manage your WordPress blog, write blog posts, install plugins, and do everything you need to do that impacts the front-end side of your site (what visitors see).

On the left panel, go to Appearance > Themes.

Once here, click Add New and upload the .zip file that came with your theme purchase.

All good themes will also come with a child theme. Basically, this allows you to make custom changes to your layout that aren't affected by theme updates.

After you upload your theme, upload the child.zip folder as well, then activate your child theme.

Next, Customize Your Theme

Next, it's a good idea to install a Starter Template for your theme.

All themes are highly customizable but it's difficult to start customizing without any inspiration. A Starter Template has pre-populated content, sample articles, and pages that are already tweaked for the theme you have purchased.

Installing these will depend on which theme you choose, but every good theme will have a detailed walkthrough on how to activate a starter template.

Once you've chosen a layout you like, let's start customizing your new travel blog!

Again, on your WordPress Dashboard (available at yoursite.com/wp-admin/), go to Appearance > Customize.

Start going through the options and make some site-wide changes like colors, fonts, image sizes, etc.

A general rule of thumb is to go easy on the customization and keep things simple to avoid increasing load times.

Here are some tips that I've learned through trial and error to make your travel blog as fast and user-friendly as possible:

• Choose your brand colors and stick with them throughout your website. Choose high-contrast colors, for example, black or dark grey text on a white background. This makes it easier to read and won't give you problems with Google later down the track. I recommend checking the contrast ratios with the WebAIM tool.
• Choose two font types only, one for your body and one for your text. Every single font on your website has to be loaded manually every time someone visits your website, increasing page load time. Choose fonts that are large and easy to read. Alternatively, skip custom fonts altogether to make things even faster by using "inherit" if your theme permits. This loads the default font on the user's device and is the fastest solution.
• Prioritize mobile-view. All quality WordPress themes are "responsive". This means that all the content you create will automatically be shown and scaled to the device the reader is using (i.e. mobile, desktop, or tablet). However, when you're customizing your travel blog layout, try to prioritize mobile view, since around 75% of visitors will be using a phone to read your travel blog.
  
  Do this by clicking the little mobile icon on the bottom of the Customize screen. Try to make changes that look good on mobile and also work well on the desktop and tablet views. You can also check what your page will look like on mobile by using Chrome Dev Tools

Install WordPress Plugins

When you're happy with your layout, the next step in starting a travel blog is installing plugins. You can do this

These are simple little apps that install on your WordPress travel blog. They can help you accomplish anything from preventing spam comments, optimizing your site speed, or adding useful features like relevant posts or customized content in your blog posts.

However, before you start installing everything, be warned.

A general rule of thumb when it comes to plugins is to keep it simple.

Yes, it's a recurring theme in this beginner travel blog guide but trust me, I've learned from my mistakes. The more plugins you install, the more problems you're likely to encounter with conflicts and slowing down your website. Only install what you think is necessary.

Not sure what you need? Here are some necessary plugins that I believe every travel blog should install when starting out.

• RankMath or Yoast SEO - helps you optimize your blog posts for search engines. Should be used as a rough guide. Remember to write helpful, human-first content.
• A caching/optimization plugin - that make your travel blog faster. I used to use WPRocket but now use BigScoot's plugin and Perfmatters. If you don't know what you're doing ask your host to help with this.
• Image optimization plugin - compresses your images to make websites faster. I don't use this as I only upload already optimized photos using custom settings in Adobe Lightroom to save server space. But, it'll be useful for those who don't know what they're doing. A good one often recommended in the Mediavine Publisher's Facebook Group is ShortPixel.

That's it. That's all you'll really need to start an awesome travel blog. Most of these plugins are free besides WPRocket, but you can use free caching alternatives like W3 Total Cache or the free caching plugin that comes with your host if they offer it.

Once you get the ball rolling and start requiring premium features, you can upgrade the plugins you love. But, when you first start off travel blogging, the free plugins will suffice.

Step 5. Start Writing Blog Posts

Don't worry, most of the technical stuff is out of the way and we're now on the way to the fun part- writing and publishing travel blogs!

I admit, this blog post might seem a little more complicated than the other beginner guides out there but I'm leaving nothing out so that you can start a successful blog, not just launch one!

The next step is to start creating awesome content. I bet you've already got some great blog post ideas and travel stories to tell. Head over to your WordPress dashboard again and on the left side, click Posts, then Add New.

WordPress uses the new Gutenberg block editor by default. This is easy to use as you can just add headings, images, and text into your post with the click of a button– no coding required!

On the right side of your screen, you'll see the settings tab. Here you can customize each block or change settings for your post. You'll want to add things like a featured image, a category, and tags.

Understanding Categories & Tags

Categories and tags are a WordPress tool that helps viewers navigate to similar content across your website.

I use a simple category layout on my travel blog with destinations by country. I also have some other categories like "Hiking" to group types of posts.

It's totally up to you how you'd like to structure your navigation but try to keep it simple, organized, and relevant to your content. Remember, Google likes structure.

Having a hundred different tags isn't going to help you with SEO. In fact, Google doesn't like "thin content". Try to focus on generating as much content around a topic or destination as possible. However, there's no cheating Google, the only strategy that works is creating content that is a great experience for human readers.

Step 6: Publish Your First Blog Post & Start Sharing

Once you've got a few great posts that you want to get out there, hit publish and start sharing them. Hit up all your social platforms and let everyone know that you've just started a travel blog!

Congratulations, you've done it, you're now a travel blogger.

Kinsta has the most comprehensive guide I've ever found.

Tip: Use a CDN

A quick and free speed boost you can use after you've got your travel blog started is to use a CDN.

Using a CDN like Cloudflare (free) can dramatically increase your website speed and in my opinion, is essential for a successful travel blog in 2024.

Basically, a CDN, or content delivery network, will reduce delays in loading time by reducing the physical distance between your server and your readers.

You can set this up in a few clicks when first launching your travel blog, or once it's already live.

It works on top of all of your other optimizations and therefore it is very easy to set up and can be done after you've customized your theme.

Tips for PageSpeed & Hosting

A great tip is to choose a server location (during the signup process) that is close to where you think the majority of your readers will be located.

For example, if you are going to publish a lot of travel content about South East Asia, choose a server location in Singapore. If you're going to blog about travel in the USA, choose a server in Ohio. This makes loading time for your readers much faster by reducing latency.

This isn't as crucial these days since you can use CDNs like Cloudflare to make sure your blog posts are always served closest to your readers (more info in Step 7).

Both of my recommended providers are quite easy to set up. Simply follow the steps and if you run into any trouble, hit up their support. There are also many instructional videos for beginners to help install and optimize WordPress (find the posts from your host) so the process is quite straightforward.

How to Defining Your Blog's Audience (Target Audience)

If you don't know who you're writing for, you're off on the wrong step.

Defining your target audience helps you narrow down what you are going to be writing about. I know that a lot of bloggers don't like to refer to this as choosing a "niche" because they're afraid of making their readers feel like customers.

But, the fact is if you are starting a generic travel blog, you are offering a product to an already saturated market, whether you like it or not.

If you really want to become a successful blogger, ie. make money from your blog, then it's best to get clued into strategizing early. Unfortunately, that means thinking like a business owner– even if you don't like to think of your blog as one yet.

So, how do I define my travel blog audience?

What you're looking for is a way that makes your content stand out from the crowd. Generic audiences are incredibly competitive so it's best to focus on what you are good at and more importantly, what you know and enjoy writing about.

Get out your pen and paper, and write down the answers to these questions.

• How do I travel?
• What do I enjoy writing about?
• What makes my style of travel content different?
• Is there an audience that is interested in this?
• What can my content offer my readers?
• Are there already other travel bloggers offering the same thing? - If so, can I do it better?

The answers to these questions will form the basis of your humble travel blog beginnings.

Therefore, this process should be part of the first step in starting a travel blog, alongside picking your name.

Do Travel Bloggers Really Make Money?

The first thing people usually ask me when I tell them that I'm a "travel blogger" is, "Do really you make money writing travel blogs?"

The short answer is yes. In fact, as of 2024, the median income for full-time travel bloggers is $5,000 USD per month. The long answer is that it takes a lot of time and work to start seeing your first dollar come through.

In a nutshell, blogging in general is a way to build yourself a passive income.

This means you will put in the work today for free to earn while you sleep (or travel) in the future. What's great about this for travelers is that we can go off-grid for a month and still earn money through the work we have put in a year or even a decade before.

For example, I spent a month ticking off my bucket list goal of completing a mountaineering course in India while my blog made me a living wage. And, I didn't even have to touch my laptop the entire time!

The tough part about this is that you might spend hundreds of hours working while you don't start making money after several months (or years) down the track.

Recent statistics show that 81% of all blogs created never earned their first $100. Furthermore, only 5% of all bloggers earn a full-time salary from blogging. These statistics account for all blogs. Travel blogs are among the most saturated on the internet. Therefore standing out in the crowd is even more difficult.

But, that's not to say it's impossible.

I'm among several travel bloggers who make a passive wage from doing what I love, and running this blog is now my full-time job. I think it's safe to say that starting this blog was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

However, to get to this stage I dedicated several hundred hours of blog post writing, blog theme customizing, page speed optimizing, and social sharing– all before I saw my first passive dollar roll in.

I did this because I was passionate about what I was creating and, if I could be paid for it, that would be a bonus, not a priority.

Truthfully, I was out there traveling and taking photos years before I even considered starting a travel blog. Below is a shot of Haylea and me hitchhiking in Sri Lanka. Even though we don't live off $35 USD per day anymore, we still mostly stick to raw, shoestring travel as a preference.

I know it's a cliche. But, the universe rewards passion and dedication. If you believe in something and you are prepared to put in the hard work, you will be rewarded.

Display Advertising for a Passive Income

It took me roughly two years to start serving ads on my travel blog.

The thing is, nobody likes them.

However, serving ads in my content allows me to make a living and keeps me on the road. With that said, I honestly wouldn't bother serving ads until you have at least 25,000 monthly sessions. That's because you won't have enough traffic to get into a reputable ad management service like Ezoic, Mediavine, or Raptive (formerly AdThrive).

Instead, you'll be stuck with Adsense and some less-than-par alternatives. For me at least, the money you receive from these sources is not worth clogging your website with ads.

Indirect Income From Travel Blogging

Some of the money you can make from a travel blog doesn't come directly from your blog. Instead, your blog can be used as advertising for your services.

For example, I have a Media Kit page where companies often reach out to me for photography services or to license content that I've created. This isn't passive income but it's also great to do paid jobs every now and then.

You'll also notice many other bloggers selling online courses and other digital products and using their travel blogs to promote them organically.

Good Luck With Your New Travel Blog!

If you decide that this is a lifestyle that you want to pursue, then go chase it with all you have!

If you have any questions that I didn't cover in this guide to starting a travel blog, leave a comment below or reach out to me personally. I'd love to help other people who are wanting to become travel bloggers or content creators!

Once you get going, check out this useful guide to my favorite remote work locations in the world!

• What's in my Camera Bag - what I carry around the world as a professional adventure travel photographer
• Digital Nomad Packing List - essential things I can't live without when on the road
• Motivational Hiking Quotes & Travel Quotes - get your IG captions prepped