How To Start A Successful Travel Blog: Easy Step By Step Guide!

How To Start A Travel Blog

Travel Blogging Tips

Travel blogging has given me the freedom to travel the world for the past 10 years. Want to start your own? This detailed guide will show you how to start a travel blog & eventually make money with it.

I’ve been working as a travel blogger & photographer for the past 10-years, and earn six figures annually from professional blogging. So I regularly receive tons of email and questions asking for tips about how to start a travel blog.

I know, I get it. Seeing constant photos from my wild travel adventures on your Facebook or Instagram feeds makes it look like a dream job…

After all, I get paid to travel the world! I admit it’s a pretty sweet gig.

But travel blogging isn’t as easy as it looks from the outside. There’s a lot of work going on in the background that most people don’t see.

So today I wanted to share a useful guide on how to get started travel blogging. Or any type of blogging really. Because it’s the very first step to becoming a successful blogger!

How To Start A Travel Blog In 2021

The Travel Blogging Journey

The act of starting your very first travel blog is actually pretty easy. If you follow my guide, you can have your own blog up and running today.

However, starting your blog is just the tip of the iceberg.

Now keep in mind the following advice is for those who are prepared to take travel blogging seriously, as some of these steps require spending money.

If you just want to blog as a part-time hobby, you can always start a simple travel blog for family & friends on WordPress.com. It’s totally free!

But if you’re interested in making money with travel blogging like I do, keep reading below for the details.

Essential First Step To Start A Blog

In order to get you started down the right path building a brand new travel blog, you’re going to need an (affordable) domain name and hosting — we’ll be using the provider I personally recommend to make it easy.

Get a free domain name and up to 60% off a hosting plan with BlueHost.

Get Your Domain & Hosting Now →

1. Pick A Name For Your Travel Blog

My first travel blog was called YearAroundTheWorld.com. Do you see the obvious problem with that domain name? Well, I didn’t, not until later.

I was backpacking through Central America, blogging about my experiences and having a great time — when I suddenly decided I wanted to travel for longer than one year. 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 words.

Try using a thesaurus. Ask your friends for advice & suggestions.

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. Set Up 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.

Get Your Free Domain & Hosting Now →

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!

BlueHost Makes It Easy!

Installing WordPress with your BlueHost 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.

That wasn’t too hard, was it? But wait, there’s a little more!

Using WordPress for Your 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:

WordPress itself has a huge library of free wordpress lessons that will help you get started.
If you become a BlueHost 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 cost about $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 GeneratePress.

Another great place to buy blog theme designs is a marketplace called ThemeTrust.

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

There are others of course, but these will get you started.

Use Instagram to Help Promote Your Blog

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.

Keep it fun and personable. Let your readers know who you really are!

Embrace Social Media

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

Learning how to master social media is a huge topic, one that I cover more here: Secrets Of Professional Travel Blogging

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.

TripAdvisor recommends 225 things to do in Richmond. 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 friends.

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 like Amazon.com and Booking.com.

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.

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.

While it took me about four years to start earning over $100,000 a year from blogging, others I know were able to achieve this milestone even earlier!

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 BlueHost, 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?

Buying an online course isn’t a requirement to building a travel blog. But like anything in life, if you want to get good at something, investing time & money to be trained certainly helps. Once you’ve set up your first blog, if you want some more direction, I highly recommend the Superstar 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.