Updated April 8th, 2019
SO YOU’RE A TRAVEL BLOGGING BEGINNER LOOKING FOR MARKETING TIPS? You came to the right place rockstar! When I first started travel blogging, I got really annoyed that there only seemed to be articles written about travel blogging from people who have been doing it for years, and who already made money from it. That doesn’t help me as a travel blog newbie! I want to see the blood, sweat, and tears IN ACTION that got you to where you are.So follow me, a travel blogger who is a year into the process, as I show you the things I learn step-by-step. You will get awesome tips and I might even make you laugh and inspire you along the way. I can’t, however, promise I’ll solve that sock disappearing problem, make you dance better, or figure out why your kids/pets are so weird. Let’s get our learn on grasshopper! Here are my 6 sure fire marketing tips for travel blog beginners!
1. NETWORK!
One of the best things you could ever do for yourself as a travel blogging beginner is to NETWORK YOUR BOOTY OFF! Learn how to work a room! Become involved in Facebook travel groups. I would be completely lost without them! The groups I turn to most are the Travel Blog Network, Travel Blog Success, Pinterest for travel bloggers, and Travel Blog Megashare. There are other Facebook travel groups you might find to your liking, but these ones have been the most influential for me. And that’s just the beginning. Make sure you network with people on and off the web! I always tend to get a boost in traffic by going to networking events in my city. Speaking of Travel Blog Success, they also happen to be having an AMAZING SUMMER SALE right now that only lasts until July 31st, 2015. You can save up to $120 on the Travel Blog Success main course. Although I have not yet taken their courses, I WILL BE, and I have heard many wonderful things about them from prolific travel bloggers like Adventurous Kate and others.
2. FOCUS ON…CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT!
You know how they say location is everything in business? Well in travel blogging, CONTENT is KING in these beginning stages. Just as in yoga, the core of your site is content and you have to focus on building the inside before the outside can come together. Nothing else matters unless you have the unique content people want to read. I am a firm believer that if you write it well, they will come. Unfortunately though, you must have patience. You can’t build an audience overnight, unless of course you already have an audience to begin with. SO WRITE! FOCUS ON BUILDING QUALITY ARTICLES AND PUSH THEM OUT AS MUCH AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE. It’s easy to get caught up with other things in the beginning- the name of your site, the colors, the layout, etc. That’s all pointless if nobody is reading your blog silly goose! PRO TIP: Notice how many of my posts tend to have numbered lists? That’s because IT WORKS!
3. COLLABORATE!
Although you may feel like you’re an outcast in the 9-5 day job world, once you get to know other travel bloggers in the community, it begins to feel like you’re all doing the travel blogger happy dance just trying to notice one another. Keep at it and trust the process. While it may seem like an ineffective strategy, OTHER TRAVEL BLOGGERS ARE YOUR STAPLE WHEN STARTING A TRAVEL BLOG. Communicate with them, guest post on other travel blogs, and come up with your own collaborative travel posts. Not only does this boost your SEO factor, it makes your name memorable. The travel bloggers I remember most are the ones who are REALLY active in the community and are continually posting! One site I JUST RECENTLY became a member of is Travel Blog Traffic Exchange so I am eager to see what kind of traffic this collaborative site will bring me and will keep you posted along the way! I do know that you need to have at least 1,000 social media followers between all of the sites to become a member, so perhaps you should focus on that first. Another site I am looking to delve more into since I signed up is Bloglovin.
4. LEARN SOCIAL MEDIA!
As a social media manager, I suppose I had a bit of a leg up on learning this aspect which is crucial to advertising your blog. Social media is much like panting a seed. You might not see the results in the beginning, but eventually it will come to fruition. It will be a little overwhelming at first, but by reading and learning about each site one by one, you will get there! A few great sources with FREE social media information and tips include Social Media Examiner, Hubspot, or Kimgarst.com. The social media sites you will want to invest your time in vary according to preference, but the ones I’ve had the most engagement and return from include Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and StumbleUpon. If you are NEW to the social media world and are a travel blogging beginner, I would suggest focusing on only two sites to keep your sanity such as Pinterest or Instagram.
5. BUILD AN E-MAIL LIST
Top travel bloggers will always say that a vital aspect of any travel blog is to have an e-mail sign up form somewhere on your blog. I’m still working on optimizing my own site for e-mail opt-ins and currently use Mailchimp as an e-mail subscription site because I am focusing on building content. However, once I gain more money, I intend to use Aweber as I have heard that is well worth the extra money. But let’s be frank, nobody is going to sign up for an e-mail list unless they have an incentive or you offer them something of value! If it’s not your travel blog that does it, give something away such as an e-book, newsletter, or prize on Rafflecopter!
6. EASE YOURSELF INTO AFFILIATE MARKETING!
Just like swimming, you don’t jump straight off the rocks into that freezing cold water! You ease into the water like there are travel blogging sharks after you, just as you should ease into affiliate marketing. As a travel blog beginner, you might fit any of these criteria: A. You are deeply passionate about travel B. You want to make money from travel blogging C. You started travel blogging because you loved it, and then you decided you want to make money from it.
As a relatively new blogger myself (only been at this a year folks!) I would advise you to focus on content first, and affiliate marketing later. Although the consensus is that affiliate marketing is generally the best way to make money from travel blogging, please do yourself a favor and ease into it. I went to the Affiliate Summit before I knew what I was doing and I was just a lost cause! Now of course, I’ve learned a bit more, but there is always room for growth. If you are an affiliate marketing newbie, sign up as an Amazon affiliate, sign up at Commission Junction, and then learn about those before you do anything else. They are extremely easy to sign up for!
For those of you who feel like you’re ready to learn more about marketing and making money from blogging, check out these next level tips from successful blogger Journalist on the Run!
Do you feel like you would add anything else to these beginner tips?
Affiliate Disclosure: I am grateful to be of service and bring you content free of charge. In order to do this, please note that when you click links and purchase items, in some cases I will receive a referral commission. This incentive makes me work harder to give you the BEST and most AUTHENTIC reviews, tips, and inspiration! And well, it also helps me stuff my gullet. BONUS – I get to bring you more cool prizes and products if you keep feeding me. Thank you!
Thanks for the tips! Though I am not following this one (yet), I would also add go self-hosted! If you want to make any revenue from affiliate advertising, you need to go self-hosted. Also, learn photography! It’s probably just as important at writing. Along with that – invest in Adobe Illustrator or a similar platform to optimize your photographs 😉
Becky Markovitz recently posted…Prague: Come for the architecture, stay for the beer!
These are certainly worth mentioning in future posts! I’m kind of in reverse order, but I need to do a starting a travel blog posts with the self-hosted tip in it. Photography is essential, but I wanted to keep it super brief so not to overwhelm! 🙂
Nice tips for any travel blogger. Only I will put Content as first and networking somewhere after it. As what good will be networking if you do not have content on your blog.
Prasad Np recently posted…Madame Tussauds Singapore: Clicking Pictures With Celebrities In Singapore
That is a very encouraging post . A lot of it reaffirms what I am feeling and thinking of doing. Thanks a ton for sharing.
Ami @ http://thrillingtravel.blogspot.in/?m=1
Ami recently posted…5 reasons why Budapest could be your next travel destination
Any time! Please come back to read more! THANKS!
Bobbi, thank you for sharing your travel blogging marketing tips. As a person who has been travel blogging for a while now I definitely agree with your tips.
An add on tip when working on your content is to also learn about things like how to write better headlines and also how to do long tail keyword research for each of your articles, as both of these things make a substantial difference to the long term readership for your travel blog and the potential to make an income from it.
Cheers,
Anne.
Anne Sutherland-Smith recently posted…How to Purchase Online Yomiuri Giants Baseball Tickets in the Tokyo Dome
These are essential as well! I’m thinking of doing a content post and focusing on those aspects! THANKS!
Thanks! Those are some great tips! 🙂
Kia recently posted…Hamelin: Being a Tourist in my Hometown
These are some great tips! The email list is still so difficult for me, I notice that people really dislike popups and floating windows that ask for your email. I am at the moment thinking of doing an ebook so maybe that will help.
Keep up the good work!
Thank you Bobbi! You’re absolutely right that networking with other travel bloggers and writing quality content is the first right steps ahead that you can take. It is overwhelming when you start so focusing on the social media channels you like one at a time, WILL save your sanity. I’m yet to get into Pinterest but I’ve heard excellent about excellent results from it!
I also suggest visiting other travel blogs and commenting on their posts 🙂
Alice Teacake recently posted…Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award
YES!! Commenting on others posts is CRUCIAL! Thanks for visiting! 🙂
As a newbie travel blogger, I love this advice! I’m always reading as much as I can on the subject as well as other people’s blogs. I’m slowly learning but there’s still a lot of work I have to do. Great article!
Mia recently posted…Night Tours in Rome
GREAT! I just wanted a simple post to start off with. Wold you be interested in a series of beginner blog posts?
Excellent tips! We’re relatively new at blogging as well (about 1.5 years in). I wish I had this post handy when I first started, it would have saved me a lot of hours. Your social media recommendation is spot on. I wish I had just focused on a couple (Instagram and Pinterest) and really building those before diving into others! We have yet to build an e-mail list, that will be the next big project. Thanks for all the helpful info!
Yes, the e-mail list has been a bit daunting. I am trying to focus on integrating Mailchimp with SumoMe at the moment and I believe it worked well! Thanks for reading!
This is a great guide for newbies. I definitely think collaboration is one of the most important things for a newbie and helps you network too.
Sophie recently posted…July in Instagram and words
Great tips! Totally agree networking and collaboration are so important towards growing your blog. Thanks for sharing your insights!
Hi! Thanks for these tips. I read the advice about the content. How many posts yo think is the ideal number for travel blog? I am still searching for new readers, so I wonder what would be the best. Thanks! Veronika
There is no real IDEAL number. Just keep writing and don’t expect much to happen until you get at least 15 or so articles up! 🙂 Thanks for reading!
So glad to see someone outline just how much work it takes to get a blog off the ground. So many people who meet me for the first time say they’d love to be a travel writer – until I share all that’s involved. My favorite is, I’m thinking about starting a blog, how do I make money? It’s a long road, unless you are incredibly lucky or started blogging years ago, to that.
Elaine J. Masters recently posted…An indispensable accessory – Your travel pillow
Great List! I’m a newbie myself (only three months in) and EVERYTHING you say makes sense. i did a search for Travel Blog Network on Facebook and couldnt find it. is it a secret group? or a membership type group like travel blog success? I just signed up last week for the course and i am looking forward to having some time to spend on it!
Lindsay Nieminen recently posted…Carpe Diem OUR Way Recap: Welcome to Blogging
Hmm, I’ll have to look into whether they made it a secret group because it wasn’t when I signed up! Travel Blog Network is a wonderful group. I’ll look into this and get back to you! THANKS for reading!
Hi, there!
Thanks a lot for this post, i found it really useful as I have started my travel blog three months ago and it’s hard to recognize in what direction to move to become a successful blogger.
I read a lot about backlinks. Nobody have a good or bad experience with them? I read a lot but still many articles seems to be more theoretical than practical ones.
Backlinks are important for SEO! Anything you can do to get our blog name out there or link to other sites are important for SEO. I started getting more search traffic when I did that. Thanks for reading!
Very well summed up! Being a newbie myself, I totally agree on networking and building a good content. In the end, we should blog because we love to and be patient about building a loyal audience!
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and keep coming back for more.
Interesting articles on information like this is a great find. It’s like finding a treasure. I appreciate how you express your many points and share in your views. Thank you.
You’ve really impressed me with that answer!
You’ve hit the ball out the park! Incredible!
Great tips! We still need to work on a couple of these aspects, but good to read that we are going in the right direction! Thanks again!
Travel-Ling recently posted…7 Reasons Why Croatia MUST be on your European Bucket List
Awesome list! Thank you for sharing! As an aspiring blogger it is really hard to find confidence to post new content you are satisfied with and network in a world that feels completely new to us! But this made me realize we all have to start somewhere and make the most of our blogging experience!! :))
Charlie recently posted…L’art de revenir // The art of coming back
As a long-time blogger, I would agree content is most important. You can market your blog all you want, but it’s the content that will keep them coming back. Too often I see new bloggers focusing on trying to make money and they have almost no content on the site. Find your voice, write good content, then when you market yourself, people will return to see what else you have to say.
Michelle Snow recently posted…Fear The Walking Dead Debuts With 10+ Million But Was It Worth the Hype?
definitely the great list of tips! I, as a travel blogger newbie, find this really useful! 🙂 I wish to have more time to focus more on other social media. I am using Facebook and Instagram for the moment only.
Happy blogging, I am looking forward your next posts! 🙂
Nika – nextstopabroad.com recently posted…15 things to do in Barcelona
Thanks so much for all the helpful tips! As a new blogger myself these are things I will totally be keeping in mind!
Great tips! I am trying to improve my marketing skills, but it doesn’t come quite as naturally to me as the writing does (and that’s not always so natural either!) 😉
Kacy recently posted…[Food + Wine] Wins of the Week
These are great tips, thanks. I just started my travel blog about a month ago and feel so overwhelmed. I definitely think focusing on content is the most important thing for me!
Ashley recently posted…Grilled Sweet + Sour Tofu “Shrimp” Recipe from Australia
The point about focusing on content is SO important. I made the mistake of focusing on monetization when I first started. DUH Products first.
Meg Ten Eyck recently posted…Why I Won’t Ride an Elephant
Thanks for these tips, they’re so useful and I definitely still need the help after 18 months of blogging! My traffic seems to be at a bit of a stand still and I’m just waiting for that magic time when it jumps up, even just a little! Hopefully if I keep writing consistently, that time will come! 😀
Emma Hart recently posted…10 Reasons To Get Out Of London On Your Gap Year
Great tips, I started my blog only 6 months back and trying to get my traffic up and working on content! Thanks for sharing!
As a newbie blogger myself these are all useful tips! Networking with other bloggers has been extremely valuable, and fun! Facebook groups have been a great place to meet people. Will have to look into the pinterest one!
Jennifer Ryder Joslin recently posted…Teaching English in Vietnam
I’d venture that this article has saved me more time than any other.
Thanks for sharing these tips! I am slowly moving into collaborating, SEO, and building an email list. Have any tips for growing this?
Becki S recently posted…Fluffy Friday: Maui the Scaredy Cat
Thanks for those tips. They will come in handy for me when I go on holidays.
jennyb recently posted…Welcome to JennyB Home Staging
This is a great post that can be applied even to us that are not travel bloggers. I’m new to the game and I love the concrete tips you have listed here.
. Your favorite justification appeared to be on the web the easiest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get irked while people think about worries that they plainly don’t know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people can take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thanks
This information is good for non travel bloggers. I am heading to Hawaii this weekend and wish I would have saw this post a while ago! But now I have the info for future trips!
Missy recently posted…Going into TC 10 Mile
Thanks so much for these tips! It’s daunting to be starting out and it helps to get reinforcement that you are on the right path. Content, content, content is where I’m focusing as a newbie!
Great tips! They are especially so important when you are in the beginning stages and try to grow your blog!
Lindsey recently posted…Introducing Chloe+Isabel Jewelry
Great tips for travel bloggers. 🙂
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I think it is also a good advise to spend more time on SEO than social media, especially now, when algorythms change all the time…
This is a very nice list of tips that will surely help travel bloggers to market their business. thanks for posting such great info.
I’ve been dreaming about a trip to Denver for many years! So lucky to have found these great tips!