Back in 2015, the blogosphere predicted the imminent death of the travel genre. Audiences argued that travel blogs are useless from a practical point of view and are lost to forums. Many said readers are fed up with travel reports and postcard views, and there are only a few really interesting travel bloggers. However, it is mid-2019, and the genre is still alive and flourishing, although it has changed. Some travel bloggers changed the main platform, added a more personal touch and developed other projects, strengthening their personal brand.
There are two important things you have to be aware of before starting a blog on traveling.
First, begin to work on your travel blog if you indeed travel constantly. You do not need to search for all information and materials on the internet and base your articles on them. All this will not lead to anything good, as people only trust information that is obtained first-hand.
Secondly, there should be at least some experience in traveling before you run a travel blog. If you have never traveled before, then you might end up making a bunch of mistakes. Here, professional travel writers from AdvancedWriters share how to run a travel blog, find loyal subscribers, and stay in the genre for a long time.
7 Simple Tips to Make Your Traveling Blog Great
Here they are:
- Blog name. The name of a travel blog should convey its essence. This is important for readers, as the name of the blog gives them some idea what it is about. It must be noticeable, catchy, and easy to remember. It should cause intrigue among readers so that they certainly want to read your travel blog. If the name is too long, it will lead to the loss of potential visitors.
- Chatting with other travelers. Visit other travel blogs and see how much work you need to do. Before you start writing, check with other travelers what they expect from a travel blog. Make a list of things they do to attract readers to their pages. After comparing information obtained from the internet, analyze it carefully to come up with something truly unique. If your blog is not unique, it will simply plunge into the gray mass of similar travel blogs.
- Unique Concept. Search #Prague or #Istanbul in any tourist community or on Instagram. What do you see? A lot of posts with the main attractions, wonderful photos, and honest reports. How much will you read from a dozen? That is something to think about. Is it worth making 1,001 posts about what 1,000 people have already written before you? As with all other topics, unique presentation and specialization are important and must be equal to the best. Murad and Natalia Osmann (@muradosmann) found their style, which brought them worldwide popularity. Photographer @paperboyo transforms familiar tourist objects by adding carved paper figures to them. Do not try to do everything at once. Focus on one thing and become an expert at it (for example, communicating with local people, kitchens, budget vacation, hitchhiking, markets, travel mentality, etcetera. Most importantly, avoid clichés like “New York is a city of contrast.”
- Site selection. Your professional success depends on choosing the right platform for your blog. Site selection depends on the concept. If you want to write useful reports and make detailed guides, it makes sense to start a text-heavy blog. Its advantage is that the reader can easily find information on the web and refer to your blog as a guide. If you are starting a blog on YouTube, you need to objectively evaluate your charisma, sense of humor, and oratorical skills. In Instagram, you can get attention by incorporating high-quality visual and textual content in your style. This is probably the most popular travel blog format and the easiest to find an audience.
- More benefits. It will be great if your blog is more useful than a guide to the country. Put geotags when you find a delicious cafe, vintage shop, private gallery, or a beautiful location. This will increase the number of saves and subscriptions, ensuring repeat visits when readers need to clarify the details. Balancing between advantage and interestingness, remember that most users do not have time to read extensive reports. If you want to share useful information, try to squeeze it in a few sentences.
- Study user requests. What interests you most as a traveler when preparing for your next trip? Most likely where to live, where to eat, how much it cost, and how to get there. Be sure that these same questions are addressed for your readers. Satisfy their curiosity. You can make a small survey in the blog and ask what it would be interesting for readers to learn about the country or city where you left off.
- Author’s identity. Impersonal travel blogs are perceived as art galleries or guidebooks. The personality of the author, his thoughts, comments, emotions, and style will help a blog to win the love of readers. If an interesting story is your forte, let subscribers know new places through the lens of your perception.
