It took us almost 8 months to start seeing meaningful gains in our travel blog endeavors. Curious how long it took others to start making any income from affiliate marketing, sponsorships or advertising on your blog. We have been focusing on affiliate marketing revenue, and now we will start to focus more on sponsorships.

Hello All
My travel blog traffic grew drastically in October-December, holiday season. Now it has taken a mild hit and rising slowly. Plus, I played a lot with plugins to achieve a good score on Page Speed Insights. How are you all coping with Google's new algorithms update?

Hey everyone, I just came to the point where I started creating digital products related to traveling to implement a new income stream for my travel blog. The planned products will mostly be maps with marked locations, travel itineraries, travel-budget planners and so on.

The cheapest" way to do this for me is to implement the woocommerce on my blog and just sell it from my own store, but there are quite some tax-related complications if I want to do it correctly. That's why I'm thinking about a platform through which I would simply sell the product, and then issue an invoice to the platform who would pay me what I earned.

Are you already using a platform like that? Do you maybe have any suggestions on what to look at? I stumbled upon a platform named Rexby and NanoWhat. Does anyone have experience with them or some other suggestions what to look at?

Thank you

If you sell digital products on your blog/channels…what are some products that actually sell?

I feel like my feed these days is filled with bloggers/influencers selling “ways to make money by blogging/social/etc” ie teaching other bloggers how to blog.

There is nothing wrong with this, I just don’t want to go that route on my travel blogging journey. I know there are many ways to monetize, but I’m specifically wondering about digital products!

But what travel products actually sell and you think are worthwhile for your audience?

Just curious what others are doing!

I joined the Viator affiliate program a few months ago. I was accepted and have had a few bookings. I added my payment details today and now every time I log in, I get this message:

“Unfortunately, we are unable to proceed with your account for the Viator Partner Program at this time. Your interest is appreciated, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”

Have I been kicked off of the program? Has anyone else ever experienced this? I can’t find a similar query online. Have sent them a message, but no response yet. :(

My friend has a photography instagram account where they post photos from different countries. Their photos are usually nature-related with others. Now they want to start posting travel reels and turn his account to a travel blog. So my question is what sounds do you recommend for those types of reels other than music. They don't want to use music. I was thinking maybe nature sounds like waves and wind but those are very limited. Maybe certain tiktok sounds with no music, but I am not very familiar with tiktok. So what do you recommend?

Over the past few years, I've noticed a frustrating trend. When I'm at home and geotag my city, my story views fluctuate between 250 and 500, depending on the time and content. But when I travel, the views can drop to as low as 50, typically averaging around 100. Considering I run a travel blog, my travel content is what my followers find most interesting. But it seems like IG's algorithm is spoiling the fun of posting while traveling. Has anyone else had this issue? Any insights on how to fix this?

I've been experiencing a peculiar issue over the past few years. When I'm at home and geotagging my city, my story views range from 250-500, depending on the content and the time of day I post it. However, when I'm traveling, they drop dramatically to as low as 50, usually hovering around 100. As a travel blogger, my travel content is arguably the most exciting stuff I produce, but Instagram's algorithm is making it increasingly disheartening to post while I'm on the move.

Has anyone else had this problem? Any solutions?

I have a travel Instagram account where I post photos and stories from my trips. However, I'm struggling to gain new followers and increase engagement. I post regularly, use relevant hashtags, and engage with my audience.

Any advice on growing a travel Instagram account?

Hi all,

Just starting out and I'm wondering if there are any must have apps to help me in noting down what I do day to day and spend etc. whilst travelling.

I often find myself forgetting some information unless I stop and make note of it then and there.

Hi! I want to start a travel blog and I am having trouble with deciding on a name for it. I live in a South American country and really want the blog to be about that country but when I move back to Europe I was thinking about blogging about that country. So I guess my question is if it’s better to have a more generic blog name or one with my country I will be blogging about in it. Hope that makes sense. Thanks

Any tips/tutorials? :)

Hello! It's my first time on this subreddit and I'm really interested in the whole travel blog thing. It's an idea my parents pitched when I started running my Nendoroid photography Instagram account, which at one point was dominated by a bunch of travel photos with my Nendoroids because I took too many pictures and went to too many places.

I can't buy a domain yet so I'm using Wix/Weebly to craft my own website (I hate HTML, don't get me started on my ICT IGCSE practicals...)! But before I actually start doubling down on the design, I'm a little worried about my content. I've researched and read a whole lot of other popular travel blogs and they're all about "What You Shough Do in Country X" or "Places to Stay in Country Z". Problem is I'm still a teen, so I can't do all of those...

But I can take photos!

I plan to write a travel blog about my experiences traveling to different countries that my family and I go to, but it seems like an unspoken rule not to do that? I'm not very sure, but I haven't come across a single travel blog that is dedicated to telling people about their travels, not a travel itinerary.

I'm just asking for a few tips/guidelines that will push me in the right direction of travel blogging, like what websites are recommended to use (free... I have no money...), what kind of equipment you need, or really important pages (about me page, etc) on your blog!

Thanks for your time reading!

Has anyone here attended TBEX? Is it a good way to network and grow my travel blog?

I'm currently in a UX design class and am having a hard time finding people to interview for my project. If anyone is open to being interviewed I would really appreciate it!!!

Hey everyone!

​

So I'm a content writer who became too frustrated with writing commercial product-based content. Recently I rediscovered my love for travelling. It has been a dream to travel around and write; however, initially, the thought of it was too daunting. I thought it would take a lot of my own money to get started, and I won't be able to make any back. And so, I settled with simply writing content for digital marketing agencies from the comfort of my home. Now, I seek something more fulfilling and I'm ready to finally try my hand at travel blogging both written and video. So, any tips to start out? Should I offer my services to travel websites or submit to magazines or get a real blog of my own and focus on it? Any tips would be appreciated as I'm a complete rookie.

Hi,

A couple of years ago I started a website where I write about all travel destinations in my country.

After a lot of hard work it became the most popular local travel website in my country and it ranks in top 3 for almost any related query one may think of.

However, It’s a small country with not a lot of destinations so I only get about 5,000-10,000 monthly visitors.

It absolutely is not a lot of traffic, but since it’s still the most popular website in my country, I’ve started trying to get in touch with local travel agencies to maybe promote their tours, something like affiliate marketing.

I offered FREE advertising to a couple of companies. Free because I want to research how interested users would be to then be able to set a price.

However, NONE of them agrees, this is so bizarre.

One of them even asked me how much traffic I have… after I offered them FREE advertisement.

Maybe it seems suspicious that I try to offer them free advertising, but I’ve explained that it’s free just for a month, to get a better understanding of my users. I don’t think they have anything to lose, am I wrong? It’s not like the website is shady or something…

Do I do it wrong? (i guess)

Does anyone know of competitions, awards, grants for travel, particularly for those interested in media? I came across the Journey of a Lifetime Award from the Royal Geographical Society where the winner makes a radio programme for BBC Radio 4. Anything else like this out there? https://www.rgs.org/in-the-field/in-the-field-grants/expedition-grants/journey-of-a-lifetime-award/

If you were to be interested in following a travel blog, what kind of content would you wanna see? Looking for any and all ideas 🗺️ Thank you!

I already have one blog not related to travel. But I’m thinking about starting a travel blog. Which would be fastest to rank and smartest- a local travel blog (based on a big city), a blog about a region of a single state, a blog about a specific state in the us, or a Broad travel site? I know locally would prob rank fastest but I wonder if it would Prevent me from really making much money in the end due to limiting me to one area.

Hi,

I've got a FB, Twitter and IG account I was using for an Adriatic island holiday apartment rental business 3 years ago. All 3 have been pretty much inactive at my end for at least 2 years, but likes, and follows are always ticking over. I've got a great hashtag which I guess you could say has caught on and people are always sharing and tagging it on the IG.

All accounts are sub-2000 followers each, not huge numbers, but the audience is engaged and eager. The domain I was using at the time was really great too and it's still available. You would look at it and say that in the right hands, it has the potential to be something.

I realised before I started the business that social media and internet presence weren't at the top of the local's business plan, so I took advantage. Lately, I have been considering doing something with the accounts. I'd like to create another website/blog/information resource with intention of monetising it eventually. I'm just not sure where to start now from where I am. I have many ideas.

My rough plan so far is this:

1. Wake up the SM accounts. Get them moving again. Try to get on local businesses' radar.
2. SEO/SERP research. Google search terms/keyword research. Figure out where the info gaps are and draw up a few topics to get cracking on writing.
3. Design and develop the website/Blog. I'd like it to be an all-in-one info resource for the island (transport info, entertainment, accommodation, sightseeing). I really think this could be achievable because the local tourism offices are not so great with updating info.

To me, points of potential future earnings are:

1. Paid posts/blogs with local businesses (wineries, camps, hotels, restaurants, travel agencies...?)
2. Banner Ad space on the website itself (is that a thing still?). Maybe a taxi/bus company, yacht charter or big nightclub wants to advertise?
3. Accommodation rental. The more SM aware accommodation business owners may be interested in me renting their accommodation (I have years of experience in hospitality marketing. I've owned both private and hostel accommodation). There are a lot of fancy accommodation facilities with wealthy (sometimes foreign) hands-off owners. Getting the website established is key to this part.

I'm a bit of a digital marketing multi-tool. I have a good handle on social media marketing, web design and development, SEO, some graphic design, and video/audio editing, content writing and I have been working in tourism and hospitality in this country for 10 years now - I've got the tools. It's not going to cost me anything to set this up. I just don't want to go down a rabbit hole doing everything all at once and going actually nowhere.

Many thanks for your help!

For local travel bloggers - do you have an event calendar plugin? How do you update your local events? I'm wondering if using the event calendar plugin is bad for SEO or if it will slow down my website. Thanks!

Two days ago I started a new instagram 2 days ago for our travel/adventures as I wanted to private my personal account where I used to post on. The amount of comments I get on every photo about a brand wanting to 'collab' or partner is crazy. It's clear they're all a bit scam-my or just have crap products (one company clearly buys tshirts from wish and resells them at an extremely inflated rate). But my question is, should I delete these comments? Part of me thinks that having comments under posts looks good, but clearly if you read them and they're all just 'we love your photos, dm us' that doesn't look as great.

Ironically, I only have 10 followers and one of them is a legit adventure clothing brand that I've bought from previously that has over 70k followers as we intend to work together in the future.

Whenever I write about my travel experiences on social media in terms of having longer captions, I feel that the engagement is generally lower and the norm favours people who write short and concise captions. I was wondering if there is any better platforms for me to write to audiences who are more interested in expressive and longer captions.

We're a group of University students at UBC in Vancouver, Canada and we would love to hear about how you do you feel about monetization of your blog. We are currently working on a project to learn about the current situation of bloggers.

Appreciate it if you could fill out this quick and secure survey - we don't collect any identifying information: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_79iyRdDATtImt1A

That's it! One 5-minute survey and you'll get a chance to win one of four $25 PayPal gift card! :)

We thank you in advance, your input would be of great help to our research - and if you have any questions, please shoot me a message!

I’m in the process of starting a travel blog because I work in aviation and travel all the time anyway. I’m particularly fond of Bill Bryson’s writing, so I was curious if there are blogs with a similar style to his? I wanted to make mine kind of funny in a similar manner, but I was curious if there were others out there like that. I struggle to find them when I search for it.

 Hi there, 

Digital nomad here. I'm in the web / online business development industry. I'm not a travel blogger, but I've been following dozens of travel blogs for years, so I'm quite the consumer. I just want to share some insight that might help you in standing out from the rest.

The last few years I've unsubscribed from so many blogs, due to the whiplash of my eyeball rolling and useless content out there. First suggestion based on observation - don't share useless, repetitive content. There's a lot of useless content out there of stating the obvious, or taking the approach that you're talking to juvenile idiots or something. Example: I know how to pack a suitcase, I'm an adult after all, please don't tell me how to pack for a summer trip, I'm not 8. That level of content. No one is going to engage with that. You are offering nothing of value. Yet, I see people recycle this crap all the time in hopes that..they'll make money off of it? If life was only that easy.

Or posting "best Airbnbs in X location", and they all are $600+ a night. Yeah, no shit. Everything at that price point is going to be super fucking cool without having to dig for it. I can go on Airbnb right now, put in $600/night and see lots of amazing cool places without a blog having to tell me this obvious scenario.

Or talk about Top 5 Things to Do in Lisbon, and it be just the shit I'd find after 3 minutes of googling it, and not getting any type of authentic take or insight or dare I say *something new* from an article. A blogger is one of a million, you'll get lost in the crowd if you don't offer something of value. Keep in mind that your users probably already spent a lot of time online looking into the top things to do in Lisbon, then they come across your blog, see it's nothing new, and move on. Think about it like a business - consider it from the users perspective and the experience they've already had elsewhere with your same content. You're not going to be the first blog they magically land on, so what content could they have already come across. Perhaps you spent time at some eccentric hotel in the outskirts of Lisbon where tourists rarely go to, and want to write about your experience - that has unique value.

Just so much lazy content, it baffles me that this is the level of effort that they expect to find success with. That's not how the normal job marketplace works (in theory :p ), so don't expect it to work with your blog business. Know your audience. Don't talk down to adults like they don't know how to pack a suitcase, and don't reach out to a younger broke audience with $600/night ideas. These are obviously a few small examples, but this concept is widespread across travel bloggers out there, and I'm bummed that I've had to disengage due to too much basic shit. 

Of course, I'm not speaking to the person who just wants to have a blog and share it with the world. I'm referring to the blogs that expect to make money and build and audience. And I’m not specifically referring to covid-times which has obviously made a negative impact.

Anyway, just wanted to share observations from a User. 

Happy travels.

I’ve just set up my first travel blog, and it’s finally just gone live. I’m proud of myself for getting it that far, but now I’m kind of overwhelmed wondering how the hell to move forward.

Editing it is much harder than I thought it would be. There’s a little black bar over my header I can’t get rid of. Half the widgets I was told were free actually cost money, and it all just looks so bare. I can’t figure out how to connect with other travel bloggers to support each other in a sea of people much more established in this than I am, or how to add tags to Instagram posts to widen my scope of views.

Jeez. I’m only 27 but I feel like this technology stuff is ageing me a decade a minute. Anyone else feel this way? Or if you did when first starting out, how did you overcome it and learn?

So we've started a travel blog, but are struggling to get traffic. Is there a good place to post particular types of posts? like destination reviews/airline reviews etc.