The secrets to becoming a successful travel blogger are something all new content creators and bloggers wonder at the beginning of their blogging journey. They want to know how they can earn a full-time living from travel blogging, get paid to go on trips, and live the life of their dreams.
Many professional travel bloggers on the internet earn six figures a year from their blogging business. Many of them started their blog as a hobby but started to take it seriously down the road and treated it like a business. As a result of this, they saw growth and turned their adventures into an income source.
There is nothing wrong with travel blogging for a hobby if that is what you like to do. But if you are here, you probably are looking for a way to earn from your travel blogging business.
Becoming a professional travel blogger – or any blogger for that matter – is difficult as the barrier to entry is low and the market is saturated.
But what will set you apart from everyone else is your consistency and your uniqueness.
So many people start their travel blog but realize the work ethic and discipline it takes to keep it running. They try to make their travel blogging work with subpar efforts and fail.
This is what makes the difference between a successful travel blogger and an unsuccessful one. If you have the drive and motivation to keep on going even through the rough patches, you can definitely make it.
With that said, let’s take a look at what travel blogging really is and the 15 secrets to becoming a successful travel blogger.
What Really is a Travel Blogger?
A travel blogger is essentially someone who shares their travel experiences with people by writing about them.
Anyone can start a travel blog and become a blogger. However, not many people earn a viable income from their travel blogging.
Travel bloggers earn their income from both online and offline sources. They not only earn from their blog but the diverse opportunities that the blog exposes them to.
15 Secrets to Becoming a Successful Travel Blogger
1. Become Friends with Your Competitors
Don’t hate, collaborate!
This is the motto you should follow as a professional travel blogger. The internet is big enough for everyone. Instead of trying to compete with others, join them and create something collectively beautiful.
To become a successful travel blogger, you need to reach out to other bloggers and work alongside them. Find ways to collaborate by writing guest posts etc.
Always remember that the only competition you have is with yourself, not others.
Not only will you make more friends this way. But also, grow your travel blog more. It is a win-win for everyone involved!
2. Network by Attending Travel Blogger Conferences and Shows
Networking is extremely important if you want to become a successful travel blogger.
This is something that many bloggers overlook.
While posting online stuff is cool and all, you should never underestimate what the power of networking offline can do.
Attend conferences and talk shows in your niche. Meet with other travel bloggers.
This will open up new horizons and opportunities for you, helping you grow your blog, bring more traffic to it, and consequently, earn money from it.
3. Connect with Your Audience Often
To become a successful travel blogger, you need to improve your content regularly. One of the best ways to know where you can improve is to engage with your audience and listen to what they have to say.
Connecting and getting back to your followers’ comments is a great way to engage with them and give back. After all, they are the ones enabling you to become successful in this field.
The more you connect with them, the more you will realize what they like and dislike. Consequently, you can tailor your content around that.
Moreover, engaging with your followers also brings a sense of community and welcomeness. If you take the time to respond to them, they will likely become a loyal follower of yours as they will know that you appreciate their presence.
4. Write Content Regularly
Being consistent is the key to becoming a successful travel blogger. If you are not putting out regular content on your blog, your audience does not know what and when to expect something from you. As a result, they will lose interest.
More content also means people are more likely to find one of your many posts and get interested in engaging more with your travel blog.
While you don’t need to post content every single day, you should set a regular timetable for your postings, even if it is only twice a week.
5. Write Content That Provides Value
Not only do you need to put out content consistently. You also need it to be high-quality content that answers the questions your readers have and provides educational info.
Even before you try and apply other techniques, such as SEO or social media marketing, you need to produce content that is valuable. You can promote your content all you like and use the best marketing practices. But that is going to do you no good if your information is not worthwhile.
So, don’t just throw something up. Make it better than last time.
6. Know Your Why – Be Clear on Your Goals
Always know your why.
To become a successful professional travel blogger, you need to know where you want to go and what you want to achieve. You should set clear goals for yourself as to why you are doing what you are doing.
Defining your goals will give you a direction to work towards. Without a direction, you won’t know how, when, and where to make an effort.
Set big goals and divide them into smaller, achievable steps. Check back regularly to see where you are against your end target and shape your efforts around that.
7. Establish Your Expertise by Choosing a Niche
You can’t please everyone. So, you might as well not waste your time trying.
While being a travel blogger is great, I recommend picking a certain niche. Picking a niche and focusing on that is going to establish you as an expert on that particular topic.
This is also going to set you apart and make your content unique – something that is rare in today’s world.
8. Recognize Your Weaknesses and Work Around Them
No one can do everything all alone. Blogging involves a lot of tiny jobs that you need to do in order to make it look presentable. And you simply cannot be an expert at everything.
Hire people to help you in areas where you think are you are weak. The time you save on those activities can be better spent focusing on what you are good at and doubling down on that.
Yes, you might be a social media marketing whizz but still terrible at website design or photography. Figure out your strengths and weaknesses and seek help wherever needed.
9. Build an Email Subscriber List
Building an email subscriber can prove to be even more important than social media in terms of marketing your blog to the masses. The people who subscribe to your email list are your dedicated readers and want to engage with your content regularly.
The reason why email subscriber lists work so well is because they provide a much more personal experience to the audience. As a result, they potentially drive more traffic to your website than your social media platforms.
Another reason for email subscribers lists to be so effective is that a user is more likely to see an email compared to social media posts.
10. Build Your Own Personal Branding
You may have noticed companies – think: Nike, Apple, Adidas – that build a sense of personal identity around their brand are extremely successful.
You need to do the same. Stand out from the crowd and give yourself a unique personal branding that is different from that of others and is not run-of-the-mill.
Rather than following seemingly the most successful path, put your own spin on everything you do.
Ask yourself: what am I passionate about? What drives me to do the things I do?
Ideally, you would want your blog and any endeavors related to it to be aligned with your core values and personal branding.
Maybe you like adventure traveling. Or maybe you like finding the best hiking trails. Whatever your passion is, base your travel blog content around that passion.
11. Learn How to Do SEO Well
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the best and most effective things you can do to generate more traffic for your travel blog.
Great content matters but you are going nowhere if that great content is not getting noticed. To get your content noticed, you need to rank well on search engines, such as Google. And to rank well on Google, you need to optimize your content using SEO techniques.
A few SEO tricks include writing in short paragraphs of 2-3 lines, using your target keyword throughout the article naturally, use clear headings, and link back to other relevant content either on your website or someone else’s.
12. Invest in Your Travel Blog
If you want to earn money from your travel blog, you need to treat it like a business from the get-go. And thinking of it like a business means that you will have to invest in your blog like you would in any other business endeavor.
You don’t become a successful travel blogger without investing in learning about the ins and outs of how it all works. After all, you have thousands of people to compete against to make it on the internet.
Therefore, whether it is time or money, invest in your blog. This can include paying to take courses from established travel bloggers and investing money in a good quality media kit.
13. Write Guest Posts for Other Travel Blogs
A great way to become a successful travel blogger and increase your visibility is by writing guest posts for other travel blogs. Try and look for a blog that is more established and popular than yours.
Reach out to them and inquire whether they allow for guest posts or not. There is a good chance you will find someone who is willing to collaborate.
Writing a guest post on their travel blog will bring in their followers to your website as well. This is going to increase traffic on your travel blog and also improve your credibility as a blogger in the long run.
Networking is another advantage of writing guest posts.
14. Create Content That is Unique
Everyone is creating something. So, how do you succeed in a sea of content?
Be unique!
This is easier said than done.
But do stuff that is challenging or fascinating.
For example, instead of writing about a great party you went to in Thailand, write about your camping experience in Antarctica.
Write about an experience that not many people would have had. This is what is going to make your content unique.
15. Be Professional
If you want to be taken seriously as a travel blogger and content creator, you need to be professional with it.
Like I said before, you should think of your travel blogging as a business. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that you should handle your business professionally.
Commit to being dedicated to your blog post and the way you brand yourself. Companies don’t want to work with someone who has no professional etiquette.
Be cordial in the way you handle business with others and interact with your audiences. This is key to becoming a successful travel blogger.
These 15 secrets to becoming a successful travel blogger are going to help you take your blog to new heights and earn an income while doing something you love.
Remember, the key lies in hard work and perseverance. Good luck!
