How To Start A WordPress Travel Blog In 12 Minutes! (Step By Step Guide For Beginners)
In this article, l will show you how to start your own travel blog using WordPress – even without prior experience.
Not only that, but l will also share with you how you can monetize your travel blog – so that you can start earning some income, whilst doing what you love.
So still around if you want to learn more about this topic.
Steps Involved:
So without further ado, let me jump straight into more detail.
1. Choose A Name
Obviously, the main thing that will differentiate your blog from other travel blogs is the name.
You should try to come up with a name that is easy to remember for your audience – so that people can easily find your blog on the web.
But make sure that your preferred name is not taken already – so that you wont end up replicating other people's trademark.
If you're not so sure if the name was taken or not, simply head over to Google and type-in the name in the search bar.
This will give you some results related to that name – hence, giving you a clue on whether you can use it or not.
But just to give you an analogy, it is important to include some keywords in your blog name – so that you website can rank better on Google.
For example, names like TravelHub, TravelWithSam, DailyTravel, etc. performs better on search – since they include some keywords.
Obviously, some of these names were already taken – thus, you should try to come up with your own.
2. Sign Up For Web Hosting
Assuming that you've come up with a nice name for your blog, it’s now high time to sign up for web hosting.
This allows your website to get registered on the internet – thus, making it findable on search engines like Google or Bing.
Without registration, your website wont appear on Google – since it will be unknown on the web space.
Thus, it is key to register your blog name ASAP – so as to make it findable on Google.
With that being said, my favourite hosting provider of all time is GreenGeeks.
It comes with of ton of great features e.g. SSL certificates – to protect your website from hacking, CDN features – to guarantee great speed for your website, amongst others.
And guess what?
All these features comes at $2.95/month, which is less than the price of Starbucks coffee.
Thus, you can easily get your website up and running for such a low price.hprice.
3. Install WordPress
Assuming that you've signed up for hosting, it's now high time to install WordPress (website builder).
The cool thing is that, GreenGeeks comes with WordPress – meaning, you don't have to look for the WordPress app somewhere else.
As soon as you purchase your domain, WordPress is automatically installed – in just a few simple clicks.
Thus, you don't have to stress about looking for the app elsewhere.
4. Start Designing Your Blog
As soon as you install WordPress, it's now high time to start designing your blog.
The cool thing about WordPress is that, it comes with a ton of premade templates which are 75% done for you.
You simply need to browse through the templates – in order to find the one which best suits your needs.
You can also filter the templates by category – thus, allowing you to get access to more relevant templates which are ‘perfect' for your blog.
Once you find the one which you really like, simply customise it based on your tastes and preferences.
You can use a free plugin called Elementor – which help to turn your blog into a simple drag and drop editor.
Using this plugin, you can easily replace text, images, fonts, colours, etc. – thus, making your blog more stunning.
*You can also look for some free YouTube tutorials in order to get a better understanding on how to design a ‘perfect' blog.
5. Publish Your Blog
Assuming that you've finished creating your blog, it's now high time to hit the ‘publish' button – so as to make it visible to the search engines like Google.
This allows people to start visiting your blog – since it will be accessible to anyone interested in your niche.
It is also advisable to promote your blog on social media, forums, or even Facebook groups which are related to your niche.
But please, don't just spam your website link everywhere – since this might get you in serious trouble.
Instead, try to provide value first – before asking people to visit your website.
Another pro tip is that, you should try by all means to publish some awesome content on your blog – so that your visitors wont get bored when they visit your blog.
This helps a lot if you want to attract more people to your blog – since people will have a valid reason for visiting your website.
Now that we've explained how you can setup your own travel blog, let's quickly discuss how you can monetize your blog – so that you can start earning some income from your blogging efforts.
How Do Travel Bloggers Make Money?
(i) Ad Revenue
This is the most common method used by most bloggers to monetize their blogs.
In this case, bloggers apply for Ad networks such as AdSense, Ezoic, or Mediavine.
Once they get approved, they're given a tiny tracking code which they can install on their blogs.
This code helps to generate some display ads on your blog – thus, making you some income based on impressions, clicks, amongst other metrics.
This can be a great way of monetising your blog – whilst leveraging your blog traffic.
However, you might fail to make some significant income when your blog is still brand new.
But once you start to get more visitors, you might start to see some positive results in the future.
(ii) Affiliate Income
Another great strategy for monetizing your blog is through affiliate marketing.
This is whereby you apply for various affiliate programs like Amazon Associates, Commission Junction, or any other affiliate program related to your niche.
Once you get approved, you’ll get access to some various products and services related to travel.
Simply get the affiliate links of those products, place them on your blog – and when someone purchases those products using your links, you'll earn some commissions.
For example, you can find some travel packs on Amazon and promote them on your blog.
Since your visitors are already interested in that topic, they're likely to buy – thus, earning you a referral commission.
(iii) Brand Deals & Sponsorships
Another great way of monetizing your travel blog is through brand deals and sponsorships.
This is whereby big brands and companies reach out to you – so that they can tap into your audience in order to get more customers. (or maybe for brand awareness)
Thus, you'll be asked to advertise the brand inside your content – and in return, you'll earn some income based on the terms of your contract.
Keep in mind that, this monetization strategy can be hard in the initial days – since your blog will be less popular.
But as soon as your blog starts to gain some traction, big brands will start noticing you – and they will reach out to you for business inquiries.
Thus, if you stay consistent, you can start to get some good deals in the long run.
(iv) Selling Your Own Products
If you have your own products, then why not leverage your visitors to sell those products?
You can create a simple digital product (related to travel) – and you can sell it on your blog.
This can be something as simple as a travel guide, or maybe a travel checklist.
Since your audience are already interested in travel, they’re likely to buy those products.
The key is to provide valuable content first – so as to build trust with your audience.
Once you establish some strong relations with your audience, you can then launch your products.
And guess what?
Most people who benefited from your free valuable content will be more likely to buy your premium products.
That's just human nature! (Reciprocity)
Wrapping Up
I hope that you've gained a lot of value from this article, since l tried by all means to share my best knowledge.
I tried by all means to summarise this article – so as to keep it within the expected length.
But if you utilise the information shared in this post, you can easily setup and run your own travel blog – even without prior experience.
The key is to take action and implement these strategies – otherwise the information will be useless if you don't implement it.
Ready To Launch Your Travel Blog?
