How to start a travel blog
You are a tireless traveler and you are thinking of spending part of your free time creating a website in which to tell your adventures around the world. In this regard, since you are not at all an expert in the dynamics of the Web, you wonder how to start a travel blog, and, doing an online search, you have come across this tutorial of mine.
Believe me, you couldn’t have come to a better place! In fact, I am here ready to explain to you how to use the main tools of the Web, free and paid, to set up a professional blog in a nutshell and thus tell your travel experiences to thousands of potential readers. Do you think it is difficult? I’m sure that, after reading this guide, you will change your mind!
C’mon! What are you waiting for? Sit down comfortably, you will see that you just need to follow my instructions step by step to succeed in your intent, also because starting a blog is now as easy as drinking a glass of water! All you need is a few minutes of free time, in order to read the next paragraphs with the utmost attention and thus be able to identify the most suitable platform for your future travel blog. Are you ready to get started? Yup? Very well! I wish you a good reading and, above all, a good job!
Tips for creating a travel blog
Before explaining to you those are the useful services for creating a travel blog, I want to give you some tips – I hope useful – regarding the optimization of the same.
First of all, if you want to start a successful travel blog, you need to make sure you find the right name to give to the site: it must be an original, attractive name, but at the same time easy to remember. Obviously, it must also be perfectly consistent with the subject matter.
For example, if you want to start a travel blog dedicated only to a specific city, such as Milan, it would be better if your blog name contains the name of the city (eg Passion Milan). If, on the other hand, you are a person who travels often and you want to start a blog in which you tell the places you visit, you need to find a suitable name to represent your activity as a tireless traveler. In this case, for example, your blog name could be The Globetrotter.
Furthermore, as regards the posts to be published, being a travel blog, my advice is to publish articles relating to the recommended itineraries to visit a particular city. Alternatively, it might be interesting to make posts to talk about lesser-known but equally interesting places to visit or reviews regarding the accommodations you visit and the places you frequent.
What I have indicated to you are only examples. In case you need to find the right inspiration for the articles, you can do a search on Google Trends, the well-known Google service that analyzes web trends (and therefore allows you to find out which keywords are most searched by users based on certain topics and criteria) that I told you about specifically in my guide dedicated to the topic.
Also, don’t forget to take care of the graphics of your blog, as this represents a sort of business card and could help you make your passion a real job. In this regard, as an alternative to the free themes offered by the major Web services, which I will talk about in the next paragraphs, you can evaluate the purchase of a paid theme by doing a search on the famous online store Envato Market.
Do not underestimate the social component of your blog: by now, if you want to get noticed, you must also be present on social platforms, so don’t forget to create a Facebook business page, an Instagram profile, and a Twitter profile dedicated to your site. And if you are willing to post videos of your adventures around the world, you could start a YouTube channel and try to make it a successful channel to collaborate with companies and, who knows, thus receive financial support for your next travels.
Platforms for creating travel blogs
Now you are ready to find out which tools and, above all, which platforms to use to start your travel blog: analyze them all carefully and choose the one that best suits your needs.
WordPress.com
One of the best resources you can rely on is WordPress.com, which offers free hosting space and integration with the popular WordPress CMS.
WordPress.com provides a free hosting space equal to 3 GB with a third-level domain (for example chosenname.wordpress.com) but, eventually, it is possible to purchase a paid hosting space and a second-level domain ( eg name.com) separately.
Furthermore, it is possible to activate a subscription plan (prices starting from $ 4 per month with annual billing) to increase storage space, remove advertising and have the possibility to insert advertising banners to monetize your content.
To create a travel blog via WordPress.com, connected to its official website, click on the Start Now button and start creating an account. Then type your email address in the appropriate field, choose a username and password to use on the platform and then click the Continue button, or press the Continue on Google button to quickly register with your Google account.
In the following text fields, answer a few questions regarding, for example, the name you want to give your site and the topic you want to cover, then click the Continue button. Then choose the domain name you want to give to your website, typing it in the text field that is shown on the screen, and then click on Select, corresponding to the Free option, if you want to continue creating your site at no cost.
If, on the other hand, you intend to evaluate the subscription of a paid subscription, click on Select, corresponding to the Included of the paid plans item, and choose the subscription plan that best suits your needs.
Do you want to continue using WordPress.com for free? Then click on Start with free and wait for your website to be generated. At the end of this operation, you can begin to manage the blog and customize it, referring to the welcome tutorial that is shown to you.
For example, you can use the Site Page, Blog Posts, and Media side menu items to start customizing your webspace in every aspect.
Blogger
Among the most famous services useful for creating a travel blog is the one offered by the Blogger website, which is owned by Google. The Mountain View giant makes available to users a free hosting space with a third-level domain (eg.name.blogspot.com) but, possibly, it is possible to purchase a second-level domain and a paid hosting space, in order to get a website with a URL of the type chosenname.com.
If you intend to start for free to create your travel blog, you will be interested to know that the service offered by Blogger allows you to earn by inserting advertising banners. In fact, Blogger integrates with the well-known Google Adsense advertising platform, which I told you about in detail in a dedicated tutorial.
To create a travel blog through the hosting space made available for free by Blogger, connected to its home page and click on the Create your blog entry on the home page. Once this is done, you will be prompted to choose a Google account to connect to it.
Then you will be prompted to search, through the Google Domains service, for a domain to be purchased for a fee (prices vary from $ 12 per year). However, if you want to continue for free, close the screen, using the X button located in the upper right corner, and continue.
Start, then, to create your blog for free, by typing its title and address in the appropriate text fields, in order to obtain a URL like chosenname.blogspot.com.
Now, browse the themes in the relevant section, in order to identify the most suitable for the creation of your blog, and press the Create your blog button located at the bottom. Then wait for your website to be created, so you can start customizing it and writing articles.
In the first case, refer to the Layout and theme sections, while if you want to start writing posts right away, use the editor you can see in the Post section.
Other useful tips to start a travel blog
The services I have told you about so far are just some of the most famous that provide free hosting space with a third-level domain, but they are not the only ones.
If you want other solutions to consider, you can refer to other hosting companies, such as OVH, SiteGround, or GoDaddy, which allow you to obtain web spaces and domains.
Through these services, which usually support the installation of a preconfigured CMS such as WordPress, you can get a website with more professional results. In this regard, if the topic interests you, I recommend that you learn more by reading my guide in which I explain how to choose a hosting.
If, on the other hand, you have even more basic needs, I suggest you turn to the main site-building platforms, such as Wix, Weebly, and Jimdo which allow you to create a blog for free with a third-level domain. Unlike the main solutions mentioned in this guide, the latter have a tool dedicated to the creation of Internet sites that is even easier to use.
