The document provides guidance on how to start and grow a successful travel blog. It discusses defining your travel blogging brand and niche, creating high-quality and engaging content, optimizing your blog for search engines, growing social media followers, monetizing your blog through ads and affiliates, and networking with other travel bloggers. The goal is to establish authority and readership over 6-12 months through posting regularly and developing an engaging online presence.
4. Define Your Travel Blogging Brand
Who is my reader / potential customer?
What makes you different?
What is my plan?
5. How to be Different…
Choose a niche no one else has blogged in before
Show us something about your life / unique about you
Have a different and catchy style when it comes to
blog posts (in terms of the tone/style/images/video
etc.).
Blog about your passions!
7. List 6 Things to Accomplish in 6 Months
1. Increase blog content
2. Generate at least 10 sales of my ebook
3. Create 1 travel video
4. Write 3 blog posts / week
5. Write a travel e-book
6. …
8. How Does Your Blog Appear in Google?
WEBSITE URL
LINKEDIN
FACEBOOK
GOOGLE+
INSTAGRAM
PINTEREST
TWITTER
YOUTUBE
SLIDESHARE
IMAGES
LINKS ON OTHER
SITES/NEWS
ARTICLES
9. How to Measure Your Blog Authority
In Google
Google Analytics
OpenSiteExplorer - https://moz.com/researchtools/ose (really
great for research and ideas!)
SEO Strength – backlinks, on-page SEO etc.
Strength of Social Media Platforms / Mentions / Engagement
Klout.com
Page Rank
Offline Events – Blogging Conferences
11. Examples of Popular Travel
Bloggers
Research key bloggers in your field / industry:
Who do you admire in the blogging world?
What do their online profiles look like?
What can you take away from their profiles and
apply to your own?
14. Dawn Jorgensen -
www.theincidentaltourist.com
JEFF BULLAS – passionate digital marketer, blogger,
author, speaker and strategist.
15. Elements of a Blog Brand
LOGO / ICON / SYMBOL
HIGH-QUALITY HEADSHOT OF YOURSELF
TAGLINE/SLOGAN
DESIGN OF ACTUAL BLOG PLATFORM
SOCIAL PLATFORMS (UPDATED FREQUENTLY)
EMAIL SIGNATURES
VIDEOS
CONSISTENT IMAGES / CONSISTENT BRAND
16. Blog Logos / Names
KEEP IT SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE
USE A SIMPLE ICON IF YOU MUST
STICK TO ONE OR TWO COLOURS
23. Menus & Sub-Menus
• What main sections will your blog have? (choose a
maximum of 6 for your primary menu)
• Are there sub-themes / sub-sections? What will they
be?
34. Pinterest
CREATE BOARDS ACCORDING TO YOUR TRAVEL
BLOGGING INTERESTS
PIN YOUR INDIVIDUAL BLOG POSTS (AND USE
KEYWORDS AND LINKS WISELY)
LIKE AND COMMENT ON CONTENT YOU LIKE
(AND FOLLOW)
41. Basic Keyword Research
GOOGLE ADWORDS AND KEYWORD PLANNER
TOOL (https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner)
UBERSUGGEST KEYWORD TOOL
(www.ubersuggest.org)
42. Keyword Research Can…
HELP YOU IDENTIFY MOST SEARCHED TERMS
UNDER YOUR TOPIC
GIVE YOU IDEAS FOR KEYWORDS TO USE
WHEN YOU OPTIMIZE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA
PROFILES AND WEBSITE
SHOW YOU HOW MUCH COMPETITION THERE
IS FOR A PARTICULAR KEYWORD
44. On-Page SEO
Natural keyword ‘sprinkling’
Only one H1 tag
Ensure your blog title, meta-title and meta-description contain your
keywords
Use keywords in the image alt tags
Save image names with your keywords
Link to other posts you’ve written using keywords (and to other
important external websites)
Around 400 words / per most (my personal recommendation)
Call to Action at the end of all posts
45. Measure Your Blogging Efforts
Google Analytics
Facebook/Twitter/Linkedin Analytics
46. Increase Engagement
Comments
Competitions (sponsor a prize) – comment comps are
great
Guest blogging
Social share buttons
Social voting buttons
Polls embedded in blog posts
Ads / paid promotions