Travel Blogging Workshop for Beginners

What is Travel Blogging?
Let’s Brainstorm!
Photo Credit: Worldnomads.com

The Hard Truth…
EVERYONE IS A TRAVEL BLOGGER…

Define Your Travel Blogging Brand
 Who is my reader / potential customer?
 What makes you different?
 What is my plan?

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!

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. …

How Does Your Blog Appear in Google?
 WEBSITE URL
 LINKEDIN
 FACEBOOK
 GOOGLE+
 INSTAGRAM
 PINTEREST
 TWITTER
 YOUTUBE
 SLIDESHARE
 IMAGES
 LINKS ON OTHER
SITES/NEWS
ARTICLES

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

Know Your Bloggers & Do Your Research

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?

Nellie Huang – www.wildjunket.com

Keith Jenkins – www.velvetescape.com

Dawn Jorgensen -
www.theincidentaltourist.com
 JEFF BULLAS – passionate digital marketer, blogger,
author, speaker and strategist.

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

Blog Logos / Names
 KEEP IT SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE
 USE A SIMPLE ICON IF YOU MUST
 STICK TO ONE OR TWO COLOURS

Choose A Photo That Represents Your Blog’s
Brand

Claim Your Vanity Urls
 www.yourname.com/
 www.yourname.nl/
 www.twitter.com/yourname/
 www.facebook.com/yourname/
 http://plus.google.com/yourname/
 https://www.linkedin.com/in/yourname/
 Etc.
NB. Get a blog tailored email address i.e. info@yourblog.com;
social@yourblog.com ; ads@yourblog.com.

Effective Blog/Site Design
Wordpress.com VS. Wordpress.org
 Site Hosting – Bluehost.com
Responsive Themes (good for use on any device)

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?

Creation or Curation??
• Lots of debates

Field notes – Use Evernote.com

Use Forums to Find What People
Need

Trending Topics
 Twitter Trending Hashtags
 Keyword Research
 Google News Section

Editorial Calendar / Action Plan
 Google “Editorial Calendar Template”

Automation Tools
 HOOTSUITE.COM
 TWEETDECK.COM
 BUFFERAPP.COM

Social Media Platforms to
Consider
 FACEBOOK
 TWITTER
 INSTAGRAM
 PINTEREST
 FOURSQUARE
 GOOGLE+

Facebook
Personal Page VS. Public/Blog
Page

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)

Shorten
Links
Using
Bitly.com
LINK ALL YOUR SOCIAL
ACCOUNTS USING URLS

Types of Content to Create &
Share
 Images
 Illustrations
 Graphs/charts
 News/industry
updates
 Podcasts
 Press releases
 Videos
 Infographics
 Podcasts
 Memes
 Slideshows
 Interviews

Eye-Catching Images Infographics

Content Creation Tools
 WWW.CANVA.COM – all social sharing
 WWW.PIKTOCHART.COM – infographics/charts
 HTTP://INFOGR.AM - infographics
 WWW.WORDLE.NET - word clouds
 WWW.THINGLINK.COM

Newsletters / Mailers
 MAILCHIMP SOFTWARE
 BUILD EMAIL LISTS
 CREATE NEWSLETTERS / MAILERS

Basic Keyword Research
 GOOGLE ADWORDS AND KEYWORD PLANNER
TOOL (https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner)
 UBERSUGGEST KEYWORD TOOL
(www.ubersuggest.org)

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

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

Measure Your Blogging Efforts
 Google Analytics
 Facebook/Twitter/Linkedin Analytics

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

Photo credit: www.thetraveltart.com

Make Money From Blogging?!
 Advertising Programmes (Google Adsense; Chitika)
 Sponsorship (sponsored posts)
 Affiliate Marketing Programmes (Amazon, Linkshare,
Clickbank, Commission Junction)
 Digital Assets (ebooks, downloadable guides, online
webinars/workshops)
 Merchandising / selling products (create a store)
 Donations through PayPal

Ebooks / Digital Downloadable Assets

Some of My Favourite Travel Bloggers
 www.wildjunket.com
 www.velvetescape.com
 www.nomadicmatt.com
 www.traveldudes.org
 www.journeywoman.com
 www.rickzullo.com
 www.nomadicsamuel.com
 www.thepioneerwoman.com
 www.goseewrite.com
 www.thecrowdedplanet.com
 www.theincidentaltourist.co
m

Some Travel Blogging
Conferences
 www.tbexcon.com
 www.traverse-events.com
 www.tbd-italy.com
 www.travelmassive.com
 www.thehive-conference.com
 www.blogstock2014.com
 www.nbe.fi

Travel Blogging Associations / Groups
 www.travelbloggersassociation.com
 www.travelbloggers.nl/
 www.travel-blogging.meetup.com
 www.linkedin.com/groups/Travel-Blogger-Network-
3544361

Top Blogging Resources
 www.problogger.net/blog
 www.copyblogger.com/blog
 www.socialmediaexaminer.com
 www.searchenginewatch.com
 www.searchengineland.com

Outing & Coffee – Kurhaus, Den Haag

Travel Blogging Workshop for Beginners

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