Enough of the bullsh*t about making money from travel blogging

Posted on January 25, 2011 by

fastcar

I have written blogs for six years, and I know how difficult they can be to monetise. Chris Clarkson wrote a post on his personal blog just before Travel BlogCamp that bloggers need to write travel content that consumers are searching for as part of the holiday booking process, and I agree.

Reasons for creating a travel blog

Everyone has a different reason to write a blog – on Travel Rants I want to create discussion on travel consumer issues, others want to be invited on media trips, and some like to write about travel because it is something that they are passionate about.

There are many bloggers who want to make some money and I know Karen, Keith work bloody hard to make money on their blogs, so it really gets me annoyed when I read content written by travel bloggers, who think they are now experts and rave on about how you can make money, when they probably make £20 a month from their own blog.

Dangerous advice

Some of these people even preach about selling text link ads, which is going to bite them in the arse in future, plain and simple, it is against Google’s T&C’s and is not something you should be advising people to do, if you want to build a long term, solid business. The seller is the one that will get penalised, not the one buying the link.

Making money does not happen overnight

Yes, you can make money online, but it is bloody hard work, it does not happen overnight. I have spent the last 12 months working my arse off creating My Life in Leeds, that will be profitable, and while I am not quite there yet, I have put hours upon hours and hours of work into it.

Update: this is now a profitable business – all of the writers are paid, and I am about to launch a York guide. Get your business model right, and write transactional content along with inspirational / useful content is my BIG tip.

Speaking to travel bloggers it annoys me that they feel that they are doing something wrong because some character online has said you can easily make money from writing a travel blog.

Write content that people are searching for

My tip is learn about search engine optimisation, write content that people are actually SEARCHING for – it’s the content that is going to get you real traffic, real people, not some random folk on StumbleUpon or any other social network traffic. 99% of the people who come to your blog from Twitter are bloggers or people with businesses – they aren’t going to book a holiday, travel insurance or any other travel product from you.

Before you write your post, look and see if people are actually searching for that topic, if no one is, drop it, and find a topic that people, real people, consumers, not bloggers, that are searching for.

Now I needed to get that off my chest..




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17 comments on “Enough of the bullsh*t about making money from travel blogging”

  2. Excellent point, David ;)

    People imagine it much easier to make money from travel blogging than it is. There are ways though, but don’t quit your day job.

    I absolutely agree, Darren, that SEO is crucial to generate the right traffic of consumers.

    Affiliate marketing can be a good option for some extra cash and to get you started, but is unlikely to give a lot of money.

    Editorial is another important feature – know what you’re writing about and stick to it – that way people know what to expect from your blog and you’ll be the first place to go to for that kind of information. I think that is one of the most important aspects of making money from travel blogging. Create a niche target group around your blog.

    Regarding selling links – keep them “nofollow” and you don’t need to worry about being penalized. Doesn’t give link juice, but gives traffic.

    Reply ↓

    • Good comments.

      If you are going to sell text link ads you need to be smart about it. I don’t sell text link ads since Travel Rants got a hammering from Google in 2007 – in other words don’t put them in the footer, sidebar, which is what I did. Google cannot penalise buyers because it is difficult to prove that the company has bought the links – it could be their competitor.

      While you can nofollow them 99.9% of agencies, companies want them followed for obvious reasons ;)

      As for affiliate marketing – I had a rant about this in 2006, it was a controversial post because I was so sick of seeing crappy affiliate sites – but, when you think about the likes of Holiday Watchdog, they are affiliate sites, in that they receive commission when people book flights or holidays and are useful to the consumer.

      You can make money from affiliate marketing, I can confirm that – I’m just not as rich as the two examples I just mentioned! ;)

      Reply ↓

  4. Darren, Glad to hear some sensible, realistic, plain speaking (Yorkshire) advice for would be get-rich-quick travel bloggers. The ones with more chance of getting rich are those peddling the dreams.

    Reply ↓

    • Hi Sonja.

      My advice would be to think about WHY you are writing a blog? If it’s about making money then realise it’s not a get quick rich business. If it’s because you are passionate about travel, or want your blog to fund your travels in the way of free press trips, and not bothered about making money, then go for it.

      The post was written not to discourage people to blog, but to make people realise that its not an easy way to make money. I am just being honest because there’s so many people online telling you it’s easy to make money.

      Reply ↓

  6. Great post — finding the same stuff is true that you are talking about. Takes a good bit of time. Lots of dedication. Most people think you just throw crap up and makes lots of money. Errrrrr…. no.

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  7. Good advice to make people stop and review what they’re about. People start travel blogs for a number of reasons, most probably just as a journal for friends and family back home to read their adventures.
    I guess that old rule of business applies equally well here- 80/20 – where perhaps 20% (I’d be surprised if it’s as high as that) will make money, and the other 80% will be wondering how to.

    I think everyone should be realistic, and fully analyse why they’re blogging… then get on and blog, for their own reasons.

    Reply ↓

    • In 2006/07 I was saw the opportunity of making money by selling text link ads in the footer and sidebar of the blog. Everyone was doing it, even the big media publishers, it was just the norm.

      Then in late 2007 (I think) Google created a way that people can report you if you are selling links (you can still report people now) and I am 99% sure that someone reported me to Google – probably someone who I had annoyed about some post I had written OR a competitor of one of the companies who bought a link.

      Initially, my page rank dropped from PR6, to PR2 (that green rating by Google) which meant that the links were pretty worthless to those buying them. At the time I didn’t act, I just continued to rant, and write content.

      Then in early 2008, my blog traffic dropped drastically and my 1st page rankings dropped, thumped, out of the google search results. This is when I started to panic. Thankfully all of the link ads were coming to an end and I had read that if I nofollowed them then that would suit Google.

      Basically they do not want you to be manipulating the search results by selling links.

      Literally 24 hours after putting ‘nofollow’ on the links and contacting Google via the webmaster centre, apologising, and informing them what action I had carried out, my page rank jumped back to PR5, and my traffic came back – now its ranking and getting tons more traffic, so alls good.

      That’s my experience, and that’s why I would advise no one to sell links in sidebar or footer – be wise ;)

      Reply ↓

      • If you are blogging for your own pleasure, for your friends and family, to practice writing skills or perhaps to build up a showpiece for prospective employers, then who cares if Google penalizes the site. If I were in that situation, I’d be selling text links too and not caring what Google thinks of it. It’s not illegal behaviour, just behaviour that upsets Google a bit ;)

        Not to say I recommend doing it, but it all depends on your motivation!

        Reply ↓

  9. Excellent post Darren. Great advice about SEO. Keep SEO in mind but don’t allow it to drive your content. Your blog should reflect your personality (your passions and interests) so your readers can connect with your blog and keep returning. In other words, think about and build your brand.
    And… and you’re so right Darren. I’ve not worked this hard in my life! :-) But I’m loving every minute of this great adventure. :-)

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  10. Hey Darren, maybe you could wrap all this advice up into an e-book called “Why you won’t make money Travel Blogging”.

    Might sell like hot cakes?!

    I agree with your general point, though I do know a handful who do actually make a decent living out of it. For the general populus though; treat it as a good way to socialize online, improve writing skills and record your adventures. You’ll enjoy the whole thing a lot more. And hey, some people might throw some perks your way now and then ;)

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  11. All great points by Darren. I made the same mistakes as Darren a few years ago. I see many more making them today.

    You can take a horse to water …

    In this day and age everyone and their keyboard feels they can make money from a travelblog. Sadly, the odd $100 text link sponsored post proposal doesn’t help the matter.

    Many people new to blogging simply don’t understand the penalties that should be occurring. Unfortunately google doesn’t exactly work on an up to the minute black star scolding approach. So many travel bloggers continue on indifferent.

    As you pointed out the danger is really coming from those touting off “how to” profit from text links, and “how to” game the system.

    Just a few years ago travel blogging used to be about telling a story of your journey, or sharing tips and ideas. Now it’s some strange hybrid system of one up man ship in the spirit of community and … business.

    How to rank higher, get a better alexa score, get more subscribers, get more comments, how to write an ebook, and so the list goes on.

    A sad state of affairs.

    Reply ↓

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