by admin
Travel Blog Tips to help you plan for 2010
12:20 pm in Travel Blogging Tips by admin
Next month I will be re-launching the Travel BlogCamp website and while it will continue to be where I publish information on future events, it’ll also become a place where you can learn more about travel blogging and social media from my own experiences.
Here are my travel blog tips to help plan for 2010
» Don’t be afraid of contacting the media or authority sites. Keep it short; inform them that you want to help by offering quotes or advice on future features and articles.
» Make sure you network with other travel bloggers. Participate on other blogs by leaving quality comments; show that you are knowledgeable about your travel niche.
» Not receiving any comments? Ask questions and engage with your readers. Within the content and especially at the bottom of your post, ask a question or ask for their opinions.
» At the end of every year highlight your goals for the next year. Do you want to increase traffic or RSS subscribers? Write down the tasks that you will have to complete to achieve that goal.
» Create a content calendar to plan ahead. I have created one on My Life in Leeds to highlight what I need to write about, i.e. romantic city break ideas for Valentines Day.
» Identify authority blogs within your travel niche and ask them if they would accept a guest post. Not only is this a good way to gain one-way links but it also increases awareness of you and your blog.
» Plan in an hour or two every week to learn something new. I always put some time aside to learn more about SEO, social media and marketing. No one knows everything.
» Step outside of your comfort zone. The best tip I can offer. I hated being filmed for the BBC consumer show, but I did it because I knew it would raise the profile of me and my blog.
» Be passionate about what you write about. If you cannot be passionate and think of topics for content then is this really the right niche for you.
» Analyse your traffic, it can help you with planning future content. What are people searching for, did that post really help them. If not, write a post on that topic.
» The most important lesson I learnt in 2009? You are responsible for any content you publish, no matter if its travel advice, destination tips, or ranting about the travel industry, that includes comments left by readers too.
These are just a small sample of tips that have helped me in the last four years. Even as a blogger you have to take risks, sometimes they pay off, many times they don’t and you have to re-evaluate where it went wrong. It’s important you know why you have created your blog, and what you want out of it.
GREAT tips, Darren! Especially like, “Take an hour or two to learn something new every week.”
Here’s to a great 2010!
Great post, Darren. I’m looking forward to the re-launching of TravelBlogCamp. Like Kara, your idea to “Take an hour or two to learn something new every week,” especially appeals to me. As does, “Step outside your comfort zone.”
I hope you’ll be writing about how to make blogging time more efficient. That’s my shortcoming.
Thanks Kara & Donna.
I have tons of tips that I want to share, and hopefully when the new look website is finished it’ll mean more people can share their experiences travel blogging.
Some great tips for someone like me starting out on the blog path. And thanks for all your help so far in getting us started. I hope 2010 brings you some new and exciting chapters!
Thanks Andy! All the best for 2010!
Great advice. I am pretty new about this, and my head is brimming. Right now I learn every day something new – it’s exciting, but it can be overwhelming at times. I learned to sit back, take a breath, and just take one step at the time.
Happy New Year Darren!
@ Fida
Thanks. Yes, don’t rush into trying to learn everything at the same time. Once I had my first blog up and running I set upon to learn about how I could get quality traffic from the search engines.
Noticed I said “quality”? Some people are hooked into getting TONS of traffic, what you should be aiming for are visitors who stick, become regular readers, subscribe to your newsletter, and buy any products that you promote.
That’s my tip for today anyway!
Thank you Darren for your reply and advice! You are right; it takes time – especially if one wants to deliver quality rather than quantity. My stats are actually not so bad for a new site (I think;-). I guess I have to work on being more patient and, like you said, not rush into everything at the same time.
Helpful tips there for newbies and the more experienced and these tips can, of course, be extended to outside the travel sector.