It’s still one of my most frequently asked questions…how do I start a travel blog!? And is it worth starting a travel blog in 2025?
The simple answer is yes. Yes, yes, 100% yes!
Here are some reasons to start a travel blog…
- It’s an online diary to help remember your travels and read back in years to come
- Keep your friends and family updated while you’re travelling
- You’ll improve your writing and photography skills
- You’ll learn new skills such as building websites and SEO
- A blog becomes an online portfolio that could lead to other work
- It could become a source of income
- It could become your entire career
People often ask if it’s worth starting a blog in 2025 because there are already so many blogs out there.
Of course it’s still worth starting a blog, especially in the travel niche because travel changes so quickly and we want to read current travel blogs. There’s no point reading about someone’s trip to Bali in 2009 because the guest house they recommended will have closed down, their favourite restaurant will have changed hands, that particular ferry no longer runs and that ‘hidden gem’ is now a major tourist attraction with coach-loads of people visiting everyday!
Here’s how to actually start a blog
Start writing!
So many people get hung up on the name of their blog, the design, the photography, their bio, their logo etc and they forget they need to start writing! Getting ‘the design right’ is just a form of procrastination. Just start writing because without the written content, you don’t have a blog. It’s also much easier to work on the sign and style of your blog once you actually have 20-30 articles to play with.
Write a list of 50-100 blog post titles you’d like to write
If you can’t write a list of 50 blog posts you’d like to write then you’re going to struggle. Once you’ve got your list, start working your way through them, aiming to write at least 1,000 words for each post.
It sometimes helps to create a series of posts. If you go to Bali you might write an accommodation guide, an activity guide, a guide to eating and drinking, dedicated guides to specific places, dedicated reviews for special experiences, general travel tips etc. You might find you’ve got 10 blog posts you can write all about Bali!
Set up your blog
I recommend using WordPress.org for your blog and then find reliable web hosting with 24/7 support.
If this all sounds confusing then use YouTube tutorials to guide you through the process step-by-step. It seems daunting at first but it’s actually really simple and fun to learn a new skill. I taught myself how to do this back in 2009 and it was simply through trial and error and simple Google searches!
Improve your photography
Every good blog needs great photos and thankfully we live in a world where everyone carries an incredible camera in their pocket! You don’t need to buy a fancy DSLR, your smartphone will be enough. Not only do you need to improve your photography but improve your editing skills too.
Again, simple YouTube tutorials can teach you so much.
Learn about SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and is basically how people find your blog when they search for something in Google or on social media. This is essentially how you get your blog read.
The basic rules of SEO is simply that your blog posts should be useful and engaging. If someone comes to your blog and spends 5 minutes reading an article, this is a sign to Google that whatever you’ve written was useful and relevant to what that person searched for. If someone comes to your blog and leaves 3 seconds later, that’s a sign to Google that the person didn’t like your blog. The way to get your readers to stay? Write useful, engaging content that they want to read.
SEO is an ever-changing beast and no one ever seems to fully know how it works. If you’re starting your blog as a total newbie and you didn’t know what SEO was until you just read those words, don’t worry! In some ways you’re not at a disadvantage because SEO is changing and lots of us who learnt our SEO skills 10 years ago really need to brush up because SEO in 2025 is a whole different game to what SEO was in 2015!
Network with other bloggers
Networking within the blogging world can be really beneficial. I remember meeting a travel blogging couple at a networking event and we got talking about our work. They had no idea I was charging for the majority of the work I did, they thought everyone was doing it for free. They’re now probably the biggest blogging couple in the travel industry and (I assume) will be earning a fortune.
The revelations might not be as big as this but finding out tips and advice at networking events can be invaluable.
Social media and blogging
Social media and blogging go hand in hand and I do believe that if you want to make this your career then you need both.
I see social media as my shop window and my blog as the actual shop. Social media can get people inside but they need to be in the shop for me to make any money!
It can be easy to get caught up in the numbers and instant gratification of social media. Blogging is a slower game to play but, ultimately, the rewards can be greater with a blog!
Keep going and don’t give up
The reason most travel blogs fail is because they quit too soon. You have to keep writing, learning, evolving and sharing for years before your blog starts to get noticed. So don’t give up!
If you’d like to read more about my journey to become a travel blogger read about my 10 steps to becoming a travel influencer.