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This presentation was used as part of my Travel Blogging Workshop for beginners which took place in The Hague, Netherlands.
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What is Travel Blogging?
Photo Credit: Worldnomads.com
Let’s Brainstorm!
EVERYONE IS A TRAVEL BLOGGER…
The Hard Truth…
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!
Blog = Business
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
GOOGLE+
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. [email protected]; [email protected] ; [email protected].
Effective Blog/Site Design
Wordpress.com VS. Wordpress.org
Site Hosting – Bluehost.com
Responsive Themes (good for use on any device)
Simple Menu & Slider
Widgets
Map Plugins / Widgets
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?
Um…Content?!
Creation or Curation??
• Lots of debates
Field notes – Use Evernote.com
Use Forums to Find What People
Need
Google Alerts
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
FOURSQUARE
GOOGLE+
Personal Page VS. Public/Blog
Page
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
Memes High-Quality Photos
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
SEO Yoast for Wordpress.org
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
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
