How To Start A WordPress Travel Blog in 2019 (and Make Money)

Smitten by wanderlust? Want to see the world? Why not start a travel blog to share your experiences with others?Beyond it just plain being fun to write about your adventures, creating a travel blog  might even be able to help you make enough money to fund even more fun adventures.In this post, well give you a step-by-step tutorial for everything you need to do to start a travel blog. Beyond your awesome writing and pictures, these are the 5 things youll need to build your travel blog.Web hosting this is the engine that will power your travel blog and make it available to visitors around the world.Domain name your blogs permanent address. For example, ours is themeisle.com.The free WordPress software we highly recommend you use  self-hosted WordPress, located at wordpress.org. This is different than WordPress.com.A WordPress theme once you install WordPress, your theme controls how your travel blog looks.WordPress plugins plugins help you add functionality to your site withou t requiring any technical knowledge. Youll use them to add maps of where youve traveled, travel galleries, and more.Once we show you how to get those basics set up, well also share some tips for how you can create content, promote it, and maybe even make money from your blog.How to start a travel blog: step-by-stepHeres your step-by-step guide to start a travel blog:Step 1: Pick a nicheTheres a wide choice of travel blog niches to pick from specific country or area, backpacking, targeted audiences, luxury travel, traveling with kids or pets, and more.  Your chances of building a high traffic blog improve if you keep your focus on a few specific areas.Go with the one youre most passionate about because youre in this for the long haul!Step 2: Select a domain nameYour domain name should be simple and easy to remember.Using a brand name in the domain may not be an option for you when youre just starting off. So, you should do the next best thing, select a name which you can build int o a brand. Something thats short, easy to recall, and maybe a bit quirky. Keyword-based names are good too, though youll find that most are already taken up.You could even use your own name if youre going to maintain a highly personal style throughout your blog. Or, you can use part of your name in a brand e.g. nomadicmatt.com.We have some general tips for how to choose a domain name. And if youre really stuck, you can try using a blog name generator to come up with some ideas.Step 3: Purchase WordPress hosting and install WordPressYour hosting is important because it ensures your site loads quickly and is always available to your visitors. There are a ton of quality  WordPress hosting services, but a good starting point is SiteGround.In addition to always scoring well in our annual WordPress hosting survey, SiteGround:Is affordableGives you a setup wizard that installs WordPress for youMakes it easy purchase your domain nameHas awesome support if you ever need helpYou can choose the cheapest  StartUp plan to get started. Then, you just need to follow the simple signup process.Once you sign up, SiteGround will configure your domain name and install WordPress for youwhich means you officially have a working travel blog!Step 4: Choose a travel blog themeYour blogs  theme determines how it looks. Luckily, youll find a number of free and premium themes, many designed specifically for travel blogs.When you pick an existing travel blog theme, youll instantly get set up with a great-looking travel blog. To help you find such a theme, you can check out lists of the:Best free travel themesBest premium travel themesBeyond those lists, here are three specific options to get you started:Travel BlogThe TripSoledadFor example, the Soledad theme has:A travel template32 pre-made featured slider stylesStylish image galleries with lightboxPinterest and Twitter slider widgetAll these built-in features make it super simple to start a travel blog.To install your chosen them e, visit your WordPress dashboard and click  Appearance → Themes → Add New.Step 5: Install helpful plugins for travel blogsWordPress plugins help you add new functionality to your travel blog  without requiring any technical knowledge on your part. Theyre one of the things that makes WordPress so awesome. And pretty much every WordPress site makes good use of plugins.There are some must-have plugins for  all  sites, including travel blogs:SEO pluginsCaching pluginsSocial share button pluginsSecurity pluginsContact form pluginsBeyond those must-haves, youll also want some specific travel plugins. While this can vary depending on your focus area, here are some good ideas:A good photo gallery plugin such as  NextGEN Gallery  to share your travel pictures in a galleryPlugins to help integrate with Instagram and FacebookSlider plugins such as  Nivo Slider  to display amazing full-width photosA lightbox plugin such as  Simple Lightbox  to allow readers to view your photos in a customizable lightboxA map plugin to plot places and routes is a must-have when you want to start a travel blog. It helps to keep your readers stay engaged with you as you move from one place to another. Intergeo Maps plugin is available for free  (and as a premium plugin).  Interactive World Maps plugin is another fine optionPlugins like TravelPayouts help you add a travel booking capability to your blog. It helps your visitors find deals on flights and hotels to different locations while you earn a commissionLearn how to install WordPress plugins.Step 6: Create and add contentOnce youve set up your travel blogs foundation, youre ready to start adding content. To write blog posts in WordPress, go to  Posts Add New in your WordPress dashboard.From there, you can use the  Add Media button to insert images and the text editor to write and format your content:Step 7: Build your blogs audienceThere are a few channels you can use to grow your blogs traffic .With millions of active users, social media can help your content reach the right audience.  Adding Social media share buttons makes it easy for readers to share your content. Instagram and Pinterest are suitable platforms to promote your blog, and should form part of your social media strategy.Beyond that, you should also learn about SEO and topics like keyword research.Building an email list is another great way to grow a long-term audience.Step 8: How to make money from your travel blogOnce your starts to get some traffic, here are some ways that you can make money from your blog:Affiliate marketing: You can have affiliates for almost everything accommodation, insurance, travel gear, web hosting. Every time someone clicks on a link resulting in the purchase of an affiliates product, you earn a (small) commission.Google Adsense: Google generates ads relevant to travel on your blog. When visitors click on the offered ads, you earn revenuePremium content: You can sell digital gu ides for the places that youve visited to save other travelers time.Add a donation button: Obviously, this can work only when youve built up a dedicated readershipOffer personalized advice: Offer travel related advice for payment of a fee, or offer personalized or guided tours of specific places, or curate travel plansSponsored posts: Travel related businesses may pay you to write about them on your blog. Just make sure to be transparent.Sponsored trips: Tourism boards, private companies or brands can ask you to visit their places and write about it.Workshops: Accept offers to conduct travel-related workshopsWrapping upThat wraps up our guide. If you made it this far, congratulations on creating your own travel blog!Have any other questions about how to start a travel blog? Leave a comment and well try to help out. Here's how to start a travel #blog with #WordPress: Step-by-step