How to build your own travel blog
Nice of you to think about starting a travel blog. Having a travel blog can be a lot of fun, because you can share your travel experiences and travel tips. It's not complicated to start, but there are a few steps that need to be taken.
With these steps I am going to help you, so that you can start writing that fun, beautiful, interesting or special travel experience.
Before we start the journey, it is wise to ask yourself the following question: Why do I want to start a travel blog?
There are different goals to start one, but do you want to do it purely for the money, free products and free travel? Then maybe it's wise to think about it again. Of course you can make money with a blog, but this shouldn't be the main goal. If travel is your passion, you can write about it indefinitely. Especially in the beginning this is important, when besides your family and friends you don't get many visitors.
Ready to create your own travel blog?
PS Grab a cup of tea/coffee because there is plenty to read.
The 5 steps below explain how you can apply this to yourself.
- Choose the perfect travel blog name
- Choose a CMS platform
- Domain name and hosting
- Choose a theme
- Write content
1. Choose the perfect travel blog name
Just like any company, every website needs a name. So does your travel blog. To have the perfect travel blog name can be very difficult and you need to take the necessary time for that. What is important for the right name is that it is easy to remember. It is therefore useful not to make it too long, unless it is a good running "sentence".
Action points
- Create your perfect travel blog name.
2. Choose a platform
So, now that you have a name, it's time to think which platform you're going to choose. There are enough platforms to start one for free. Do you want more options, such as a domain name, storage and custom design. Then there will have to be a small amount of money in return. This is usually no more than a few tens.
Free platforms
With the platforms Tumblr, WordPress.com and Blogger, which are free to use, you can quickly get your blog online. However, I would advise you not to use any of these free platforms. For example, you have:
- no domain name of your own
- no email address of your own
- limited design possibilities
- no extra widgets and/or plugins
- not the ability to advertise, and later make money
- not under own management
Still, it's a good way to find out if it's something for you. And we, the Dutch, love free things.
Besides the free platforms, you can also choose for the very well known WordPress or a similar content management system (cms). For a few tens you can have a professional travel blog quickly and quite easily. It's your travel blog, so I leave the choice of platform entirely up to you.
Action point
- Free platform or WordPress/comparable CMS, make your choice. Do you doubt what the right choice is? Send me an email.
3. Domain name + hosting
If you have chosen a free platform, you can skip this step and proceed to step 4. If you don't have this yet, you can continue here.
Register a domain name
The registration of a domain name and fixing the hosting for your travel blog is quite easy, it's almost the same as booking a plane ticket. If you just Googled, there are many parties who can offer this, often with a single click you can install WordPress. Try to make sure your domain name is as similar as possible to the name you have chosen.
When blogging in English, try to register a .com domain name. Here you will later easily be found in Google. And that's what you want!
Action points
4. Choose a theme
Hoppa! You have your own travel blog! One of the first things you need to do is pick a theme for your WordPress travel blog. Again, there are free (often simple and straightforward) and paid (just a little more professional) themes. Again, take your time to choose the right travel blog theme that suits you.
You can also have a custom made Theme, but in almost any case it costs more money than buying a theme.
Action point
- Pick a theme. Here you'll find many (free) travel blog themes.
5. Write content
The technical part is now ready and the best part is to start: the writing! In addition to the blogs, every travel blog also has a number of fixed pages. These two pages are important on your blog and you can start writing:
- An "About me" page, like here.
- Contact page, see here mine.
These pages are also common, but can be written later:
- An "About this blog" page (can also be combined with the "About me" page).
- Archive page (if you have written a lot of articles).
- Landing page, to get more traffic to your blog.
- Disclaimer (how do you deal with images, cookies etcetera to explain).
Are the "About me" and "Contact" pages visible on your travel blog? Start now with writing 4 travel blogs. Add, preferably self-made, pictures that reinforce your story. Let a family member, friend or other acquaintance read it, and ask for honest feedback. The feedback you get back is well-intentioned and ensures that your texts are better read. Publish your stories and voila! Your first travel stories are online!
**Write more travel stories now, good luck!
Did you make a travel blog?
I am very curious about your travel blog. Send it to, because then your travel blog can be added to the list of travel blogs from the Netherlands.