Travel blogs are a dime a dozen because, well, who doesn't like the idea of documenting their experiences and maybe getting sponsored by a brand or making a few bucks that will make it easier for you travel even more? There's opportunity all throughout the travel industry because every adventure is unique and individual personalities are a big part of the travel blogging experience.
However… travel blogging is hard. The market is saturated because, as you can imagine, everyone wants to give it a go. This creates a challenge especially if you're likely to visit similar places or attempt to do the usual “top things to do in X” type posts. You can still do these, of course, you just need to go the extra mile to have them stand out!
- Make It About You and the Experience
Travel destinations are going to be the same in most regards. Tourist destinations are well documented and even the “off the beaten path” areas have coverage thanks to the internet. You know what makes a difference? When you inject personality into your travel content.
- Talk about your experience, emotions, struggles, and joys.
- Talk about the locals and what happens throughout their days.
This gets people emotionally attached to your blog posts. Your personality (personal branding) keeps them coming back for the next adventure, not just a set of travel tips.
- Take Better Photos and Videos
Travel is a visual experience — the sights, the sounds, the banter, the commentary.
People don't want to just read of your adventures, they want to “tag along” through visual media. The best way to do so is through photography and videography. This needs to be good–no vertical or shaky videos.
- Learn the rule of thirds to take better still shots
- Practice interview techniques when filming locals
Curate the media, picking your best visuals instead of doing a massive media dump. This creates a story that gets people engaged through your media vs just slogging through an album. Ultimately, you want to maintain a positive personal reputation, stand out from the crowd, and create your own personal brand, to help you achieve your goals.
- Find and Fulfil Niche
There are countless travel blogs covering generic travel blog posts. There are even more basic travel books, guides, YouTube channels, and TV shows covering the “must do's” and “must see's”. Do something different by finding a niche — something that makes you different.
This could be something like:
- How you're traveling and running a business at the same time
- How you're using travel to give back through charity work
You get the idea.
Find what makes your travel special and grow from that. This creates something wholly unique with your travel experiences because it's no longer about just you and the places… it's about a lifestyle.
- Do Something Crazy
We all love a good travel post — it's nice and fluffy, filling us with dreams of going and letting us tag along for the ride. Every blogger writes these pieces. What you don't see a lot of are the troubling and crazy experiences.
Things like:
- How you were in danger
- Getting lost and finding your way back
- Those almost unbelievable stories of oddball experiences
These are the types of stories you'd tell your friends after a night at the bar, reminiscing about what was once a very scary moment that turned into a great story. Your readers want to read that! That's not to say that you should put yourself in these situations, but do explore these ideas when creating travel content.
Build Off the Basics, Then Find Your Voice
This isn't a post telling you to completely forgo the basic travel pieces like how to plan a road trip or some of the cool things people can see once they get to their destination, especially if you're injecting personality into the mix. It does, however, pose a challenge to try something a little different.
It's your travel blog and experiences, why not making it interesting by making it all about you? People will see what you're doing and want it. They will want the lifestyle. Give it to them through great content, media, and unique stories and you're sure to succeed in the travel blogging space.
