TripZillaYou’ve been working on your travel blog for months, and it’s finally ready to go live. The biggest problem now? You want to get as many people as possible to read it.
Building your website and connecting with your readers can seem like a tall order for new travel bloggers. Fortunately, there are many ways to help your content get seen and shared by your target audience. It all starts from the website templates you choose when creating your platform to how much you invest in social media marketing tools.
This article provides you with tips for marketing your travel blog and connecting with readers on social media.
1. Have an attractive website
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Your website is your window to a new world, so make sure it’s attractive to viewers. A good travel site will give you a layout that draws attention and keeps people coming back.
Start by choosing a beautiful and responsive website template that relates well with your niche. From there, create fresh and quality content regularly to attract more and more traffic.
While writing blogs on your site, be sure to include links in each post back to your homepage. That way, users who like what they read can easily find more great content from you down the road.
2. Define your target audience
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It’s easy to be all things to everyone, but it’s better to have a niche focus. Before you start marketing your travel blog, you need to figure out your target audience.
Find more about their age range, gender, and the content they love most. Understanding who you’re writing for will help guide decisions around topics, tone, content, and keywords.
Once you know your target audience, start exploring social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest to see where your readers spend most of their time. While doing this, focus on how each platform helps or hinders communicating with that audience.
3. Grow your email list
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Email marketing is one of the easiest opportunities to connect with new readers. Focus on giving people something useful in your email. This can include a link to a great travel story, complete information about an upcoming trip, or just an inside look at how you write posts.
But first, set up an email newsletter. It doesn’t have to be fancy. You can even use templates from Google. These don’t cost anything and will help keep your site traffic consistent.
4. Join online forums
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Joining online forums is a great way to link up with other bloggers and industry experts and expand your audience. As you build your presence on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, connect to these groups through threads that are already happening.
For example, if you run a travel foodie blog and an all-vegan recipe site, join forums about vegan cooking or vegetarian eating. You’ll be able to find inspiration from like-minded individuals, all in one place. Some experts might also be willing to share tips for growing your website traffic.
5. Learn from influencers
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Influencers are travel bloggers that have established a large readership base. They are often featured in travel magazines, talked about at conferences and meetings, and revered by their followers.
When it comes to marketing your travel blogging site, these individuals can provide you with access to targeted audiences and practical tips for reaching them. While following popular travel bloggers:
- Learn how they establish themselves as experts
- Find out what kind of content resonates with their audience
- Discover how often they post and when
- Figure out what social media outlets they use
- See what platforms they recommend using
6. Use visual storytelling
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Photos, videos, and gifs are visuals that can bring your story to life in a way that a simple title or heading never could. Sometimes all it takes is seeing something once or twice to change your perception of it.
If you’re trying to inspire people to travel, show readers what happens behind the scenes at their favourite destination by snapping photos of their local marketplaces and street food vendors. Capture shots from different perspectives by getting up close and personal with nature rather than just pointing your camera at a skyline.
7. Participate in discussions relevant to your niche
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If you have something valuable to share, don’t hesitate to chime in on a discussion. When readers get involved in a conversation you’re having, they’ll often check out your profile or click through to your site.
You can also set up a poll for everyone to vote for their favourite destinations. Just make sure you aren’t doing it only for links. Always provide value along with helpful information when participating in discussions. You don’t want your social media presence seen as spammy.
Also read: Travel Blog 101: How Do You Know When You’re Ready to Start One?
In the world of travel, blogging can be a massive amount of fun. You can explore fantastic places and share your experiences with others, which is one of life’s greatest pleasures. But if you don’t have a solid travel blog marketing plan in place, you might as well not bother travelling at all.
The good news is that we live in an age where just about anyone can reach millions of people through social media. You can leverage this to build a successful business from a travel blogging venture with hard work and dedication.
