How to Start a Travel Blog With Little to No Money

May 26th, 2021 | Posted by: Grace Kim

Inspired to write a blog about your experiences on a recent trip?

Traveling is a common interest and desire amongst many, so what better way is there to share your adventures with others?

When I first started blogging, my blog started off as a personal development and lifestyle blog that transformed into a travel blog overtime.

If you asked me, I would’ve had no idea that I even wanted a travel blog. I just thought it was cool to own a domain for $7! I mean, that’s the cost of a Chipotle bowl that gave me part ownership of the internet. How cool!

You got this!

Before getting into details of starting a travel blog, I want to let you know that if you’re intimidated about starting, have faith in yourself!

As long as you’re willing to take the time to learn about blogging and have the desire to share travel stories, you’ll be exactly to where you need to be!

When I first built my site, I had no idea how to navigate basic HTML, WordPress, hosting servers, etc. But because it seemed like a fun project, I put 200% of my effort into building this website, bringing me to share my travels with you!

Luckily, there are so many guides and resources to help you get to where you want to be with traveling and blogging. With these 8-steps, you’ll be able to set up your travel blog, even with little to no knowledge:

Step 1: Write Down Ideas
Step 2: Choose a Name For Your travel Blog
Step 3: Sign Up For a Host
Step 4: Install WordPress Software
Step 5: Setting Up Your Site
Step 6: Install Your Theme
Step 7: Create Your Main Pages
Step 8: Start Blogging

Step 1: Write Down Ideas

When thinking of what a travel blog entails, the first things that probably come to mind typically revolve around destination posts, things to do in cities, etc. This isn’t incorrect thinking, but note that there are niche bloggers out there who focus on specific parts of the travel industry, such as hiking, food, fashion, etc.

Excitement is Key

Imagine dreading traveling to places just for content? It’s important to ensure that you’re enjoying the process from capturing moments, experiencing new cities, but also having fun at the same time.

Remember that in the beginning, you don’t have to have it all figured out and that it’s okay to explore your options. If you want to start off by writing about a hike and then another about traditional foods, that’s totally fine! Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing what topics to start off with and just start. Trust me, you’ll be running around in circles rather than just progressing.

Are Others Interested in Your Content?

Would people want to read your blogs?

Your inner circle of friends may not have the same interests as you, but know that there are billions of people in the world, hundreds who will be interested in reading your blogs.

If you’re serious about starting a travel blog, take some time to conduct keyword research and look up certain topics you’d be interested in writing about. That will give you an idea of where you may want to start.

Look at the search volume of how many people want to start a travel blog! But how many do you think are serious about starting and maintaining?

2. Choose a Name

Time for the fun part. What do you want to title your travel blog?

Take the time to think about what you would like your name should be. Your name is how you want to brand yourself when talking with others, reaching out to brands for collaborations, etc. Your name/brand is how you want to be remembered as.

You may be racing back and forth between a catchy and a clever name, but try not to overthink. Get pen and paper and brainstorm a few ideas. And while you do, here are a couple of suggested tips when thinking of a name for your travel blog:

Avoid certain words: Naturally, you’ll think of names that include words such as blogger, travels, adventurous, wandering, etc. There are travel bloggers out there who have been successful with these names, but they’ve probably been in the space for a while. Try to come up with a name that isn’t overused and one that can also be memorable.
Shorter, the better: come up with a name that’s easy to remember. With how quickly people scroll on their devices, you want something short and sweet.
Avoid numbers and symbols: limit your travel blog name to just words. Adding numbers and symbols may be confusing, especially if you’re trying to spell out your name to people you just met. If my travel blog was “grace dash kim”, the dash can easily be mistaken as a “-” or “/”. With my lisp, some even mistaken the f as an s, so you definitely want to ensure your name is rolls off your tongue as smoothly as possible.
Pick a name that describes your niche as much as possible: if you’re entirely certain about a specific niche you want to tackle, then add that into your name. If you want to to pursue luxury travels, it’s not a bad idea adding the word “luxury” into your name, knowing that that’s the route you want to pursue. That way, when someone lands on your site, they’ll know exactly what to expect.
Think long-term: when your travel blog starts growing and evolving, ensure that your blogs continue to align with your brand. Again, when I first started off blogging, I had absolutely no idea I was going to change the direction of my blog from lifestyle to travel. If I named my blog around something like “graces lifestyle”, then I probably would’ve had to start my travel blog again from scratch. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, making the shift over a lot easier.

Once you’ve chosen a name, it’s time to see if that name is available to purchase. Domains can be purchased in many places, such as a hosting site, or popular sites such as GoDaddy.com. My favorite place to purchase domains are straight from Google Domains since they are super straight forward and easy to navigate.

3. Sign Up For a Host

Now that you’ve picked a name for your travel blog, it’s time to host your site. If you don’t know what hosting is, think of hosting as a place that stores your entire site on the internet – files, photos, data, etc. You’re renting a piece of the web to get your site up and running. Think of hosting as a house and your blog as a room in the house.

Unlike how expensive real estate is, hosting is relatively cheap. There are a ton of hosting services out there, but some of them are not the best. I recommend new travel bloggers to purchase hosting on BlueHost and HostGator. Both hosting platforms are owned by the same parent company, offer similar services, and are extremely affordable, especially if you’re looking to start a travel blog on a budget.

BlueHost Pricing

HostGator Pricing

Offering similar type of packages, listed are the similarities and differences between BlueHost and HostGator:

Comparisons between BlueHost & HostGator

BlueHost – $3.95/month	HostGator – $2.75/month
1 website	1 website
50 GB SSD Storage	Unlimited storage
Free Domain Name for 1st year	Free Domain Name for 1st year
Custom themes on WordPress	One-click WordPress installs
24/7 lifestime support	Free WordPress/cPanel website transfer
Free SSL Certificate	Free SSL Certificate
Free CDN	Unmetered bandwidth

4. Install WordPress Software

If you’re serious about starting a travel blog and later down the road looking to get paid, sign up fo a self-hosted WordPress account. A self-hosted WordPress account is not the free version, and one that doesn’t live in your hosting server.

According to Kinsta, 40% of the internet is based off of WordPress built sites. Now that’s a huge portion of the internet! The platform was created by developers to make blogging easier for people like me and you. For me, since I’m not entirely tech savvy, I’d like to say that I’ve been saved by the nerds.

Even if you’re on a budget, don’t sign up for the free version account. Trust me on this one. Why? Listed are the differences between the paid and non-paid versions:

Your URL is “TravelBlogger.com” instead of “TravelBlogger.WordPress.com”
You can add advertisements on your site
You can install plugins and customized themes (my favorite)
You can add Google Analytics tracking (key)
You have total control of your data

Seen on advertisements and influencer marketing, you’ve probably come across other blogging platforms, such as SquareSpace and Wix. But at the end of the day, WordPress is the king of blogging. From the hundreds of plugins to help your blogs rank on search to easily implementing themes on your site, consider WordPress if you’re thinking long term.

To put it into perspective, major companies such as TechCrunch, The New York Times, BBC America and Sony Music all use WordPress. Now, those are all extremely notable companies!

One-Click

With both BlueHost and HostGator, installing can be done with the click of a button. How simple!

Once you’ve connected your site with WordPress, congratulations, you now officially have a travel blog.

5. Setting up your site

Now that you’re finally logged into your account, doesn’t the home page look confusing? Although intimidating, fear not. There are hundreds of tutorials and free lessons to help you navigate the platform and like anything else, takes time to get used to.

The easiest way to get to your blog’s dashboard is yourdomain.com/wp-admin, directing you to a screen like this.

All it really takes is taking the time to go through the dashboard and learning about what each tab does. With consistency, try to learn at least one new thing every time you publish a blog. Isn’t it rewarding learning more of a new skillset?

Navigating the Left Side Menu

Mastering WordPress doesn’t just happen overnight. When I first set up my WordPress account, I was intimidated out of my mind. But after months and months of blogging, I’ve become way more comfortable with the platform. What really helped me was understanding the functions of each left side menu, which is important to your success on WordPress.

Dashboard – the main hub of your website. If you ever want to come back to the main, home page, the Dashboard is where you want to be.
Home – this will take you back to the main Dashboard page.
Updates – plugin and theme updates are notified here.
Posts – this is where you can find all your written articles in the order they were created. It also allows you to create new posts, categories and tags.
Media – if you need to reference or upload any photos or videos, this is the tab to view.
Pages – these are individual landing pages on your site. You can add as many pages as you need, such as the About, Contact, and Resource pages.
Comments – all comments received on any blog posts can be viewed here. It’s a great way to stay engaged with users that fall onto your blog with provided feedback.
Contact – where you can create contact forms when users want to personally reach out. You have the flexibility to create multiple contact forms that can be placed on different parts of your site.

Appearances – this section is the most important when customizing the appearance of your website. This includes anything seen on your menu bar, side bar, sections, etc.
Plugins – where you can view, edit and update all your plugins.
Users – if more than one person is managing your website, this is where you can create separate accounts with certain privileges.
Tools – certain tools to help with task management.
All-in-One WP Migration – this section exports, deploys, migrates, backups and maintains your WordPress website.

While continuously learning how to navigate the sidebar, also start downloading plugins that can help optimize your site. Note that some plugins are free, while others may have you pay a one-time fee for purchase.

Recommended Plugins

Akismet – helps protect your blog from internet spammers that leave endless amounts of comments on your posts.
Yoast SEO – if you’re trying to rank on Google Search, this plugin will point out where to optimize on your posts. You’ll be able to write meta tags, descriptions, and headlines that will be shown across search and social media.
UpdraftPlus – isn’t it a nightmare knowing that all your work can be lost in seconds? There’s never ‘too many backups’ and with the ability to schedule them, you’ll be able to back up all your work on Google Drive, Dropbox, and other cloud computing services.
Smush – automatically optimizes and compresses image size, turns on lazy load, and helps improve site speed.

6. Install your theme

With quality content, one of the most important components to a site is good design. Readers will make judgements whether or not they want to stay on your site based on the layout. An unappealing website can get readers to bounce off your site, reducing overall visitors.

There are a bunch of places to purchase pre-loaded themes and templates that can be easily integrated onto your site. Over time, I’ve changed the look and feel of my blog a handful of times, after trying to create my layout from scratch.

At first, I learned how to use Elementor, a drag and drop WordPress Website Builder. For months, I’ve constantly been updating the look of my site, leading me to purchase a template on Pipdig, which is what you see on my blog today.

On average, you’ll be paying around $50 per template. But if you’ve been following these steps on how to start a travel blog from scratch, changing the theme will come easily.

7. Create Your Main Pages

Once you’ve finished setting up your hosting service, downloaded your plugins and installed a theme, it’s time to create your main pages.

Main pages are essential to your overall site because it gives the reader an idea of what your blog is about. What you typically see on a Menu Bar on a site include the pages of your blog. Here is what a couple of my pages look like:

The difference between pages and blog posts are that pages are static, individual pieces of content. Blog posts get buried the more you write. Yes, it will be harder to find those blog posts but if they’re SEO friendly, you’ll continue to see visitors through search. On the flip side, while you’re traveling and writing destination pieces, you won’t be updating your pages every time you upload an article.

Recommended Pages

About Me – Whether you’re attracting new or existing users, this is where people can learn about you and what to expect to learn on your site.
Contact Page – What’s better than having readers read through a blog post and not having any way of contacting you if they have questions? How can brands reach out to you if they want to create a partnership? Having at least one form of contact is crucial, whether it’s via email or social media.
Copyright Page – Protective of your work? This page warns people not to steal your work. The worst thing is finding your work in places you never approved of.
Privacy Page – Note that Privacy Pages are legally required on any website. This page is a legal document disclosing ways that websites collect, process, share, store, and protect users data.

8. Start Blogging

Finally, it’s time to start writing and publishing blogs. Remember that when you’re blogging, you’re publishing quality over quantity. In the beginning, I recommending blogging at least 1-2 times a week to get in the habit of blogging, and then choose if you’d like to expand from there.

Take the time to write blogs that people find valuable, and ones that will have readers wanting to come back for more. And if you’ve been able to convince someone to travel more from your wanderlust, maybe it’ll also inspire them to start a travel blog of their own.

When I first started blogging, I wrote about Minimalist Travel Packing Tips since I wasn’t traveling as frequently as I currently do now. It’s incredible how much you can write about your local neighborhood and city closest to you.

Whatever the topic may be, getting in the hang of writing blog posts will only help you understand your style of blogging better, how to write eye catching headlines, and how to capture a readers attention. All it takes is actually doing the damn thing and start!

That’s a wrap!

That pretty much sums it up! Starting a travel blog and gaining traction takes time but with patience, all is possible. And again, whether you’re taking blogging seriously or not, keep in mind of these steps and remember to:

Step 1: Write Down Ideas
Step 2: Choose a Name For Your travel Blog
Step 3: Sign Up For a Host
Step 4: Install WordPress Software
Step 5: Setting Up Your Site
Step 6: Install Your Theme
Step 7: Create Your Main Pages
Step 8: Start Blogging

By following these steps, you can start your own travel blog and share your stories while traveling the world. Blogging is a lot of work but as long as you’re intentional and enjoying the process, it’ll become a habit in no time. And always remember, happy travels!

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to start a travel blog?

Starting a travel blog is relatively cheap if you’re going for a basic plan. If you’re going with BlueHost to host your site, annually you’ll pay $47.40 ($3.95/mo). If you’re going with GastHator to host your site, annually you’ll pay $35.40 ($2.95/mo).

Typically, purchasing already built themes and templates will cost you around $50.

With hosting and themes, you’ll pay a minimum of around $100 to start a travel blog.

Can you start a travel blog without traveling?

In the beginning, you can start writing travel blogs without actually traveling but if you’re taking it more seriously, it’s important to be able to live up to your brand.

Even if you think there’s nothing exciting to write about in your city, maybe somebody needs help navigating public transportation. Start researching and curating blogs around your local city. You’ll be surprised at the traction you may get!

Can you start a travel blog on YouTube?

If you’re looking to convert video content onto a site then yes, you can start a travel blog on YouTube.

But note that just how important posting consistently on YouTube is, consistency is just as important for your site. Although they are different, you will need to learn how to use both platforms since they are differently navigated.

How to Start a Travel Blog From Scratch