Last Updated: 02/08/2020 | February 8th, 2020
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, including the links for HostGator and Bluehost. At no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links. If you have any questions about the companies or my status as an affiliate, please don’t hesitate to email me.
Whether as a hobby or profession, starting a travel blog is pretty easy. You can set it up in under 30 minutes. It’s gotten a lot easier than when I started my blog in 2008 when I didn’t know the first thing about making a website. Luckily, on my adventures around the world, I met Matt and Kat, a British couple who also happened to be web designers. When I came home and decided I wanted to start this travel blog, they agreed to help me set it up and teach me HTML. Back then, I hand-coded the website and used a funky tool called Dreamweaver to build it. It was painfully slow, and I wasn’t very good at it. (And my original website was really ugly!)
Luckily, you no longer have to build websites that way. They have gotten a lot easier and simpler thanks to WordPress, a simple out-of-the-box platform designed to make sites easier for those not technically savvy (like myself). It powers over 25% of the internet and is the best platform to start a blog on. It’s super flexible and can do whatever you want it to do — from a simple journal to a complex e-commerce website.
In our blogging course, we’ve had thousands of students start a website on WordPress without any technical skills. They got them up and running — and you can too!
A few months back, I talked about the ways you could succeed with a travel blog, but today, I want to give a quick tutorial on how to create a travel blog from scratch in seven easy steps.
- Step 1: Picking a Name
- Step 2: Signing Up for a Host
- Step 3: Installing WordPress
- Step 4: Setting Up Your Website
- Step 5: Installing Your Theme
- Step 6: Creating Your Main Pages
- Step 7: Joining Our Blogging Course
Step 1: Pick your name
The first thing you need to do is pick a domain name (i.e., your website name). When doing so, there are no hard and fast rules. There’s no such thing as a “wrong domain name,” but there are a couple of rules I like to live by:
- Make a name that can last – If you pick “JohnsAsiaAdeventure.com” and then you leave Asia, the domain name won’t make sense anymore. Make sure you pick a name that isn’t so focused that if you decide to shift gears, you can keep the same domain name.
- Don’t date your blog – Don’t pick something related to your age either. “Twenty-Something Travel” becomes really irrelevant when you get older, which actually happened to a blogger I know. Pick a name that can be used no matter your age!
- Try to avoid certain words like “nomad,” “vagabond,” “wanderlust,” and “adventure.” They have been done to death, and they will make you seem like you’re copying people, not being original.
- Pick a name that describes what you do as much as possible – I was a nomad, so “Nomadic Matt” was the best pick for me. If you’re into luxury, put words in your domain name that convey that. You want people to see the name and go “I get what that website is about.”
- Keep it short – Use 3-4 words maximum. You want the name that rolls off the tongue. Even Ramit Sethi from “I Will Teach You to Be Rich” abbreviates his site to “I Will Teach” or “IWT.” The shorter, the better.
- Keep it simple – I’m not a fan of using jargon or slang in your domain name, as I think that makes things confusing for people who don’t know it. The last thing you want is someone saying, “What does that mean?” or being confused. If someone has to think hard about the meaning, then you’ve already lost them. So don’t try to be clever!
Step 2: Sign up for a host
After you’ve picked out your domain name, you’ll need to register it online and buy hosting (the little computer in the sky that’s going to power your website). (One company does both.) There are a lot of basic hosting companies out there — and most of them are pretty terrible. However, the two biggest and best are HostGator and Bluehost. I would go with one of those two.
However, though they are owned by the same parent company, I lean toward HostGator, as I find its call center customer service quicker and friendlier, and HostGator is prone to fewer outages (no one wants their website to go down!). I’ve been using it since I’ve started; I still run my email through it. It’s also really improved its service recently and now offers free SSL certificates (that’s the thing that tells users your website is secure).
Here’s a walk-through of how to set up your host with HostGator (it won’t take long):
First, head over to the website’s sign-up page and get hosting for only $2.78 per month. That’s over 60% off the normal price!
Enter the domain name you picked and then choose the Hatchling Plan. This is the most basic plan, but it’s perfect for new blogs:
I wouldn’t recommend spending more money until you get a lot of traffic and decide you’re going to do this long-term! Additionally, the longer you buy your hosting for, the cheaper it is. If you select three years of hosting, your domain will only cost $127 USD, so I think you should do that. It’s a steal, cheaper than most other hosting packages. You don’t have to pick three years, but the marginal cost of adding additional years is small, and it means you don’t have to worry about renewing for a long time!
That’s it! All that takes about five minutes from start to finish!
Again, you can click here to go to HostGator to set it up.
NOTE: By law, website registry information is public. If you don’t opt for domain privacy, your information will be on public record – and you’ll probably get annoying calls from people trying to help you with your website. Be sure to 100& opt-in for domain privacy so you don’t get annoying phone calls. Hostgator will be listed on the registry not you and you won’t get any spam!
Step 3: How to Install WordPress
After you’ve registered your domain name and chosen your hosting package, the next thing you’ll want to do is install WordPress. (WordPress is what will actually run the website. The host is simply the computer your site sits on.) WordPress is an open-source and free Web publishing application, content management system (CMS) and blogging tool built by a community of developers and contributors to make it easy for people to blog!
After you’ve paid, you’ll get an email telling you your login details. After you click the link in the email and log in, you’ll see this screen. Click “Get Started with WordPress Today”:
You’ll be taken to this screen below. In the dropdown menu, select your domain name and hit “Next”:
Enter your user information. Under the blog title, enter the name of your blog. Create a strong username and then hit install.
Then presto! It’s done!
After your WordPress is installed, a screen will display the username you chose and a password generated for you. (You can change the password later.)
Now your website is up and running.
Step 4: Setting up your website
After you’ve installed WordPress, go to domainname.com/wp-admin and use the username and password you created to log in. You’ll see a screen like this after you log in:
Here’s a little overview of the menu on the left side of the screen:
- Dashboard – The dashboard is the first thing you see when you log in to WordPress, and it’s the main administrative area for your blog.
- Home – This will take you back to the main dashboard view.
- Updates – This area will tell you if WordPress, your plugins, or your theme need to be updated.
- Jetpack – Jetpack is a plugin that allows you to add a spell-checker, contact forms, extra widgets, etc.
- Posts – You can view all your blog posts here, as well as set up new ones and add categories and tags.
- Media – Here’s where you can view your media library and add new media content, like photos and videos.
- Pages – Pages are the individual landing pages on your website (like your About page, Contact page, Resources page, etc.). You can add new pages here as well as review and edit existing ones.
- Comments – Comments on your blog posts go here. You may want to check the spam folder periodically to make sure you’re not missing real comments.
- WPForms – WordPress’s contact-form plugin.
- Marketplace – Here you can create an online marketplace.
- Appearance – This section lets you entirely customize your site’s appearance.
- Plugins – Review, install, and update your plugins here.
- Users – If there’s more than one person accessing your blog, you can create accounts and give them certain privileges here.
- Tools – This section has certain tools to aid you with management tasks.
- Settings – You can adjust all your site’s settings here, including things like your blog title and the size of thumbnails being used.
- Insights – Insights provides traffic and user stats about those visiting your website. (Google Analytics is a better choice, though.)
Plugins are a great way to add additional functionality to a WordPress-powered site. And with over 56,000 (at last check) listed in the WordPress Repository and many more premium options available from developers, there are endless possibilities as to what you can do with your site. (I’ll list some examples below.)
Note: Jetpack, Mojo Marketplace, Insights, and WP Forms are pre-installed plugins.
From the main screen, click Plugins –> Add New on the left-hand column:
Now it’s time for you to install your own.
If you can think of a feature you’d like to have on your site, I can almost guarantee there is a plugin for it, but here are the essential ones for your travel blog:
- Akismet – Just like getting junk mail in your mailbox, your website will get spammers looking to leave junk comments on your site. Akismet seeks to reduce the amount of this by automatically filtering it for you. This plugin comes installed with WordPress.
- Yoast SEO – The best SEO plugin out there. This combines the ability to create meta tags and descriptions for your posts, optimize your titles, create a sitemap for search engines to read, customize how your posts appear across social media and do a whole lot more. It’s simple, easy to use, and comes with foolproof instructions.
- Relevanssi – While WordPress does a lot of things well, what it fails at is adding search functionality to your site. Relevanssi seeks to fix this and give your readers the most accurate results when searching on your site.
- BackWPup – You can never back up your site too much. The WordPress database holds every word you’ve ever written, and if your blog has started to make you a few dollars, you would be nuts not to keep regular backups. BackWPup does it perfectly. With the ability to schedule backups, you needn’t worry about doing it manually (especially useful to the more forgetful among us). There’s also the option to upload backups to Dropbox, Google Drive, and other cloud storage services, ensuring that if the worst does happen, your data will be safe.
- Google Analytics for WordPress by MonsterInsights – Adding analytic tracking to your website is an important move in finding out who your readers are, where they are coming from, and what your most popular content is. When you sign up for Google Analytics, the site asks you to place a snippet of code into your website. For most people, that can be difficult, which is why there’s Google Analytics for WordPress. This adds a lovely graphical interface to your site where you can click a couple of buttons and set up your tracking without any hassle.
- Social Warfare – A great social sharing plugin for your site. It comes with great a simple set of icons that work well on both desktop and mobile.
- Cache Enabler – This plugin works by creating saved copies of your site, saving WordPress from having to generate them for every new visitor. This, in turn, cuts down on the amount of work your hosting server has to do and makes loading your web pages much much faster.
- Sumo – Free tools to help you grow your site, including the best social sharing plugin on the web. Use this! It comes with great analytics and testing features.
- Jetpack – Jetpack (pre-installed) is aimed at supercharging your website with a host of features from WordPress’s free hosting platform, giving you the best of both worlds. With this plugin, you can add a spell-checker, contact forms, extra widgets, and a whole slew of more features, all with just one plugin.
Step 5: Install your theme
One of the most important things a blog needs besides good content is a good design. People decide in seconds whether or not they trust your website and choose to stay. A visually unappealing website will turn off readers and reduce the number of return visits you get.
So to accomplish a good design, you will need an amazing WordPress theme (i.e., design templates and files).
Luckily, there are lots of out-of-the-box options for you where you can download a predesigned theme, upload it to your website, switch it on, change some settings, and presto! A new look for your website!
You can get:
- Free themes – Free themes are plentiful and for budding new bloggers looking to make their mark online. They seem like a great option, as they allow you to keep costs low. There are many great free themes online, but most of them are not amazing. If you plan on blogging for a long time, this might become a problem as your website grows. However, if you just need a simple design to blog for your friends and family, then go the free route. You can find some good free themes at wordpress.org.
- Premium themes – The next step up from a free theme is a premium theme. Premium themes are paid themes that offer a bit more uniqueness, flexibility, and functionality. These cost $25 USD and up, depending on the developer and features.
I suggest getting a premium theme. Yes, it’s another cost — but here is why you should do it:
- With a premium theme, you almost always get customer support from the developers. If you get in trouble, they are there for you. You don’t get that with a free theme.
- With a premium theme, there are more controls and instructions so they are easier to change. Free themes don’t have that.
- Premium themes tend to be a lot prettier.
- Premium themes are faster and more SEO friendly.
The best company for themes is StudioPress. They are more SEO friendly, a bit sleeker, and cooler. WooCommerce is great for photographers and more “fun” personal blogs.
To install your theme, simply go to the left-hand column, click Appearance –> Themes –> Upload.
Whatever theme you picked will come as a .ZIP file for you to easily upload. From there, you just activate it, and it’s turned on! All themes come with a manual and help file so you can customize your design to your specific needs.
(If you want a custom logo, two sites to find freelancers are Upwork and 99designs.)
Step 6: Create your main pages
After you’ve uploaded your theme, you’re going to want to make a few basic pages on your website in addition to the blog posts. The difference between a page and a post is that a page is a static piece of content that lives separate from the blog. A post is a blog post that gets “buried” as you write more and more. For example, this post is a blog post. When I update again, another blog post will get put on top of it, and it will be pushed down in the archives, making it harder to find. But a page, like my About page, lives on the top of the website, right near the main URL, and does NOT get buried. It’s a lot easier to find.
To create these pages, go again to your left sidebar and click Pages —> Add New. (For blog posts, use Posts –> Add New.)
I recommend creating four basic pages to start:
- About page – This where you tell people about yourself and your history, what your blog is about, and why it will help them. This is one of the most important pages on your website, so make it personable!
- Contact page – People need a way to reach you! Be sure to be very clear on what emails you will and won’t respond to, so people don’t send you spam.
- Privacy page – This is a standard user agreement page informing readers what the applicable laws on your site are, that you use cookies, etc. etc. You can find out-of-the-box examples throughout the internet.
- Copyright page – This is a standard page letting people know you own this work and not to steal it. You can find out-of-the-box examples of these, too, throughout the internet.
(If you look in my footer, under the “About” section, you can see examples of all four of these pages!)
Step 7: Join our blogging course! (optional)
If you’re looking for more in-depth advice, I have a very detailed and robust blogging course that uses my ten years of blogging knowledge to help you start, grow, and monetize your website. It gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how I run this website and features detailed analytics, tricks, tips, and secrets about what I do. You’ll learn everything I know about creating a successful blog.
I will help you come up with your domain name, sign up for hosting, create engaging content, go viral, network with bloggers, get media attention, master SEO, create products, grow a newsletter, and make money. I will give you the tools for success — and then show you how to use those tools!
Plus, you’ll get over 12 hours of expert interviews, edited feedback on your writing, monthly webinars and Q&As with me (ask me anything!), tech support and help setting up your blog, and a community of bloggers to help you succeed right out of the gate.
I’ll be there every step of the way. I’ll be your personal mentor.
If you’re interested, click here to learn more and get started!
***
That’s it! You’ve set up your basic website. Sure, there are social media buttons to add, blogs to write, images to upload, and things to tweak but all that comes later. Once you do the steps above, you have the framework needed to create and share your story with the world! To recap on how to start a travel blog:
- Step 1: Pick a Name
- Step 2: Sign Up for Hosting
- Step 3: Install WordPress
- Step 4: Set Up Your Website
- Step 5: Install Your Theme
- Step 6: Create Your Main Pages
- Step 7: Join Our Blogging Course (Optional!)
By following these steps, you can start your travel blog and your stories and tips with the world! (That’s where the real fun begins!) Don’t let the tech scare you. I didn’t know anything when I started. I was totally clueless and had to teach myself how to do this. If I can do this, you can start a blog too! I believe in you! (Email me if you want more encouragement.)
Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks
Book Your Flight
Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.
Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels.
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:
- World Nomads (for everyone below 70)
- Insure My Trip (for those over 70)
- Medjet (for additional repatriation coverage)
Need to book your trip?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. The are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links, including the links for HostGator and Bluehost. At no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links. If you have any questions about the companies or my status as an affiliate, please don’t hesitate to email me.
Aaron
Dope. Definitely agree, start with a free or affordable premium theme, but keep in mind that if you want to get serious, you’re going to need a custom theme.
Matt – how long into blogging until you got a pro involved?
Asron
Hi Matt,
Thanks for the insights. My wife and I are about to head off for 12 months pretty much covering all parts of the globe.
My question- we were hoping to not take a laptop and manage the blog via our iPads. Is this technically/operationally pheasable? We have downloaded WordPress app so all good there, but im sure there are other issues to consider.
Thanks in advance
Jossie Calderon
That’s possible but not practical. The screen size isn’t big enough and it can be frustrating having half of the keyboard take up the screen. I’d say if you REALLY have to, otherwise just get a MacBook Air.
Adam
Macbook Air will save you so much stress, it’s worth the little extra weight!
Natalie
I struggled so much with a name and finally chose Blissmersion, a combination of bliss and immersion. I still love it, but it’s definitely difficult for people to remember! So, I’ll add: Pick real words!
Though, it will grow with me. I’ll give it that.
Love the section on plugins. You’ve mentioned a few I don’t have. Thank you for this post!
Shawn Michael Hartwell
Hey Matt,
I have a question for you about starting a travel blog. I have made a number of blogs for the last 3 years which didn’t work out. With each failure I have learned more about what works, from both a business and personal perspective, and I’m ready to dive back into the world of blogging.
How can one start a travel blog without having traveled extensively prior to it’s creation? In 4 days I’m heading to Halifax, Nova Scotia from Quebec and I’m planning a trip to Europe or Asia next year.
How can I possibly begin a blog that offers value before travelling extensively?
NomadicMatt
If you travel a lot in your local area, just make it about there! Everyday people are looking for information on Google. Be a big fish in a small pond. But if you only take like 1 trip a year, it’s going to be hard to have a blog that’s successful!
Janet
Good tips! Definitely has to be a name that can grow old with you, or change geographical locations if/when you move along. Initially I got burnt on my name selection of “Life on a Beach” when I moved from Hawaii to Arizona, so I opted for a new one which works!
Stephanie Craig
I got about halfway through these steps and then paid my friend to do it for me. =) She was much better than me! After the first year, I had a small company come in and tweak my site even more. Now I love it. If you’re not technical, you can get help!
Carl Kruse
Echoing the other comments on “great information.”
If you have the resources, I would get professional help in getting your blog to look and operate well from the get go. Of course, if you’re doing it just for fun, or have no resources, you can certainly get things going yourself. But if you think you’re in it for the long haul getting a well-designed and functioning blog from the start is key.
Oh, and perhaps most importantly, giving people a reason to go to your blog is even more important still.
Carl Kruse
Kunal
Hi Matt! I am an old reader of your travel blogs and recently I started my own travel blogs to write my travel experiences. You have always been an inspiration. Thanks for this post, I hope many more like me will start writing their travel experience after reading this post.
Thank you!
Kunal
Giorgos
Hey Matt, great article! Its been a few days that I aired my travel blog and been struggling to make it noticeable to the web! I think that article will help me. Keep up the good work, definitely will check back again on your blog
Thanks
Giorgos
Katarina
Finally, a site that explains it in step-by-step details! Usually travel bloggers are like, “It’s so easy.” I can see that now that I know where to start. Thank you.
Karianne
Such a great post Matt…. we really had no idea what we were doing when we started – and to be honest, most of the time, we still don’t now! We still learn a huge amount from posts like this and blogger forums / groups.
Our name took us ages to decide on – and we changed a few times before settling on The Good Globe.
Denise
Thank you so much for this information. I’m still putting my blog together (and struggling) but I would not have got this far without your tips!
NomadicMatt
Glad you’ve found the blog tips helpful!
tim
Thanks Matt – Good start, but a blog that no one finds can lead to a lot of frustration. I have heard you mention on other interviews that you are very focused on SEO – can you write a post of what you do for SEO and keyword selection. that would be extremely helpful!
NomadicMatt
For that, you’ll have to take the course! 🙂
Danielle
Matt,
Great tips here. I just started my own travel and food blog about 3 weeks ago and chose to go with a free theme. I am worried that I made a mistake by going with a free vs. a premium theme. My goal is to grow my blog, and I’ve already started noticing some limitations to my theme. Is it too late to consider upgrading to a premium theme?
Abby
You give some awesome tips on how to start a travel blog. It can be overwhelming to try and organize all of your amazing travel experiences into just a few paragraphs. Often people forget starting a blog and getting it to look like you want isn’t as easy as snapping your fingers. I like how you started with picking the domain, theme, and 4 main pages (About, Copyright, Privacy, Contact) that everyone should create and then discuss the importance of photos within a blog. I completely agree, especially for travel blogs, photos are probably the most important aspect of the blog. It seems like everyone else found your comments helpful, too! Thanks for the advice.
NomadicMatt
Yeah, I would 100% upgrade. Premium themes are much better and can be changed around easier.
JoseEduardo
Wow! Really comprehensive, understandable and easy to follow. Good work! Thank you for that post. It has inspired me heaps.
Monika
Hi Matt!
I really like your page and the work you do here. The post about creating the new blog from the scrach is fantastic! I would add a tip to adquire something like SSL Certificate (to obtain the “https//:” prefix for the site what I have done with mine 🙂
You are saying that choosing the name including ‘vagabond’-ish or ‘nomad’-ish thing is bad but it seems we both have used it anyway 😉
NomadicMatt
SSL is only really needed if you have a shopping cart and accepting payments for items your selling. Otherwise, it’s an expense you don’t need!
Alisa
Matt–great article! I purchased your blog guide a few months ago and have started my own travel page about having fun while traveling on business. I’m in the early stages of putting it together, and your guidance has been invaluable. I always keep up with your site because you provide great content and tips for travel and life.
NomadicMatt
Awesome! Glad you’ve enjoyed the course!
Rich
Thanks Matt, I have been meaning to start my own blog but I am not at all a “techie” I was able to set it up a blog on Host Gator in under an hour!
Richard
Very enlightening this content, I want to make a blog of reports of my travels and I found this step by step incredible. Thank you very much!
Alana
Great post Matt. First of all, I highly respect YOUR work. You have transformed your love of travel to sharing it with millions of people.
I recently turned my passion of destinations I’ve been to into posting it on wordpress.com. With this I have realized that there are many limitations in terms of monetizing. I’m not blogging to make money. With what I have done the past six years how can I NOT blog about this is my mentality however wordpress.com wordads earning is very limited. I only make $$$ through wordads on US based traffic to my .com site only.
In your wise opinion do you recommend me or anyone who is finding all these limitations (with web designs, advertising, and monetizing) with wordpress.com to move toward wordpress.org to have more freedom? I have a 30 day refund I can apply for if I’m not happy. A lot of my traffic on my site is coming from all over the world, not just the US!
Stefan
Hi Matt,
I’ve just bought a new MacBook Pro and now I figured that all of my blogs’ images appear blurry on the Retina Displays 🙁
Thinking about sitting down and re-editing all of my images now… what do you do about this issue?
Also, what if in 5 years or so Apple brings out new Retina displays (like “Super Retina”), and once again these images look blurry – will you have to re-edit and re-upload once again? Would love to hear your thoughts on this Matt.
Cheers,
Stefan
TJ
Hi Matt,
Great work! I have been writing since 2011, however my blog was hacked and I had to start all over again. Security and SEO are the biggest challenges when running a blog. Please do share what has worked the best in these two areas for your travel blog.
Neha
Hi Matt,
As a follower of your blog, I came about following you and your blog through mentions, tweets and retweets. I really like your blog and you are an inspiration for me to write about my travel and experience. So I started my Vlog which is about travel and exploring different parts of Word In most beautiful way.
Thanks for sharing your experiences .
Alice
can you tell us what wordpress theme you use for your blog? That would help a lot.
NomadicMatt
It’s custom built! Sorry.
Ben
Hey! Great article. When would you say is the best time to start a travel blog? For example, I’m going to start travelling around SEA next year for a long as possible and I intend to keep going. Should I created my travel blog before I go or when I’ve been travelling for a few months?
Cheers
NomadicMatt
Today is always the best day to do anything!
Jason
Thanks dude, I have a friend who loves to travel and I told them they should be blogging about their adventures. Sent him this page to get him jump started 🙂 great content as always
Trees Rotteveel
Thank you! This is very helpfull! I have the name already…now the second step…
Daniela
This was a very helpful straight-to-the-point post. However I was hoping to grasp your intake or suggestion on gTLDs! As we know, .com (and even .net) is saturated and so many of us are having to seek other options unless we want to fork over the hefty price that “myperfectname.com” may be on sale for. As an expert travel-blogger, it would be nice to possibly provide your insight or opinion on gTLDs such as .xyz, .world, .global, .blog, and the one that is most appealing to me for the simple fact that it states exactly what we are doing now, .travel. What is the likelihood of this being the wrong move for start-up bloggers?
Diana
Hi Matt,
Do you use shared, dedicated cloud hosting?
Thanks,
Diana
Casey
Hi Matt,
Quick question. You recommend domain privacy protection, but I already purchased my domain name beforehand and it doesn’t seem like there’s an option to click this privacy protection option that you show above. Is it already included or something?
Thanks,
Casey
Indian blogs
It is a well structured Article and well informative .Thanks for sharing with us
Lonestar Barns
Thanks to my father who told me regarding this blog, this blog is actually
amazing.
David
Great post! I think the most important thing we tell people is to travel with a purpose, Do not just wander around the world aimlessly. (Like ours is to experience and document the Top 100 Travel Adventures) So many travel blogs do not really have a purpose or a niche. Niche is key and many miss out on that because they want to cover and do it all. Do not just start a blog because you think you will get rich quick and be able to travel the world. It takes a lot of work and lots of time.
Christy Yazzie
Hi Matt- Thank you this is helpful 🙂 I am about to take a 1 year back packing trip to South America and I was wondering about my page layout. Should I have a tab for every country so my readers could navigate easier and if so do I need to buy a plan that will allow me to put in more pages? I am not sure how that all works or the best way to go about it.
Kemasan makanan
I think that what you posted was very logical. But, think on this, what if you added
a little content? I mean, I don’t wish to
tell you how to run your blog, however what if you added a title that makes people
want more? I mean How to Start a Travel Blog is a little boring.
You ought to glance at Yahoo’s front page and note how they write article titles
to grab viewers to open the links. You might try adding a
video or a pic or two to grab people excited about what you’ve written. Just
my opinion, it might make your website a little livelier.
Vanessa
Hey att, if I already have a wordpress domain name, can I use that on Hostgator? Or do I have to do Hostgator first and then crete new one?
Robyn
Whats up this is somewhat of off topic but I was wanting to
know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding experience so I wanted to get guidance
from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
passive poker Player
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Hi there to all, the contents present at this site are actually awesome for
people experience, well, keep up the good work fellows.
Samantha Taylor
Thank you very much for sharing, very informative post!
Nelle
This site was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something which helped me.
Appreciate it!
Ankita Rastogi
Hi Matt. Thank you for the wonderful tips. I am a new blogger and starting a new blogging website. I live in Singapore. Should I start with the nearby places at first and how many times a week a blogger should travel and write contents???
Megan M.
Matt, thank you for this thorough guide to starting a blog. I must admit I’m too far from being technically savvy and also lazy. So whenever I have to deal with anything more complicated than the content itself, I just delegate this to the competent. But your step-by-step instruction seems pretty clear. And I’m thinking it’ll be a shame not to make a little more effort and finally do it myself. Thanks for sharing.
Ira
Matt,
About to take a 12-15 month journey while in my late 50’s but not yet retired. Just stretching my legs before i start my “next thing.”
That said, I have traveled to 49 countries so far in both my professional and personal lives to date. Seeking your advice about whether it seems appropriate or even advisable to start my blog prior to my departure on this trip and use my prior travels, what I learned, etc as the basis for my preparation for the upcoming trip. Or, am I being shortsighted and those travels are “already” the basis for an interesting blog that my upcoming trip will add to?
As a reasonably talented amateur photographer, I do have numerous shots to go with stories of past travels (most of what is on my current photo web site is the concert photography I have done).
Appreciate your thoughts.
Ira
Ingrid
Hi Matt,
I’ve started my blog about 12 month ago, but I did not see much traffic on my blog. Thanks for sharing a list of plugins in your article. I’ll give a try to Sumo plugin…
Andre
Amazing tips. I am from Brazil and my wife loves to travel! Because your tips we are going to make one travel blog. Thank you!
Matt
Thanks a lot Matt! I have been wanting to start my own blog for ages, I was able to set it up a blog on Host Gator in under an hour!
George K.
Hi Matt,
great stuff on this post.
I am passionate about travelling having visited 47 countries so far.
I still have 9-5 job though which means i make max 2-3 trips per year to new places.
It feels like it’s about time i go online with this and a i have a lot to post about past trips. So my question is: does this make any sense? posting about trips in the past? or people want to read only up-to-date fresh content?
It will take a great deal of effort and time to post all this material (and obviously some date up to 20 years back) so any advice is much appreciated. Thanks!
Amy Robillard
I have the same questions as George K.
I have travelled to over 50 countrise, a lot of that cycling touring. I am starting a blog/site as I am still travelling and my day job is now done. What is the best way to re-visit my past trips? I was thinking, “Amy’s top cycling days” or “Top hikes with beach time”?
Some listed countries will be a few years old (4 to 5 years old).
Thanks!
Katia Cooper
I have traveled many countries and take lots of pictures with it. I wanted to start a gallery of my traveling. So, I need to build up a simple website for it. I have hired a professional for a blog website called “simple but how”. But I want to learn simple web design by myself. You post help me a lot. But facing lots of issues with it. Wish me luck!
Ashley Casey
Thanks, man! If you enjoy writing, you’ll have fun regardless. As other people have commented, the people who can make a living on this stuff are the top fraction of the top 1%. That’s not to say you can’t do it, but if you focus on the money, it’ll feel more like a job than fun. So focusing on the writing and the stories is what helps me keep going, but I’m not in it for the money. Good luck with it, and let me know if I can help at all.
Kevin McPhill
I agree with you that WordPress is the best CMS to start a blog. It’s quite powerful and easy to use. For the theme, I always choose minimal or lightweight theme to make my site load faster. I also use some web speed checker like Gtmetrix, Google speed insight to analyze my website then fix any issues I faced.
Markus
Great article Matt!
This definitely takes care of all the technical details in setting up a travel blog. Now all you need is to go write!
ilmu pelet
Wonderful blog! Do you have any helpful hints for aspiring writers?
I’m hoping to start my own website soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
Would you suggest starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option?
There are so many choices out there that I’m totally overwhelmed ..
Any recommendations? Thanks a lot!
Jamie Miller
This article is very enlightening. So after we picked our website for a blog, which hosting company would you recommend? Thank you very much!
Erin Blanchette
Thanks Matt, this was so helpful!!
Using Elementor with WordPress, is there a decent plugin you can recommend to categorize pictures in the Media Library? Filebird does the job but only allows 10 folders which isn’t sufficient if you need at least one per country.
Thanks in advance!!
Dan & Beck
Hi Matt,
Long time reader, first time commenting!
Thank you so much for all the great tips in setting up a blog.
We have been travelling for a few years now and always dreamed of setting up a blog.
We used this guide to get the ball rolling and now our website is live!
Thanks again.
Dan & Beck, Travel Made Me Do It
Marko Petrekovic
Hi Matt,
how important is WordPress? I just boutht a domain and built website with dynadot. You think I should switch to wordpress?
Marko Petrekovic
Actually let me rephrase my question. My hst is Dynadot. They have access to WordPress through their VPS plan ($10/month). If you were me, would you stay with dynadot and get that plan, or move the domain to Bluehost and get WordPress through them? Thanks!
Noreen
Hi Matt, thanks for this post, it’s very helpful! One question though: I’m currently working on lauching my (free) travel blog thru WordPress soon. Is it possible to add the host later, or should I have done that before creating the blog? I’m a beginner, so I chose the cheapest option for now, and might change it to a non-free account later. Thanks for your help in advance ?
NomadicMatt
No. I wouldn’t start on free WordPress unless you are just doing this as a hobby blog. Always get your own domain and hosting!
Nik
Hey Matt, just wanted you to know that i followed your steps on how to start a travel blog and those steps worked out tremendously good for me. M officially a travel blogger now and i’m enjoying it.
Pooja
Hi Matt,
Your post has really helped a lot in guiding me with the process of creating my travel blog. It is so articulated. Especially the plugin’s suggestions.
Just one doubt. It’s been less than a month I created the blog and I have chosen a free theme for now. Would it be better to start with a paid theme?
Thanks in advance 🙂
Robert Moreland
Hi Matt, great article! Its been a few days that I aired my blog and been struggling to make it noticeable to the web! I think that article will help me. I like reading your posts. Keep up the good work!