How to Create a Travel Blog With Just Your iPhone
Now that we carry high-quality cameras and web browsers in our pockets, the content we can share with the world is limitless. While some people use this opportunity to share selfies and cat pictures, others share their experiences and the breathtaking views of the places they see around the world. It doesn’t matter if you follow National Geographic on Instagram or an aspiring photographer who loves to travel, there has never been so much to see through the screens of your smartphone than there is right now.
If you are inspired to build a fantastic travel blog, it takes nothing more than your iPhone, a few social media accounts and a little bit of knowledge on how to build and maintain a website. And all it costs are the stamps on your passport and an incredible view through your camera’s lens. The following are a few tips to get you started:
Find Your Angle
There are thousands of travel blogs out there, and the best are more than just pictures and reviews of resorts, restaurants and attractions. Find an angle that makes your blog unique and interesting to others. For example, Nomadic Matt teaches readers how to travel on a frugal budget to exotic locations. Similarly, The Points Guy is a travel blog all about airline and hotel rewards points. Both blogs span the globe and feature some of the best places to visit in the world, but they each cater to a certain audience who approaches travel in their own way. Find your niche and your audience will follow.
Establish Your Social Media Channels
Your best travel blog may not be a blog at all. Social media channels like Instagram see way more traffic than traditional websites when it comes to major figures in the travel community. Take National Geographic photographer Ben Horton, who is constantly featured by NatGeo and writes guest posts for popular outdoor companies like REI. Although he is considered a well known “travel blogger,” it’s his Instagram account that has more than 11,000 followers.
Because travel blogs always come down to good pictures, Instagram is a great tool for posting your best takes from any adventure. If social media is too much upkeep, use a free service like Buffer to schedule your posts on all of your accounts in advance.
Learn a Basic Blogging Platform
It would be nice to have a professional design living on a premium domain, but none of that is necessary for a great-looking travel blog. A platform as easy as Tumblr or a free WordPress sub-domain gets you started, and there are affordable themes from sites like Theme Forest to give your blog a fresh look. Most blogging platforms have dedicated apps for both iOS and Android, so you can master any of them with a few free YouTube tutorials.
Create Good Content
It doesn’t matter if you use Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, WordPress or some other hosting source, good content will always drive your travel blog’s numbers. What do the most successful bloggers have in common? They all see untouched corners of the globe and take incredible pictures. Get out, explore the world and share your experiences in new and interesting ways — the traffic will come. Without good content, there isn’t a strategy in place to make your next travel blog a true success.