If you’re considering a backpacking trip around the world, you should be writing a travel blog. One thing to remember is you won’t be alone. The travel blogosphere is vast and growing daily.
There are heaps of reasons why you – and literally hundreds of other people – write travel blogs.
You meet fantastic people who share your interests, you have a chance to document your travels, and hopefully you will inspire other people to escape their comfort zone and explore the unknown.
If you’re writing a travel blog, chances are you want people to read it. You have something to say, photos to share, and advice to give. What if you’re not getting as much traffic as you’d hope for?
What if no one seems to be reading, retweeting, or commenting on your blog posts?
One of the most rewarding aspects of writing a blog is knowing there are people listening to you. Remember, your blog won’t become successful over night – yet you should undoubtedly be aiming for success.
So, grab a coffee, a beer, or a cup of tea and think about these
7 Reasons Why Your Travel Blog Doesn’t Get as Much Traffic as You Want:
1) You Post Too Often
More and more people are becoming interested in travel blogs. That’s exciting. Be they cubicle dwelling virtual travelers, career breakers planning a trip, or other travelers on the road, the number of people that follow travel blogs is growing. Rapidly.
So is the number of travelers writing a travel blog. The market is quite simply flooded with blog posts.
If you’re posting four or five times each week, your readers – who are inevitably following other travel blogs – simply won’t be able to keep up with the travel photos, travel advice, or stories you have to share.
2) Your Posts Are Too Long
Writing a travel blog isn’t easy. You’re forced to balance traveling, with planning, with meeting other travelers, along with everything that goes into actually running a travel blog. You have to come up with ideas for posts, format them, answer emails from your followers, and deal with advertisers.
So don’t make it any harder than it has to be.
As your readers are busy, don’t make them read small novels – anything over 1,000 words is too long. Keep your blog posts short and sweet and more people will take the time to read them.
3) Where Are the Photos?
Blog readers are visually influenced. Regardless of what you’re writing about, you should be including photos. Lots of them.
Photos add life to your blog and make your posts easier to read.
Creative Commons offers up heaps of fantastic photos you’re free to use – just be sure to give credit when credit is due.
4) You Only Talk About Yourself
By the very nature of being a traveler, you’re bound to have stories to tell. That’s fantastic – but there is a time and a place. Believe it or not, your travel blog often isn’t the place.
You got really drunk last weekend? Fantastic. You went on a great tour with a funny guide? Sweet as.
Your audience doesn’t need to know, and doesn’t want to know, what you’re doing each day you’re on the road. Keep your posts appealing to a wide range of people and your traffic numbers will inevitably increase.
5) You Don’t Read Other Travel Blogs
The travel blog community is fantastic – it’s filled with open, helpful, and genuine travelers who share your same passions. One of the best ways to gain traffic and traction in the travel blogosphere is by reading, commenting, and promoting other blog posts.
The faces behind the blogs you visit regularly will slowly make their way to your blog – and by leaving compelling comments, you’re bound to pick up traffic from other commenters as well.
6) You Don’t Use Enough Lists
One of the most important things to consider when writing a blog post is the title. This is what determines whether or whether not someone will potentially even click through to read your post.
Your post titles should be both compelling and list focused.
- 7 of Australia’s Most Spectacular Views received 100 retweets in less than a week
- 7 Reasons You Should Experience Backpacking in Thailand has received 75 retweets
- 20 of New Zealand’s Best Views has received 108 retweets
- 7 Tips for Successful Long Term Travel has received 121 retweets
Your posts will gain far more traction and traffic if you consider what sells well in the social media community.
7) You Haven’t Waited Long Enough
Your travel blog won’t become successful overnight. It’s as simple as that.
Even if you’re doing everything right – and have been for months – you still may not be getting as much traffic as you want. Keep at it.
While many travel blogs pop up each day, an equal number fizzle out. Stay focused and continue to offer compelling, new, and photo-rich content and the traffic and interaction on your blog will steadily increase.
What’s your take? Leave your feedback or traffic generating tips in the comments section below.
Backpacking Matt 
Please pardon the horrible spelling and grammatical mistakes. I’m just off a plane…need sleep
I recently started a blog as well and these are really helpful tips 🙂 Thanks! I think one of the most important things is to enjoy what your doing and stick with it. I’ve only been doing mine for a couple of months now, and I’ve found the community of travel bloggers to be amazing! Thanks again!
This post is encouraging and educating in the same time. Thanks for the great tips! I think posting frequently if the quality can be kept up is a good thing, but not if the quality is sacrificed for the quantity.
Thanks for getting back to me Matt, and I encourage you to keep writing even with the wine 🙂 I’m not so worried about missing Gary’s offer as he has a tendency to put things out there anyway and I’m enjoying his audio series.
As for the blog vs the website issue. It’s something that I have thought about recently. You know the whole idea that “all blogs are websites but not all websites are blogs.” Blogs at once indicate a personal narration behind a subject but can also indicate (for some people) lower quality in the form of everyday journal type entries. Then again many websites have “blog” sections that deliver fresh content to get people to read their static content. I agree with Gary that times are changing and we are moving into the realm of personality based marketing. We have always been there on TV and more traditional advertising, but things are changing where we can become “celebrities” in our niche and leverage that for $$$.
” Then again many websites have “blog” sections that deliver fresh content to get people to read their static content. ”
Or (as in the case of our Web site) the blogs perform a different function than the main Web site does: The main Web site consists mostly of in-depth “evergreen” travel-planning content, while the blogs contain items that are more personal, more entertaining, or more time-sensitive.
As for the notion that people are too busy to read long or frequent posts, I think it depends. My wife is a loyal fan of several travel blogs, such as theveniceexperience.blogspot.com, theboldsoul.com, and http://alloggibarbaria.blogspot.com. She eagerly reads whatever new items (no matter how long) the bloggers have posted, and she’s disappointed when her favorite bloggers haven’t posted in a while. On the other hand, she doesn’t belong to Facebook or Twitter, so her time isn’t divided between reading blogs and chattering on social networks or playing Farmville.
Hey Matt, Great write-up! Thank you for this and also for visiting our blog and dropping a comment on it. I have been facing problems of identifying spam messages on my blog. Since I am new to blogging, it would be great if you write something on spam comments too. Thank you again! 🙂
Just found the site and I just subscribed. Well done blog. Some good advice. Getting consistent readers is tough. I migrated my old website over the a blog format and took my readers with me, but when I started a new blog, I had to develop a new readership. Honestly, the subject matter will limit the potential of any blog. If your blogging about budget travel, lots of people are into that and looking for information on the subject. If you are blogging about your cat, maybe not so many. But even if you are blogging about your cat, or whatever, doing it well and providing unique content will get you more readers.
I have had a “travel site” for 10 years – a page where I jot down my travel stories. I have had exactly 23 entries in my Guestbook. 20 from my imediate family and 3 from commerical sites selling me stuff that I don’t want.
I hope all I lack is #5. Although I read other blogs, I never comment on any of them. That is the easiest to fix. I am adding my comment here hoping that all you guys will rush to my site… if not for anything, but at least to know what-not-to-do to increase traffic 🙂
@Manoj On my way now … 🙂 Thanks for the comment.
These are excellent tips, Matt! I especially think commenting on, retweeting, and promoting other blogs is important for developing relationships & growing an audience.
I’m curious: How many times do you usually post in one week on average?
@Stephanie Thanks for stopping by! Glad you’ve enjoyed the post – have a read through the comments too, some good differing points are made as well. It’s really a mater of finding what works well fr you. As far as posting each week, I personally believe 2 – 3 is ideal. I’ve been flat out as of late and haven’t reached this goal and 1 – 2 has been about the norm. Enjoy your trip – will enjoy following your journey around the states!
Great ideas! Really helpful for first-time travel bloggers like me. There’s just really a lot of wonderful stuff to write about, the problem is making yourself heard. I really like reason #5. Some travel bloggers can get a little selfish and won’t reply to other bloggers posting a comment or asking questions. Really sad, they don’t know it’ll help bring traffic to their site too.
Great tips Matt! All so very true. I definitely agree that the first few months are the hardest, I had almost given up hope on my sweet little blog! But after a few months of meager views, I realized I was doing many things wrong. Primarily – I wasn’t engaging with the travel community!
This was definitely pretty helpful. I’m in the beginning stages now, so I guess I need patience 😀
Thanks for the help!
Great post indeed. I’ve been trying to figure out what a good maximum word count would be and am glad to know the 3,000 word article I just posted may have been a tad too long!
Here’s me reading other travel blogs and loving it! As a new travel blogger, I learned so much just from this one post. This is an awesome site! I look forward to reading much more while I try to be patient.
Great post thanks.
@Rohan, @Julie, @Brad, @Seattle & @Audrey – Thanks heaps for the positive feedback!
I think something everyone needs to keep in mind when starting a blog is “What is your motivation.” My tip for anyone getting into it for the money is don’t quite your day job and don’t think just because one person was successful using a certain method doesn’t mean you will to. The money making blogs generally I think fit into two categories, there are the ones that are a Business, their content is mediocre, badly written and personality-less but they’re good business people who know how to market and take advantage of SEO. Then there are those who are out to tell stories, write with passion, stay true to their personality. These are the bloggers that aren’t necessarily relying on SEO to get traffic because they have a readership of people who love them. These bloggers are successful first and foremost because people can relate to them, they engage their readers and as a result their readers keep coming back for more. I don’t think there are any general tips that will ensure success for every blogger, it comes down to why your blogging, their will be different paths to success for each of these kind of bloggers, some of which these tips will ring completely true and some that won’t. Kudos for writing up what’s worked for you, I’m sure their are many bloggers who this will apply to!
@Sasha Thanks heaps for the feedback. As you mentioned, there is no perfect method for success – ultimately, you have to find what work for you. You’re correct as well in that ‘success’ will vary greatly to each blogger as everyone has different motivations for writing their blog.
I couldn’t agree more about the “not enough photos” line. I want to see big, beautiful photos. And lots of them. The web is a beautiful medium for photos; not so much for text. Use it smartly.
Thanks for the solid advice for this easily discouraged travel blogger! We’ve spent a lot of our time traveling through Asia concentrated on producing interesting travel video features when we should have spent a lot more time on basic SEO. There seemed to be some back and forth in the comments about blog length. One thing I’ve come to appreciate in ours and other travel blogs is variety. Whether that’s just as a reader or former broadcast editor, sometimes I want some sizable content, but there are certainly times when short, sweet & fun is just what the doctor ordered.
Thanks for providing useful suggestions. I think bloggers should focus on improving the quality of their blog content and keep writing without getting too worried about traffic in the initial months. It would also depend on what is the purpose of starting the blog. If one enjoys writing and sees personal travel blogs as an opportunity to re-live the journeys, poor traffic may not be a concern at all. But if one is writing in order to promote business, this might be a primary consideration.
“3) Where Are the Photos?”
How many photos in an article? because too many photos will kill the bandwidth and exacerbate the loading page. Is there any ideal proportion between photos and words count?
I think that lists are one of the most overlooked aspects of writing a blog. A list engages readers to continue reading and to obtain the critical time on site to prevent a bounce. The list doesn’t even need to be numbered, an unordered list has just about the same effect as an ordered one. Good post Matt!
Wow, so much good information here! I am a brand new travel blogger, and this is great information for me (even if some of it is contradictory.) I think what I will take from this is a sort of middle road…I think I am aiming for 20-30 posts a month to start with with a mixture of long and short posts. I do prefer to use my own photos, but if the only photo that I have is crap, I have no problem looking for something better.
Thanks for an advice and support on this road…I am in it for the long haul and am looking forward to becoming a part of this wonderful community where we can disagree yet still be respectful of each other.
Good article. I’ve learn from it and I think it will help me with my new blog. Thanks.
Matt, this is my first visit to your site and I am completely bowled over by your content and presentation.I am a newbie when it comes to travel blogging, but I am slowly trying to learn the tricks of the trade and also understanding what works and what doesn’t.This post of yours is like a goldmine to me.I realized the mistakes I have been doing all this time and also what I should do from now.Thank You for showing the way to others,I am permanently hooked here now.
@Arnab Very glad you’ve found the post useful. Just a had a look at some of the photos on your site – fantastic! Happy travels!
Thanks for the info on photos available at Commons. I’m going to be bookmarking that one and checking it out.
I appreciate the info too, most of it sounds right on. I’m picking a blog back up after a long hiatus so …
Hi Matt. I’m a new travel blogger and now I’m more confused then ever after reading everyone’s advice, Haha. One thing I did learn is that the community of travel bloggers is genuinely helpful and would like to see others succeed. Thanks everyone for sharing your tips.
@Chad Thanks for the comment and saying hello. 🙂 Welcome to the wonderful world of travel blogging – as you mentioned, full of fantastic people always ready to help. The post isn’t an end all and these tips should give you plenty to consider in finding your own niche.
Great points Matt. As a relatively new person to the blogosphere – I can certainly agree with so many of your points. I have subscribed to a number of my favourites as I read other people’s blogs – and you nail it on the head – photos sell, too much is too much – between work, traveling, researching next trip, reading other blogs as well as writing my own….. well, you know what I am saying – I certainly favour the blogs that don’t overpopulate my inbox! Photos make all the difference and sometimes inspire me to go to places I may not have been interested in in the past.
Looking forward to scrolling through your posts.
@AnitaMac Cheers for the feedback – delighted you’ve found the tips useful. Also, welcome to the blogosphere! 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to share this Matt, massive help to getting my own travel blog moving and what are some aspects for me to go away and tinker with!
Keep up the good work…
@Ash Thanks. These tips defiantly aren’t the end all; as many of the commenters above have pointed out, it’s all about finding the right mix for you.
I have been writing my travel blog for two years, and I don’t get many readers, but I don’t care. I’m not writing my blog to get famous, make money, or to boost my ego. I write it for me, to reflect on my journeys, to document my travels, and to share with close family and friends. If I can inspire other people to reach for their dreams, set goals, and achieve what they can in this life, then great. If I didn’t write my blog, my pictures would sit in a photo album and my memories would fade.
If I have to change my blog style to suit the needs of others, then I lose the point of my blog. I say, write your blog for you. Write how you want to write. Include pictures you want to include. Otherwise you will lose the joy of blogging about your adventures, and this will become just another job you have to do.
@Wrabbit007 I don’t disagree with that – at the end of the day, as you said, you need to enjoy what you’re doing. If writing the blog becomes work you don’t enjoy, something is most definitely wrong.
Thank you for this post Matt, it’s great to see in one place the 7 most important reasons why any website doesn’t get enough traffic.
1.) Post more when you start, so when your readers come they will have more than 1-2 articles to read. After that it’s better to slow down to 1-2 times per week posting so your new articles will reach more audience.
2. If you have a long article 1000 or more words, it’s better to split it in to parts even post them with 2-3 days delay from each other.
3. Don’t add to many photos, even if it’s nice to have them. It’s better to make an album in your Social Media or website Gallery, but don’t post 10s of photos in one post, especially if they are with high resolution… people just get lost. The final result is unwanted.
Great discussion here guys and thanks for posting it Matt! Having just started blogging myself, in preparation for our round the world trip, I’ve also found trying find our style to be difficult. Am I writing it for my family to read? Or my best friends? Or people I don’t know and will never meet? I think thats where the bravery in travel blogging comes in, and I can see why some people write about themselves mostly (maybe because they have pretty interesting lives and can get away with it) whereas others are trying to cover all types of people and thus dilute their message.
Either way I found the post useful to remind me to be patient, having written four blog posts so far I have a long way to go! I won’t be posting often, and would like one great blog entry every week, along with photo updates to keep the site active. The one thing I am focusing on currently is content, get that right and worry about traffic later.
Thanks again for the post Matt.
@Barry Glad you’ve found the feed of comments here helpful. I think you nailed it on the head here —>>> “The one thing I am focusing on currently is content, get that right and worry about traffic later.”
New blogger here and I have to say that I love the passion you travel bloggers are showing through these comments. A lot of good stuff here to absorb!
Hi Matt
Met you in Corte Madera last summer. Just found your blog. Very nice and I really enoyed this post. Very helpful indeed. Wherever you are I hope all is well.
Best
Penny
@Penny I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else. 🙂
Great read and excellent/helpful advice! Thanks!
A perfect blog post for any newbie blogger (Like myself)
Whilst blogging success would be a real compliment and a benefit, I think it should come secondary to the travelling at hand and the experiences to be had.
I’ve started my travel adventure in preparation only. I’ve rented out my flat and started planning for a life on the road but I dont intend on leaving for another 6 – 7 months. During this time I’ve posted about every step of the way and I’ve had really great feedback from readers. It seems that even though I havent GONE anywhere yet people are enjoying reading about the struggles of dropping everything I know.
For me my blog is a chronicling of my adventures. The fact it may not be a world wide success means nothing to me. I will be able to look back on my blog and reminise. However, the fact that I’m reading this blog, implies that I would like more people to be excited about my impending adventure.
Nice reading, fine advice
Thanks for this post, me and my friend have just launched our own travel blog so this is going to be very handy for future posts.
Great article thanks for the handy advice. I’m 4 months in to my Travel Blog and only just starting to see some good traffic. My traffic always shoots up on days I post and share on my social channels, but I try not to post more than x3 a week. I’ve found the best days for traction are Mondays and Fridays. I think the most important thing is to stay consistent! Keep up the hard work guys and please check out my blog ! xx Jess, The Travelista
Cheers for the feedback and good luck with your own blog!
I just started out 🙂 I’ve been posting every alternate day. Maybe I should cut that down to twice a week? Great tips! Thank you!!
This is an old article, but the advice is still true and appropriate today. I’m curious if any bloggers use paid ads to get traffic, and if that works?
Unless you’re selling something on your blog (ebook, consulting service, etc), I can’t see why you’d use paid ads to get traffic. Your content should speak for itself to the search engines and they will likely send you more relevant traffic than paid ads.
Thanks for the encouragement! It’s hard work but I guess anything worth doing is worth waiting for. Good luck to everyone and safe travels of course!
Thanks so much for the article and for everyone who posted comments. What an interesting read even years later! We are just starting our travel adventure and definitely want to take our blog beyond the friends & family readership. Here’s to staying positive and patient!
Good luck with starting your blog. Very glad to hear you still found the post useful even a couple years on!
Very informative article, and so true! As a new travel blogger, this is one of the first articles that I actually read all the way through, and what to you know, it utilizes everything it includes? I think the layout and simplicity of the theme helps allot too, easy on the eyes and easy to navigate!
Thanks Joel, glad you enjoyed the article.
Really useful post Matt! Thanks. Recently started my website at the beginning of the year, it’s a slow process but I know you are absolutely right by saying to stick with it.
This is such great advice. I recently started a travel blog. Although I am happy with the amount of traffic I’m receiving, I know that I could always be improving and need to stay motivated. Thanks for the extra daily motivation!
Great blog, thanks Matt. Like the list on list thing going on haha.