Ah, travel blogs.

The ultimate source of life-changing inspiration… or cringeworthy cliches.

When you’re new to writing travel blogs, it’s easy to fall into the trap of publishing bad content after bad content. Especially when you’re winging it.

That’s why I’ve put together 15 vital tips for crafting the best travel blog possible, from the get-go.

In this blog, you’ll learn the best practices for creating a travel blog, a few industry no-nos to avoid at all costs and some crucial information to help you become a better writer in a shorter period of time.

Let’s get into it.

15 Vital Tips for Boosting the Quality of Your Travel Writing

The following tips are designed to help you produce better travel blogs, no matter your experience.

In no particular order, here they are.

1) Know your audience

This should be your number one consideration when deciding topics to write about.

Ask yourself, “Who am I writing this for, and why are they reading it?”

If you’re starting a travel blog for commercial reasons, i.e., to market your online travel business, then you should already know who your audience is and what sort of content they’re interested in.

But if you don’t know who you’re writing for just yet, figuring this out is an important first step.

Consider these tips for choosing a niche and finding an audience:

Write about what you know – if you’re a leisure traveller, write about that. If you’re a foodie, start a food blog.
Check out online forums and Facebook groups to see what people are interested in.
Write about the sort of things you as a traveller would want to know.
Write about your personal travel experiences.
Read other travel blogs and ask yourself which ones resonate most with you.

Once you have a niche, all that’s left to do is apply that niche to different travel topics.

2) Always carry a journal

Ideas are like pimples; they can pop up any time without warning.

Keeping a pencil and journal in your backpack at all times will allow you to write down stray ideas as they occur.

This will also allow you to record lots of small details about places you hope to write about, which will prove infinitely useful when it comes time to get blogging.

If you’re not the journal type, the Notes app on your phone ought to do just fine as an alternative.

3) Nouns and Verbs Make the Best Adjectives

The travel industry is riddled with overused descriptions that are more cheese than cheddar.

Unfortunately, the most beautiful places in the world share many of the same features. That’s why you need to incorporate a bit of creativity into your travel blogs to make them memorable.

Below is a list of the most common descriptive phrases found in travel blogs – it’s in your best interest to avoid them at all costs:

Hidden gem
Hidden treasure
Best-kept secret
Pristine
Gorgeous
Crystal clear lakes
Sparkling blue water
Breathtaking
Off-the-beaten-path
Quaint villages
Charming villages
Unique charm
A city of contrasts
Jawdropping
Mouthwatering
Friendly locals
East meets West
A place that time forgot
Panoramic view
Vibrant nightlife
Authentic cuisine

To tell you the truth, I’ve probably used every single one of these corny cliches at least once.

And so has anyone else that’s ever written a travel blog.

Therein lies the problem.

Luckily, the solution is simple: Specificity and power verbs.

To really take your readers to the place you’re describing, give it life through the magic of fine detail. And be honest. Talk about what was happening at the time of your visit.

Were there orange sailboats scattered across the lake?

Did a beetle the size of a green grape bite you on the arm?

Were the scallops so poorly cooked that you shared your plate with a passing street dog?

As well as small details, using power verbs can really add some oomph to your blog.

Descriptive doing-words work a whole lot better than boring ol’ did, had, and told.

Some examples of power verbs are:

Clutched
Hurried
Blasted
Seized
Scratched
Slurped
Dipped
Dashed
Bashed
Craved
Staved
Starved
Stormed

If a verb requires an adverb to describe it (he ran quickly), there’s probably a better verb you can use (dashed, bolted, sprinted, etc.).

4) Other travel blogs aren’t your competition; they’re your homework

Forget the notion that you have to compete with every single blog on the planet.

Outside of SEO, other travel blogs are not the enemy.

In fact, they should be considered valuable resources. Especially when you’re just starting out.

Dedicate time every week – if not every day – to reading the most successful travel blogs, both inside and outside of your niche.

This will help you to become familiar with the kind of language, topics, and formatting that can be applied to your own blog.

Furthermore, reading is the number two method for improving your writing skills – second only to actually writing!

5) Use unique angles for oversaturated topics

If you need to cover a place, attraction, event, or anything else that has been written about to death by a million other travel bloggers, the key to success is finding a new angle.

No doubt there are plenty of reviews and stories about trips to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

But how many people have covered the best bakeries within 1km of the Tower?

How about the 10 worst things about visiting the Eiffel Tower in September?

Perhaps these topics have also been written about already, but you get the point.

Think outside the box and you’ll find there is always something new to write about, no matter how popular the subject of your piece.

6) Readability first, grammar 2nd

Grammar rulez apply a little differently in the world of blog writing.

You’re not writing to impress your university teacher or get published by Scholastic. Your job is to entertain and inform people about the world of travel.

Use short, snappy paragraphs that are easy to read. Throw in a few slang words and onomatopoeia.

Heck, so long as what you’re saying makes sense and keeps people reading, it doesn’t really matter how many rules you break.

Just be sure that any time you do break a grammatical rule or spell a word wrong, you’re doing it on purpose.

Don’t ignore every rule of writing in the book just because you can.

But if you have a good reason to stray from the scholarly path, go for it!

7) Start Strong, Finish Strong

I’ve got a secret to tell you…

All good writing starts with a hook.

A hook is an intriguing opening line, sentence, or paragraph that interests the reader so much that they feel compelled to continue reading.

On top of that, your travel blogs ought to finish strongly so that they leave a lasting impression on your readership.

The end of the blog is the part where a reader is most likely to take action, so a call to action is a great way to finish.

If you’re writing a blog for marketing purposes, then your CTA should be an action that benefits the company, such as buying a product or speaking with an agent.

And if you’re just writing travel blogs for fun, a strong ending will be your best shot at getting the piece shared around online

8) Use Your Own Photos and Videos

Original images and video content can bring a lot of value to your travel blog – more than you might think.

When you’re just starting up, it’s easy to fall into the trap of relying on stock images for your blog posts. Just look at some of the older pieces on my website if you need proof.

But when you use your own original content in your post, it enables you to:

Boost your chances of ranking highly in Google search results.
Build a recognisable and unique brand.
Stand out from other travel blogs that are still using the same nine stock photos in every blog.
Demonstrate your real-life travel experiences and build trust with your audience.
Tell your story in a more enriching way.

Next time you’re off on an adventure, be sure to bring your camera with you so you’ve always got something ready to throw into your next blog.

9) Get Familiar with SEO Best Practices

If you want your blog to reach a wider audience organically, then you best get familiar with the basics of SEO and content marketing.

You’ll want to familiarise yourself with the following terms and their definitions:

Keyword research
Search engine optimization (SEO)
H1s, H2s, H3s, H4s
Internal links
External links
Meta titles
Meta descriptions
Domain authority

There are certainly a lot more terms than these, but that ought to give you a solid launch pad to begin your study.

Of course, if you’re just writing a blog for the sake of having something to read when you’re old and grey, then SEO may not matter much to you.

This tip is aimed more at those hoping to turn their blog into a form of revenue or a marketing channel.

Remember: Any time you invest now into learning more about the craft of blog writing will pay off further down the track.

10) Stay Consistent

Good content arrives on time, every time.

Figure out a number that works for you; maybe it’s one blog a month, maybe it’s two blogs a day.

We’re all different.

All that matters is you choose a frequency you know you can keep up with.

I normally publish two blogs every month. However, I’ve spent the last few weeks preparing for and engaging in a big move to Mexico. So this blog has arrived later than usual.

Don’t be like me.

Create your plan, build a content calendar, and then stick to it!

11) Give Excellent Value

People read blogs because they’re hoping to get something out of them.

Whether that be excellent travel tips, an entertaining adventure, or just some insight into the costs and durations of various activities – it doesn’t matter.

A good writer ought to always be thinking about the intended audience.

Ask yourself, “What can I include in this blog that my reader will find valuable?”

Every answer you come up with = quality content for your blog.

12) Write When You Write Best

I know writers that wake up at 4 am just to write.

For them, it’s a matter of using that creative energy before it’s eaten away by their exhausting full-time job.

There are other writers out there that work late into the evening when the kids have gone to bed and the house is finally silent.

For me, 9 am – 2 pm is the sweet spot. I try to get all my creative work done in that time and save the other hours for stuff, like proofreading and admin.

Figure out what time works best for you and dedicate that part of your day to writing.

Try to eliminate all distractions, such as phone notifications and annoying loved ones during this period.

13) Practice Makes Slightly-Less-Crap

Don’t worry if your stuff sucks when you’re first getting started. So did Tolstoy’s.

Writing is one of the very best examples of how hard work and consistency can result in tremendous improvements.

And remember: Nobody is perfect.

Even the very best writers have editors.

Learn to be okay with being crap. We all are at some point.

Eventually, you’ll be so good that you’ll want to burn everything you’ve ever written in the past.

This is a good thing, apparently.

14) Proofread Before Publishing

When you’ve completed a draft, it can be difficult to resist the urge to just hit Publish right then and there.

Don’t.

There are almost certainly going to be a few typos, grammatical errors, odd sentences, and structural issues with every draft you produce.

That’s what proofreading is for.

To ensure you never miss a mistake and to learn as you go along, try installing a free proofreading tool in browser such as ProWritingAid or Grammarly.

15) If You Don’t Love It, Don’t Do It!

Finally, it’s important that you actually enjoy blog writing if you hope to keep it up.

Writing isn’t always easy – especially on days that you feel exhausted or miserable.

If writing isn’t your cup of tea, or you just don’t have time for it, consider hiring an outside operative to write your blog for you.

When you hire a professional content writer, you’ll get all the benefits of a high-quality blog on your website without the added stress of heavy lifting.

Get in touch today for a free consultation about your content marketing needs.

15 Vital Tips For Starting A Travel Blog