Is it still worth starting a travel blog?
It really doesn’t feel like a great time to start a travel blog.
In late 2023 and early 2024, Google rolled out a series of updates that shook up the search results.
Some travel blogs were crushed completely.
Adding insult to injury, 2024 has been the year Google started to play with AI generated search results. That’s on top of the number of people pushing out AI content to their websites, and the AI images taking over social media.
All in all, it feels like a pretty bleak time to be a travel blogger.
But — travel blogging isn’t dead. I, for one, still make a living from my travel blog. And there are many other travel bloggers out there who are also building their sites into businesses.
So, if you’re on the fence about starting your own site, let me talk through why I think it’s still a good idea to start a travel blog.
People have been saying blogging is dead for many years now. And yet, here we are
Yes, the internet has changed recently. Yes search has got worse (but it has also got better).
Here’s what I think is the most important thing, and the one takeaway I want to leave you with:The more content there is in the world, the more we need good content.
By that I mean that it’s getting harder for people to find the good stuff, because they are drowning in bad content. So, if you have an authentic voice and real advice to give, there is space for you.
I know this because my readers have told me over and over again how hard it is to find decent information online. Which makes my travel blog stand out even more.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Be careful who you listen to online. I started my blogging journey by joining a bunch of Facebook groups for bloggers, and sure, there was some great advice given out in there. But as soon as Google search algorithms started changing, things went negative very quickly (or maybe they were always that negative and I just didn’t notice before that). There are many people in those groups who will be quick to tell you to give up on your blogging dreams. So. Just be mindful of what you absorb (I quit all those groups and Facebook in general, and just do my own thing).
Let me start by saying that I love having a travel blog. On a personal level, it is absolutely worth it for me
I think, above all else, you should start a travel blog because you genuinely enjoy it. That’s what makes it worth it.
If you’re thinking of starting one because you have seen people talk about how much money they can make from running a site, that’s great — that’s what motivated me to start my own blog as well.
But, it’s hard and often tedious work. You’ll face a lot disappointment and frustration, and you have to stick with this thing for years. Literal years.
So, if you don’t love at least some part of it, it’s highly likely your blog will fall by the wayside. There are no reliable statistics on this, but upwards of 90% of blogs fail within a couple of years. Most before they ever make even $100.
For me personally, even though money was what gave the push to start publishing my own content, I have been driven forward by a passion for learning all the associated skills, the independence it has given me, the impetus to improve my photography.
And I love being able to write what I want, in my authentic voice.
THE TAKEAWAYS:
Having a blog can bring you more brand opportunities than just freelance writing for example.
It’s a great way to build a foundation for a business (although you have to think long term).
Starting a travel blog has led to “passive” income, freelance commissions, and brand collaborations. But more importantly, it brings me joy.
I was able to take a hit to my income because I had a cushion of savings, and I treated the time of learning how to grow a travel blog as just that — a learning period. In my mind, I thought of it the same way I would if I went back to university and didn’t have a salary for a few years. It’s an immediate hit to your earnings, but a longer term investment in knowledge.
It is still possible to grow your travel blog and make an income — but it will take time
If your intention with starting a travel blog is to make money — and I think that includes most of us — then you should know that you absolutely can grow your blog and make money, even if you were to start today.
But, you should also know that it can take 1-2 years before you start seeing more than $1000 a month in income.
There are plenty of SEO and blogging gurus out there who will tell you about how to make money off niche sites. They make it look easy, but — so many of them got burned in the Google algorithm updates that rolled out in late 2023 and early 2024.
This is the truth; there is no real shortcut to success.
Most people who look like quick successes have really been working on their skills for a long time before they hit upon the one thing that has shot them to success.
Even me, for example.
I make money off my travel blog (and scaled it from less than 1000 to more than 100,000 sessions in less than a year) but I already had a background in SEO and digital marketing.
If I was starting a blog from scratch, it would have taken much longer to see wins.
THE TAKEAWAYS:
Publishing your own content can make you money. It just won’t be fast or easy.
It’s going to take a long time to see progress. You can expect this to be at least one year of work before you start seeing significant traffic.
Consistent effort is the only way you will get anywhere. It’s not as easy as bashing out articles and waiting for money to come in. I am constantly evaluating and optimising my content — it’s not hands off and not passive, no matter what anyone says.
If you want to start a travel blog, you need to understand the state of travel blogging in 2025
In some ways, blogging is harder than ever. It’s a different game to what it was a decade ago.
If you’re planning on starting a travel blog, you need to keep in mind that a blog isn’t a diary. Where blogging used to be a personal record of your experiences — a web log — nowadays I believe blogging is better described as independent publishing.
Although people used to write a lot about their personal experiences, now you need to write about your experiences in conjunction with useful information.
I can’t stress enough how important both parts of this equation are. A travel blog showing no personal experiences isn’t going to succeed. Neither will one that is purely informative and lacking in personality.
People use search engines to find the answers to questions they already have in mind; less so to find inspiration (social media channels do a better job of serving inspiration). But, once they land on your site, they need to be convinced of your authenticity. You need to share stories to gain their trust.
That doesn’t mean that blogging is dead, it just means you need to understand the needs of your users, and what you can do with a website as a channel.
I think of my travel site as a type of online magazine or publication, the same as any of the big names like Travel & Leisure or Conde Nast Traveler. I aim to have a similar level of quality in terms of my writing and photography.
Obviously I fall short a lot of the time because I don’t have a team of writers and editors. But, my point is you should think about your travel blog as your own publication — not just a rundown of things you did in different places.
For this reason, although I’m calling it travel blogging, I prefer to think of it as independent publishing. I also call myself a travel writer instead of a travel blogger, as I think that more accurately describes what I do.
Search has changed. So should your content
Many travel bloggers, myself included, started off chasing clicks. That meant publishing all kinds of weak content just to capture search traffic. Sites were littered with entire posts on queries that just need a one sentence answer.
Industry thought leaders like Lily Ray have noticed trends like official destination websites growing in their share of search traffic. Essentially, traffic is being diverted away from smaller publishers to larger — in theory, more ‘trustworthy’ — sites.
I can tell you from my experience working on a massive destination site that that content isn’t necessarily better.
People still have deep questions about places that can’t be covered by AI generated content. For example, complex itineraries, logistics, cultural subtlties.
Here’s how to make money off a travel blog
The most common ways to make money off a travel blog is by activating ads, and including affiliate links.
Join an ad network and make money from display advertising.
Provide affiliate links to your audience.
Sell your own products.
There are lots of opinions out there on both of these tactics. I have had more success with ads but the truth is I hate having them on my website.
My longer term goals include building a brand that allows me to sell my own self-published work, such as travel guides and books.
Establishing a loyal audience is more important than making a buck.
Here are some monetisation strategies that I don’t use:
I don’t sell sponsored posts on my site, despite being approached to do exactly that.
I don’t sell links.
A quick note on ethics: The travel bloggers advertising ways to reach very high levels of income are often pushing tactics that aren’t really above board, at least for me.
I’m personally not that comfortable recommending hotels or experiences I’m not familiar with, but there are bloggers that will create round ups of “the best hotels in X destination” just because they know they can make affiliate income this way. Never mind the fact they have never paid for a night’s accommodation in these places.
Sure, we all need to make an income. But I am trying to build my brand around integrity and honesty, and I know of some other travel bloggers doing the same thing.
There’s a lot of outdated advice out there (like, that Squarespace is bad for SEO and blogging — which I have proved completely wrong).
If you found this helpful, you might also like to take a peek at my other tips on blogging on Squarespace:
