Is travel blogging dead in 2024?
And whether or not you should still think about starting 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. Let me talk through why I think it’s still a good idea to start a travel blog.
The state of blogging in 2024
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. Although people used to write a lot about their personal experiences, now you need to write about your experiences in conjunction with useful information.
People use search engines to find the answers to questions they already have in mind; less so to find inspiration.
Instead, social media channels provide more inspiration.
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.
Where blogging used to be a personal record of your experiences — a web log — nowadays I believe blogging is better described as independent publishing.
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.
You can still make money with a travel blog in 2024
Publishing your own content isn’t going to make you money quickly — but, it can make you money.
It just won’t be fast or easy.
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.
So, is it worth starting a travel blog in 2024? Can you make money off of self publishing?
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).
The reality of starting a travel blog to make money
Here’s what you need to know.
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.
These are the reasons I love having a travel blog
I love being able to write what I want, in my authentic voice.
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).
If you found this helpful, you might also like to take a peek at my other tips on blogging on Squarespace:
