7 Brutal Lessons from My 1st Year Travel Blogging (Tips for Beginners)

As I write this story in a charming coffee shop in Porto, it’s hard to believe a year has passed since I plunged into the intense realm of travel blogging.

I started this journey with great expectations and a laptop in hand, believing that by the sixth month, I would become the go-to travel blogger and make my blog profitable.

But who was I kidding? That’s not how it works.

Let’s take a step back. When I started my travel blogging journey in April 2023, my primary objective was to share my travels. As well as to inspire a few people on Instagram to explore the UK and Europe on a budget.

It turns out that blogging “professionally” is a lot more than just writing about your travel highlights.

From figuring out SEO (don’t worry, I’ll explain that later) to promoting your articles like a pro and ensuring your blog doesn’t turn into a ghost town when life gets busy.

I’ve experienced this quite a few times, by the way, and I’m now gradually making it come to life.

It’s normal—just slowly lift yourself with more determination, and the rest will follow.

The highs? Oh, definitely, there have been some great times. Watching my blog impressions rise after a popular post? It was like winning a lottery—well, a little one.

Or, seeing the numbers (Pinterest shares, not much but still counts) of readers who find my recommendations useful? Truly encouraging.

Lastly, seeing my little blog gain some Domain Authority (DA) within a year of launching (even without being consistent) is honestly such a great accomplishment.

On this travel blogging journey, it’s always great to know that you’re on the right track.

Ready to learn how to avoid beginner blogging mistakes? Let’s begin!

Beginner Blogger Mistakes: What I Wish I Knew

But the lows? To put it simply, I’ve had many “Wait, how did I not know that?” or “Did I just do that?” moments.

An example I learnt quite recently (2 weeks ago) is not knowing that you should ALWAYS make all links on your blog open in a new tab—otherwise, you’re sending visitors away from your blog.

Can you imagine that? Or spending hours obsessing over my blog design, only to realise that no one cares about my perfectly chosen layout or fonts if my content isn’t helpful.

And don’t even get me started on the time that I created a freebie for my audience that no one wanted (just because I could have one on my blog—and you may have heard many people in the blogging community stress this).

I didn’t really delve into their wants, so as expected, I didn’t get the results I was hoping for. Big mistake!

So, if you’re new to travel blogging (or thinking about getting started), stick with me! Over the past year, I’ve learnt a lot (and I am still learning). Some things were easy to learn, but most were hard.

If you follow me on my Instagram and watch my stories, you know I don’t gatekeep information.

So, here’s what I know about blogging with you so you can (hopefully) avoid my mistakes:

Top 7 Lessons Learnt in My First Year of Travel Blogging

Related Read: 6 Essential Questions to Ask Before Starting a Blog

Lesson 1: Not Mastering SEO Early

When it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), there is a lot to learn, more than you think. And you will make tons of mistakes along the way.

In the beginning, I only knew the most basic things about SEO. It had never occurred to me that SEO involved so many aspects.

After a quick look for keywords, I’d write a post that only focused on that one keyword if I found one with “high search volume and low competition.”

And I thought that my article would suddenly show up on the first page of Google’s search results. I wish that were the case, though.

But, sadly, if you don’t meet the “user search intent” or your articles don’t have proper “on-page SEO,” Google won’t know what your blog posts are about.

SEO Takes Time & Practice

I obsessively checked my Google Analytics every day to see my top queries and indexed pages, but I wasn’t optimising my content for search engines.

Not a good approach. Getting Google to index your pages and posts depends on a lot of things, not just SEO.

Most of these things have to do with Google’s algorithms, best practices, and updates. But trust me, if you do what Google says, it will reward you with tons of free traffic.

Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way after focusing too much on getting results and not enough on making useful, SEO-friendly content.

The truth is that during the past year of my travel blogging journey, I have learned—and continue to learn—everything there is to know about SEO and SEO topics are endless.

As a novice blogger, I’m willing to agree that learning SEO might be intimidating. But you should always be ready to learn all of its different parts and use it strategically.

Pro Tip: Before writing anything, check if people are searching for a topic you want to write about. Even better, you don't have to pay anything to start writing SEO-optimized content.

If you've ever used Google to search for something, you may have noticed that it lists some queries that other people have already looked for. That is one of the quickest and simplest ways to learn "Users Search Intent."

If you scroll down a few search results, you will also see a part called "People Also Ask." Depending on your keyword, there may be a lot of questions that you can use to find out what people are asking about the subject you want to write about.

At the very bottom of the first page of Google results, if you scroll down even more, you will find another area called "People Also Search For." 

And with that, you've done a tiny bit of SEO research. Trust me—do this first and see what questions you can answer uniquely.

Finally, add Chrome extensions like MozBar and Keywords Everywhere to help you with SEO competitor analysis (another SEO topic I need to write a whole blog post about).

Lesson 2: Consistency is Key (But It’s Tougher Than It Seems)

Most professional bloggers will tell you that being consistent is important, and I lean towards agreeing.

To build Google’s trust and authority, you must post consistently with valuable content. When I first started, I knew in the back of my mind that I needed to keep producing fresh content.

However, I wasn’t excited, writing relentlessly and then… a tonne of useless fluff (of which I’ve done many times, and I recently deleted a tonne of useless posts).

I’ll admit it, though—I may have written a few posts about topics that no one was looking for.

But all of this was okay in the end and a big part of my journey as a travel blogger. You make mistakes, learn from them, grow, and keep going.

Travel Blogging Tips for Beginners

Maintaining consistency is important for your blog’s success, but let’s be honest: life does get in the way sometimes. My blog often went months without being touched. Not good, right?

The catch is that being consistent doesn’t mean publishing blog posts every day. No offence meant to any of the great bloggers who write pieces every day.

In reality, most of those have a team behind them. This is honestly impossible for a new blogger to do—we wear a lot of different hats while we’re on this travel blogging journey.

For instance, now it takes me at least two or three days to write a piece that is properly SEO-friendly. Before, it took me a week at most.

However, I am slowly getting different results than before. Now, within a week of publishing, all of my most recent posts are being indexed. If I’m being completely honest, that is the fastest Google has ever indexed any post on my blog.

Don’t Sacrifice Quality for Quantity

We all work in different ways in the end. But just make a plan that you know you can stick to.

Whether it’s once a week, twice a week, or even every day. Let Google or your target audience (if you have one) know when to expect new content.

Make sure you take care of yourself too. I now prefer posting one well-thought-out (SEO-optimized) article a week to a lot of useless ones every day just to be consistent.

This will really help you out in the long run. Blogging has several learning curves. Remember, it’s not just about publishing new posts. Old posts also need to be updated.

Pro tip: At the moment, I'm planning my blog posts with a Notion content calendar. It’s a lifesaver! It holds me responsible and on track, and it also keeps me from getting stuck when I don't know what to write next.

One more thing: please DO NOT compare your travel blogging journey to that of bloggers ahead of you. Seriously, blogging isn't a competition. You'll need motivation on this journey. So look to other blogs for inspiration, not competition.

I always look forward to meeting like-minded people. I'm taking a break on Instagram feed-posting since 2024 to present, (I'm partially active on stories though), so you can  DM me on there. Alternatively, you're welcome to join my free Facebook community or contact me via my blog.

Lesson 3: Promotion is Just as Important as Creation

When I first started blogging, I thought the hardest part was writing a good post and that as soon as I hit “publish,” people would appear out of nowhere.

They don’t. You can be an expert and create the best blog article in the world, but if no one sees it, it’s useless. Still, SEO is a big part of this too.

In my early days, I only used Instagram to promote my posts, which was a bad idea because I thought that my Instagram followers would be the first people to read my blog.

But the truth is that some social media platforms, like Instagram alone, aren’t enough.

Only a very small number of your Instagram followers will read your posts—maybe 10% at most. To be honest, most of them aren’t bloggers or aren’t trying to be “professional bloggers.”

Lesson 4: Don’t Ignore Promoting on Relevant Social Media Platforms

Don’t get me wrong, though; through Instagram, you can meet amazing creators or even bloggers (there are still a few) who may work for others.

But in my humble opinion, it’s useless for blog post promotion. Soon, I had to learn how to get attention from different platforms and promote my posts on Google, Pinterest, and Facebook groups.

Pro Tip: You can share your blog posts on all of your social networks if you want to, but don't stop there. Focus on sites that drive organic blog traffic. 

It is very important for new bloggers to do this, and Pinterest and Facebook Groups have been helpful for me in terms of getting people to my site.

Also, respond to comments, participate in relevant discussions, and be active where your readers' are. This is something I'm working on right now.

Lesson 5: Networking & Building Relationships Matter (A LOT!)

At first, I didn’t fully understand how important it is to connect with other bloggers and people who are on the same journey as me.

I used to think, “I can do this travel blogging thing alone,” but it’s a community effort.

We need real human relationships to help us out in a world where we are glued to our phones and hit with opinions from other people on social media.

This blogging journey is no fun alone. So, networking provides many opportunities, like guest posts, collaborating on social media, and engaging in conversations with other bloggers.

Early on, I focused on just my content and didn’t consider learning from others. I regret not engaging with other bloggers sooner to share advice, opportunities, and partnerships.

Lesson 6: Managing Burnout as a Blogger

I was so naive and believed that writing about travel destinations would be a breeze when I first began my blogging journey because I had already gone to a lot of amazing places.

I would have a tonne of ideas for content from previous travels, but I would lack a good plan or structure for how to post it on my blog.

This increased my procrastination and burnout. Soon, I realised I needed realistic goals and deadlines to have flexibility as a blogger.

Writing about the best parts of your trip isn’t the only thing that travel blogging is about. While we’re still new to travel blogging, we often don’t think certain stories are interesting enough to share.

Big mistake! Not all writing on your blog should be about travel (as I realised recently). For instance, this post has nothing to do with my usual travel guides and tips.

I chose to write about this subject on purpose to hopefully encourage someone and also to keep myself from burnout—writing just about “niche” themes that put strain on bloggers.

Pro Tip: To keep motivated, set realistic blogging goals. Keep yourself organised; I mentioned before that I now use a basic Notion content calendar to write my blog posts. 

As with when I first started blogging, I don't choose what post to write while also doing SEO research, writing, editing, and then publishing it in the same week.

Lastly, take breaks on purpose. Your blog is yours forever, unlike social media.

Never forget that you are the only one competing with yourself in your blogging journey.

Lesson 7: Monetizing Your Blog Takes Time

In the blogging community, there is a widespread misconception that “your blog is monetised magically once you launch it and gain an audience.”

That sounds great, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, that’s not true, and I learnt this the hard way. You will need to spend even more money before your blog starts making you regular money.

And to make that happen, you should always rethink your monetisation strategies. For instance, I realised that I couldn’t afford an expensive hosting plan right now, so I chose a much cheaper one to get by.

Pro Tip: Prioritise value over monetisation. Ask, "How can I solve a problem for my blog readers through my content?" If you can't answer that question, then take a step back and rethink your blog approach monetisation strategy.

Final Thoughts (and a Few More Lessons)

It’s amazing how much I’ve learnt in a year. There were frustrations and times I wondered if I would ever master travel blogging.

I learnt something new from each mistake, and I’m sharing them with you so you may avoid some of my mistakes! In any case, I hope you learnt something.

Happy blogging!

Remember:

• Consistency will keep your blog alive, but balance it with self-care.

• SEO and social media promotion are your best friends—but they take time to master.

• Focus on providing value, not just pumping out content for the sake of it.

• Don’t overlook the power of networking and building relationships in the blogging community.

• Promote your content like a pro—don’t expect readers to find you randomly.

• Other bloggers are not your enemies or competition but are a source of inspiration. If possible, reach out and learn from them.

• Celebrate little wins on your journey—I celebrate even if I get just one unique visitor or a new click.

• Be your own cheerleader; no one can fight for your dreams more than you.

• When your blogging journey gets tough, pick yourself up over and over and keep going slowly. The race is not for the swift but for those who don’t give up.

What lessons did you learn in your first year of blogging? Share some of your journey's drawbacks and helpful tips in the comments section below. 

And while you’re at it, check out my other articles on blogging for beginners. I promise, there’s plenty more to learn!