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Here I am in a lovely Porto coffee shop, writing this narrative, and I can’t believe it’s already been a year since I jumped headfirst into the intense world of travel blogging.
I honestly began this journey with high hopes and a laptop in my lap, thinking that by month six, I would be the new go-to travel blogger and monetized.
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 objectives were to document my travels. As well as to inspire a few people on Instagram to wander around the globe 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 up 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.
Beginner Blogger Mistakes: What I Wish I Knew
But the lows? To put it simply, I’ve had many “Wait, how did I not really 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 a lot of people 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.
I’m here to share all of my hard-won knowledge with you so that you can (hopefully) avoid the same mistakes I did.
Ready? Let’s get started!
Top Lessons Learnt in My First Year of Travel Blogging
After starting my blog, I really believed it would be easy to be successful as a blogger, as I began my journey as a tech girl.
I studied information systems in university and worked on freelance web design projects.
Quickly, I realised I needed to relearn a lot about website management and blogging in general, and I still do. Here are some hard-learnt lessons.
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 tonnes 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 tonnes of free traffic.
Unfortunately, I learnt 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 learnt—and continue to learn—everything there is to know about SEO. And SEO topics are endless.
As a novice blogger, I’m willing to acknowledge that learning SEO might be intimidating. But you should always be ready to learn all of its different parts and do it strategically.
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 really excited, writing relentlessly and then… a tonne of useless fluff.
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.
Beginner Travel Blogging Tips
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.
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, isn’t enough.
In fact, only a very small number of your Instagram followers will read your posts—maybe 10% at most. Honestly, most of them aren’t bloggers or aren’t trying to be “professional bloggers.”
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 (it’s still has a few) and 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 Tailwind groups.
Lesson #4: Networking and 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 opens up a lot of doors, whether it’s for guest posts, working together on social media, or just talking with other bloggers.
Early on, I focused on just my own content and didn’t consider others. I regret not engaging with other bloggers sooner to share advice, opportunities, and partnerships.
Lesson #5: Managing Burnout as a Blogger
I naively 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 “nichie” themes that put strain on bloggers.
Lesson #6: Monetizing Your Blog Takes Time
In the blogging community, there is a widespread misconception that “your blog is monetized 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 monetization 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.
Final Thoughts (and a Few More Lessons)
Its 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 its just one unique visitor or new click.
- Be your own cheerleader; no one can fight for your dreams 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!
Looking for travel guides to inspire your next trip?
Here are some of my favourite travel guides, tips, and resources:
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