3 Types of Travel Blogs (and Which Pays Best)

You’ve only got three choices…

… and depending which you choose, your blog either blossoms into a wildly profitable, scalable business – equipped with an army of writers, recurring passive income and the possibility of a six-figure buyout…

… or it sputters along like a near-dead VW bus along the frigid Icefields Parkway.

You’ve only got three choices… those are two of them.

But the third option kills it.

It’s the method used by Lonely Planet, Frommers and Travelfish to rise above the noise and deliver world-class travel info/entertainment.

And once you understand this method, you’ll take a good, long look at your travel blog and suddenly see a world of opportunities.

Sure, the other two might work (at least in the short run) but the stone cold truth is…

Most travel blogs – financially speaking - are designed to fail.

The three types of travel blogs are as follows.

First, there’s…

The personality piece

Personality pieces are conversational. It’s a chance to speak directly with your readers and convey your own thoughts. I can think of no better example of conversational travel writing than Geraldine over at The Everywhereist… her writing positively reeks of personality.

In a good way.

Personality can be extremely important to your travel blog. Used improperly, it could be killing your blog.

Don’t get me wrong: personality is a good thing. In fact, in this overcrowded travel industry – surrounded by corporate giants like Lonely Planet and National Geographic – personality is the one advantage you do have.

After all, these publications have a steady rotation of writers and editors - many who come and go over the years – and they’re all ordered to do the same thing…

Maintain the voice.

If you’ve ever read a Lonely Planet region guide (e.g., Southeast Asia on A Shoestring) you know what I mean. It’s damn near impossible to tell the difference between writers. And there’s an obvious reason for that: while several writers contribute to your guidebook, one clear voice establishes the book’s tone.

But at what cost?

What if a writer got roaring, blackout drunk one night and woke up wearing nothing but socks and a mustache? Wouldn’t that be worth reading?

Of course it would!

But sadly, such a story would never, ever make it to print… not in a million goddamn years.

So as I mentioned earlier, personality is a good thing. Personality makes your writing shine, makes you real in the eyes of your readers and ultimately bonds you together in ways “professional” publications never could…

Don’t believe me? Ask any professional travel writer if they’ve ever had lunch/dinner/casual sex with their readers. Then ask a travel blogger the same question. Matt Kepnes has. Gary Arndt has. So have I (food and drinks, anyways).

There’s a deeper, more personal connection with travel blogging.

And like Samuel Jackson says in Pulp Fiction:

“Personality goes a long way.”

Indeed. But here’s the painful truth: personality doesn’t pay the bills on its own.

Advertisers are less likely to pay a premium if your content is quite literally all over the place.

Which is why you must focus.

This leads us to the second type…

The destination blog

You go to Google… type in “things to do in Austin, Texas” and - as if by magic – a website appears with articles on the best bars in the Warehouse District, top-notch BBQ for music lovers and why hundreds of people stand over the bridge on Congress Street each night…

… but it ain’t magic.

Destination-focused blogs target popular areas around the world and offer in-depth advice without going too wide.

Instead, they go deep.

Deep into a city/country/region.

So deep they’ll tell you what the best BBQ is… where to get it… what to order… the best day to go… who’s the best cook (and server)… and why asking for a fork is a death wish.

(Psssst: If you love BBQ… then you must visit either Kreutz Market or The Salt Lick just outside Austin. Actually, you should visit Austin regardless… it’s the best city in the U.S.)

Destination blogs have the right idea. Their focus on a specific area enjoys two HUGE advantages:

First, region-specific websites build authority. This point is extremely important, as it improves search engine rankings and traffic referrals.

Don’t believe me? Travelfish.org features content on Southeast Asia only… and receives over 15 million impressions per year for their troubles.

And because their content is laser targeted, advertisers pay a premium to reach their readers.

No joke.

Looking at their media kit, you can see they charge anywhere between $3 - $8 eCPM (per thousand pageviews), which is substantially higher than you’d expect with non-direct ads (e.g. Google Adsense).

Let’s “reverse-engineer” Travelfish’s approach. If they charge $22 per eCPM – based on four ad spots per page as outlined in their media kit – and they receive 1.25 million pageviews each month, then that means they make roughly…

Sorry buckaroo, I’m not going to tell you.

Instead, here’s the math you need to use:

Divide pageviews by 1,000, then multiply by eCPM.

So in this case:

1,250,000 / 1,000 X 22

Do the math yourself to see how much moo-lah Travelfish probably pulls in each month. As you’ll see, it’s enough to pay for plenty of pad thai.

Oh, and by the way? The owners of Travelfish could easily sell this site to an interested party. Since it’s not plastered with one particular personality – and thanks to its focused content – a new owner could step in without affecting the brand.

Try that with a personality blog. As soon as the lead blogger leaves, everyone notices… and the site’s perceived value plummets overnight.

So…

Destination pieces make more money than personality driven blogs… but…

Why stop there?

Let me explain:

• With a personality driven blog, YOU are the asset.
• With a destination based blog, the SITE is the asset.
• With a hybrid of the two, BOTH become assets.

Now I’m not really a “numbers” guy… but wouldn’t you rather be building two assets instead of one?

Wouldn’t you rather create a travel blog which builds your authority and personal brand (which can lead to press trips, speaking engagements, book deals, etc.)…

…. AND delivers laser-targeted content which lets you charge a premium for advertising…

… AND lets you quickly sell it for a giant lump sum whenever you want to move onto something else?

Of course you would!

In my opinion, the hybrid model gives you the best of both worlds, without any of their weaknesses.

And the best part is, it’s really, really easy to do.

How to build a hybrid travel blog…

First, loosen your preconceptions on what a travel “blog” should be. In fact, lay your preconceptions outside and stab them with a rusty screwdriver (Wu-Tang, anyone?).

Next, create an outline of your site content based on regions. If you write about Vietnam, break it up into smaller regions. If you blog about Southeast Asia, break it up into countries (like Travelfish).

And if you’re like most travel bloggers, you write about everywhere… so break that up into continents and then into countries.

If you don’t have a travel blog yet, write out your categories on a piece of paper.

See your outline? This is where 90% of your content will go. It should provide advice/insights/practical info on specific destinations without too much personality.

There are two reasons for this:

1. By maintaining an informative, editorial style of content you can hire other writers down the line. It’s much harder for someone to copy your personal style than it is to write editorially.
2. An editorial travel site is much easier to sell (and for a higher profit, too) because the site’s brand is unaffected by transfer of owner.

So this is where 90% (or more) of your content will appear. It’s factual, relevant and interesting.

But what about the other 10%?

The other 10% should go towards your blog. Remember, when I say “blog” in this sense I mean a traditional blog… one which lists your newest post first.

The URL should be something like www.yourdomain.com/blog/

You can use your blog for many, many things… but it should really focus on three things:

1. Gain links and social shares from other people.
2. Build both your brand and your website’s brand.
3. Hype up cool things your company is doing.

If you can do all three of things in one post, congratulations. Chances are, however, you won’t be able to hype your site in every post.

BUT – and listen closely, buckaroo - you should be gaining links and building your brand with every post.

Oh, and by the way… be sure to include links in your posts to travel articles you’ve written elsewhere.

For example, let’s say you wrote a destination piece on Paris. You then write a blog post called “7 Unknown (And Slightly Naughty) Things to Do in Paris” and link to it in your post. If you have other articles about Paris, link to them as well within the post itself.

I’ll bet you a beer your readers will click those links and read more of your content.

Which is the point 😉

What You Must Do Next…

… is quite simple, really.

Map your blog out by region. Offer in-depth advice on specific destinations. Move all “soft” content to the blog, and link to your destination articles.

Not only will your readers thank you… you’ll gain more traffic from the search engines, be perceived as an authority (instead of an amateur travel blogger) and advertisers will be willing to pay you more money for advertising.

Actually, before you do that…

… drop me a comment below about this strategy. Questions? Concerns? Leave ‘em in the comments and I’ll help you out.