Maybe you are a frequent traveler doing it as a hobby or as a profession and wanted to start a travel blog to share your views. Want to start your own travel blog? In this blog post, I am going to show how to start a travel blog on your own.
Yes, what you heard is right.
This easy step-by-step guide will clear all your doubts on setting up a travel blog.
First of all, let me tell you I am a frequent traveler and I have started this blog to share my views. I started this as a hobby and soon I will be doing this as a profession. You can also start your own.
But to start you should have some basic guide to get started. So I am sharing this guide so that at least someone can start their own. Anyone can start a travel blog. All you need is have the will to travel. Follow this below easy step-by-step guide and create your own travel blog easily.
How to Start a Travel Blog?
#1. Choose a Domain name
The first thing to start a blog is to choose a domain name that is your website name. It represents your blog, your identity. There is no any specific rule that the domain name should be in this way or that way but there are some handy tips which I can share you.
Select domain name that makes sense if you pick robertasiaadventure.com that doesn’t make sense because not only traveling to Asia but also you can get a chance to travel the world think about the long term.
You can start with your name like yournamediaries.com
Keep the domain name as short as possible so that the viewers can easily remember the domain name. If it is too long then it is difficult for the user’s to type and also remember
To help you out in getting domain ideas here I suggestion domain name suggestion tools BustAName and NameMesh
Note: You can get a domain name for FREE from Bluehost. You don’t need to pay extra 10$ for the first year. Follow below steps and you will get to know how to get it for FREE for 1 year.
#2. Choose the Hosting
With the previous step, I assume your domain name selection part is done. Now, let’s move on to the next step which is very important that is Hosting. To explain hosting in a simple manner, Hosting is a place where you will store all your blog files, images etc..
There are many hosting companies but I would suggest Bluehost as it has more than million users and counting and also it is highly recommended by WordPress itself you can check it out here
Their support is good and I have been using it from more than 3 + years and have never faced any problem regarding downtime and support.
So let’s move on and purchase the hosting space for our domain.
Step 1: First step is to Sign up for Bluehost and click on ‘get started now‘.
Step 2: The next step is to select the plan. As you are a beginner I would suggest you go with “basic” plan .
Step 3: The next step comes where you can get a FREE domain on purchase. Enter your domain which you have decided in the “new domain” section and click on “next“.
Step 4: In this step enter your personal information and in the package information section Select it for 12 months if you want to go for 1 year. Uncheck Domain Privacy Protection and Site Backup Pro if you think it’s not necessary now. This could save you some bucks.
Step 5: Enter your card details and you have successfully purchased hosting from Bluehost. Enter correct email details because the Cpanel, FTP credentials will be sent to the same email. Verify the email and domain purchase sent to the email.
FREE WordPress Installation Service
If you are new to blogging and don’t have technical skills then this offer for you. I will setup and install WordPress on your blog for FREE. I want to help more bloggers to start their own blog.
You just need to purchase from this link or any link in this post and after purchase send me your purchase screenshot to admin@rahuldigital.org I will verify and if perfect I will set it up for you.
Note: If you purchase from any of the links I get paid from the hosting company a small commission which is at no extra cost for you. So I am offering this WordPress installation service for FREE.
#3. Install WordPress
Now you have successfully purchased your hosting and also about the free domain from Bluehost the next step we need to set up a travel blog is to install WordPress so that you can start a blog and write articles.
Now comes the crucial part in setting up your blog. You need to install WordPress. WordPress is a popular CMS framework which is highly recommended by top bloggers and is used by millions of users.
Let’s see how we can do it!!
Step 1: Login to your Cpanel using this link and enter the login credentials sent to your email.
Step 2: After logging in look for this website section and click on “Install WordPress”.
Step 3: WordPress is under mojo Marketplace. Enter the domain name and leave Directory empty. Uncheck the Contact Form and Optin Monster plugin if you don’t feel required and click “Next”.
Step 4: Enter your basic admin details as instructed and click “Next”. Save the details somewhere because it is useful at the time of logging in WordPress.
install wordpress admin details-bestbhdiscount.com
Step 5: Now WordPress will be installed and you will see progress like in the below screenshot.
#4. Select the Perfect Theme
Now you have successfully installed WordPress, the next thing to is log into your WordPress with the credentials set and install some good looking themes.
Themes are which bring a great look to the blog. Basically, there are Free themes and Premium Themes available.
Free themes are good to go but we cannot exactly the theme we want to as a travel blog.
Premium themes are good to go if you want to go professionally from day one of your blogging.
WordPress.org directory is great to go for FREE Themes
ThemeForest & Mythemeshop are great places to go if you want good looking premium themes at an affordable price.
You may be thinking it is hard to search and select good travel theme.
I have a good news for you then. I listed some of the best travel themes for you to go with. Select any theme, purchase and go professional.
Assuming you have selected theme or purchased from suggested above. Let’s move on to the next step of Installing Theme on your blog.
Basically, WordPress will come with default theme Twenty Seventeen(At the time of writing). We can change it and use our own selected theme.
Let me show you how to do it.
Step 1: Login to your WordPress with the URL www.yourblog.com/wp-admin
Example my blog is rahuldigital.org/wp-admin and enter username and password
Step 2: Dashboard will be opened and in the left panel Appearance -> Themes -> Click on Add New and ‘Upload Theme’.
#5. Install Necessary Plugins
Now your theme is installed the next thing is to install some useful plugins which add functionality to the blog.
Akismet: This plugin will prevent spam comments on your blog.
Yoast SEO: This plugin will help in doing the basic on-page SEO for your blog.
WP Smush: This plugin will help in reducing the image size so that it is easy to load.
SumoMe: Helps in the social sharing and collecting emails of your users.
WP Backup: Backups are very important for your blog on a regular basis. This plugin will do the work for you.
Google Analytics For WordPress: Number of viewers on your audience can be found using this plugin.
Contact Form 7: Useful to add a form on your contact page and reply to users.
This is some basic free plugins which are good to go with. You can also do your own research depending on your requirement.
#6. Create Important Pages
Now Themes, Plugins are installed the next step is to create important pages on your blog. These 4 pages are required to start with.
About us: In this page write a short intro about yourself, your travel goals, your professional life.
Contact us: Add a good Contact form on this page.
Privacy Policy: Create private policy page using online privacy page creators available online.
#7. Write your First Post
The next step is to start writing your first blog post to do this login into a dashboard using the credentials you have saved in your Dashboard and Post -> New Post and write your first blog post. You can write anything in this post like why you started this blog and intro yourself and publish it.
#8. Share your Story
You have written your first post share it on your social media profiles, travel groups on Facebook, Google Plus.
Final Conclusion:
Now your blog is completely setup you have returned your first article you can add social media buttons to the blog and you can share your first blog post on various travel Facebook groups Google communities Twitter page and with your friends. If you found this article useful about setting up a travel blog then feel free to share this with your travel friends so that they can also set up their blog using this guide if we have any queries regarding setup then feel free to comment in the comment section below and I will get back to you
If you found this article useful about setting up a travel blog then feel free to share this with your travel friends so that they can also set up their blog using this guide if we have any queries regarding setup then feel free to comment in the comment section below and I will get back to you.