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From packing lists to women’s travel tips, HPL is all about getting you ready for upcoming adventures. And for many of you out there, that preparation might involve mapping out how you share your story with your friends and family, and even the world!
That’s why we’ve prepared this handy guide on how to start a travel blog.
Travel blogs make the task of keeping loved ones up-to-date on your travels a whole heck of a lot easier. Instead of working through your email address book again and again, you only need to update the blog with a new post, once.
Not only that, but a travel blog acts as a digital scrapbook that you can revisit from anywhere you have an Internet connection.
If you’re worried that starting a travel blog of your own is a scary, technical process- stop. We’re here to put those worries to bed with this insanely simple guide!
The Insanely Simple Steps:
1. Pre-Plan
2. Get Hosting
3. Install WordPress
4. Choose a Theme
5. Install Plugins
6. Share
And that’s it! You can have a basic travel blog set up today, in less than 20 minutes! So, let’s jump on in.
How to Start a Travel Blog
For this tutorial, we are showing how to start your own self-hosted WordPress blog. While there is a small monthly fee involved with this method, you get full control over your website from the beginning and save yourself from stress down the road when you would otherwise decide to make the switch. I’ve seen it happen time and time again. So, you might as well start as your own self-hosted site and have fun with all the possibilities.
Step 1: Pre-Plan
I know you’re excited to get up and blogging, but wait just a minute. A little bit of pre-planning will save you time and stress down the road- I promise! Here are a couple of things to think about in this step:
1. Think for a minute about your blogging purpose.
Are you wanting to use the site to blog about a singular trip, or will you be blogging about your next trip and any trip for the rest of your life?
Are you blogging purely for the ability to keep a digital travel journal, to update friends and family, or are you looking to take it to the blogging as a business realm?
2. Think about your travel blog name.
If you’re moving to China, then a blog called “Emily in China” will work just fine. But, if you’re going to China and then plan to continue blogging on future travels, “Emily in China” will someday become obsolete and confusing for future readers (if that’s what you’re going for).
Once you have a name in mind, you’ll want to make sure the domain that matches (as best possible) is available. Check for emilyinchina.com, and if that’s not available, find a suitable alternative such as eminchina.com or inchina.com or anything else you feel comfortable with. Hyphens are also a possibility (emily-in-china.com), but keep in mind that most people tend to remember domain names without them. Not a deal breaker though.
You can search for available domain names, and even get ideas for alternative combinations, using Bust a Name.
BEFORE YOU PURCHASE A DOMAIN: If you plan to go forward with Bluehost* hosting, as walked through in this post, then you are eligible for a free domain name with a yearly account.
Or, you can snatch that domain name up right this second using any service, such as namecheap. The choice is yours.
For those looking to get the blog in front of as many eyes possible, another step in this process is to look that social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) are available as well.
Step 2: Get Hosting
Hosting is where your blog actually lives on the Internet- where all your site’s files and images are stored. Choosing the right hosting is important so you can be sure your blog is accessible without issue and loads quickly. As your site grows, your needs will probably increase, but for beginners, Bluehost* is a great place to start.
Just a little disclosure: Her Packing List is not hosted on Bluehost, but I do use Bluehost for another project. HPL’s needs and high traffic took us to WP Engine*, where we invest a lot more for its advanced WordPress hosting features. (If you are interested in a more advanced hosting service, please email me about WP Engine, which is a minimum of $29/month spend.) You don’t need to worry about all that at this point, so keep it simple.
With Bluehost, you can get your blog rolling for as little as $3.95 per month. That’s less than a coffee!
Why do we recommend Bluehost for your first travel blog?
It’s reliable, affordable, and packed full of features. Plus, you get a free domain name and free email addresses, so you can also look professional when emailing from your blog’s official email account.
How do you sign up for Bluehost?
1. Get Started Now. Head over to Bluehost* and click the green “Get Started Now” button.
2. Select the Starter Plan.
3. Enter in the domain name you chose in Step 1. Or enter a domain you already own in the right box.
4. Fill out your account information.
5. Choose your hosting package. In order to get the cheapest plan possible, choose the Starter Plan for 36 months. Yes, you will pay for the whole shebang up-front, but, there is a refund policy. Stay with Bluehost for 5 months and cancel, you will get a 31 month refund – so there’s really no worry. If the investment is too much at this time, consider the 24 month or 12 month packages instead, which are both still a great value. They simply add another dollar or two per month as the plan steps down in length.
In regards to all the other options on this screen, you don’t need to select anything. We highly recommend having some sort of backup service to protect your data should something go wrong, but you can also set that up outside of Bluehost, through plugins (which we’ll discuss later).
Enter your billing details and continue to the next screen.
6. Here you will see upgrade options. As a new blogger, you don’t necessarily need to select any of these. Continue on to complete your purchase.
You now have hosting!
Step 3: Install WordPress
Once the hosting is set up, it’s time to get the blogging framework installed: WordPress. WordPress makes blogging super easy, and I’ve been using it religiously since 2007 on a number of sites, even this one you’re on right now.
1. Log in to your hosting. So, after you get your hosting, you will immediately create your hosting password and log in to your hosting account for the first time. Here, you will be prompted to either do the setup yourself, or to have Bluehost help you. You can do this setup yourself, using this guide.
Login to your hosting with your domain name and your new password.
You can continue the setup yourself, so close out of this popup.
2. Click on WordPress. This is your hosting dashboard, and while it may look overwhelming at first, there’s a lot here you don’t need to concern yourself with just yet. We are only interested in the icon that says “WordPress”. Click it now.
This is your hosting dashboard. Install WordPress by selecting the icon under Website Builders.
3. Select the green “Start” button.
4. Select the domain name you want WordPress to install to.
5. Click “Show Advanced Options”.
This screen lets you choose the name (don’t stress – this can be changed later) and login details for you blog. Make sure to check the box for automatically creating a database and that you read the terms and conditions. Click “Install Now”.
6. Log in to WordPress. Once the install is complete, you will receive an email from Mojo Marketplace with your blog login details. Click the Admin URL. This is where you will enter your username and password (that you created in #5 above) so you can log into the backend of your WordPress blog.
Your WordPress login page – the Admin URL from your email above.
Now you’re in your WordPress dashboard. This is where the magic happens!
Step 4: Choose a Theme
WordPress already comes installed with a basic theme, so you don’t have to do anything beyond this point if you don’t want to. But, if you want to have a more customized, personalized, and pretty travel blog, you’ll probably want to get a new theme.
A theme basically tells the blog how to look when people visit your domain. Think of it like the clothes, hair and makeup of your digital identity.
There are plenty of free WordPress themes on the web for you to choose. However, I’ve learned over the years that free just often doesn’t cut it in terms of updates, features, and support. Instead, you can get a beautiful, feature-rich travel blog with an investment of anywhere from $25-$100.
Mojo Marketplace WordPress Themes
Bluehost* hosting puts you immediately in touch with the Mojo Marketplace where you can find numerous blog themes selections for under $50. And they look awesome! Hiring a designer to do what is already done for you here would cost 10x that, if not more. I’ve used Mojo Marketplace to purchase the theme I use for my Aroamas shop.
Themeforest WordPress Themes
If Mojo Marketplace isn’t for you, I recommend checking out themeforest or even StudioPress* for themes.
When you do decide on a theme, the file you will download is a .zip. Take this .zip file and upload it in your WordPress dashboard to Appearance > Themes and then click Add New.
Don’t forget to activate it!
Note: Don’t get too caught up in finding the perfect theme. Once you start adding your own images, stories and plugins, you will find that the theme instantly becomes personalized.
Step 5: Install Plugins
Plugins make blogging fun. Think of them like add-ons, or extra bling, for your blog. WordPress is simply the framework, but plugins help you customize it to your own personal tastes. It’s kind of like when you buy a budget airline ticket and then pick and choose extra features, like in-flight entertainment or the ability to check a bag.
The WordPress Plugin Directory has thousands of plugins that you could potentially install on your blog, but only do so if you really need it. Too many plugins can affect site speed and page load times.
For the most part, you’ll discover what you want to install after blogging for a while.
You can search for, and instantly install, plugins in your WordPress dashboard. Go to Plugins > Add New.
Plugins Worth Checking Out:
WordPress SEO by Yoast – The ultimate in SEO plugins. If you want major eyes to your site, focusing on SEO is key.
WordPress Backup to Dropbox – An easy plugin that dump a backup of your database to dropbox for you. Good if you already use Dropbox in your normal life.
Step 6: Share
Now that you have a blog, you can share it with your friends and family, or even the world! If the latter is your goal, then you will want to, if you haven’t done so yet, secure all the social media accounts that will be associated with your travel blog – even if you don’t think you’ll use them all. Better safe than sorry later on!
And from that point, you can start writing about your adventures, even months in advance. Share your planning, your itinerary, your packing list and so much more. And don’t forget to share, share, and interact with your readers and other bloggers. It’s fun, and you never know what friends you might make in the process!
Happy blogging!
What Comes Next…
Here is a quick list of extra things you could be looking at with your new travel blog, but don’t get overwhelmed. This all can wait until you get more familiar with your blog and blogging platform.
Set Your Permalinks – By default, the URL’s for your blog posts and pages will look a little something like this: http://example.com/?p=N
Those are considered ugly permalinks and they don’t tell you what the page or post is about. Instead you might want something like: http://example.com/my-best-travel-day
To make the change, navigate to Settings > Permalinks in your WordPress dashboard. From here, you have many options. You can choose the post name option, or you can go with something like here on HPL where we use the month and name.
Choose your option and click “Save Changes”.
How to Set Up Your Email Address – This Bluehost* tutorial will walk you through the steps of getting your very own, personalized email address for your domain! Think something like brooke@herpackinglist.com.
Create a Mailing List – We use Mailchimp here at HPL. Creating a mailing list that people can sign up to gives you the ability to send out messages to your followers, directing them to new blog posts or sharing any other special news along the way. Mailchimp plans start off free!
Canva – Get creative with your theme and blog posts using Canva. I use Canva for HPL nearly every single day- no joke! It’s so easy to use and many of the images and graphics are available free of charge. Use Canva to design your own logo, add text to images, or combine images into collages.
The post Share Your Story: How to Start a Travel Blog appeared first on Her Packing List.