How to Monetize Your Travel Blog (Best Tips & Tools)

Do you want to learn how to monetize your travel blog?

If you’re a passionate traveler with a knack for storytelling, a WordPress travel blog can be your gateway to not just sharing your adventures but also making money online.

In this era of digital entrepreneurship, turning your passion for travel into a lucrative venture is not just a dream – it’s a smart move. Monetizing your travel blog can provide you with the financial freedom to explore new destinations, indulge in exciting experiences, and continue doing what you love most: traveling.

🔎 In this article, I’ll cover:

Why Monetize Your Travel Blog?

Before we dive into the actionable steps, let’s understand why starting and monetizing your travel blog is a wise choice.

One of the biggest reasons is to help move yourself toward financial freedom. Traveling can be expensive. But when your blog generates income, it can fund your adventures. Monetizing your blog means you’re no longer just spending money on travel; you’re making money while traveling.

If you’re passionate about travel, why not turn that passion into a source of income? Earning money doing what you love is one of the most satisfying aspects of travel blogging.

Your blog can scale over time, allowing you to increase your income potential. As your audience grows, so do your opportunities for monetization. Blogs like TravelsWithElle have become increasingly popular go-to resources for beginner and seasoned travelers looking for guidance and community:

Additionally, travel blogging doesn’t tie you to a specific location. You can work from anywhere with an internet connection, making it ideal for digital nomads and remote workers.

Finally, you can use it to diversify income streams. Monetizing your travel blog isn’t limited to one income source. You can create multiple streams of revenue, providing stability and financial security.

How to Create & Monetize Your Travel Blog

Ready to get started? Below, I’ll walk you through how to start and monetize a travel blog.

1. Use WordPress to Start a Travel Blog

If you’re already a WordPress user who has an active travel blog, you can skip to the next step. However, if you’re yet to create one, you might be wondering the best way to go about it.

To start a blog, I highly recommend using WordPress. This open-source, self-hosted platform is flexible, easy to use, and cost-efficient. You can sign up for managed hosting, use a travel blog theme, and choose from a variety of plugins that help make monetizing your content significantly easier.

There are a few things you’ll need to start a travel blog, including:

• Domain & hosting
• ECommerce plugin
• WordPress theme (preferably one designed for a travel blog)

I recommend SiteGround’s Managed EDD Hosting:

This is the best WordPress hosting because it gives you everything you need to start not only a blog, but an online store. This includes Easy Digital Downloads, a handful of themes, a free Secure-Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate, and more.

If you need help starting your website, refer to these guides:

• How to Start an Online Store With WordPress
• Create a Website to Sell Digital Products

2. Sell Travel Guides & Other Digital Content

One of the most effective ways to monetize your travel blog is by selling digital content. This can include:

• Travel guides
• Itineraries
• Checklists

You can also use a variety of formats, such as PDFs, spreadsheets, or eBooks. Invest time in creating valuable and informative digital content. Travel guides, itineraries, and checklists that offer unique insights and tips will have a higher perceived value.

For instance, a well-known travel blogger Nomadic Matt offers a variety of travel eBooks:

The easiest way to sell digital content is with the Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) plugin for WordPress:

EDD is a powerful eCommerce solution specifically designed for selling digital products. It allows you to easily set up an online store on your blog to sell your digital content.

To get started, you can select your plan then download the plugin. Install it on your WordPress site, then follow the onboarding wizard to get started.

For step-by-step guidance, you can refer to these guides:

• EDD Quickstart Guide
• Easy Digital Downloads Intro

3. Use Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is another lucrative way to monetize your travel blog. By partnering with travel-related companies and promoting their products or services, you can earn commissions for every sale generated through your referral.

For instance, many travel bloggers partner with airlines, hotels, travel agencies, and online booking platforms to help promote their offerings.

Once you have an established audience and/or offer your own digital content and products to sell, you can start your own affiliate or referral program to help get the word out.

To start, be sure to join reputable affiliate programs with competitive commissions. You can check out this blog of popular affiliate programs for travel bloggers.

It’s also essential to disclose affiliate relationships. Be transparent with your audience about your relationships to build trust with your readers.

Write informative and engaging content that incorporates affiliate links naturally. Reviews, recommendations, and travel stories can be great opportunities to include affiliate links.

If you’re interested in creating your own affiliate program, you can use a tool such as AffiliateWP:

This platform helps you create, manage, and track every aspect of your affiliate marketing program.

💡 How to Start an Affiliate Program With WordPress

4. Leverage Sponsored & Brand Partnerships

Travel bloggers with a strong online and social media presence can partner with brands for sponsored posts on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. These partnerships involve creating content that features or promotes a brand’s products or services to a large and engaged following.

As your blog gains popularity, companies may approach you for sponsored content and brand partnerships. You can also seek them out yourself. These collaborations can be highly profitable.

When you’re first starting, focus on cultivating a strong and consistent brand image for your travel blog. Companies are more likely to partner with bloggers who have a distinct voice and style. For instance, Jessie On a Journey has a dedicated area of her site specifically for brand partnerships:

Actively engage with your readers and social media followers. A loyal and engaged audience is attractive to brands seeking influencers.

Also, don’t wait for brands to approach you. Reach out to companies with well-crafted proposals that showcase how your blog can benefit their brand.

5. Offer Travel Planning Services

Leverage your travel expertise by offering travel planning services. Many travelers are willing to pay for personalized itineraries and travel advice.

With EDD, you can easily add services to your travel website to easily monetize your knowledge and travel-planning skills.

You can design a dedicated page on your blog outlining the travel planning services you offer:

Clearly list your rates and the benefits of your services.

As you become more established, you could expand your offerings to include additional services like booking accommodations, flights, or tours for your clients to increase your revenue potential. This is also an excellent area to incorporate affiliate and sponsored partnerships.

6. Sell Travel Photographs & Prints

If you’re a skilled photographer, your travel blog can become a platform to sell your photographs and prints.

You can create a photography portfolio to showcase your best travel photographs and allow users to purchase digital copies and prints, as demonstrated by Ordinary Traveler:

Regularly featuring your photography on your blog and social media is a natural, simple way to promote your photos. Engage with your audience by sharing the stories behind the photos.

💡 Check out our guide on selling photographs for more

7. Offer Online Courses & Workshops

If you possess specialized knowledge or skills related to travel, consider offering online courses or workshops.

Determine what specific expertise or skills you can teach. This could include photography, travel writing, language learning, or travel planning.

EDD integrates with a wide range of tools like MemberPress that lets you sell online courses and other exclusive digital content and downloads.

Then you can promote your courses on your blog and through email marketing. Leverage your existing audience to kickstart enrollments.

It’s also helpful to encourage satisfied students to provide testimonials. Positive feedback builds credibility and trust with potential students.

8. Use Display Ads On Your Site

Another way you can make money as a travel blogger is through ad placements. Display ads involve placing ads on your blog. Then you can earn revenue based on ad impressions or clicks. Bloggers with high traffic volumes can negotiate premium ad placements for higher earnings.

There are a few ways to go about this. First, you need to sign up with ad networks, which help you manage ads on your site. Popular options include Google AdSense, Media.net, and Ezoic.

Once you’re set up, you can decide where to place them. It’s important to strategically place ads in high-visibility areas on your blog without overwhelming your readers, such as sidebars. Balance aesthetics with monetization.

Regularly monitor your ad performance and optimize your strategy to maximize revenue. A/B testing can help improve click-through rates.

As your blog grows, you can explore opportunities for premium ad placements with higher payouts.

9. Utilize Email Marketing

Building and nurturing an email list can be a powerful asset for monetizing your travel blog. The first step, which we’ve discussed, is to create valuable content. You can offer exclusive travel tips, guides, and free downloads/resources to incentivize readers to subscribe to your email list:

This is another reason I recommend using Easy Digital Downloads; you can easily integrate your blog and online store with your preferred email service providers, such as Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Get Response, and more.

Segmenting your email list based on interests and preferences. This allows you to send targeted offers and promotions.

In addition to your own digital content, email marketing can also be an effective way to promote affiliate products to your subscribers.

You can also add a newsletter signup form on your website to help increase subscribers.

FAQs About Travel Blogging

Let’s wrap up with some frequently asked questions about how to monetize your travel blog.

Make Money as a Travel Blogger

Running a successful travel blog can take a lot of time and hard work. But there are plenty of strategies, tips, and tools you can use to help monetize your travel blog and earn a passive income.

Don’t have Easy Digital Downloads yet? Grab your pass today:

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