How To Monetize Your Travel Blog in 2019: Ultimate Guide
If traveling is your hobby or the part of your job, then travel blogging is probably the best known of the digital nomad job options out there and for many aspiring travelers, starting a travel blog seems like the golden ticket to getting paid to travel.
And it’s true…
If you want to start a travel blog it can change your life.
What can be more enjoyable than traveling and writing about the most epic places on earth?
Right! Earning on it.
How? Let’s see!
#1 Sponsored Content
Paid blog posts are those where you place a link, or give a mention, to someone who paid for it. This might be in the form of a sponsored review, a guest blog post, a sidebar link, or an advertisement in a newsletter.
#2 Social Media Promotion
There are many ways of earning money on social media. One of them is takeovers. Companies pay ‘big influencers’ to take over their Instagram and Twitter to gain more followers. It’s a fun and easy way to get money. I say easy once you actually build your social media channels (what isn’t easy).
#3 Instagram Promotion
We put Instagram separately since there are many people out there who make a full-time income JUST from Instagram. Instagram is very visual, therefore the most popular travel accounts won’t be those with great stories of off the path adventures. You can get paid to post a photo on your feed permanently or temporarily, or just do Insta Stories.
#4 Contextual ads
Contextual advertising is a type of digital advertising that allows monetizing blogs with high click-through-rates. The logic behind the strategy is the following: the advertisers place their ads in the designated ad slots on the blog posts. The impressions are served to the users when they visit websites.
For instance, if the visitor reads the post called “how to monetize my blog?” the odds are very high they will spot related ad at the top, left or right sidebar of the blog featuring popular affiliate offers or ‘drive traffic’ service offers from SEO companies.
Google AdSense is the core contextual advertising blog monetization method that allows placing ad units right after the blog has been created, it has no solid formal restrictions considering traffic.
The AdSense places the strips of own code on your website so that it could scan the contents of your website, and display ads to the visitors.
The average good level CTRs can reach from 1 to 5 cents per click in entertaining blog niches to 1-10 in commercial ones. Thus, blog monetization idea will perform as good as your traffic currently is. This way, while some bloggers gain $10,000 monthly the others may barely get by $100.
#5 Sale of links
If you are targeting audience in Russia, you can get paid by selling links is another option. But there are some crucial conditions you should definitely take into consideration: such as reputability of your website for search engines, you website must be indexed in Google and Yandex.
#6 Affiliate Marketing
As you probably know the whole process is just placing an affiliate link in a blog post and make a commission when people buy the product through your link. This can be a good way to make money, because you can recommend something you love, without counting on sponsors. The amount of affiliate programs is countless, the conditions too, so the point here is not to get lost in it and find the most profitable ones for your website.
What to do
When acting all by yourself you will need to do a lot of homework. Sponsored content as well as social media promotion you will most probably need to contact the advertisers directly. The business proposal with a professionally prepared presentation are a must.
As for contextual ads, links selling and affiliate marketing you can do it without contacting people of course, but you will need some special knowledge. A basic understanding of how things really work in contextual ads is prerequisite. Affiliate marketing is gold, but do you really have time to check all the brands and their respective programs? And don’t forget, you still have to manage your blog, provide high-quality content on regular basis. In order to make money from affiliates, you should focus on good, useful posts that will always be useful. It is time, your precious time!
But, wait a minute…
Does this have to be so complicated? In fact, no. Instead of signing up for a different program with every advertiser you want to promote, it’s much more convenient to join affiliate networks, such as Indoleads. You get the top-cream affiliate programs already checked, set up and ready to perform. In other words, you .
Yes, you maybe worry that the users will think that they are forced to buy something. Don’t worry! There are so many great options for affiliate links to look clean, clear and unannoying (yes, we all are users, we hate being annoyed): as a part of reviews, welcoming emails or tutorials.
In our opinion, it’s the best source of income, as it’s passive if you optimize your content correctly. You don’t have to depend on new clients or constantly chase new projects. Both the content and your income are out there working for you even when you’re sleeping.
If you are interested in monetizing your travel blog with Indoleads - check out our other articles on top travel offers from 2019 & top affiliate offers in the industry!
Check out the best offers for your travel blog:
1.Tripster
2. Stayz
4.Flyin’
6.KK DAY
Join Indoleads today and check for even more amazing campaigns!
If you need help determining which affiliate campaign to join in Indoleads – you can always contact our responsive and professional account managers for a consultation!