10 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
10 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Travel Blog Monetization - How would you do it?

by shipwrecked
8 replies
Hi,

I've been working in the online travel industry for 10+ years and some of the sites I managed delivered decent profits.

Nowadays everything is harder (Panda, Penguin, visitors "immune" to AdSense ads, CPA bringing low commissions, CTR rates low etc.).

I'd like to know how you'd monetize a travel blog?
(examples of popular travel blogs: Everything Everywhere Travel Blog, Nomadic Matt's Travel Site : Travel Better, Cheaper, Longer, JohnnyJet.com | Travel Deals, Tips, Destinations and More!, WanderingTrader: Travel Blog. Living Overseas. Day Trading.)

Personally, I'd use a mix of: (1) AdSense, (2) CPA affiliate ads from major networks, (3) BuySellAds (once traffic is intense enough).

Problem is: AdSense CTR is dreadfully low, traffic at the beginning is too low for BuySellAds.

It's not a niche site, but a general travel site: "just about anything related to travel", of course, with a good brand name and unique design - travel destinations, photos, real travel stories, etc. Quite unique content, good writing.

Currently the 1 % CTR is a pain, because on my niche sites 3 years ago I had 20-25 % CTR on AdSense ads!

For traffic/advertising I rely on guest posts on related sites, Google organic search, Facebook posts (of other travel blogger sites), I even launched a Panoramio gallery where people can access my site via the provided link.

I personally think the site it pretty good, yet still new (totally rebuilding it now), just that income is poor. Something went wrong, visitors seem more interested in the content (which I think is attractive to them), not so much in the ads!

How would you monetize a travel blog better? :confused:
#blog #monetization #travel
  • Profile picture of the author onlineleben
    - offer sponsorships
    - sell ads directly
    - travel related affiliate programs (not the big travel sites)
    -- amazon (reviews of stuff you need for trips, travel guides)
    Signature
    Learn Languages Abroad
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8345112].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author shipwrecked
    I'm selling "some" ads directly, but due to Google's policies... you know, you have to respect them and it's waaaaay harder nowadays to sell your own ads! Featured ads, news articles... yes, I do them, but they consume a lot of time adapting to Google's policies and then many don't want to buy them anymore

    I would rather receive sponsorships than offer But yes, I have a sponsorship program as well.

    I am more worried about the daily regular revenue. Pay-per-search affiliate program delivers poorly, AdSense brings cents, etc.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8345128].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author speedakias
      The first one is Email Marketing. As you can see every big travel website have a newsletter. Build a list now. This is a MUST.

      The second one is the Sponsors or direct advertisement. These websites have a huge traffic so its more easy to attract big players in the industry for ads via banners, widgets, feature articles or solo ads.

      The third one is sell your own eBook. Even for low price ($7-$17). Put it also in amazon (and kindle of course).

      Why you must sell an airfare ticket for $600 and make $5 ??
      Sell your book for $9 and keep $9.

      The last one are the most common like hotels, travel packages, air fares, car rental etc...

      Of course a lot of websites make a living only by Google ads. But you must have traffic and as you know never relate only in Google

      Finally, I always try to be as targeted as possible. I never go for a general travel website.

      There is a space in sub-niche
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8345226].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author shipwrecked
    I pretty much know these... I also intend to sell destination-related PDF e-books, through my own downloading system.

    More ideas, tips?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8345536].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author speedakias
    You could also make a private/membership forum where you could provide consulting, detail guides, video guides and many more. Its also great to offer design options (travel blogs, travel eBooks, photography ebooks etc..)

    Just use your imagination
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8346327].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author tooAlive
    As far as getting people to click on your ads more often, you can play around with placements and colors and maybe get CTRs a bit higher. But I wouldn't expect too much from that unless you start getting a lot more traffic.

    You said it yourself; your visitors don't seem to care much about your ads. They just care about the content.

    So start writing content that sells. I'm not in the travel niche so I can't give you recommendations of what affiliate offers to push, but if you want to see your sales and commissions start to rise, you're gonna have to start pushing products in your posts.

    Ads are a great way of generating extra revenue for your sites. But your primary focus should be on pushing more lucrative services.

    To give you an example, you could make a post recommending "10 Things You Must Have When Traveling Abroad."

    They could be cameras, cell phones, chargers, GPS, portable AC, shoes, ect... Then each category could link to a separate article showcasing your top picks in that category alone. EX, "7 Best Cameras for Traveling & Sightseeing."

    You could expand that further into "Vital Camera Accessories for the Avid Traveler" or something. Push tripods, lenses, filters, batteries, memory cards, travel cases, ect ect ect... The possibilities are endless.

    I'd use Amazon to push those items, as commissions for high ticket items like cameras are pretty decent. And you may even end up making sales for things you never even promoted.

    And if you have any travel related CPA offers push those too. Look on Offervault or Odigger to find something that fits the bill.

    Hope this gives you some ideas to get the money ball rolling.

    Signature
    <img src="$2,387.44-clickbank-check.jpg">

    "Action is the real measure of intelligence." - Napoleon Hill
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8346496].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author ChrisBa
    Originally Posted by shipwrecked View Post

    Hi,

    I've been working in the online travel industry for 10+ years and some of the sites I managed delivered decent profits.

    Nowadays everything is harder (Panda, Penguin, visitors "immune" to AdSense ads, CPA bringing low commissions, CTR rates low etc.).

    I'd like to know how you'd monetize a travel blog?
    (examples of popular travel blogs: Everything Everywhere Travel Blog, Nomadic Matt's Travel Site : Travel Better, Cheaper, Longer, JohnnyJet.com | Travel Deals, Tips, Destinations and More!, WanderingTrader: Travel Blog. Living Overseas. Day Trading.)

    Personally, I'd use a mix of: (1) AdSense, (2) CPA affiliate ads from major networks, (3) BuySellAds (once traffic is intense enough).

    Problem is: AdSense CTR is dreadfully low, traffic at the beginning is too low for BuySellAds.

    It's not a niche site, but a general travel site: "just about anything related to travel", of course, with a good brand name and unique design - travel destinations, photos, real travel stories, etc. Quite unique content, good writing.

    Currently the 1 % CTR is a pain, because on my niche sites 3 years ago I had 20-25 % CTR on AdSense ads!

    For traffic/advertising I rely on guest posts on related sites, Google organic search, Facebook posts (of other travel blogger sites), I even launched a Panoramio gallery where people can access my site via the provided link.

    I personally think the site it pretty good, yet still new (totally rebuilding it now), just that income is poor. Something went wrong, visitors seem more interested in the content (which I think is attractive to them), not so much in the ads!

    How would you monetize a travel blog better? :confused:
    What about using affiliate programs of sites like hotels.com? To me that seems like the logical direction to start. You could also search odigger and offervault for travel related offers but I think a cps offer with travel sites like hotels.com would be the best place to start.

    Another idea is to visit your competition and see if they have ads and if so try something similar
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8348214].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author shipwrecked
    CPA affiliate programs are not always the best ones. For a while I was using a program that was giving money per search: pay-per-search and it went a lot better than if I would have earned from reservations/bookings.

    My competition is strangely non-monetized. At least, not visibly.

    They seem to have sponsors, though. And they seem to give away tons of coupons. Probably because someone (the booking firms) are paying them.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8392704].message }}

Trending Topics