Travel writing that drives traffic

Travel Writing that Drives TrafficGetaway Travel Blog Conference

Cape Town - August 2012

Nellie Huang

www.wildjunket.com

Who am I?

Travel Blogger

•WildJunket.com: adventure travel blog•Lonely Planet, Wend, Getaway, Huffington Post

www.wildjunket.com

www.wildjunket.com

Who am I?

Travel Writer

•CNN Go, BBC, Women Adventure Magazine, Reader Digest, Food & Travel, amongst many.

www.nelliehuang.com

www.wildjunket.com

Who am I?

Editor-in-Chief/Publisher

•WildJunket Magazine: a digital flipbook magazine designed for iPad readers

•Available on Zinio, Magzter and our Newsstand app

www.wildjunketmagazine.com

www.wildjunket.com

Picking your niche

Finding your voice

Choosing the right topics for blog

posts

Learning writing techniques

How to keep readers interestedwww.wildjunket.com

Content Summary

Picking Your Niche

Ask yourself these questions:

•What is your interest?

•Do you have the content?

•Is the topic trendy?

•Is there competition?

Example: WildJunket – adventure travel

Picking Your Niche

Example: The Road Forks – culinary travel

Picking Your Niche

Example: FoxNomad – travel technology

Picking Your Niche

Finding Your Voice

•A reflection of your personality

•Include observations and opinions

•Don’t be afraid to get personal

•Don’t write like a fact-checker

Choosing the Right Topics for Your Blog Posts

•Read other blogs

•Use social media to find travel trends

•News, happenings, festivals eg. Olympics

•Google keywords: www.adwords.google.comwww.wildjunket.com

Blog post styles:

•Travel narratives

•Photo essays

•Travel lists

•Travel tips

•Personal thoughts

Choosing the Right Topics for Your Blog Posts

• Attention-grabbing headlines

• Compelling beginnings

- anecdote, quote, punch line

• The middle

- continuity, headings

• Ending

- ask readers a question

www.wildjunket.com

Learning Writing Techniques

Bringing a story to life:

•Introduce characters – to humanize your story

•Use all your senses – for good visual descriptions

•Show, don’t tell

www.wildjunket.com

Learning Writing Techniques

Your job is not done after you’ve published your blog posts. Add extra finishing touches:

•Link to other posts

•Call to action

•Engagement with readers

•Social media promotion

www.wildjunket.com

How to Keep Your Readers Interested

How to Keep Your Readers Interested

Increasing readership:

•Find out which are your most popular posts

•Write similar posts

•Create a series out of them Eg. Top beaches in Europe, Asia, America www.wildjunket.com

Where to go next - Resources

•Copyblogger

•Lonely Planet’s Guide to “Travel Writing”

•Travellll.com

www.wildjunket.com

Contact information

Where to find me:

www.wildjunket.com

facebook.com/wildjunket

twitter.com/wildjunket