travel writing that drives traffic
DESCRIPTION
A presentation on travel writing that drives traffic at the Getaway Travel Blog Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, August 2012.TRANSCRIPT
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