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

1. Travel Writing that
Drives Traffic
Getaway Travel Blog Conference
Cape Town - August 2012
Nellie Huang
www.wildjunket.com

2. Who am I?
Travel Blogger
•WildJunket.com: adventure travel blog
•Lonely Planet, Wend, Getaway, Huffington Post
www.wildjunket.com
www.wildjunket.com

3. Who am I?
Travel Writer
•CNN Go, BBC, Women Adventure Magazine,
Reader Digest, Food & Travel, amongst many.
www.nelliehuang.com
www.wildjunket.com

4. 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

5. Content Summary
Picking your niche
Finding your voice
Choosing the right topics for blog posts
Learning writing techniques
How to keep readers interested
www.wildjunket.com

6. Picking Your Niche
Ask yourself these questions:
•What is your interest?
•Do you have the content?
•Is the topic trendy?
•Is there competition?

7. Picking Your Niche
Example: WildJunket – adventure travel

8. Picking Your Niche
Example: The Road Forks – culinary travel

9. Picking Your Niche
Example: FoxNomad – travel technology

10. 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

11. 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.com
www.wildjunket.com

12. Choosing the Right Topics for Your Blog Posts
Blog post styles:
•Travel narratives
•Photo essays
•Travel lists
•Travel tips
•Personal thoughts

13. Learning Writing Techniques
• Attention-grabbing headlines
• Compelling beginnings
- anecdote, quote, punch line
• The middle
- continuity, headings
• Ending
- ask readers a question
www.wildjunket.com

14. 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

15. How to Keep Your Readers Interested
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

16. 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

17. Where to go next - Resources
•Copyblogger
•Lonely Planet’s Guide to “Travel Writing”
•Travellll.com
www.wildjunket.com

18. Contact information
Where to find me:
www.wildjunket.com
facebook.com/wildjunket
twitter.com/wildjunket