How to Start Using Affiliate Marketing for your Travel Blog

Are you a content creator or travel blogger? It is imperative for you to work with Affiliate Marketing to make your blog a successful "hangout" site. Let's find out more about the possibilities and how to use affiliate links. 

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a way for bloggers to make money by recommending products or services to their users. Bloggers place affiliate links in their posts, and if a user clicks on them and makes a purchase, the blogger will receive a commission from the company for recommending their product or service. As a travel blogger, much of your income will come from affiliate marketing. Learning how to effectively manage this tool will help you grow your business.

What you need to know about affiliate marketing as a travel blogger 

Here are some tips you should know to start using affiliate marketing on your blog. 

1. Choose the right travel affiliate programs.

This is where many travel bloggers make a mistake: they choose travel affiliate programs that are not right for them. Choosing a specific travel niche is critical to your success and to better fit your target audience. Every blog will have a slightly different "experiential" niche, which is why you cannot choose an affiliate program based on what other bloggers promote. What works for other travel bloggers probably won't work for you. 

2. Focus on user intent and customer journey

User intent is the most important thing to consider when it comes to affiliate marketing, and unfortunately many bloggers forget about it completely. Before you write your travel blog post and before you use different affiliate products, consider what the reader is actually looking for within your post to capture their attention. 

Here's a concrete example: 

Perhaps you are going to write a post about the best beaches in Sicily. What does your audience want when they read your article? He definitely wants to find an up-to-date list of the best beaches and where he can find them, or how to get to them.

Including affiliate links to hotels in Palermo (Booking.com, Trivago, etc.) is probably not a good idea. People are not looking for hotel recommendations at this stage of their search. Chances are they have already planned their trip to Sicily and your affiliate link will not be considered.

Instead, you should use affiliate links strategically. For example, promoting a boat tour that starts right at the most beautiful beach in Sicily! 

The best way to increase revenue and see if your linking is working is to figure out from Analytics what content is most interesting to readers and propose affiliate links in line with the topics covered.

3. Promote services and products that you really know and trust

The last question you will need to answer before choosing affiliate programs for your travel blog is, "Do I trust this product or service?" Before promoting an affiliate product, you should have tried or tested it, to know its quality. Many travel bloggers make this mistake and, unfortunately, it severely affects their credibility. 

It is crucial to gain trust and be able to consistently talk about the benefits of your affiliate product or service.