A blog post of incoherent ramblings and musings.
Nomadic Backpacker trying to make sense of it all, in a cafe in Andorra:
Blogging is not easy. If someone tells you that, they are lying.
Blogging is a real job. You put in regular hours and then some.
The hours spent writing. Oh, that’s the enjoyable part. It’s only a time suck because my writing skills are mediocre at best and yet I still strive to be a writer.
Keyword Research
I don’t do keyword research. Yes, you heard that right. I don’t do keyword research.
Shock horror?
What’s the point if everyone is using the same tools, all hoping to get lucky cos it’s a crazy world of high and low-competition keywords and low-hanging fruits, which change as soon as you hit PUBLISH because you found a great keyword but then so did many others.
Because they don’t understand the logic behind it all and find themselves keyword stuffing and making titles and the text itself sound unnatural in the process.
AI
Over the years the Google algorithms have evolved. But the only thing that hasn’t changed is the need for great content.
This whole AI thing is a worry. Google wanted original content, yet AI is just copied from websites written by humans, and they are pushing it hard. Where does that leave us, travel bloggers who go places and bring you the stories?
The Perfect Photo
Getting the photos can be difficult and very time-consuming.
Going back to retake a few photos is ok if I am hanging around for a few days, but if I am travelling fast, it’s a question of either ditching the post, adjusting the post to leave out that particular sight of interest or just putting up the post with all the sub-par photos.
Each blog post would typically contain 30 or more images. I used to auto-adjust on one app, resize them on another app, change the file name and then send them to myself by email, so I would have a copy on my tablet or laptop. And once they are on the blog, add the alt-text and adjust the margin. Now I use a free online photo editing resource by Adobe, which makes life a lot easier.
Blogging messes with my mind
I get disappointed and disheartened by the lack of traffic, the lack of clicks, the lack of comments and the lack of recognition. I hit 100 countries and territories with El Salvador. Later I hit 100 UN countries with Madagascar. No one was interested.
And it disheartens me when you see some blog posts, badly written, nothing that hasn’t been written about before. Just mind-numbingly boring shite with 32 affiliate links and stock photos, pulling in the punters.
I am obsessed with numbers
When I was running, the enjoyment was in getting a new PB or how I made the climb quicker than the previous week. I loved the training more than the races.
And I am obsessed with checking the numbers. Multiple times each day. And it consumes me. My mood is up and down like a fucking yo-yo with how the numbers are going.
Keeping it real – Why fake it?
I hate blogs with copied content. I hate blog posts written by someone who has never visited said place.
Why not just be real? Telling the truth will win you fans. Faking it til you make it will be detrimental in the long run.
Blogs which use auto date update, to change the date on Top Things to See in Bayswater in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 when the content of the post wasn’t changed. Some big bloggers use this strategy. I have found their social media and blocked them.
I hate blogs that only show nice stuff.
People are obsessed with nice. The fakeness of it all. My sister is as materialistic as they come. A house full of nice stuff to prove to her friends she was successful in life.
I just want it real.
Give me a poorly exposed selfie of a traveller/blogger over a photoshopped or AI-generated photo.
On pulling the plug
Last week I was contemplating plugging the plug. Blogging was becoming an obsession and a time suck, and I hardly have much time to just chill.
I am constantly referencing my travels before the blog as the best time ever.
A word of encouragement from Jonny Blair:
Your blogs are EXCELLENT.
DO NOT STOP them.
Fuck the rest (of them), the fakers and the liars.
Jonny hates all the fakers more than me but at least he is not obsessed with numbers.
He hasn’t got a clue what DA is. He never looks at the stats. Never has done, never will.
And something has to change. I need to change my vision.
What is a successful blog?
Numbers? Page views, Users?
A DA that matches Wiki?
As a small-time blogger, it is impossible to compete with the big names, the marketing gurus, and those with the gift of the gab.
I just wanna tell my story but am conscious of the need to write for Google.
Despite my efforts, I get almost zero traffic from social media. I am the wrong gender and on the wrong side of 25. Truly. Sex still sells. A 24-year-old blogging female in a bikini with a boob job will get more viewers and more money with a post about how she found the real Italy when she found herself in off-the-beaten-path Cinque Terra, than I ever will. Clickbait posts are amazing for pulling in the hits.
Advertisers are obsessed with Instagram accounts with a massive number of followers. But it’s all fake.
And this is the side of blogging that possibly shows the mentality of the viewer these days and what they need.
They want nice, they don’t care if it’s fake, they have the attention span of a tadpole.
Are the days of travel writing over?
Has everywhere been written about?
One of the best travel writers around is Wade Shepard. He has been running Vagabond Journey for more than 20 years.
There is a pop-up on his blog which reads, “Travel. But different”
He sees something that he doesn’t understand and starts asking questions until he does, and then turns it into a blog post.
Wade doesn’t stay in touristy areas; he is largely unbothered by nice things. He ran a film company, Real Life Cinema. And that’s the idea behind his long-running blog. He is into life and people.
And me, I just gotta concentrate on doing my thing, whatever that is.