How to Monetise Your Travel Blog: Earning Through Ads, Affiliate Marketing, and Merchandise

Turning your love for travel into a profitable venture is one of the most rewarding experiences. However, the path to monetising your travel blog can feel a little daunting at first. Where do you start? How do you begin earning from your blog when all you want to do is write about your adventures? 

Let me take you through the journey of monetising your travel blog, focusing on three powerful ways to earn: through ads, affiliate marketing, and selling your own merchandise. These methods are accessible, scalable, and they allow you to start earning while doing what you love.

1. Earning Through Ads: The Passive Income Route

Imagine this: You’re exploring the streets of a new city, documenting your experiences, and sharing your travel tips with your readers. But while you’re on the go, your blog is still working for you. That’s the beauty of monetising through ads.

Ads are a fantastic way to generate passive income. Once set up, they run in the background while you’re off discovering new destinations. But getting there requires some groundwork.

Setting Up Ads

First, you need consistent traffic. You can’t just place ads on a blog with only a handful of visitors. Ads work best when you have a steady stream of readers engaging with your content. So, start by creating high-quality posts that solve your readers’ problems or inspire them to travel. Content like “Top 10 Destinations for Solo Travellers” or “How to Travel on a Budget” tends to get attention, especially from people planning trips.

Once your blog starts receiving traffic (we’re talking 5,000+ monthly pageviews), you can apply to ad networks like Google Ads, which is a great starting point. Google Ads will automatically display ads on your site based on your content and audience. When your readers click on those ads, you earn a small commission. 

If your traffic grows even more, consider moving to premium networks like Mediavine or AdThrive. These networks pay higher rates and offer a more polished ad experience for your readers. But remember, ads work best when they don’t overwhelm the content. Too many ads or intrusive pop-ups can drive readers away, so finding the right balance is key.

Why Ads Are Ideal

What’s great about ads is that they’re passive. You don’t have to actively promote them—they’re simply displayed on your blog. Once your site has good traffic, you’ll keep earning without having to do much extra work.

The downside? You need to be patient. Ads don’t make you rich overnight. But over time, as your traffic grows and you increase pageviews, the revenue from ads can become a solid income stream.

2. Affiliate Marketing: Turn Your Recommendations Into Revenue

Now, let’s talk about something that can be even more lucrative: **affiliate marketing**. Affiliate marketing is when you promote a product or service and earn a commission when someone makes a purchase through your unique link. For travel bloggers, this can be a goldmine.

Think about all the travel products and services you use—flight booking platforms, hotels, tour companies, luggage, gear, and even travel insurance. You can partner with companies in the travel industry that offer affiliate programs, earning commissions every time someone clicks through your affiliate link and buys something.

How to Get Started with Affiliate Marketing

Let’s say you’re writing a post about “The Best Travel Apps for 2024.” You could link to apps like TripAdvisor, Booking.com, or Skyscanner, which all have affiliate programs. Or if you’re reviewing a camera bag for travel, you can link to Amazon’s affiliate program and earn a commission when someone buys the bag through your link.

The beauty of affiliate marketing is that it doesn’t require you to have a product of your own. You simply recommend products that align with your blog’s theme and your audience’s needs. But to be effective, you need to do it authentically.

Be Honest and Transparent

Your readers trust you, and that’s why they come back. So when you promote a product or service, be sure to share why it works for you. For instance, instead of just saying “Check out this great travel insurance provider,” explain why you trust them and how they’ve helped you during your travels.

You also need to be transparent. According to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) guidelines, you need to disclose when a link is an affiliate link. Most readers won’t mind if you do this, as long as you’re upfront about it. The key here is trust and authenticity.

Affiliate Marketing in Action

I started by partnering with Airbnb and Booking.com, recommending places to stay in each city I visited. Every time someone clicked on my affiliate link and booked a room, I earned a commission. It was slow at first, but over time, I saw a steady stream of income coming in from these partnerships. The best part? I didn’t have to create or manage any products myself. I was simply sharing the travel experiences and tools that I trusted, and earning as a result.

3. Selling Merchandise: Your Brand, Your Products

As your blog grows, your audience starts to form a connection with you—not just with your content, but with your unique perspective on travel. That’s when you can take the next step: selling your own merchandise.

Merchandise is an excellent way to monetise your travel blog because it allows you to build a product that reflects your brand. Plus, it creates a direct connection with your readers—they’re not just reading your content; they’re wearing or using something they bought because they love your blog.

What to Sell?

Your travel blog’s niche will guide what kind of merchandise will resonate with your audience. If you’re a backpacker focused on budget travel, you might sell practical items like travel backpacks, water bottles, or portable chargers. If your blog is more about luxury travel, perhaps you could sell elegant luggage tags, silk scarves, or designer travel accessories.

Some ideas include:

• T-shirts with catchy travel quotes (“Not All Who Wander Are Lost” or “Wanderlust is Real”)
• Travel-themed prints (maps, famous landmarks, inspiring travel photography)
• Branded merchandise (like hats, tote bags, or mugs with your blog’s logo)

Creating Your Merchandise Line

You don’t need to have a huge inventory to get started. Thanks to platforms like Printful or Teespring, you can design your own products and have them printed and shipped directly to your customers. These platforms handle everything from production to shipping, so you don’t have to worry about logistics. You simply promote your products on your blog or social media, and when someone makes a purchase, you earn a profit.

Selling Your Own Products in Action

I began selling t-shirts with travel-inspired slogans, and they became a hit with my audience. Every time I visited a new destination, I’d create a limited-edition shirt based on that place, and my followers loved it. It was a way for them to feel connected to my travels and support my blog at the same time. I didn’t need to worry about production or inventory, and I was able to share something that felt personal and exclusive to my readers.

Conclusion: Monetising with Passion

Monetising your travel blog doesn’t have to be complicated, and it certainly doesn’t require you to be a marketing expert. By focusing on ads, affiliate marketing, and selling your own merchandise, you can start turning your passion for travel into a profitable business. 

Remember, success doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to build an audience, gain traffic, and figure out which monetisation strategies work best for you. But with patience and persistence, you’ll start seeing those small, steady streams of income grow into a reliable revenue stream, allowing you to keep doing what you love—travelling and sharing your experiences with the world.

So go ahead—start monetising and let your travel blog work for you, even when you’re on the road!

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