Bad Content Advice: The Common Travel Writing Tips that Are Complete Nonsense

Since the advent of the internet, everyone and their uncle has been quick to offer advice on travel content writing. However, as content writers ourselves, we know that while they may be well meaning, most of the advice is also outdated, ineffective and misinformed, perpetuating the same untruths and mistakes across the world of content.

Therefore, we’ve decided to help redress the content advice balance, by highlighting the common travel writing tips you should ignore. By pooling the extensive travel writing knowledge of our writers, we have come up with a shortlist of questionable tips that are regularly regurgitated online. From declarations about the death of list posts to nonsense about the vitality of keyword density, here are four common content writing tips you can just ignore.

argument-238529_1280

“Be controversial”
These days, as travel blogs and magazines are getting more and more competitive, everyone is trying to make an impact. As a result, bloggers and writers are increasingly looking at ways to shake things up and get noticed both in the travel realm and beyond.

The thing is, controversy for controversy’s sake rarely works. And if you can’t truly stand behind the argument you’re making, then there’s a good chance you’ll end up red-faced.

For example, naming and shaming what you feel are overrated travel destinations is controversial but valid, but slating whole countries or cultures on a whim is feeble and offensive. We’re not saying you should avoid stepping on any toes, just that you need to be sure you truly believe what you are saying and are willing (and more importantly able) to defend it when challenged. A more useful and practical travel writing tip would be, “Don’t be afraid to be controversial when necessary”.

“The list post is dead”
For years, people have been advising writers to avoid the list format, yet the list article lives on. What’s more, long established newspapers and magazines are increasingly using ‘in brief’ list articles to grab readers’ attention. The statistics suggest that list posts still lure people in, so if you want to attract readers, you might want to reconsider.

Of course, whether you choose to write list posts or not is entirely up to you (or your editor). But there are many different formats of travel writing available, and the list post is as popular – and as meritable – as it’s ever been.

“Keyword density matters”
Keywords are fine when used in moderation, but it’s vitally important to remember there is such a thing as over-optimisation. As Google’s algorithms are getting smarter and smarter, they’re doing a pretty good job of recognising unique, compelling content, without needing to have endlessly repetitive keywords shoved in their face. If you continue to jam in too many keywords, expect to be penalised.

More importantly, the quality of your written travel content should come first and a writer’s main job is to provide compelling content. Crowbarring in keywords where they don’t fit will only derail your copy, so they should be secondary to the quality and flow of your piece. It helps to remember that Google isn’t your target audience.

keyboard-628703_1280

“Let people behind the scenes/show them the process”
Here’s a content tip we see bandied about a lot online, particularly when it comes to blogging or social media. The argument goes: “Let people behind the scenes – It shows you’re authentic/transparent.” This isn’t necessarily wrong. In fact, it’s often true. But not in all cases. Sometimes, letting people view the process can ruin the magic.

For instance, most people enjoy experiencing behind-the-scenes tidbits from NASA’s space-bound astronauts or seeing other people’s quality travel pictures. On the other hand, most people don’t like seeing pictures of computer screens, hearing about boring lunches or about the minutiae of bus journeys and travel itineraries.

What’s important to remember is that sometimes the behind-the-scenes parts of travel writing are hidden for good reason. Because — to be blunt — they are boring. If you try to let readers into the process of what’s going on day-to-day, you may soon find why this information was kept strictly ‘behind the scenes’ in the first place.

Are there any other common travel writing tips you feel are just plain wrong? Come and tell us all about them on Twitter. Or for more pertinent content tips, take a look at the expert advice on our blog and in our portfolio.

A version of this article was originally published in January 2015 on the World Words site. Read the original article.

4 thoughts on “Bad Content Advice: The Common Travel Writing Tips that Are Complete Nonsense

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


9 − = seven