{"id":19719,"date":"2023-03-03T17:07:02","date_gmt":"2023-03-03T14:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/?p=19719"},"modified":"2025-07-23T17:06:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T14:06:56","slug":"the-story-of-paigemindsthegap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/the-story-of-paigemindsthegap\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Successfully Monetise a Hometown Blog \u2014 The story of Paigemindsthegap.com"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How It All Began<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m from Atlanta, Georgia. I have a degree in creative writing and have been travel blogging since 2013, when I started Paige Minds The Gap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been traveling since I was a child. My family always took at least one big trip per year, along with a few smaller camping and beach trips. I love getting to know a place\u2019s history (especially if there\u2019s a castle), seeing its art and culture, and exploring its nature (especially if there are bears).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I live with my husband, who is my favorite travel companion! Even though I am a full-time travel blogger, I like to say I\u2019m still just a part-time traveler, since I mostly travel with my husband and he works full-time (though we sure do make the most of his vacation days!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blogging Journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Paigemindsthegap.com\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Paigemindsthegap.com homepage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Back when I started Paige Minds The Gap, it was mostly a travel diary (on Tumblr) for my family to read while I studied abroad in England. When I returned home, I just kept writing about interesting things in my local area, this time for the few people who had somehow found my little diary. Then I studied abroad again, this time in Ireland, and it just seemed like this was going to keep going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t until 2016 that I took my blog to WordPress, started self-hosting, and began thinking about monetizing it. I worked full-time and blogged part-time until 2019, when I quit my job to focus on personal writing, including the blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m most inspired by traveling somewhere new. I\u2019m always excited to write about new destinations and re-live a trip I just took. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My blog has changed a lot along the way. It\u2019s obviously not a study abroad blog anymore! Also, due to 2020 and COVID, I was actually able to hone in on my blog\u2019s focus on Atlanta and Southern travel. Since we couldn\u2019t travel very far, I started writing more and more about what was interesting around Atlanta and have been able to establish myself as a top Atlanta blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays, paigemindsthegap.com<\/a> is my main source of income. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Difficulties I Faced <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I think the hardest part initially was getting out of the diary blog mindset and getting into the problem-solving, money-making blog mindset. For example, there was a lot to learn about hosting, SEO, newsletters, and social media, not even to mention how to actually make money. And, of course, the blogging landscape is still changing every day. It required, and still requires, a lot of research, reading, and focusing on learning one thing at a time. You can\u2019t worry about everything all at once or you\u2019ll get overwhelmed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hardest thing I have to deal with right now is finding time to write new posts, update old blog posts<\/a>, and the billion other things that come with being a blogger. I have to set aside time for each task. For example, I have a certain day for pitching and a day for social media. I update old posts in the mornings and write new posts in the afternoons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traffic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Organic search traffic from Google makes up 74% of my traffic. A few years ago, Pinterest was a huge driver of traffic, but now accounts for only about 10% of my overall traffic. Nothing beats knowing SEO for that organic traffic!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Statistic\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Statistic for paigemindsthegap.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I keep my main focus on SEO and attracting organic search traffic. Pinterest is the only other traffic source I recommend spending time on, since it\u2019s a social platform that works like a search engine. I get some traffic from other social platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, but it\u2019s inconsistent and those readers are not very engaged. Instagram drives almost no traffic, even when I put links in my bio and stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think the most important aspect of SEO is targeting the right keywords and knowing what problem your blog post is trying to solve. When you rank for the right keywords, you can reach an engaged audience that is ready to buy through your affiliate links. In addition, you can build trust with your audience because they know you\u2019re helping them find the information they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best way to achieve affiliate success is to target high-intent keywords that are commercial and transactional. In other words, you should seek to attract readers who are ready to buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can always go back and edit your blog posts to attract more traffic and earn more with your affiliate links. I was able to take one of my earliest blog posts (back from when blogging was more like writing diary entries) and turn it into one of my highest traffic articles just by giving it some structure and focusing on new keywords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expert Tip <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seasonal posts can really help give your evergreen content a boost. Recently, I\u2019ve started creating a seasonal posts to help bring in traffic during the slow seasons. I saw the amazing effect that having holiday content for Halloween and Christmas had on my traffic, namely consistently making the final quarter of the year my highest traffic months. So, I wanted to replicate that success throughout the year. Having content on winter destinations, romantic trips, and spring travel means I can bring in more visitors during January to March, when my traffic is historically low. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top 5 Articles With the Highest Traffic<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n