The truth is, I don’t know exactly when I started blogging at travelisfree, but I do know that I registered and moved to travelisfree.com (instead of a wordpress.com blog) on July, 11th. So we’ll go ahead and say it’s 3 years of travelisfree.com!
3 years ago, the site had no direction and now we’re forging our own original direction that we’ve slowly been stepping into. So please follow me for a one minute rant as I want to set up what I’ve done and what I need to know from you!
The reality is very very very few people were reading the blog 3 years ago. And there was no reason to. Instead of being myself, I tried to copy the bloggers I liked, in pretty much every way. But as I’ve gone I started to step into my own niche and voice.
In fact, lately I’ve been testing what I call “resource content”, quality over quantity. If I was judging success based on website traffic or revenue, it would be a good step backwards. But if success is creating content I’m proud of; success!
For example, in the last 3 months, look at some of the things we’ve published:
Complete Guides
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A Complete Guide to Earning Miles with Credit Cards for signing up for the Newsletter
Infographics
More Resources
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How to Find Star Alliance Awards 101 (includes a chart of what sites show what airlines’ award availability)
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A guide to earning miles with Star Alliance Partners (includes a complete miles earning chart!)
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New Best Use of AA Miles (why you don’t need the explorer chart)
Personal Travel Posts
All this in the last 3 months! Original content, and these beautiful “Complete Guides”, and Infographics are very design intensive, and all designed by Carrie and I, and completely created by Carrie.
Not to mention that we updated the United Stopover and Routing Rules Secrets post (which now has over 300 comments)!
Previously, I had some innovations and some original content. For example, I had previously published a few things I was proud of:
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Again, the United Stopover and Routing Rules Secrets post.
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The Completeish List of Stopover Rules (it’s the first I’ve seen anything this complete at least)
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Hidden Gem Redemptions (this is me taking the time to learn programs no one else talks about).
These are posts that are completely original content. Some of these routes and rules were previously unknown before these posts. And my monthly newsletter has been original content (content not published on the blog).
But until this year, I was completely okay with posting crappy posts in order to get posts out. Instead, I switched to only posting content I would want to read myself.
I’ve realized two problems with that.
First, people like to read my opinions on things I would never think to read. People might want my opinion on credit cards, but I’ve firmly assumed that there are plenty of other bloggers out there willing to post on the “top x credit cards of the week/month/day/year/weekend/3 day weekend/holiday/etc…” and anything else. Best credit cards for pet owners, best credit cards for blind people, best credit cards for people with grandparents, best credit cards for grandparents and anyone else. So I’ve assumed people didn’t need more posts on credit cards.
Am I right or wrong about this?
Also, I realized that quality over quantity is not good for traffic.
I can’t explain why. You would think that it would help travelisfree.com stand out. But my thinking is that people check regularly and don’t need every guide I put out, so they check the site less often. Which… is unfortunate for me.
What do you think? Persevere and put out more guides? Or do more posts on promotions, credit cards, and other crap?
Obviously, I’m biased. Because, for me, it’s most important to produce content I’m proud of. My assumption was that the reader experience would be better. My concern, again, is the lack of quantity means that people have less reason to check back and end up forgetting about me.
Also, understand that I’m not asking how to make money. If I was more concerned about that I would be running ads, but that’s not my style. My readers are not for sale, period. Disagree or not, it doesn’t matter. I want to hear about the user experience in terms of content.
What do you think about the infographics and guides? What posts have kept you here? What would you like to hear more of?
More guides? OR more promotion updates and credit cards posts?
I now open it up to you the reader, as I would appreciate your input!
No offense to Carrie as Im sure a lot of work was put into them, but I was not a fan of the infographics. What I like is the in-depth analysis that you bring. By nature, the infographic is simplistic. Everything else is spot on though. Keep up the good work.
Simplicity is the highest form of innovation. 😀
Well, I’ll make it a point to continue to write more in depth analysis as well! Thanks for the feedback.
I, for one, enjoy the more in-depth posts. I can’t tell you how many “Limited Time Offer on SouthWest Visa!” posts I hide from my RSS feed without ever reading, but even for a program I’ve got no investment I’m likely to read through a guide to see if there are any good values there I should be aware of. So, keep up the good stuff!
Thanks Stephen.
Maybe I should be writing better titles for the RSS reader though? 😀
Drew
Hmmm… you raise a lot of good points. It’s your blog, you should write about what interests you. I read several travel blogs a day. Your blog is more of a resource for me. If I’m trying to figure out how to maximize my miles, etc… I know I’ll find it here. While I’m interested in reading about your travels, I really don’t want to read a zillion trip reports. Anyone into miles and points can figure out on their own the best credit cards to sign up for. I click on your page and a few other blogs if I want to sign up for a card. Most of us that read your blog, don’t travel full-time. However, we obviously like to travel for free or next to nothing! So please, just continue to write good blog content.
Thanks Shannon. Glad to hear it’s successfully a resource, and I hope we will give even more reasons to check back regularly!
Drew
i haven’t received your newsletters in quite a while. when was the last time you sent out one?
Last month. We switched it from Bi-Weekly to monthly.
Drew, I enjoy reading your blog and look for your new post everyday. Please keep posting original content such as your various guides. I bookmark them and use them often.
Thanks! Great to hear.
I’ve enjoyed the “resource content” you’ve provided recently, but I’ve always felt like you provide good content, whether it’s through infographics or the ridiculously long and complicated (but completely awesome and helpful!) routing rules posts you’ve developed and published. I would vote for quality over quantity and don’t want you to stray from that, but having read for a year, you haven’t really come close imo.
Maybe try breaking up the posts into shorter, multiple part series? I realize that is the oldest trick in the blogging book to create more quantity and generate traffic, but as long as you still provide meat, it’s ok to give it in smaller proportions? Personally, I like having it all in one post, but I’m just spitting an idea for your sake.
So yeah, my point is: I do like that I get something out of every post. It’s not always a new trick that i learn, it could be a perspective you have on travel, its purpose, and how it affects your life. It seems like there are two sides in the blogging community: sell cc and earn money OR provide “contributions” to the community, but I do like that you combine the latter with a touch of meaning or perspective through your personal travel posts. Takes me out of my greedy, hoard-as-many-miles-as-I-can mindset and actually think about the reason to travel and experience new places. Maybe I’m just a sap…
Also, I’m ok if you never talk about mile-earning. Lord knows there are a million places to read about MS
And, I actually wish you had more affiliate links because I’d be more likely to click-through. Maybe it would corrupt you, I don’t know, but I definitely feel like a consumer while reading because I take a lot away, but don’t give anything back. Unfortunately, I tend to wait for limited time offers on a lot of the cards listed on your site so not sure what to do about that…I’ll now go hide in a hole and wait until the mob seeking the heads of all credit card salesmen pass by
This is a really really helpful comment.
It’s given me a few ideas on how to do guides and even posts in such a way that is broken up into multiple posts.
Honestly, I’m driven right now to get out guides every other week. And the idea behind the guides is that I can link to one piece of content that goes from A to Z. But this has given me a few ideas none the less.
Your thoughts on writing are helpful too. And with miles earning, I think I should do a guide or something, but I don’t want to make it my niche, so glad to hear that it’s okay with you.
Anyways… thanks a ton! GREAT feedback.
You’ve got a real quality blog going here and it’s one of my favorites, so I would vote against adding useless posts about promotions and credit cards that we get hammered with from all the other bloggers.
Keep up the excellent work!
Thanks Ryan!
VerMagnusson’s idea on splitting your content is a good one, generates daily traffic and more page views without really diluting your quality much. You can provide links to all relevant parts at the start of each post.
Personally, I’m also ok with having a small reminder at the bottom of each post that takes you to a page of affiliate links and other ways you get paid if someone wants to support the blog, Frequent Miler style.
All that said, I really appreciate your focus on quality and the redemption side and non-standard choices for travel experiences. These are your core ‘value add’ over others, and don’t stray from them. Your guides are great info, but I don’t love infographics. They could be split into the 4 or 5 part series that VerMagnusson suggests, with Carrie perhaps getting your text version more organized than the early United routing rules posts were! 🙂
Thanks for the feedback!
Do you think a series would be more digestible than having it one place? or are you saying that for my sake, to stay on the RSS reader?
It’s both. I think splitting any topic into 3-5 main points would improve the organization of your thoughts and information, so it would be better communication. It would also increase the number of pageviews and the likelihood of people checking back on a daily basis without increasing your workload or diluting your quality or incentivizing filler content.
Also, repeating for emphasis, you should make it clear and easy for your fans to KNOW what affiliate links you have and not be shy about reminding them in a standard non-salesy location in each post where to go to support the blog.
One of the reasons why I love your blog so much is indeed quality over quantity: While I was traveling for the past 2 months, I didn’t check my Feedly very often, and when I returned, there were 15 of your posts that were unread. I took the time to ensure I read all 15, and as usual, I learned a few new tricks (and really enjoyed the top 25 experiences post). Compare that to 100+ by many of the credit-card pumpers, of which maybe 4-5 actually had any substance whatsoever. I really like that you don’t spread out the quality content with crappy posts in-between, and that means that I know when I see a post by you, I know it will be something interesting that I will enjoy reading. I know it may not be the best for blog traffic, but the consistent quality is part of why I am a loyal follower here.
The infographic posts don’t appeal that much to me because I am already familiar with most of the information there, but I also know I am not the target audience for them, and they certainly are a fantastic one-stop information hub for many of the newer or less experienced travelers. I don’t think you should do away with them though, because I’m sure they are tremendously useful for some people.
Splitting the content might be a good idea: Not only would it generate additional traffic, but it also would offer information in more bite-sized pieces which would be easier to digest.
All in all, I really like the content and overall approach you have currently, but if that isn’t practical or possible to maintain, then I hope you can find a way to make changes or add content that is still… you. You have your own unique style and viewpoint when writing about places and FF-related tricks, and I hope you’ll always keep that as part of the blog.
I think it might be interesting to write a bit more about some of your favorite destinations. Unlike many bloggers who write about destinations they want to visit or try to write posts about places they haven’t been (or only spent 48 hours once), you have actually experienced so many places, and it’d be cool to hear more about some of those places in the future. I know you won’t Vendome or Maldivify us (yes, Vendome is a verb).
Yea, well that’s great to hear. My goal is to be a blog where when someone sees a new post people actually are excited about seeing/reading the posts. I think it’s taking a while to get into my stride, but ya know.
I think I’ve been doing a few more destination pieces but they tend to be more… a post with a point and a little less of an in depth view of a favorite place. So maybe I’ll try that.
I love the info graphics! I wonder if there is a way to use them to promote your website.
Yea, I hope they get shared and used. 😀 Not sure how else to use them though. Although we’ll eventually have an infographics page.
I like the infographics and the guides. But what I really like are the detailed posts you create about stuff that motivates me to travel more. Your blog was the blog that taught me about BRG, taught me about best use of Avio miles, the Caribbean hopper. Your blog is the blog that makes me re-read each post 3 times because it makes me think about how you did what you did. It’s not spoonfed and it requires us to think for ourselves. I also like that you don’t try to pimp out the cards as the other bloggers do. I appreciate that. So for me, quality over quantity. Drew and Carrie, thank you for your blog and for sharing your experiences with us. It motivates me everyday to book my next adventure. God bless!
Awesome. This inspires me to do more awesome redemption posts. Thanks for the comment!
Jig pretty much covers what I think. The resources and guides you provide are what hooked me on your site and keep me interested. They’re also the posts I bookmark and share – more than any other travel blog. Posts on CC offers and promotions can be found in so many other places and the last thing we need is yet another site focusing on that. I strongly support quality over quantity.
For what it’s worth, I’m not a visual person: I don’t understand the infographics trend and always just read the words around the graphics.
Please continue with the excellent resources and guides on redemption options and sharing a taste of your travels!
Well, thanks for sharing and bookmarking! lol Good feedback too. Thanks for the support!
Drew
Interesting take on quality over quantity. I do think, that by bringing quantity, you stay in the forefront of people’s minds and know to come back regularly. This is how commercials work. But with quality, everyone knows that whenever they see a post here it will be content-rich. Perhaps a few more posts about thoughts/observations? No need to go all boardingarea with stupid posts just for the sake of posts, but I think what everyone wants to see is your take/opinion on things going on around the travel world. not necessarily “filler” posts. But, thats what twitter is for, so maybe post quality posts here and find a way to get more people to follow you on twitter?
Everyone follow me on twitter and facebook!!!
Yea, I realize that blogs are designed to reward quantity. That’s why the most recent post is on top. And it’s how an RSS works.
Hopefully it’ll work out to never do a filler post.
Wow, very timely post for me because although I have occasionally read your blog a few times over the years, I didn’t think it was that great. Until recently. I stumbled upon it again and thought it was really one of the best of the bunch. Seriously. Because of the quality of the posts. Most people read more than one miles blog, so you really have to stand out and I love the infographics and the really indepth analysis of programs and ways to utilize the programs in creative ways. Things I might not think of myself. I’m fine with you not having a post everyday, but if you want to keep up traffic maybe have one QUALITY post a week and fill in with just minor thoughts, etc. the other days. I particularly like inspiration posts (your favorite experiences, etc.) because they are often places I never knew about. Keep up the good work, you really have found your “style.”
I’m very glad to hear that you feel the blog has improved despite quantity! That’s what I hope to do here.
Glad to hear your feedback on what posts you enjoy too!
Drew
Your site is by far the place that I find the best content for the hardcore optimizer of points and miles. You’ve inspired me to take the United Award chart to new levels and I will be doing my own version of the Pacific Hopper (as well as some other games) because of you. Keep going with deep, involved, content, as that is your piece of the world of blogging. I will be taking a six month trip with my girlfriend and you have opened my eyes to many opportunities to optimize.
Also, I never feel that you are trying to sell me something as the reason of your post. Your credibility as good as / the best in the space. I would even prefer if you could make it easier to pay you commissions for my new credit cards, as I’ll happily finance your travels with Chase’s money.
That said, I do check back almost every day and really enjoy the beautiful infographics that you have given, but I feel that they have been a bit less deep and advanced than your previous posts. So, I’d advise you to figure out to whom you are catering – the advanced points user who wants to maximize (i.e. hacking the routing rules with United), or the beginner who wants to know what a stopover is and how to use it for a basic itinerary. I feel that the later posts have been more accessible, but there are many people who can provide that insight. Not many people can provide the IHG mastery, the United mastery, the ANA award tricks, etc, that you can.
The posts that I most value from you guys show how to truly optimize your points (as you take infinite trips, rather than two a year all in first class to Paris), your reflections on full time travel, and your budgets from full time travel, as they are inspiring.
So, in summary, I’d say stay with quality, but don’t forget to go deep, because in my mind you are an expert.
I’ll see you in Chicago in October and will buy you a beer/sprite/whiskey or ten. Hope to meet Carrie as well.
Cheerio,
Max
Thanks Max. Yea, I’ve spent so much time creating guides and resources that I can link to so I can write the deep stuff that the deep stuff gets less writing time! I’ll make sure to set aside a day or two soon.
Look forward to meeting you,
Drew
Drew, you are a gentleman and a scholar! Just dropping a note to say Thank you! The work you put into it does not go unnoticed. I’ve loved the recent posts, especially your top 25 experiences!
I’ve never been confused for either of those! But I do appreciate the note dropping. Glad to hear it, for sure!
I love the Quality over quantity. The info-graphics are great. I read at least besides Flyer Talk about 20 blogs a day. I never pay attention when a blogger is hawking a certain credit card because of their possible conflict of interest. I have no problem with how a man/woman earns money. I go by if the card works fir me and my wife. We never fly Southwest so I never pay attention to the offers.
Your stuff i print out, carry with me to read on the train, in bed and study like I am earning college credit.
Please keep up the great work. Next time you are back in NYC, I will take you and Carrie back out to eat and drink to make up for your lack of traffic 😉
PS:
I never feel you are like a used car salesmen and when I do want a card I am more apt to look for your link so you can earn.
Thanks John! We need to get you a kindle for the train and bed! 😀
Hope to stop in NYC soon.
Drew
Way ahead of you I got my kindle. BTW I at the Hilton Budapest with the wife heading to Prague, started in London all points and miles saved over 20 k with BC FLIGHTS,
if you find yourself near by lets hook up…
Keep up the good work and see ya when i see ya,
John
I think I discovered your blog less than a month ago. I’ve been a FlyerTalk member since 2007. I am a recent single parent with a toddler and a 10 year old with autism. In my few spare moments, I have read over half of all of your blog posts and favorited a bunch. The content is that good. It’s balanced. I would worry if you went overboard in any one area. If you dropped the trip reports entirely, you would lose me. I NEED to know MY blogger is real. The stories make the connection back to your solid information and tactics. I would echo others. Some of your posts are too long. I really wish I got an email notification for every new post. Keep up the good work. I wouldn’t mind if you threw in a once-a-week, hot tip. That AWESOME thing that everyone is jumping on and everyone should know about, but may have missed. That toddler just woke up……
I consider this comment of the highest of compliments. Good feedback too.
Also, there is a way to sign up for email notifications on the sidebar. One email signup is the newsletter and one is the email subscriptions.
Thanks for reading Tim,
Drew
I love your blog and read every post! Thank you!
One thing I would love to see is a complete guide for getting to different countries. I think you probably have covered that in all your other complete guides, but this would be easily searchable. I wouldn’t mind credit card links in those articles as well. For instance, I am trying to help some friends get home to India from the US. I don’t know enough to tell them which credit cards/points are the best to get to India, and searching for this info is not easy even using google. I would love to see point collecting, booking stragtegies, possible things to do or not do, for different countries. Also, maybe which countries could be combined. I do know you have a lot of that info on your site already, just not packaged easily.
Just some thoughts. Thanks again!!!!
Thanks for commenting. I think the guide to getting to different countries… or continents at least would be pretty cool. I’d have to think about how I would do that. But I have a few ideas.
Good feedback.
Thanks,
Drew
Your blog is one of the most original and helpful sites out there. Don’t change a thing. I check almost daily. Your guides cover the basics, but often include new info even for those with experience in this game. I love that you resist the constant, shameless credit card plugs, but it’s always fair to let us know about a truly great deal.
Reference guides, opinion posts, your personal travel experiences and great deals are all interesting. By rotating content, you can still make frequent posts and reach a wide audience.Personally, I hate it when there are daily posts about a credit card deal that expires in a month or when an article is broken into many smaller posts (like Daraius’ 15 part travel reports, it gets old); it’s much better to just see it all in one place and if it’s not relevant, the reader can just skip it instead of getting hit with it every day for weeks. Keep up the good work!
Glad to hear the guides are providing more experienced people great content. The goal is to kind of go from A to Z. So I hope everyone would want to read the guide. Although, everyone is a big goal… but ya know.
Anyways, thanks for the helpful comment!
Drew
I have been a reader of this blog only for the past 4 months or so and i am extremely happy to read all the posts in this blog. I dont care what they are about but i feel all these posts have been adding “value” in my life in some way and that is what matters. I can never rate any post as useless, unlike many other filler blogs out there, and enjoy all your posts equally. Being a new player i look up on you to provide tips that will save me money in travel and i know for sure that you wouldn’t write anything for the sake of fillers or for financial institutions. I trust you and I am sure i will keep learning something from this site. I really dont mind some credit card posts just to point the newbies to the right set of cards even though reading your list of cards does help me in choosing cards during my AORs. Just feel free to have links of all your favorite cards so that i or other new users can use them. However, your content about award travel is what i like the most and will be looking forward to. Cheers and hope this website continues to grow and prosper in the years to come.
Actually, this to me might be the highest compliment. My goal with this site is to add value. In fact, if I’m not adding value to people, I don’t want to blog anymore. So thanks for the comment and feedback!
Drew
I think we all appreciate how much work goes into your quests to find routing rules. The best part of your blog is that it requires concentration. I thought that when you started publishing guides, you were trying to reach a wider, less experienced audience. Yet I think that audience is too drawn to the pimping that so many other blogs do.
I wonder if you might take a direction of having more purpose to your travel. Like when you did the video of your brother and sister in law wanting to adopt a child in Russia. Are there others that do this? What resources are available for them in this country? Can you hook up with those resources and offer to visit Russia to scout out the process?
You have an incredible ability to travel to so many places. Maybe there are people and organizations that could benefit from this that are totally outside this hacking community.
Just a thought…
Thanks Rick.
Oddly enough I had already given a great deal of thought as to how the miles community could help people wanting to adopt… mostly by donating miles. Unfortunately, I personally don’t have much free time right now but I hope to be able tot hink more about this soon. And if this site like… actually starts making more money, it would be cool to use that money to funding this non-profit idea. And another unfortunate is that the real way to donate miles is not possible for small guys… It’s really for major institutions that can partner with the airline.
Anyways, maybe we’ll be able to do more things like helping Rachel and Zack sooner than later.
Drew
Quality over quantity please! Most of us have learned the best credit cards to get (though I liked reading which you have canceled and why). I feel your blog helps with the challenge of actually booking the travel. I understand the objection some have(referring to other bloggers) to being “spoonfed” info , but I will humbly admit that I appreciate info explained simply. For many of us time constraints and family responsibilities prevent us from being able to research extensively , thus making your blog more valuable. Keep up the great work, thanks!
Thanks Margo. I said earlier that I think “simplicity is the highest form of innovation.” Hopefully we can use fewer words to say more with images and stuff, and allow us to do more in depth posts.
Either way, thanks for the support and for commenting!
Drew
Keep up the great work!
Thanks Steven!
Frankly, I think your posts are too informative. I consider myself an intermediate FF type, but the dense information you give makes my eyes glaze over. I don’t care about maximizing every last mile – I earn way more than I can use – I’m more interested in finding the easiest routes, with the most availability, even if it costs substantially more miles/points.
And I’m more interested in premium seats. I probably have a lifetime supply of economy seats if I wanted to redeem miles for them, but I long ago lost any desire to sit back of the bus.
But I suspect I’m not the starving student demographic you seem to be after…
If you want to make a living out of blogging, you gotta lose your soul and pimp, pimp, pimp. Because your competition already made their deal with the devil…
I’m glad I’m not guilty of having too little of information but I definitely understand the “eyes glaze over” effect on some of the posts. Hopefully we can have more posts that can help make things easier not harder.
How refreshing to see a mileage blog that keeps getting better. Most go the other way – beginning with an earnest effort and devolving into repeated credit card links, endless trip reports and 200 photos of some airlines first class seats.
Anyone can sit in a basement with a laptop and pump out a list of Tuesday’s 10 best credit cards. With full time travel you get to see/do/experience many things -the things that the rest of us are in the game for. So you are like an advance scout, sending back reports on what’s out there.
Keep up with the quality. In the end that will build loyal, long term readership.
Thanks Tony! I hope you’re right. I guess time will tell…
Drew
Thank you for your blog. Please continue with the quality posts you’ve been doing. I look forward to your posts via email and RSS, and I read every one of your posts, some of them multiple times because — being a newbie at the miles game — I don’t understand some concepts or tricks on first reading.
May I suggest that you add a “Start Here” and/or “Best Of” and/or “Complete Guides” tab(s) at the top of your blog? A page like this would have links to posts helpful to a newcomer to your blog. And if you will do a series, please add a tab so that someone can see the entire set of links on one page. Here’s a great example of what I mean of a financial blogger showcasing a popular series on his blog: bloggerhttp://jlcollinsnh.com/stock-series/
Oh, maybe all of this and future quality content can be compiled and reorganized into a published book one day. I’ll definitely buy it!
Lastly, please hyperlink (affiliate or not as you like) the credit cards, etc., that you mention in your posts. Many times I find myself Googling for the products you recommend so that I can sign up. Yes, I clicked on “Best Travel Credit Cards” tab, but was surprised that it took me to another site, which seems like a credit card store than a page listing your recommended credit cards. For example, your posts convinced me to sign up for the Chase IHG card and the US Bank Club Carlson card, but Credit Karma doesn’t even list these cards in Credit Karma’s “Hotel Rewards Cards” lineup. In fact, these two cards are not in the “Highest Rated Cards” list or the “Best Credit Cards of 2014” list on Credit Karma. I finally gave up and signed up for these cards using someone else’s blog links. I’d really rather give you the affiliate credit, though!
Thank you again for your quality content.
Drew-
Let me tell you how this all evolved.
The big guys started around 2010/2011. Their keys:
They had already been in the game for several years, so they were writing the in-depth ‘how to book awards’ posts back then. The long 5 part series they no longer do.
Back then it was a new concept to most people. It was unusual.
The size of the offers was also new then too. They latched onto giving people non-public promo codes for 75 or 100k to drive traffic and links when only a couple were talking about it.
So they built email lists and followings off the back of that. Tough to unseat that. The acquisition ‘costs’ were low then.
In 2011 you started at a decent time, but after they broke out, and your early posts were ‘take advantage of this promo.’ They weren’t the at-length in-depth posts we see now.
And it’s a crowded, well educated market now.
They are enjoying the dividends of their early labor, prior knowledge, and good timing.
Given we don’t have control over the programs themselves, it’s hard to innovate on blog posts.
So advice is – keep doing what you’ve been doing. You have a nice loyal following, decent income, just don’t expect a massive audience, and don’t piss off your loyal following with overly commercial content.
I was/am new to miles and points, and while the other ” get this card now” sites have their place I didn’t take this seriously until I came across your site. I like the concrete information and more technical tone. It built trust in this process and the travel is free premise. Now I have a trip booked for my husband and myself that I would have never taken in my lifetime without your blog and I am so looking forward to it! I don’t have to tell you how meaningful travel is so I believe this adds value to my life in general. I share your blog with everyone who asks about this topic. I think for gaining readership you may need to use other tactics to keep new people visiting, and I as a loyal reader wouldn’t mind tolerating that and I sure would learn something! Once they discover your amazing content, they will be loyal readers like me who wait for each each post. I like hearing your personal experience stories mixed in , those are great and probably contain keywords that will attract more readership. I wouldn’t be surprised if you did go to paid versions, as it is high quality, I really just wanted to say thanks so much!
I have an idea… This is surely way to much work, but I wonder if you could somehow monetize it…
I would love to see a database where you could enter your departing airport code and your arrival airport code and get recommendations for which points are best to collect or use for that specific trip. Or, you could enter how many points you have with which airlines, answer some basic questions about what kind of vacation you want to take, and it would recommend the best values for your miles.
Basically, as I’m saying this, I realize its the easy version of your whole site. Mainly just talking out loud. I can’t take many trips, so it’s hard for me to keep up with all I have read when I am ready to start planning a trip or when a friend asks me what credit card to sign up for for their upcoming trip. I would guess that this kind of system would be maddening for people who get paid to book award travel.
Anyways, I love all your complete guides. This is where I come back to when I have to refresh myself on all the rules. Thanks! Plus, I refer friends to your page to sign up for credit cards when I can.