The first step is to choose a catchy and memorable blog name that reflects your niche and interests. Once you've decided on a name, email it to help@boardingarea.com so a BoardingArea staff member can create a contributor account on WordPress for you. Your login credentials will be emailed to you once the contributor account is set up.

After setting up your account, you need to update your profile sections, including your first name, last name, nickname (pen name), display name, email, social links, biographical info, and profile picture. It's essential to provide accurate and complete information, as this will help readers connect with you and follow your blog.

To get started as a blogger on TravelUpdate, you need to write three posts that showcase your writing style and expertise. These posts should be well-researched, engaging, and SEO-optimized to rank well in search engines. It's a good idea to write posts that cover different aspects of your niche and cater to different audiences. Include images and anything else you will be using regularly on your blog. Make sure to use SEO-enhanced headlines, bolded keywords, excerpts, and a proper recap/conclusion in each post.

You can use the rubric provided as a guide to help you evaluate your first three blog posts. The rubric includes four criteria that your blog posts will be evaluated on: SEO, engaging content, calls to action, and writing quality.

Your first three blog posts on TravelUpdate will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Overall Score:

12-10 points: Exemplary - Strong understanding of SEO, engaging content, effective calls to action, and excellent writing.

9-7 points: Proficient - Good understanding of SEO, engaging content, some effective calls to action, and solid writing.

6-4 points: Developing - Developing an understanding of SEO, somewhat engaging content, limited calls to action, and need improvement in writing quality.

3-1 points: Needs Improvement - Limited understanding of SEO, poorly written content, no calls to action, and significant need for improvement in writing quality.

SEO optimization is the practice of making your blog post more visible to search engines by using keywords, headlines, excerpts, and other techniques that help search engines understand what your post is about.

An exemplary example of SEO optimization would be using a keyword in the post title, meta description, and throughout the post in a natural and meaningful way. For instance, if your post is about "The Best Hiking Trails in the Pacific Northwest", your keyword might be "hiking trails Pacific Northwest", and you would use this keyword throughout your post, such as in the title ("The Best Hiking Trails in the Pacific Northwest"), in subheadings ("Top Hiking Trails in the Pacific Northwest"), and in the body of your post (e.g. "The Pacific Northwest has some of the best hiking trails in the country..."). By using SEO optimization, you increase the likelihood that your post will rank higher in search engine results and be more visible to potential readers.

Once you are satisfied with your posts, you can submit them for review using PublishPress Planner's widget. Under the Publish menu, you will select Request Review in the drop-down and then select OK.

You can learn more about how to submit your post for review in the following article:

A BoardingArea staff member will provide you feedback on your posts using the Metadata widget. Once you have received the feedback, you will be given an opportunity to make changes and resubmit your posts.

If your posts are determined to be a good fit for TravelUpdate, a BoardingArea staff member will upgrade your contributor account to an author account. The posts that you have developed will be your first three posts on TravelUpdate. You can read more about the benefits of joining TravelUpdate in the following article:

If your posts are determined to not be a good fit for TravelUpdate, a BoardingArea staff member will provide goals that you need to reach before reapplying. The posts that you have written will also be yours to keep.