SWOT Analysis

The two blogs being analysed are travel blogs by the names of Nomadic Matt and Gadling.

Nomadic Matt is the personal blog of a traveler named Matt, it includes destination guides as well as travel tips.

Strengths

Personalized: This blog is run by a single person (Nomadic Matt). He gives his personal tips as well as blogging about his own experiences. The author is also available for contact and regular interacts with his readers. This allows the readers to create a connection with the author because they are experiencing what he is experiencing through the blog.

Multimedia: The blog has multimedia which includes an extensive range of videos under the travel videos section; all of these videos are vlogs. There is also at least one photo that accompanies every blog.

Countries covered: The blog covers 42 countries in the travel guides section which for a personal blog is quite a large range, there are also four regional guides included which gives a broader guide to these areas if readers are interested.

List articles: The blogs include many list articles, these are a very popular style for blogs, and they make for easy reading and promote discussion and reader interaction.

Travel resources: the blog also advertises his books as another resource for travelers, as well as travel companies the author uses.

Networking: the author has been published in notable and respectable publications such as the New York Times and National Geographic. Not only does this give more exposure to the author’s blog, it also gives the blog more legitimacy having these publications on the front page of the blog.

Weaknesses

Multimedia quality: The majority of the photos are not taken by the author, while it is not essential, it does put it behind the multitude of travel blogs that include high quality photos. Although it does have videos the production quality is not particularly high as can be seen here. The videos are mostly just vlogs which sometimes include footage of the country that the author is visiting. Again this does place the blog behind others with higher production quality.

 

Depth of articles: The country destination guides do provide some good tips but outside of that the articles don’t provide much unique information. They are about 1000 words long and also provide links to a number of city guides but they all include very basic information that is easily found from other more reliable sources. An example of this is what kind of public transport is available in a city. The blogs also provide suggestions for attractions, most of which are obvious such as they Sydney opera house in Sydney, Australia. When compared to other travel guides such as Lonely Planet which are very extensive, this blog comes up short.

Self-promotion: The travel resources that are promoted on the blog are not independent. The books advertised are all written by the author of the blog and he also receives financial gain from the travel companies advertised. While he does disclose this fact, it does not give the reader a diverse range of resources.

Opportunities

Photos: The author clearly travels a lot and has plenty of opportunity to take some interesting and quality photos. These days it is very simple for a traveler to acquire an easy to use high quality camera. There is really no excuse for not having a large range of photos on a travel blog.

Networking: The author could network with other blogs, while he has been published in other publications the only content on his blog is his own. By introducing other bloggers/writers he could expand his audience as the new writers/bloggers bring their own readers. It may also bring in diversity in content such as better photos.

Threats

Gadling: Blogs such as Gadling provide a threat to these personal blogs because they can provide such a diversity of articles. They can also produce much more content because they have multiple writers so the reader is not waiting any significant period of time for a new article.

 

Print publications going online: As publications such as lonely planet begin increase their online presence, they provide a threat to a personal blog such as this. They already have brand recognition and loyalty and may now be the first place people go to when looking for travel information online just as they did before the rise of the internet.

Gadling is a blog written and edited by multiple writers that includes travel news as well as tips on multiple types of traveling.

Strengths

Experience: Gadling is edited by Don George who is a very experienced award winning travel writer. Having this professional provides credibility to the blog and a positive influence on the quality of the product.

Multiple Writers: Gadling has a 20 writers working for it, this allows it to produce at least an article a day if not more. It also provides a diversity of viewpoints and experiences, which is important because there are many ways to travel and this blog is able to attract a wider audience.

Diversity of Articles: Gadling’s posts cover a range of topics. They include posts on travel news, budget travel, adventure travel, travel tech, as well as posts related to a range of countries. Again this helps to attract a wider audience.

Multimedia: The blog includes a photo of the day gallery and many of its entries include photography as well as video. However most of the video comes from outside sources which can be seen in articles such as this.

Weaknesses

Not Personalized:  Although many of the posts include personal stories, the blog on the whole is very impersonal. This is because the structure of the blog is more similar to that of a online newspaper, and each post is a new article. The reader does not follow the journeys of one person and as a result it is difficult to make the emotional connection or investment that they otherwise might.

Sources: some of the posts cover news stories, or even advertisements. Readers may not want to see regurgitated information that has just been reproduced so that the blog has an post to publish for the day.

Opportunities

Videos: As such a large blog there is big opportunity being missed in video production.Although there are posts that include videos none are produced by Gadling itself. Even just producing a few videos a month would add another dimension to the blog. With so many writers it should be easy to implement and even low quality videos would make a difference.

Threats

Personal Blogs: Blogs such as Nomadic Matt provide a threat because of the singular author providing their own experience. This form of blog makes it easier for the reader to form a connection to the author and once they have they will continue to return.