Meet travel blogger Sara who gives us some blogging and photography tips

Today we interview South African mom blogger Sara Essop, who blogs at In Africa and Beyond.

• Tell us about your family and your children!

I have a husband and two kids who have grown up way too fast. My daughter is studying Computer Science at university and my son is in Grade 12. My husband and I met in university. We started travelling together when our kids were little so most of our travels have been with kids which is why my blog focuses on family-friendly travel.

• What made you want to start a blog?

I’ve always loved both traveling and writing and I used to write articles on an ad-hoc basis over the years whenever inspiration struck me. About ten years ago, a popular website was looking for travel bloggers. I applied and was accepted and that made me decide to start travel blogging seriously. My husband set up a blog for me and I’ve been writing about travel destinations, hotel reviews, and travel tips since then. During the course of my travels, I’ve discovered so many wonderful places that I feel everyone should know about, so it helps to have a blog to share them on.

Blogging also helps me to keep an online photo-journal of the places I’ve travelled to as they can start becoming a bit of a blur after a while. I enjoy reliving my travel memories and it’s also a good record for my family.

• You’ve done a lot of travelling – tell us what the most amazing place that you’ve ever been to and would love to go again and why?

I love Istanbul in Turkey. It’s a fascinating city with so much history and beautiful architecture. I also love Venice in Italy. It’s such a unique city.

• What’s the best place to travel to in SA? And a budget getaway for locals that you recommend?

South Africans tend to head mainly for the coast, viz Durban or Cape Town, but there are so many other gems in South Africa. Personally, my first love is the bush but there are other great places to visit in SA to visit like the Augrabies Falls, the Drakensberg mountains, the Hartbeespoort area and Kosi Bay in northern Kwazulu Natal. If you can travel during off-peak season, you can find bargains almost anywhere but this may be difficult with school-going kids.

Just go onto a website like Booking.com and find self-catering accommodation in these areas.

• I see you have a diploma in Content and Blogging – I’m very interested in this – where did you get it and tell me what’s the most valuable thing or practical thing that you learnt from it?

I have a Diploma in Blogging and Content Marketing and a Diploma in Social Media Marketing, which were both obtained with distinction through Shaw Academy. To be honest, I knew most of the content in the course already from experience, by the time I did it. It was just a matter of making it official. But one tip I can share is that it is important to optimize your content for SEO, in order to attract more organic traffic to your blog.

• You also take the most amazing photos – any tips or tricks you can share?

Thank you. I love taking photos and my photography has improved over the years but I’m still not where I want to be.

Lighting is all important when taking photos. Pay attention to the light source and direction. Natural light usually produces the best results. Golden hour, just after sunrise or before sunset, is ideal for soft, warm light. Try taking photos from different angles and experiment with composition.

• Do you have any other tips for bloggers that you’d like to share?

• Choose your niche: Pick a topic you’re passionate about and knowledgeable in.
• Focus on quality: Prioritize well-researched, well-written, and engaging content. Do proofread your work and check spelling and grammar.
• Use visuals: Break up long blocks of text with images, infographics, or videos to make your content more appealing and easier to digest.
• Optimize for SEO: Use relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and headings to increase your blog’s visibility on search engine results pages.
• Promote your content: Share your blog posts on social media platforms, engage in relevant online communities, and collaborate with other bloggers to expand your reach.

Find Sarah: on her blog In Africa and Beyond, on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube.

If you found this post interesting please share it with your friends and remember to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram and join our awesome group called Mommy’s Me Time.