Contributor Best Practices

Content Rules


  • Information should be thoroughly researched and references made to authenticate any stated facts. Where possible provide links when referencing relevant information.
  • All content shall be unique to the Backpacker Travel website. Duplicate content incurs Search Engine Results Page (SERP) penalties by Google so it is very important not to repost content on your own blog or any other sites.
  • Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Anyone found to be breaching copyright will be instantly removed as a contributor.
  • The minimum word count should be no less than 500 words for post articles and 1000 words for Backpacker 101 Guides.
  • All content (other than personal experience articles) should be written in a neutral tone in the second person (ie. “you”). Basically, don't say “In my opinion..” “When I was doing this or that..” etc.
  • No long paragraphs.
  • Please avoid using too much slang or colloquial language. International readers may not understand it.
  • Unless authorized, content/articles should not be self-promotional.
  • Try to include a link to the source wherever possible (for an example see the links in this article https://backpackertravel.org/learning-to-fly-a-plane/
  • Whenever you use an acronym, please write the full version in the first use. You can use the acronym after that. (eg. NGO (Non-Governmental Organization)

Spelling & Grammar

Contributors will check spelling and grammar before submitting any content or articles. Please use American English for spelling purposes (eg. traveling not traveling)

Use of Images

Where possible please use your own photos and provide a caption/title for each image. Send in full resolution format minimum size (1000px wide for landscape images and 700px wide for portrait images).

If you do not have any images you can only use Creative Commons images. Here is a great list of sites to find free images to use - Free Image Sites

....also

- Flickr – search using www.flickr.com/search/advanced. You MUST click “Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content AND “Find content to use commercially”.
- Wikipedia – any images found on a Wikipedia page can be used.

Please provide the link to any Creative Common images that you would like to use.

How to Submit Your Draft


1. The first step is to research the article that you will write and compile a list of sections for the article.
2. Once this is done, email Michael the section headings for approval before you start writing as this will ensure we share the same vision for the article.
3. When you have finished your first draft, please save your article in a Word document (.doc file) and email it to michael@backpackertravel.org.

Images

Please attach any images that you have personally taken only. Please provide the link to any Creative Common images that you would like to use.

Video

If you want to include a video, please provide the link to the source video (either YouTube or Vimeo)

Contributor Bio


As a contributor, you will be allocated a contributor profile. Please provide two author bios

1. Short Bio

This will be for the author bio that appears at the end of any blog articles. Should be less than 50 words.

2. Full Bio

Describe more about yourself including a headshot to be used. This will link to your Backpacker Travel profile. For an example see Michael's Bio

Site Content


1. Backpacker 101

There are thousands of travel blogs and hundreds of travel sites out there yet most are very destination focussed and make it very difficult to find important information about how to travel safer and smarter and what to expect. Our goal is to have a comprehensive guide that is very easy to consume in small bites.

- Each of the sections should be informative and written in a short form format rather than as an essay
- Use headings generously to break up the page
- Use bullet points for better consumption

2. Best Of

Most Bucket Lists only give readers ideas on what they can do. On Backpacker Travel we want to take that a few steps further as follows:

- Each item in the “Top things to do” will showcase the best places to do that activity
- Minimum number of places per bucket list item will be 10 with a maximum of 50
- Each of these “Best of” pages will be optimized to rank higher in search results
- Provide a link to the service provider where possible

3. Written Articles for the Blog

There will be two forms of blog articles:

1. Contributor article ideas
2. Admin article ideas

Before starting your own article please check with Michael regarding the topic. All admin articles will be allocated on a case-by-case basis.

4. Product Reviews

Anyone who has recently purchased a new travel-related product can post a review of it on the site.
We will also be actively pursuing the latest and most popular products to review. This will often result in suppliers sending us the product to try out on a case-by-case basis.

Here is an example of a product review - Outdoor Products Amphibian Weather Defense Review

Reviews will contain the specifications of the product including dimensions, color options, weight, estimated cost, and any other important information.

Contributors will give an open and honest review of the product detailing what they like and dislike about it and whether they would recommend it.

There should be 4 categories to score the product on (out of a possible 10)

Q & A


It is important that our contributors participate in the Q & A section on the site. Please do your best to answer any questions that you can.

Social Media


Start by following Backpacker Travel across all of our social media channels

Facebook
Twitter
Google plus

In order to increase the visibility of every post, it is expected that each contributor will share any applicable links with their friends and followers.

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