Tomokichi's Travel Diary
An active travel blog where SEO and performance improvements are practiced continuously.
Key Highlights
- A travel blog kept in continuous real-world operation
- Measurement-driven, continuous SEO implementation
- Ongoing improvement of page speed and site structure
Overview
An actively maintained travel blog. Alongside firsthand travel diaries, it publishes practical travel information (airport access, visas, payments), a photo gallery, and destination-based articles. While keeping this content updated, I work on SEO, page speed improvements, and site structure optimization. The goal is to accumulate practical know-how on balancing search traffic and readability through a site that handles real content rather than technical writing.
Background
Rather than running a sample site for technical experiments, I wanted to operate a travel blog that real readers visit, so that improvements could be grounded in actual search traffic and reading behavior. I established an improvement cycle that regularly measures Lighthouse scores and Search Console metrics, identifies issues, and then addresses them. Content structure and metadata optimization are also ongoing.
Challenges Solved
User Challenges
Helping readers researching destinations reach the information they need quickly and read without friction. As the number of articles grows, page-speed degradation and SEO issues surface more easily, so technical improvement must be sustained alongside content operations.
Technical Challenges
Sustaining page speed and Core Web Vitals as the article count grows through image optimization and reduction of unnecessary scripts. Organizing internal links and category structure to balance reader navigation with crawlability.
Operational Challenges
Balancing content writing/updates with technical improvement within limited time, and keeping the measure → identify → improve cycle running without interruption.
Main Features
- Continuous Travel Article Publishing : Sharing travel diaries, practical travel information, and a photo gallery
- SEO-conscious Site Structure : Organized categories, internal links, and metadata
- Fast Page Rendering : Speed gains through image optimization and a lightweight setup
Responsibilities
- Planning
- Content Writing
- Design
- Implementation
- SEO & Performance Improvement
- Operation
Tech Stack
Tooling
- Lighthouse
- Google Search Console
- Google Analytics
System Architecture
Centered on content updates, the operation regularly measures performance with Lighthouse and checks search performance with Search Console, identifying issues before reflecting improvements.
Technical Refinements
Establishing a regular performance measurement and improvement cycle
Tracking Lighthouse scores over time, identifying causes when page speed or Core Web Vitals degrade, and improving mainly around images and scripts.
Continuous content SEO optimization
Continuously revisiting titles, headings, and internal link structure while monitoring search queries and rankings in Search Console.
UI/UX Design Considerations
- Navigation designed so readers searching for destinations reach the right information quickly
- A readable layout designed mobile-first
- Encouraging exploration through related articles and categories
Performance, SEO & Accessibility
- Regular performance measurement and improvement with Lighthouse
- Search engine optimization through appropriate metadata and structure
- Maintaining page speed through image optimization
Security & Privacy
- An operating policy that avoids collecting more personal data than necessary
- A maintainable setup with limited dependencies
Difficulties & Improvements
Challenge
Page-speed degradation as the article count grows
Solution
Continuously optimizing images and reviewing unnecessary scripts
Result
Maintained comfortable page speed even while increasing articles
Challenge
Plateauing search traffic
Solution
Improving titles, headings, and internal links based on Search Console metrics
Result
Built a setup for continuously revisiting search traffic through measurement-driven improvement
What I Learned
- SEO strategies on live sites require a measurement and validation cycle
- Performance improvement is ongoing, not a one-time effort
- Content quality and technical quality must improve together
Future Plans
- Further expanding and updating article content
- Continuously revisiting site structure to match search intent
- Further improving page speed and Core Web Vitals
Links
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