One Niche, 5-Figure Months: How This Family Travel Blog Took Off

This is an interview with Jo MacGregor of The Tokyo Chapter.

Hey, Jo. Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do.

Hello! Well.. I’m Australian (from Melbourne) and I started studying Japanese at the beginning of high school. Fast forward to my second last year of high school and I was lucky enough to get my hands on a one year scholarship to live in the Japanese countryside as an exchange student.  

So that’s where my real love affair with Japan began. Also, being pretty much the only international person in my little countryside town (I lived in Kurashiki in Okayama Prefecture), I had to learn how to speak Japanese pretty quickly in order to chat to my friends and beautiful host families. 

After returning to Australia and graduating university I was keen to get back to Japan again and, this time, I lived in Kobe and stayed for more than 7 years. I studied at Japanese night school and worked during the day until I was at the level that I could work for a few Japanese companies. 

I started with some corporate roles, some interpreting positions and then was hired by a prestigious Japanese hotel. This role taught me so much about Japanese customer service, honorific Japanese language skills and how to provide guests with the best advice for when seeing certain areas in Japan for the first time.  

During this time I met my Scottish husband, who was also living in Kobe, and we moved around the world together quite a bit for his work. We soon found ourselves living in Tokyo with two very small children!

How did your blogging journey begin?

My blog – The Tokyo Chapter – really came from moving to Tokyo with a new baby and a toddler. I was quite cocky about how easy I thought it would be – I mean, I speak Japanese and have a good grasp of cultural expectations – so it wouldn’t be that tricky at all though, right?

Wrong!

I found that it took me a little while to get the logistics and pace right for days out in a big city like Tokyo with small children. Once we did find our groove though, I suddenly had friends and family asking me for tips.

Everyone seemed to want advice on how to make the most of life in Japan with children or how to make their Japan holiday really enjoyable (and unforgettable) for the whole family. 

I had an Instagram account with all of our adventures and tips and I soon found that it was easier to write all of my advice in long form – as blog posts as parents need more than just pretty pictures. They need to know the train details, packing lists, pictures of the meals, ideas of where to buy diapers/nappies nearby and pictures of the food in restaurants to see if it would work from them.  

I was delighted with my new blog’s reception and soon friends were sending it on to friends of friends of friends. 

So my niche is “Japan with Kids” and I’m so happy to lean into that genre wholeheartedly. I’m a planner and a worrier and I want to take the stress of our travel for young families in Japan. Parents have enough to think about – I want to help make it all easier and also make sure they don’t miss the really special slow travel moments with kids, at the same time. 

The name “The Tokyo Chapter” started out as it was literally “The Tokyo Chapter” of our family life. I love the name but now that I cover so many other Japanese towns and cities I do sometimes wish I’d included “Japan” in the title. 

What were your writing about in the early days of the blog vs now? Has the blog’s direction changed?

I was definitely thinking smaller at the beginning. I wrote lots of shorter area guides with two or three favourite restaurants and parks in certain areas and a few Disneyland posts. 

Now, my blog covers 50+ kid-friendly restaurant suggestions for many areas and I now include details such as high chair info, gluten free and vegan suggestions too. I now also recommend hotels, apartments and traditional ryokans and tea house options.

I, not only cover the hotels in detail, but I also list all of the playgrounds, supermarkets and sightseeing spots nearby. 

I also love writing more personal pieces about helping families be mindful travellers or my experience with culture shock or general Japanese language aquisition. 

How long did it take you to make your first money blogging?

I’ve been writing my blog for 7-8 years now and monetized just a little over a year ago. 

I monetized using Mediavine ads and affiliates via Travel Payouts. I started these around the same time.

Depending on the month, one of these two revenue streams beat one another but, most of the time, they work out about the same for me at this point of my blogging journey.

I also make money through some direct affiliate work and freelance writing for other travel sites.  

Also read: How Kylie Got into Mediavine in 1 Year & Makes €5K/Month from Her Blog

How did your first year as a travel blogger go in terms of traffic, income, and site growth?

My first year since monetizing has been incredible. I think it has been especially rewarding as I have worked on building an audience for years – an audience who know how obsessed I am with the details and how much I adore writing about Japan. 

I am also very fortunate that Japan is such a hot spot for travel right now – so, with that, comes families who are wanting all of the information (information based on first hand experience.)

Monetizing has made it easier for me to take my business seriously and prioritize my writing work. It has also allowed me to see more of Japan and, in turn, produce more content. 

Would you say that having a specific niche (and sticking to it) was key to becoming a full-time blogger?

For me – absolutely. 

At the beginning, I tried to also cater to those without kids but I soon realized that it was taking time away from the research and details that families were really looking to me for. 

How much traffic does The Tokyo Chapter get now? What are your top traffic sources?

Like everything, it goes up and down but at the end of cherry season this year I was at 390K+ page views a month.

That is something I’m so proud of – especially as I am a “one-woman show” here. 

Most of my readers find me through an organic search, social media (primarily Instagram but Facebook is also still clicking on over for me too) and also referral. Referral is my favourite way for someone to discover me and my blog. 

What’s your current content strategy like?

To be honest, most of my content ideas come from questions that are asked frequently or “mistakes” I see others making.

When I think “oh if they only knew that/if they did this and this that wouldn’t have made their holiday that tricky”, I decide to write about it. 

I also spend a lot of time editing and adding to old blog posts. Many of my blog posts are like area guides and it’s important to me to keep all information current and to delete places that have closed down or have changed their family-friendly approach, for example. 

What SEO strategy has worked best for you?

I actually have written for so many sites who are obsessed with keywords and keyword phrases. For me, long form content works well.

I write like a human being – as I am one! And I think of a friend or my ideal reader and just draft up a message as if I’m letting them in on my tips in a detailed email.

Of course, I made sure my mini-headings include the city name or the topic where I can – but I don’t believe in just stuffing in keywords and hoping that Google picks up on it.

It may have worked like that in the past but I think search engines are much more intelligent these days. I feel that they are measuring value by how long the audience hang around to read more and click through blog pages.  

Which social media channel is key to your business, and why has it worked better than others?

I’m an Instagram girlie. I feel like the algorithm doesn’t always love me back(!!) but I think that’s the case for everyone.

I have a lovely community of people who are kind enough to follow my blog over there.     

How much are you currently earning as a blogger?

I prefer to not give an exact number but am definitely in 5 figures per month territory these days. 

Around half of that is from ads and the other half from affiliates.  

If you have ads, what ad network are you using and why?

I use Mediavine and have had such a positive experience working with them so far. I won’t be going to anyone else. 

Do you accept sponsored posts on your blog?

If you mean paid content created by other authors or companies, no.

My readers know that my blog is full of my recommendations – and I don’t recommend places or businesses I haven’t visited personally. It’s something that I really pride myself on and something that I think is quite unique for travel bloggers, particularly those who don’t work with a big team. 

Do I work in collaboration with companies? Yes – when I have capacity I am always open to paid collaborations. I do this a lot with family friendly hotels, sightseeing spots and special events in Japan. 

Do you use AI tools as a blogger in any way?

At this point, I do not. I do plan on embracing more AI this year and next year though. 

How have the recent Google core updates affected you?

At first, I actually flourished. I think my longer form, conversational tone worked in my favour.

The last few months have been more difficult to get eyes on my work so I’ve had to work even harder to produce content and keep older content current.

I don’t lose sleep on it though as I feel very confident that well-written and well researched information can still succeed over clickbaity or AI generated answers in the long run. 

What do you do if you notice a significant drop in your blog’s traffic and engagement metrics over the past month or a few?

I create newer posts based on the concerns of newer parents travelling to Japan for the first time. The parents of pandemic babies are travelling for the first time so I try to take it right back to basics where I can.

I also make sure the posts I published years ago are still up to date and I physically re-visit those areas to see what else I can add: which parks are now popping up in the area, which cafes can fit strollers or wheelchairs, which newer apps will assist parents while they are out and about in Tokyo etc. 

How do you see the future of blogging?

I, personally, don’t believe blogging is dead.  

We can’t only live of information presented to us in 25 second videos and a few YouTube clips.

For entertainment, I do love scrolling TikTok myself, and I do get good advice but I find that to really get in there with the details for parents, I need to be able to screenshot, deep-dive and see that “this spot is good but while you’re there – no need to get this and make sure you pack this … oh and here is how to ask for this in Japanese too” etc. 

I think blog work is there for those who are willing to go above and beyond for their readers.

Up until recently bloggers could make a half decent income from a short synopsis and a few pictures. Now we need to show readers who we are, why they should trust us and exactly how we can help. 

What would you do differently if you were starting a travel blog today?

Not too many things. I think I’d probably work faster if I was starting over today. When I did originally start my blog I had two very small children so I had to just type away whenever I could. 

I think I would also focus less on what other people are doing. I thought that I had to compete with other people talking about Japan, at the start, and was easily intimidated.

These days I know that there is enough room for everyone as everyone is working in their own pay and sees the world differently.  

What’s next for you and The Tokyo Chapter?

Oohh! So many exciting things!

I have quite a bit of collaboration work to finish up but I am excited to branch out to writing about some smaller towns in Japan later this year.  I am also working on itineraries for families. 

Interview Highlights

• Niche is everything – Jo focused solely on “Japan with kids,” which helped her stand out and grow faster. Trying to cater to everyone diluted her message.
• Content comes from real-life questions – She writes posts based on common struggles or questions from parents traveling in Japan. That makes her content super practical and valuable.
• Long-form wins – Instead of obsessing over keywords, she creates detailed, human-sounding guides—written like she’s emailing a friend.
• Update old posts often – She revisits locations and updates her guides to keep them current. Staying relevant is a big part of her SEO strategy.
• Traffic mostly from organic search + referrals – Instagram plays a role, but organic search and word-of-mouth referrals drive the most traffic.
• Mediavine + affiliates = 5-figure months – She monetized just a year ago and is now earning well with a combo of ads, affiliates, and some freelance writing.
• Google updates? Don’t panic – Jo doubled down on quality content and staying useful—she believes that still wins in the long run.