Editorial Guidelines

At Switzerland Beyond Chocolate, we embark on a journey that transcends the conventional travel narrative, delving into the heart of one of the world’s most enchanting destinations. Our mission is clear: to stand as the preeminent travel guide dedicated to unraveling the myriad facets of Switzerland, going beyond the clichés, and diving deep into the soul of this captivating country.

Our commitment lies in being the leading authority on all things Swiss, offering a comprehensive and insightful guide that goes beyond the surface. From the majestic Alps to the serene lakes, from quaint villages to vibrant cities, Switzerland beyond Chocolate aspires to be the go-to platform for travel enthusiasts seeking an authentic and enriching experience in Switzerland.

What sets us apart is our unwavering dedication to authenticity. We bring you firsthand experiences and insights from seasoned travelers and local tourism experts deeply rooted in the Swiss culture. Our unique selling proposition lies in the personal touch we impart to each piece of content—every article and every recommendation is infused with the essence of real encounters and genuine connections. As we explore Switzerland, we do so not as mere observers but as avid participants in its tapestry of traditions, landscapes, and lifestyles.

How We Write Articles And Posts

Each and every article we publish is a unique and carefully crafted piece of content intended to give you the best value possible. Our goal is to present our content in an engaging and informative way. A user-friendly structure with customized images, graphics, tables, etc., is, therefore, something we always try to achieve. Besides that, our editorial process can be grouped into four phases: research, article writing, fact-checking, and updating.

Research

Before writing an article, we consider various factors, such as its relevance to our audience, search volume, industry trends, openings of new attractions, and much more. The main focus is to provide you with insider tips and (yet) undiscovered hidden gems, but we also have some great tips on how to avoid crowds in popular tourism destinations.

Our mission is to provide you with information based on our personal experience and expertise in the tourism industry. If we last visited a specific location a while ago, we revisit it personally to provide relevant and accurate information. In some instances, our writers also receive tips from our large network of friends, tourism professionals, or relatives across the country. The research phase also includes desk research, including the analysis of review platforms to get a more nuanced impression.

During the research phase, we may use AI tools to efficiently find relevant information and studies or to generate infographics in a timely fashion. However, we always take these outputs with a grain of salt and carefully cross-reference any information used with reliable sources and our own expertise.

Article Writing

When it comes to writing articles, we believe in a “from real humans for real humans” approach. When you read our articles, you will read our honest opinions, experiences, emotions, and recommendations that we would also share with a friend, spiked with helpful information and insides. With that being said, please keep in mind that our experience in the articles is snapshots of a specific date and time. We are all humans with good and bad days, so your experience does not necessarily match yours.

At this time, all our articles are 100% written by real human tourism experts without AI article writers, but we do use certain tactics to optimize our articles for Google rankings and include relevant FAQs, for example.

Some of our articles contain affiliate links, through which we earn a small commission (usually between 1% and 8%) on tickets, activities, or hotel accommodations. If that’s the case, we will generally make that transparent in our articles so you can make an informed decision.

These earnings help us make future improvements and innovations in Switzerland beyond Chocolate possible and come at no additional cost to you. There is also no direct affiliation with the promoted activities or companies, and link clicks are tracked by an independent third-party company unless we declare otherwise. Rest assured, potential commissions never influence any of our opinions or ratings; our mission is to publish unbiased articles and reviews and only recommend products we can stand behind.

Manual Review

Before we publish anything, our editorial process for each and every article also includes a thorough review for factual accuracy.

All of our editors are tourism experts with years of experience in the industry. We take great pride in providing helpful, accurate, and detailed articles for free. On average, the creation of a full article, from content idea to publication, takes 10-12 hours of work at the moment.

Although we do our best to avoid mistakes, if you find one in our articles, please report it via our contact form. Thank you.

Updating Articles

Our work isn’t complete once the post is live. To keep our articles and posts relevant, we strive to update our articles every three to five months on average. We are also listening to you; please let us know if you have any comments, questions, or criticism.

Why You Can Trust Us

The approach of giving our readers insider travel tips and background context on cultural and historical aspects from native Swiss tourism experts is what makes us unique. We know the trust of our readers is our most important asset. Therefore, the top priority is to give our readers factual, accurate stories blended with our writers’ unique experiences and opinions.

You will find the values we keep in our minds when creating articles below:

Ads and Sponsored Posts and Partnerships on Switzerland beyond Chocolate

We believe that banner ads on our site have a negative impact on the user experience. That’s why we made the decision to keep our platform free of banner ads.

Sponsored posts, on the other hand, are a way for us to cover our expenses and provide you with valuable free content in the future. We define sponsored posts as such if we receive a cash benefit from the collaboration. If a partner invites us or offers free tickets without an added cash exchange, we don’t count that as a sponsored post. However, we will still disclose that in an info box within the respective article.

Sponsored posts are clearly marked as such with an added “sponsored” category tag. In addition, we will include an info box with a link to this editorial policy in the respective article. In accordance with Google guidelines, these sponsored posts will have “no-follow” and “sponsored” tags on any links pointing to the company we make these collaborations. Compared to other articles, the collaboration partners can actively decide on the topics we write about. For example, if there are new attractions at a destination and the organization books a sponsored post, we may agree to focus on this new attraction in the article. Generally, sponsoring partners also have the opportunity to review the article draft before the publication date, and they may request small changes in some instances.

For more information on how we make money on our site, please visit this article.