If you are passionate about food and writing, this is a natural fit. Maybe you want to get into food blogging to have a personal and meaningful conversation with the people you connect with. Or write the recipe details.
Regardless of why you want to start a blog, there are a few things you need to know.
What is a Food Blog?
A food blog is about its name. But these can be on different topics such as restaurant reviews. Or you can write about different foods of different cultures and or recipes.
Wondering how to start a food blog? Here are a few simple steps to get you going.
Why You Should Start Your Own Food Blog
Let’s start with 5 reasons for a new food blog.
Challenge Your Cooking Skills
Posting regularly promotes you as a chef. Getting feedback from other food bloggers provides new ideas.
Meet Like Reasonable People
This blogging platform attracts like-minded people. You will meet the community quickly.
Express Your Interest
Your blog about food is history. Keep it up to date. Add useful cooking tips. Or many recipes.
Make Money
Set up a food blog and make money. Build followers and sponsored posts will follow. A free ebook helps you get noticed.
Put together a Cookbook
Post recipes on your blog and add favorites to the book. Take pictures that leave space on the plate. That helps strengthen the food.
How to Start a Food Blog and Make Money in 17 Key Steps
Follow these steps to set up a blog and monetize it.
1. Choose a Food Blog Niche and Research Other Food Blogs
Your cooking blog can also be targeted to a target audience. The following are 6 specific ways to choose a route.
1. Pictures of Food.
Here’s a great tip, learn to take food photos, and take photos under natural light.
2. Name Your Blog
The name of the blog is important. So is SEO. The best traffic is using long tail keywords. A recipe blog can have a built-in title. Acronyms also work.
3. Create a Food Blogger Business Plan
Business plans are important. Identify the competition. That can really help with seo keyword research as well.
4. Buy a Domain Name
A good web address is important for food blogging platforms. Choosing your domain name means being descriptive and attractive. Get a free domain name here. Or pay for one at places like these.
5. Choose a Reliable Web Host
Web hosting needs to be trusted. Learn terms like data transfer and bandwidth. Make sure your choice is well timed. Does hosting provide cloud services?
6. Install WordPress
Everything you need to know is on this site. Choose a free theme or pay for one. Your WordPress dashboard will display WordPress widgets and plugins.
7. Choose an Effective Blog Theme
Choose a food blog theme. There are free themes. Or choose a paid WordPress theme. Check out the theme customization and responsive design. Here are some of the best WordPress themes for a food blog:
Julia
This wordpress theme is mobile responsive. Add ads to your blog.
Florentine
This is a free wp recipe maker.
Cooked
Create an online store. Cookely is powered by WooCommerce.
Lahanna
There are four versions to choose from. It is also usable. You can change fonts.
The Gourmand
Responsive design is perfect for high quality images.
Finally, consider Ranna. This is another mobile friendly theme.
8. Sign up for Google Analytics and Search Console
Your food blog needs Google tools. Like this one. Tracking site visitors and traffic. And Search Console. Measuring where you are in search results. Add your new Google Account to get started.
9. Improve Your SEO
Then there are technical things like seo. Get more blog traffic by matching client searches with keywords. Read this.
10. Install WordPress Plugins
A WordPress plugin can be free or paid for. They are available on a self-hosted WordPress blog. Of course you will look for great recipe plugins.
Here are some of the best food blog plugins:
- Cooking Hero. Get a responsive photo gallery.
- WP Rocket. This cache plugin speeds up your blog.
- ShortPixel. It’s great for dealing with speed issues from graphics.
- SumoMe: Find a great selection of forms and tools for social sharing.
- Vaultpress: Automatically back up your files.
- WP-Copyright-Protection. This is open source software to secure your site. It prevents people from copying and pasting.
- Ultimate WP recipe: This is formatted for Google Recipe Search.
11. Create a Food Blog Content Plan
Search engines rank your blog. A good blog plan includes search engine optimization. Research keywords related to your recipes. Include them in content to get perfect google traffic.
Here is a list of ideas.
12. Publish Your First Post
Your first post is coming next. A good food blog has text and pictures of food. Get ideas for blog posts here.
13. Promote Your Blog
Promoting food blogs is more than sharing on social media channels.
Here are some ways to promote your blog.
On the YouTube channel
Mention your content and add a link to it.
Use Your Email
Link your signature to a new blog post. A personal address works better than a standard one.
Be sure to add the URL to your blog in your profile. Your Instagram feed will attract traffic.
Use Keywords
Especially long tails.
Edit Photos
Use keywords in both the tag and title sections.
Finally, linking to other authority sites also works. Make sure they are both reliable and relevant.
14. Start Making Money
You can make money with your blog. Here are a few ideas on how to make money blogging.
Google Adsense
Display ads, get paid for clicks or impressions.
Sell Books
Sell virtual cookbooks based on your blog content. Self-publishing is one option.
Enter the Membership Site
Pay to be part of the foodie community. Get recurring income.
Sponsored Content
Add different brands to your blog. They get content about their product, you get paid.
Offer cooking classes
Here are a few examples to get you started.
Partnership Program
Promote food related product, earn commission.
15. Diversify Your Income Streams
Branching out is always good. Sell merchandise like shirts. You can earn extra money by participating or organizing events.
16. Keep posting new content and recipes
The more content you post, the more Google notices. You have a lot of authority. And that means more traffic.
17. Own a Successful Food Blog Business
A successful business in this niche needs a digital toolbox. Like a good hosting provider that can deal with spam comments. Also a WordPress site with a great recipe plugin. As well as your skills such as food and dedication to business.
How do food bloggers get paid?
There are several ways to make money with a food blog. Here are a few we haven’t come across yet.
- Promotion of Communications. Start with an advertising page on your blog.
- Guest Blog. Here is a several places consideration.
- Join Social Media. Reach out to other brands and pitch ideas.
- Provide Services. Contact restaurants and offer to take pictures.
- Enter Workshops. Work on your own or with another blogger.
- Help with Branding . Combine photos and recipes of other products.
How much do food bloggers make per year?
This depends on several factors. Some bloggers report five figures a month. That depends on various sources of income. Some timers report $20,000 a year.
The national average is $41,058 per year.
Photo: Depositphotos
