{ FOOD BLOGGINGĀ }
Food blogging is hard work, dearĀ friends.
While many people think that food blogging is easy, the truth is that just like anything in life, you have to put in hard work and be consistent. Over the past few years, Iāve read and learnt many tips on how to improve and develop my food blog, and I wanted to share my experience with you.
I’ve split the tips into a few different segments:
(i) Starting your food blog
(ii) Designing your food blog
(iii) Creating content for your food blog
(iv) Optimizing your blog for search traffic
(v) Marketing your content
(vi) Connecting with your readers
(vii) Connecting with other food bloggers
(viii) Making money from your food blog
(ix) Staying in for the long haul
While I would suggest that you read the segments in the order that they’ve been written, each segment can be read on its own, so feel free to go directly toĀ the segments that interest you the most!
If you have any additional questions that are not covered in the post, feel free to email me.
I hope you find these tips useful!
{ 30 TIPS FOR FOOD BLOGGERS }
STARTING YOUR FOOD BLOG
1.Ā Decide on a specific theme that you are passionate about
- Choose a niche that you are interested in (e.g. gluten-free, grain-free, quick meals etc)
- Make sure the niche is specific enough for your blog to be different, but that it is also broad enough for you to blog infinitely about the topic
2. Think of a blog name that will reflect your content.
- Choosing a blog name is one of the most important decisions that you’ll have to make.
- Keep your blog name short and sweet, so people can remember it easily
- Make sure your blog name is related to your content or niche
3. Get your own domain nameĀ
- If you want your blog to be taken seriously, get your own domain name.
- You’ll have to pay for your own domain name, but it’s worth the few dollars you’ll need to pay.
- You can buy a domain through GoDaddyĀ for less than $10
4. Build a self-hosted blog
- Being self-hosting means you’ll have to pay for hosting space, but it gives you the flexibility to use plugins and custom design your site, as well as put ads on your blog, which can help you earn money.
- I use and recommend buying hosting space with Bluehost
- Read myĀ step-by-step guide to starting a food blog in 5 steps and 15 minutes
DESIGNING YOUR FOOD BLOG
5.Ā Use a clean design and theme that keeps the focusĀ on content
- The cleaner and simpler the design, the better
- White or light-colored background colors are best, so the focus is on the pictures of your food and the writing
- I use and recommend the Brunch Pro ThemeĀ by Shay Bocks
- If you know how to handle CSS and HTML, good for you! If not, I suggest investing some money in hiring a web designer like Sara from Moonsteam Design, who customized my blog for me. Sara is very patient and extremely helpful, I definitely recommend her because her services areĀ really affordable, which is great for beginning food bloggers who aren’t ready toĀ break their bank for a re-design!
- If you prefer to do it yourself, the Garnish e-course, a branding and design online course for creative bloggers is a quick course to help you learn what works for your brand.
6. Use a clear and largeĀ font
- Make sure you use a font that people can easily read without squinting
- Common fonts that are great for reading and print well include Arial and Georgia (the font I use).
- If the font size is too small, or the color is too faint, and makes your content difficult to read,Ā readers will not stay very long
7. Create a recipe index thatās easy for readers to browse through
- Having a recipe index lets your readers search through your past recipes and post archives
- I recommend using a picture gallery like mineĀ because visualsĀ allows readers to understand what your recipe is about
- Split your recipe index into categories such as appetizers, main courses, desserts, or whatever makes sense for your blog
CREATING CONTENT FOR YOUR FOOD BLOG
8. Post regularly and consistently
- Whether you choose to post once a day, once a week, or once a month,Ā make sure you are constant
- Readers like to know that you post regularly and helps them know when to return to your blog forĀ new posts
9. Cite your sources, always
- If you’re adapted a recipe from another blog, site, or cookbook, make sure you quote your source to give credit where credit is due
10. Learn to take good food photos
- In my cousin Shawn’s words, food should look as good as it tastes
- For food blogs (and recipe blogs in particular), the photo of a dish is often aĀ crucialĀ factor in whether your readers decide to try your recipe.
- As Helene Dujardin said in her book, Plate to Pixel, a photo can say a thousand words, let the first one be “Wow!”
- See my post on Food Photography Tips For Food Bloggers
11. Post only your best food potos
- If you’re just starting out as a food blogger, it may be tempting to upload every single food photo you have, but please hold your horses.
- Be critital and honest in choosing which photos really look tempting.
- Post only your best photos so that theyĀ doĀ justice to your recipes, and be careful that your photos don’t turn readers away.
12. Develop your own recipes
- The more unique your recipes are, the more your food blog will stand out.
- Test and try creating your own recipes, instead ofĀ just adapting recipes from others.
13. Be real. Write what you know.
- This is probably one of the best blogging advice I’ve gotten.
- Don’t pretend to sound like someone you’re not.
- Don’t write about things you have no clue about.
- Authenticity shines through, and your blogging voice should be sincere and reflect your personality, thoughts and beliefs.
OPTIMIZING YOUR BLOG FOR SEARCH TRAFFIC
14. Learn and use search engine optimization (SEO)
- Read thisĀ SEO for Food Bloggers Guide by Bake Your Day
- Check out the Free Beginner’s Guide to SEO by Moz
- I use and recommend theĀ free Yoast plugin to help you optimize every post for search engines
MARKETING YOUR CONTENT
15. Build your mailing list as soon as possible
- The mailing list is the most important form of building a following
- ProvideĀ readers an incentive to sign up to your mailing list. (In my case I give my readersĀ a free cookbook in exchange for their email address)
- Send a monthly newsletter to keep your readers up-to-date on happenings on your blog or new posts
- I recommendĀ MailchimpĀ which is free for up to 2,000 subscribers, and let’s you schedule your emails as well as gives you free reign on designing the look and feel of your emails. I used this for the first few years of my blog, and I currently use ActiveCampaign, which is a paid service that allows automation of email responses.
- I used the free Hello Bar serviceĀ to collect emails (it creates a customizable bar right at the top of my site), but now have a specially designed bar (thanks Moonsteam Design!) at the top of my blog to collect emails in conjunction withĀ ActiveCampaign
16. Submit your posts to recipe submission sites
- Recipe submission sites such asĀ FoodgawkerĀ and TastespottingĀ mayĀ have strict standards but once your photos are approved and featured on the sites, it can bring you plenty of traffic from new readers
17. Be active on social networks
- Where your potential readers gather, is where you needĀ to have a presence
- Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram.
- Pinterest is my greatest source of referral traffic these days, and I use ViraltagĀ to help me schedule pins in advance (this has effectively doubled my traffic), which I pay a yearly fee for.
- It takes time to market your content, but there is a general understanding that 50% of your time should be spent on creating content, and the other 50% spent on marketing the content you’ve created.
- Make it easy for people to share your content by using social media buttons. I used to use the free Simple Share Buttons plugin to create customizable social media buttons for people to share my posts.
CONNECTING WITH YOUR READERS
18. Make it easy for readers to follow your blog
- Make sure you have an RSS feedĀ so people can get your blog’s updates directly in their browser
- Ensure that you have a function that allows readers to get email updates
19. Make it easy for readers to comment on your blog
- No CAPTCHA or logging in should be necessary for readersĀ to leave comments
- The easier it is to comment, the more comments you will receive
20. Reply to comments, whenever possible, as much as possible
- I would say that you should reply to every single comment on your blog, because if people took the time to read your posts and comment on them, it’s only polite for your to reply
- Replying to your readers’ comments also helps you build your own online community
CONNECTING WITH OTHER FOOD BLOGGERS
21. Gather a list of your favorite food blogs and read them for inspiration
- The greater your input, the greater your output.
- The more you read amazing, inspiring content, the better your work as a food blogger will be.
- Some of my favorite food blogs include:
22. Comment on other food blogs that resonate with you
- Food blogging is hard work, and it’s important to let other food bloggers know how much you appreciate them and their work
- Leave meaningful sincere comments, and the food bloggers will appreciate it.
23. Be kind, humble, constructive and respectful of other bloggers and their work
- AsĀ basic human courtesy, do not ever be rude, or say hurtful things in your comments.
- If you have nothing nice to say, it’s better not to say anything at all
24. Make long-term connections and friendships with other bloggers
- Don’t be afraid to reach out and network
- The food blogging community is usually very kind and open, so if you have questions for other bloggers, ask them nicely, and they will usually respond.
MAKING MONEY FROM YOUR FOOD BLOG
25. Place ads on your blog
- I previously used advertising networks such as Sovrn, Gourmet Ads, Blogher, Yellow Hammer Media, but now I use MediavineĀ which handles all the ads for me and has effectively doubled my ad revenue even without an increase in page viewsĀ (which currently only accepts publishers with more than 30,000 page views per month).
- Be careful not to over-do the ads – you have to strike a balance between making money from adsĀ and not turning your readers off
- I would suggest not puttingĀ more than 8-10 ad tags on your blog
- How to Monetize Your Food Blog by Kiersten Frase is a wonderful resource that teaches you how to use passbacks for your display ads in order toĀ maximize overall fill rate and increase ad revenue. It also teaches you how to increase your food blog revenue in general. I highly recommend getting Kiersten’s ebook if you’re inexperienced with placing ads on your blog and are keen to learn how to maximize ad revenue.
26. Promote affiliate products that you believe in
- There are plenty of affiliate programs such asĀ Amazon Associates, E-Junkie, Shareasale
- Only promote the products that you truly trust and can stand behind
- Readers do not like being sold to, and can tell when you are being honest or when you are trying to sell something for the sake of selling
27. PromoteĀ your own products or services
- Write your own e-books (check my Simple Healthy Breads & Treats e-cookbook); or see whatĀ Lindsay from Pinch of Yum did with Tasty Food PhotographyĀ or Kiersten Frase from Oh My Veggies did with How to Monetizer Your Food Blog
- Develop your own online courses like Pinch of Yum’sĀ Food Blogger Pro
- Food photography services
- Freelance writing
- Recipe development services
- Create a “Work with Me” page making it easy for potential clients to view your services and to work with you (see mine for an example).
- Create a custom media kit showing your blog’s analytics (see mine for an example).
STAYING IN FOR THE LONG HAUL
28. Donāt be obsessed with your blog statistics
- Page views go up and down everyday, so don’t get too bogged down if you see your traffic down for a day
- It’s better to focus on quality and improving your blog as opposed to counting the readers you have on a daily basis (I sometimes have to remind myself this many times)
29. Strive for constant improvement, day after day.
- As my dad’s all-time favorite quote says, “Practice makes perfect“, so keep on bettering yourself, day after day
- Aim to write more engaging posts, take better photos, develop better recipes, etc.
30. Keep showing up.
- Successful food blogs are where they are because they show up, everyday
- Most successful food blogs were not born overnight, but are often a result of years of consistent posting, constant improvement and a focus on building a community among their readers and other food bloggers
Ā { OTHER BLOGGING RESOURCES }
{ ADDITIONAL FOOD BLOG RESOURCES }
- Tips for Food Blogging by David Lebovitz
- Food Blog Resources by Minimalist Baker
- Top 20 Tips for Food Bloggers by Cookie and Kate
- Food Blogging 101 by Eat the Love
- Branding and Design 101 for Food bloggers by Eat the Love
- Pro Food Blogger
- What Should Food Bloggers Talk About? by Pinch of Yum
- Making Money from a Food Blog series by Pinch of Yum
- 10 Real Talk Blog Tips by Joy the Baker
- How to Monetize Your Food Blog by Kiersten Frase
- How to Start a Food Blog by First Site Guide
- Food Blog Income Reports by Jessica Gavin
{ DISCLAIMER }
Please note that some links on this page are affiliate links, which means that I receive a small percentage of the productās price (which remains the same for you).
I only link to products that I trust and recommend. Thank you for your support!
Desert Farms says
Thank you very much for the great information!
Jen Sim says
Hi Felicia,
Wow! This post put a smile on my face and is exactly what I needed to see. Thanks for sharing all of your tips, they are really valuable and honest. I have been blogging on and off for 2 years and recently started blogging full-time. It can be really difficult sometimes, especially when it comes to staying motivated because the results are seen more long term. However, this post has answered so many of my questions.
Thanks again, and I subscribed!
Best wishes,
Jen š
Felicia Lim says
Hi Jen! Thank you so much for writing this lovely note! So glad that you found this post useful, and congrats girl on going blogging full-time! It’s definitely scary to plunge into the deep end, but I’ve realized that at least we are working for our own dream! Blogging (and making a living out of it) is definitely a long-term project, so remember that it’s ok to feel discouraged/tired/frustrated parts of the way – kind of like the way life is! The most important thing is that you are determined to stick it out despite the tough patches, and take a break if necessary. š
Sending you all my best!
xx, F.
Cooking says
This is a very good and creative site!
Felicia Lim says
Thank you so much!