How to Start a Food Blog
1) Narrow the Topic Down
If you do a bit of research, you’ll find out there are dozens of food blogs out there. To be successful in your endeavour, you’ll have to answer one important question – how is my food blog different?
Think about a niche or a sub-topic that will make your blog more specialised. The right niche will attract a targeted audience that can quickly become loyal.
Food blogging can be narrowed down in several ways. You can start a food photography blog. You can focus on organic foods and their growing/preparation. You can travel and pinpoint the most interesting foods and ingredients from different parts of the world.
A good niche is something you’re knowledgeable of. Having passion for the respective topic is also important, if you want to enhance your reputation and increase the popularity of the blog. This first step is incredibly important, which is why you have to dedicate a sufficient amount of time to your niche research.
2) Choose the Right Food Blog Name and Focus on Marketing
The next step focuses on the selection of a relevant name.
The blog’s name sets you apart from the competition and presents your creation to the world. A good name has to be catchy, memorable and fun. A Hungry Gal is a good name for a general food blog. Plate Licking Pastries is a cool choice for a food blog that’s a bit more specialised and narrow.
Take some time to brainstorm and play around with the original title idea. If you’re stuck, you may want to try using our blog name generator for some inspiration.
Once you have a blog name in mind, it’s time to get your website set up. WordPress is a good choice because it’s both simple and affordable. You can learn how to set up a WordPress blog here.
We suggest going with BlueHost to host your website as they have a easy one-click WordPress installation tool, you can get 60% Off hosting and a free domain name here.
3) Build Your Online Presence
Anyone who plans to monetise a food blog will need to do a bit more than just publishing fun content. Think about establishing your online reputation and making sure everyone knows who you are.
The easiest way to accomplish this goal is through the establishment of solid social media profiles. Social media marketing will help you grow your audience and reach the right people who already have an interest in the topic.
Additionally, you’ll have to find out whether you need to invest in specific hardware or equipment for the purpose of professional food blogging. A good camera is one of the key essentials – food blogging is highly visual. You may also want to consider the acquisition of a mini studio and professional photography lights. Food photography ranks among the most challenging ones and you need reliable equipment in order to get good results.
A subscription to a good image bank could also help you acquire the visuals that you need but may be incapable of producing on your own.
What content do food bloggers create?
A great content strategy is the key to building your online presence and growing your audience.
Food bloggers have a lot of freedom in terms of crafting the ideal website.
You can start with text-based content that pinpoints your favourite foods or provides how-to guides. Food growing, preparation and arranging appeal to many people and you can reach a wonderful group of dedicated fans through how-to texts. Do a bit of Google research to discover what topics within the field of food preparation people are mostly interested in. such research can be carried out via a keyword tool.
Photo and video content also rank among the essentials for a successful food blog.
You can feature beautiful pictures of the foods you’re talking about. Alternatively, create step by step image or video essays. Images make it easier for people to understand complicated procedures, which is why most successful food bloggers have visual content on their website.
Create engaging and relevant content
Successful content is unique and it lets your personality shine through. Looking at other food blogs for inspiration is obviously a good idea. You can get more insight into what the competition is doing right and how its content is missing the mark.
Have a notebook by your side and draft notes about your sources of inspiration. Research, exploration and brainstorming can help you generate some great topics and ways to approach a specific food-related theme.
Don’t be afraid to dig deep and narrow things down. Series of publications discussing one specific topic and answering questions your audience may have will result in a high level of engagement (and a lot of traffic!).
How to grow your traffic
Now that you’ve started successfully creating content, it’s time to start thinking about growing your traffic.
You can accomplish the goal in several ways.
Do some search engine optimisation (SEO) to benefit from search engine traffic. Well-optimised websites get 60, 70 per cent or even more of their traffic from search engine referrals. You don’t have to be professionals but the rules of creating optimised content are easy to understand.
Guest posting and establishing relationships with influencers in the field can also help. The relationship is mutually-beneficial. They will get quality content and you will get exposure to their audience.
Finally, do some social media marketing. Channels like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube will help you reach a lot of people. In addition, these channels provide some excellent monetisation opportunities.
Our Business Name Guides
Related: How to Start a Podcast
Related: Blog Name Generator
Related: Domain Name Generator
How to make money with your food blog
To make money with a food blog, you’ll have to start with the basics.
Google Adsense, affiliate programs and Infolinks or Bidvertiser are good choices for newbies. These will generate a bit of passive income while you are growing the blog and looking for better monetisation opportunities.
Once your brand becomes recognisable, you will get additional revenue generation chances.
Sponsored articles and product reviews are a viable option for popular food bloggers. To be approached by companies, however, you will need a well-optimised blog and a very large audience.
Writing your own cookbooks and food courses is a final step you should consider. This is another way to generate passive income but you will earn more than in the case of affiliate programs. A good portfolio of numerous products could even make it possible for you to earn full-time living online.
Top #3 Food Bloggers
#1 Deliciously Ella
Deliciously Ella is a true example of massive success that began as a personal journey. Ella Woodward launched her blog after getting diagnosed with postural tachycardia syndrome in 2012. The aim was to track her food and make healthier nutritional choices.
Since then, the blog has gained a lot of popularity.
Today, Ella has her own mobile app, a deli business, numerous cookbooks and even her own healthy snacks. These are obviously available for purchase online via Deliciously Ella’s ecommerce shop.
The blog features a wide range of recipes, food preparation techniques, step-by-step guides and spectacular food photos. Ella is also known for her solid social media presence (1.1 million followers on Instagram and 135K YouTube subscribers!).
#2 Hungry Healthy Happy
Hungry Healthy Happy has been named the top UK food blog several times. The blog was launched in 2011 by Dannii Martin. It originally tracked the creator’s weight loss journey (do you see a pattern emerging here?) but the healthy recipes soon gained numerous fans from all parts of the world.
All of the recipes are original Dannii creations. Recipes can be filtered by course, ingredients, region and preparation method. There are also drinks and healthy sweet temptations. The blog also focuses on lifestyle, wellbeing and gardening.
Dannii has already published two books and her social media presence is solid – she has 34K Twitter followers and 42.4K fans on Instagram.
#3 Our Food Stories
This is yet another personal online journal that quickly became a global success. Our Food Stories is a food blog dedicated to vegan, gluten-free and healthy food choices.
The blog was launched by a German duo – Nora Eisermann and Laura Muthesius. Due to food allergies, Laura was seeking recipe modifications and she decided to begin uploading those online. Nora’s background in fashion design and Laura’s photography experience worked incredibly well together to create visually stunning blog.
Our Food Stories impresses with a minimalist design that puts emphasis on the food pictures and the recipes. Each recipe is presented in a story-like mode and the pictures are staged to enhance the storytelling even further.
Once again, the creators of the blog have focused on building a solid social media presence. Our Food Stories has over one million followers on Instagram and over 17K followers on Facebook.