Some people like to start their own food blog but they just don’t know how!. It can be frustrating that you are good at making delicious foods, but you don’t know the technical stuff necessary to share your talent with the world. In this guide, some valuable tips will help you start your very own food blog step by step from scratch without any knowledge of coding or programming.
To start a food blog, you have two options. Either you can hire a professional web designer to design your customizable website. However, this option usually costs a lot. Moreover, you need to know that the person or company you hire is good at their job.
Another option that you have is to do all this yourself. You can build a WordPress website for just under $3/month. You have to pay for the theme separately. Building a WordPress site is more accessible and more convincing, which makes this option more affordable.
Few Basic Steps to Start Your Food Blog
There are some basic steps involved in creating a beautiful and functional WordPress-based food blog. Your blog will be customized as per your choice, and it will also have its domain name. Before starting a food blog, you should consider the following tips:
Find a Perfect Domain Name and Title for Your Blog
Finding the name of a new blog may be the most challenging step. To start brainstorming:
- Make a simple mission statement or list words that describe your cooking style, lifestyle, background, and more.
- Enter your name.
- Talk to your friends about it.
Many great names haven’t been adopted yet.
Ideal Blog Name Features:
- Descriptive
- Unforgettable
- Short
- Easy to spell
With some potential names in mind for your blog, it’s time to check their availability. .com is the default domain suffix, so try the possible names until you find a name that you can use with .com. Do not use dashes or other punctuation marks to make it work because they are too hard to remember. Once you’ve chosen the perfect domain name, you can get it for free with the BlueHost hosting package. Alternatively, you can buy from GoDaddy for about $ 15 a year and later connect to a web host. However, buying a domain name from GoDaddy is not recommended.
A Reliable Web Host is a Key
It would help if you started with an affordable shared hosting plan with automatic WordPress installation. This hosting stuff may sound complicated, but pick one and pick it. Your food blog is waiting.
In this video you can see how people are making over $500k per year from a simple food blog.
Disclosure: This guide to starting your own blog contains some affiliate links. If you purchase any service through one of these links I may earn a small commission, this is at no extra cost to you.
Best Web Host for New Food Blogs:
Bluehost is recommended for beginners and growing blogs because it’s affordable, reliable, easy to set up, fast, and has customer support active all the time. Bluehost’s plan for beginners is about as cheap as a cup of coffee per month. To start BlueHost, the pricing is just $ 2.95 per month, and you will also get a free domain name. With Bluehost, you pay for your plan in advance. But don’t worry. If for some reason, you are not satisfied with Bluehost, you can cancel within 30 days and get a full refund. (Excluding domain fees paid elsewhere anyway.)
To get the most out of your Bluehost plan: First, select your plan. We recommend the cheapest, basic plan with everything you need to get started. Then select a term. It would help if you were prepaid hosting for at least one year to get a one-year free domain name ($ 15 savings) and a significant discount on monthly fees. If you want your blog to make impressions and save more money, feel free to go long. However, it’s a good idea to start from one year. Finally, select an add-on. The only add-on to choose is domain privacy protection. This keeps your address and phone number safe. If you don’t do so, your personal information will be available to marketers and the general public.
WordPress Installation
This part is straightforward. If you purchased a shared hosting plan from Bluehost, as suggested, WordPress will be automatically installed on your website.
After signing in to your WordPress site, go to the Settings> Permalink Settings page and change the permalink structure to Post Name. Click “Save.” Now is the time to make your blog look good.
WordPress Theme Installation
Your WordPress theme will determine the design of your website, so choose a good one.
What WordPress Theme Offers:
- Properly Designed
The theme should fit your aesthetic and provide the functionality you want. Topics also need to be coded by someone who knows what they are doing. Attractive.
- Responsive
Responsive design provides the visitor with the best viewing experience, whether they are visiting from a computer, phone, or tablet. This means that visitors don’t have to pinch and zoom in to read a post. The text is already sized for readability.
- SEO Optimized
This is along with the last two points. This is because well-designed sites are, of course, ranked higher in search results than sites built on buggy topics.
- Ease of use:
Find a design with built-in design options, so you don’t have to edit your code for fundamental changes. These features can save you much time. The theme should allow you to change things like logos and color schemes easily.
- Excellent Customer Support:
If you have a technical problem, the corresponding support team or community forum is a valuable resource.
- Conclusion:
You can use a free theme to start, but it’s a good idea to invest some money in a premium WordPress theme from a reputable provider. The time and headaches you save later to make it a commonly used money.
How to install a WordPress Theme
Look at the sidebar and hover over “Appearance.” Click the Themes option. From here, you can upload your designs or browse the free designs available. Hover over your design to find a link to preview or install it.
Tips for Designing User-Friendly Food Blogs
Keep the following in mind when fine-tuning your WordPress theme settings:
Straightforward Navigation:: Keep your blog design neat so your visitors can find what they’re looking for.
Encourage Following: Place prominent links on all pages related to RSS feeds, email subscription options, and social media.
Comment: Do not request a CAPTCHA or ask a visitor to log in first.
Sharing Suggestions: Provide a button to share on social media at the bottom of each post.
Google Tools Setup
The first step is to set up a new Google account and email address (Gmail) for your blog. It is convenient to keep your blog-related email and account separate. You need a Google account to use the following tools. Now create a new Gmail account.
Once you have a Google account, sign in and set up:
Google Analytics: Helps track blog traffic. (Note: Please install the tracking code in your Yoast SEO plugin settings.)
Google Search Console: Make sure your website is running. (Note: Install the tracking code in the Yoast SEO plugin settings.)
Install the Plugins for WordPress
Each of these plugins provides valuable features that may not automatically come with your theme.
Recommended WordPress Plugins for Food Blogs:
Akismet: Exclude spam comments without the need for CAPTCHAs. No one likes CAPTCHAs. Tasty Recipes:
- Format recipes for search engine optimization (SEO).
- Add star ratings.
- Create easy-to-print recipes.
This plugin helps to display recipe photos in search results, and people are more likely to click those links, right. This is a paid plugin, but I think the features are definitely worth the cost.
JQuery Pinning button for images: This plugin makes it easy for visitors to pin an image by adding a “pinning” button as a hover effect. It’s straightforward to set up.
Share Buttons of some sorts: Many social bookmarking plugins add Facebook Like and Pin It buttons to every post. Choose what you like.
Subscribe to Comments Reloaded: With this plugin, commentators will receive an email response to their comments. This is a useful feature for readers and enhances engagement. Yoast SEO: SEO is a complex beast, and this plugin helps ensure that it covers the basics. However, it takes time to perform all the steps and set them correctly. Be sure to use it to set up Google Analytics and Google Search Console. The effort is worth it!
How to install the WordPress plugin plugin
Go to your WordPress dashboard and look for “PluginsPlugins” in the sidebar. Hover your mouse pointer over PluginsPlugins and click the Add New option. Then look in the Find Plugins field and look for one of the plugins by name. When you find it, click Install Now. Then configure the plugin settings as shown.
Start your blog.
Congrats! !! !! Now you’re ready to post an article on your new food blog.
However, before starting your very fast food blog. You should also follow the below-mentioned in guidelines to make this entire thing more fun:
Be genuine: Post about what you like and create the best possible content.
Don’t give up: Blogs grow slowly at first and gain momentum over time. However, you need to stick to your blog and do your best.
Post the original content: If visitors like what you’re doing, they’ll come back to learn more.
Show your personality: Enthusiasm is contagious, so don’t be afraid to show it off. One of the most incredible things about blogging is that you can connect with people who share your timeless love for something like avocado on toast.
Make friends online and help each other: In other words, the network! Build and grow good relationships with other bloggers who are also blogging on food. Leave comments on their blogs, chat with them on social media, and promote their content.
Make yourself accessible: Exist and respond as much as possible on social media.
Keep the design of your site Attractive and easy to navigate: Confusion distracts viewers from your content.
Make following your blog easier for the visitors: Place RSS / email subscriptions and links to social media prominently on all pages.
Your Comment Section Should be User-friendly: Please refrain from CAPTCHAs and required logins. Please find a way to let commenters know that they’re rated, whether you’re sending a private email, publishing a comment and replying to it, or commenting on a blog.
Makes it easy to share: We provide a button to share on social media at the end of each post-use grateful and humble words when others promote your work.
Post only great recipes: You do not want visitors to be disappointed by investing their time and ingredients in recipes. It’s better to keep your blog quiet for a few days than to post a recipe that you can’t wait for.
Quote the source: Paste the website’s link if you are getting your recipe from another cook/chef.
Please do not sell out: It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to make money on your blog but don’t target brands or projects that don’t fit well. You are a company you run. Focus on creating the best content and building opportunities with viewers.
Please post regularly: Don’t make your blog look abandoned, either daily, weekly, or every two weeks.
Get your domain name if you want to make big on your blog. Start taking it seriously. You can buy domain names for less than $ 20 a year via GoDaddy (affiliate link).
Create a self-hosted WordPress blog: That is when you have complete control over your design and content and need plenty of room for growth. If you don’t know how to do this, pay someone to pay for it, or shower your nerdy friends with homemade cookies until they agree. Here’s a step-by-step guide (and tips on food blog design and web hosting):
Find out more about search engine optimization: SEO is not black magic. It’s about making your quality content discoverable. It is crucial that you have some basic knowledge of SEO. This is the Google SEO Startup Guide [PDF].
Submit a recipe: Submit a post to the website. The submit page can be a great source of information for new visitors. If you keep a text file containing the submitted information, you can easily copy and paste it to any site. If the photo is rejected for the first time, please edit it or select another photo and resend it. Don’t forget to pin new recipes to Pinterest!
Learn how to take delicious pictures: Presented with attractive photos, people are much more likely to want to eat, prepare, share and pin your recipe. Here you can find my food photography tips and equipment recommendations.