How to become a food blogger

Although starting a food blog can be difficult, it is possible if you are passionate about food and enjoy cooking. You need to be passionate about food and have a little guidance.

It can feel overwhelming to start a food blog. Don't worry! This guide is broken down into simple steps.

From finding the right niche for your food blog to finally monetizing it, we will cover all the necessary steps that make blogging easy. Let's get down to the point and will show you how to create a food blog that attracts readers and drives clicks.

Step 1: Choose your niche for your food blog

How do you become a food blogger? How do you begin? Is it the first time you have thought of a name for your food blog?

None of the above. You must first find your niche and be specific. There are over 700,000,000 blogs online currently, many of which are food blogs. Your site might be more popular if it is too broad. However, it will not be able to compete with the many other websites.

Instead of competing with all the blogs on the internet, narrowing down your niche will allow you to compete with only a few blogs. As a result, your target audience will be easier to find, and your followers will be more engaged.

How can you discover a niche for your food blog?

There are many different food blogs and niches you can choose from. Vegan blogs are prevalent, as are low-carb diet blogs, paleo diets, and keto blogs. You can choose to follow the current trends, but it will be much easier to focus on what you are passionate about.

Your cooking blog is a passion project or a job. It will take effort and dedication. Unfortunately, you'll soon lose interest, and it will become more challenging to run.

What are you interested in? Maybe pastries are your thing, or you prefer making beautiful, realistic cakes. It's a good idea to have a particular diet to keep you connected to the topic. This will make it easier to find like-minded people.

Consider why you are even thinking about starting a blog. Think about what content, tips, or ideas you would like to share with the world and what prompted you to create this guide.

Types of food blogs

You might consider looking at different types of food blogs to find what resonates for you if you struggle to go deeper in your niche.

1. A recipe blog with simple recipes for busy people, health & fitness recipes, quick and easy recipes, etc.
2. Sustainable cuisine
3. Trending food blogs (vegan blogs, vegetarian blogs, gluten-free blogs, paleo diet blogs, etc.)
4. Cuisine-specific blogs (Italian, Greek, Chinese, French, Indian, etc.)
5. Blogs about food and drink
6. Blogs about cooking books
7. Food and travel blogs
8. Food photography blogs

These are just a few examples of inspiration you could draw from. So get creative and explore all options to find the most appropriate niche for you.

Step 2: Choose your blogging platform

You don't need to learn code to create a food blog. Instead, a reliable blogging platform is all you need, known by content management software (CMS).

As its name suggests, a CMS allows you to create, publish, and edit visual and written content online. It's the best place to launch a blog.

For example, WordPress is the most widely used CMS worldwide, with a 65.2% share. This is because it has a large community. Therefore, many themes and plugins may help you.

Regardless of whether it's WordPress or another platform(take a look at Ghost, too), there are two options:

1. Open-source and self-hosted
2. Paid(both WordPress and Ghost, or other platforms, provide you with their cloud solutions, so you don't need to set up a server yourself)

Open source and self-hosted (free)

A self-hosted blog setup is your best choice if you want to control your food blog and save some money. For example, you could pay $5 for a DigitalOcean server instance and host multiple things there(a few blogs). The open-source solutions are free, so you pay only for the server.

Paid cloud solutions

The best option would be not to configure servers yourself but pay monthly for a platform to support your blog. For example, look at Ghost: you could pay ~$9 monthly and have your website running.

Step 3: Choose a domain name

A successful food blog requires you to choose the right domain name. Unfortunately, choosing a random name could harm your blog traffic, rank on search engines, SEO efforts, and reputation.

Make sure you choose a great blog name. It should read:

• Sweet and short
• Unique and unforgettable
• Simple to say
• Relevant to your niche
• Registering your domain name will cost around ~$12 per year. Use services like Namecheap to find and purchase a domain.

Step #4: Make a content plan

Consistency is the one thing internet users love. Your blog visitors will want to know what you can expect of them.

Your readers will feel that you are inconsistent in your postings and don't update your blog every week. As a result, they'll be unable to trust you.

It's a bright idea to create a schedule for your blog to keep it attracting attention. To make it easier, prepare content at least one week in advance. You can also rely on simple tools such as a content calendar to keep you on track.

Figure out what your audience needs

It's simpler than you think. For example, there are various analytics tools, and your blog's performance metrics can help you determine what your audience wants. It allows you to see which posts generated the most interest or received the most views. In addition, this will enable you to see what topics are most popular with your readers.

Another option is to create a poll for your readers. Ask your readers about their interests and preferences and what they would like to see from them.

Keep an eye on your competitors

Monitoring the competition is crucial for any business, even your food blog. You can watch what your competition is doing and how readers react to it. Look at their great and bad content.

Be careful not to copy others. It's not good to copy your competitors' content or steal their ideas. Instead, use the content only for inspiration and check out new trends.

Create a weekly posting schedule

A food blogger should always have a week's worth of content prepared in advance. It will be easier to get noticed and breakthrough if you have a consistent posting schedule. Post at most a couple of times per week, and try to avoid posting all your content at once. To avoid being spammy, spread out your posts.

Additional content tips

For any blog type, the textual content is vital. However, if your blog only contains large blocks of text, readers will soon become bored. You are keeping your readers' attention by using captivating visuals to break up the text. You should include photos, videos, or GIFs in your content strategy.

How to create delicious pictures

You must be serious about food photography to build a food blog. It can be expensive to hire a professional food photographer. Instead of spending your money on hiring one, spend some time researching food photography. There are many educational videos available for free. Become a professional(it's another topic to cover) photographer by simply typing "food photography tips" on YouTube.

Make sure the lighting is uniform

Photography is all about lighting. It can help you focus more on the small details and set the mood for the whole photoshoot.

Outdoor photography during daylight is the best way to get great lighting. However, this isn't the best option because the weather and climate conditions will determine how your photo shoots will turn out.

You can also use a lightbox to take photos indoors. A lightbox can be made by you or purchased from Amazon.

Learn more about food staging

It seems like everyone on Instagram is an expert at food styling. However, it doesn't take long to master making your food stand out in photos.

YouTube is your friend again. You can find a lot of great tutorial videos about food staging. You can check them out to learn some great tips and tricks that will make everyone in your audience swoon at every food photo you post.

Be consistent with your pictures

Your food blog should be consistent in every way. We mean your pictures too.

Include a favorite cutting board in your photos. You might like the look of your kitchen counters in the background. Make sure they are always there.

Your blog will be recognizable and loved by your audience if it is well-organized.

Add videos

Videos are an excellent way to keep your readers engaged and connected. Videos on how-tos and food preparation are viral these days, making them a perfect tool for your blog.

You can use Q&A videos and behind-the-scenes videos to connect with your visitors. Use a high-quality microphone and camera to ensure you are filming in well-lit rooms.

Reduce editing

Editing is an essential part of videography and photography, but it is also crucial to recognize when enough is enough.

Editing software is used to enhance visual content and not completely alter it. For example, you want your food to look authentic. Your audience will prefer a slightly browned toast to a well-made slice of bread.

Excel at writing

Make sure your text content is grammatically correct and it simple to read. People don't like complicated and grammatically incorrect text. Create the content, read it, edit, and read a few more times. Try to simplify it. There are editing tools that may help you. Also, read how to use Grammarly, a tool we'd recommend using due to its simplicity.

Step 5: Monetize your food blog

It's time to receive the rewards of your food blog. You'll likely enjoy the money-making aspects of blogging, even if you just decided to start a food blog.

There are multiple things to increase the profitability of your blog.

You can publish and sell your cookbooks

It may be profitable to sell your cookbooks, but you need to be careful. Wait until enough people on your blog are interested in purchasing your book. Ebooks and hard copies can be sold, or both. It would help if you promoted your cookbook on your blog and social media.

Make a YouTube channel to promote your blog

YouTube is a favorite platform for Internet users who love to watch videos.

You can increase your visibility and generate more readers and followers by creating a YouTube channel. In addition, this channel can be used to promote your blog.

You can make money from YouTube by advertising or sponsoring your account.

Google AdSense - Sell Ad Space

Selling ad space via Google AdSense can be a great way to make passive income. AdSense will search for ads that are relevant to your website and your audience. These ads will then be displayed in your food blog's advertising space. The advertisers will pay you money, and you'll earn passive income.

Create your email list

Your food blog can be used to make money by selling products and services to your readers. This is the most profitable and sustainable business strategy. To reach potential customers, you will need a sales funnel and an email list.

To get your readers' email addresses, use an opt-in tool and build your unique list.

Run Facebook and Instagram ads

Social media marketing usually is a wonderful tool for any business, including your food blog. Although it may require an initial investment to get started, social media advertising can help you increase your reach and generate more loyal customers.

If you sell additional products and services, your blog can be even more profitable. Facebook and Twitter offer great targeting options and allow you to connect with the right people that may be interested in your content.

Affiliate marketing is a great option

Affiliate marketing can make your food blog a success. Affiliate marketing will take care of all the marketing. You will only be responsible for connecting readers to the affiliate company. Each new customer you bring into the company will typically make you money.

Blog post ideas for your cooking blog

In case you don't know what you could write about, we may hint you in the right direction! Read also a general list of blog post ideas for beginners.

Create a vegan blog

Maybe you're a vegan? Why didn't you write about it yet? There are many vegans who would like to read your insights on how did you become one, how do yo support your diet, what products are better for vegans, and so on!

Curate a list of healthy food blogs

If you've been in this niche for a while, you probably know many good food blogs, right? Share them. Divide by a topic or category. Also, a similar to the above idea: curate a list of the best vegan blogs.