Welcome to our Food Blogging Tips page!
Are you thinking of starting your own food blog? We created this page to have a hopefully helpful list of how to start a food blog. Before testing the first recipe, or taking the first photo, or making the first video we researched quite extensively. We found there have been an enormous amount information, tips, lists, groups that all point to the same direction, which is to help you become a food blogger. We by no means think that we are experts on this subject, but here is a list that represents our experience and choices so far.
Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and we will earn a commission if you purchase through those links with no extra cost to you. We currently use all of the products listed below and recommend only based on our current experience. Be sure to send us an email or comment below if you have any questions. Originally posted on 15 October 2018.
5 steps on how to start a food blog
- Pick a name for your blog
- Choose a domain and register with a web hosting company (use https for a SEO-friendly website)
- Secure name for all social media channels you would like to use
- Create and customize website
- Go live and post content
Okay, so you prefer something more in details. Below is the list of service providers, which we currently use to make this blog happen.
Web hosting
We researched a lot and found that the top 3 web-hosting companies that are used by food bloggers in terms of product quality, customer support and trustworthiness are Bluehost, SiteGround and WP Engine. We went with Bluehost as in our opinion…
- They offer an easy and quick setup for a very reasonable fee, which it was.
- They offer 1-Click WordPress installation, which was really one single click.
- They also offer 24/7 customer service, through which we easily converted our http website to https for free as they offer free SSL-certificate. Here is an extensive article about why you are better off with https from the start.
We used another food blogger’s affiliate link – you know – to share some love. Here is ours if you’re interested in going with Bluehost.
WordPress.org
Emese had a very small blog when we were living in Luxembourg… Well, yes, I am not even sure I would like to link it here, but bear with me it was in 2012 and I have not updated it since. I was looking for a free and easy-to-use place where I can store recipes. That was all. And blogspot/blogger seemed easy enough. However, I still remember that back in 2012 I have already been looking into possibilities to migrate the blog to wordpress.org as it has already offered more beautiful themes and more SEO-friendly coding. This time, there was really no question that we will go with wordpress.org from the start. And I love it. Ok, sorry, we love it. The theme is beautiful and there is a ton of FREE plugins to choose from to make this site more professional and user-friendly without being or needing an expert in coding.
The Genesis Framework
When we did our research, it seemed that today’s go-to framework for food bloggers is the Genesis Framework developed by StudioPress. When we read all the things the Genesis Framework offers, we were not really surprised why everybody seems to choose this one. For a fair price you get…
- tons of functionality and customizable options,
- a search-engine-optimized coding
- screen-friendly appearance.
No coding experts here, but the website was quite easy to customize based on all the support on the StudioPress site. They have this very useful guide, where you can get all essentials to begin with. Click here to download The Genesis Guide for Absolute Beginners (PDF – 1.4 MB).
Foodie Pro (Genesis child theme)
We chose and use Foodie Pro child theme that was developed specifically for the Genesis Framework and for food bloggers. We wanted to ensure that everything is optimized for a professional food blog. All the food blogs we look up to are using and recommending this theme. So far, we are very pleased with our choice. It is clean and transparent with features and widgets specifically coded for food writing and photography. It was really easy to customize and to get a professional look right from the beginning. However, it is a paid theme, so if you are looking for a free one, you can definitely choose from any of the themes WordPress categorize under Food & Drink.
MailChimp (for email marketing)
We believe that growing your audience cannot begin soon enough as your subscriber list will contain the most interested and commited visitors. Therefore, it is extremely crucial to have an option to subscribe from the beginning even if you don’t have an e-book or any other incentive to offer. At the moment we only promise to send out email updates once a week about our latest recipe. MailChimp is extremely well-organized and easy to use. They offer customized forms, html templates, GDPR support and so on. And the best part is that up to 2,000 subscribers it is completely FREE.
So these are the services we use so far and very happy with them. Will let you know if it changes… Hopefully not…
If you have any questions, please feel free to drop us an email or a comment below.
Jack Bowler Jr
Thanks for a very informative post, keep up the good work
My Pure Plants
Thanks for reading.