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I wish I had some magic secrets or shortcuts to share, but the truth is that food blogging is hard work.<\/strong> I receive questions about the subject fairly often, so I sat down to compile my best tips for food bloggers and ended up with an even twenty. You’ll be more likely to develop a successful food blog if you follow these guidelines.<\/p>\n 1. Be authentic.<\/strong> 2. Don’t give up.<\/strong> 3. Post original content.<\/strong> 4. Show your personality!<\/strong> 5. Make friends and help each other.<\/strong> 6. Make yourself accessible.<\/strong> 7. Keep your site design clean and easy to navigate.<\/strong> 8. Make it easy for visitors to follow your blog.<\/strong> 9. Make it easy to comment on your blog.<\/strong> 10. Make it easy to share your content.<\/strong> 11. Post fantastic recipes only.<\/strong> 12. Cite your sources.<\/strong> 13. Don’t sell out.<\/strong> 14. Post on a regular basis.<\/strong> 15. Get your own domain name.<\/strong> 16. Build a self-hosted WordPress blog.<\/strong> 17. Learn about search engine optimization.<\/strong> 18. Submit your posts to recipe submission sites.<\/strong> 19. Learn how to take appetizing photos.<\/strong> 20. Do what your mama told you.<\/strong> Questions?<\/strong> Feel free to leave them in the comments section below.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I wish I had some magic secrets or shortcuts to share, but the truth is that food blogging is hard work. I receive questions about the subject fairly often, so I sat down to compile my best tips for food bloggers and ended up with an even twenty. You’ll be more likely to develop a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35712,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stopmodifiedupdate":true,"_modified_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":{"2":"type-page"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nPost about what you love and produce the best content you possibly can.<\/p>\n
\nBlog growth is slow at first and gains momentum as time goes on, assuming that you stick with it and do your best.<\/p>\n
\nIf visitors like what you do, they will keep coming back for more.<\/p>\n
\nEnthusiasm is infectious, so don’t be afraid to show it. One of the coolest things about blogging is that you can connect with people who share your undying love for, say, avocado on toast<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nIn other words, network! Connect and cultivate friendships with other bloggers who share your interests. Leave thoughtful comments on their blogs, chat with them on social media and promote their content.<\/p>\n
\nBe present and responsive on social media as best you can.<\/p>\n
\nClutter detracts from your content.<\/p>\n
\nPlace links to RSS\/email subscription and social media prominently on each page.<\/p>\n
\nNo CAPTCHAs or required logins, please. Find a way to let your commenters know that they are appreciated, whether that’s by emailing them privately, responding to their comment publicly or by commenting on their blogs.<\/p>\n
\nProvide social media sharing buttons at the end of each post. Say thank you when others promote your work.<\/p>\n
\nYou don’t want visitors to invest their time and ingredients into a recipe and end up disappointed, right? Better to let the blog go quiet for a few days than to post a recipe you can’t stand behind.<\/p>\n
\nAlways. Not cool: reposting recipes verbatim, posting other bloggers’ photos without permission. Cool: original recipes, sharing links to your inspiration, linking to further resources on the subject at hand.<\/p>\n
\nI’m not saying that you shouldn’t try to make money off your blog, but don’t align yourself with a brand or project that isn’t a good fit. You are the company you keep. Focus on producing your best content and building your audience and the opportunities will come.<\/p>\n
\nWhether that’s every day, once a week or once every other week, don’t let your blog look abandoned.<\/p>\n
\nIf you want your blog to be taken seriously, just do it. You can buy a domain name for less than twenty dollars a year through GoDaddy<\/a> (affiliate link).<\/p>\n
\nThat is, if you want full control over your design and content and plenty of room to grow. If you don’t know how to do these things, pay someone good to do it for you or shower your geeky friend with homemade cookies until he agrees. Find a step-by-step guide (and food blog design and web hosting tips) here.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nSEO isn’t black magic; it’s about making your quality content findable. It’s important to understand and implement the basics. Here is Google’s SEO starter guide [PDF]<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nWhen you’re getting started, submission sites may be a good source of new visitors. In the past, I’ve submitted my posts to Foodgawker<\/a>, Tasteologie<\/a> and Finding Vegan<\/a> (when applicable). Keep a text file that contains the submission information so it’s easy to copy and paste it onto each site. If your photo is rejected the first time around, edit it or choose a different photo and resubmit. Don’t forget to pin your new recipes to Pinterest, too!<\/p>\n
\nPeople are much more likely to want to eat, make, share and pin your recipes when they are presented alongside appealing photos. Find my food photography tips and equipment recommendations here.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThis should go without saying, but be nice, be constructive, be respectful, be appreciative, be humble. Work hard.<\/p>\nMore resources for food bloggers on Cookie and Kate<\/h2>\n
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