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Do you want to know how to start a food blog and make money from it? You have landed at the right place. Starting a food blog is not a very difficult task and anyone who wants to have a successful food blog needs to just follow a few steps to create it.
To start a food blog you don’t need much money. You only need a little money to host your blog and your domain name and maybe a WordPress theme if you want to give it a better look.
Food blogs are gaining popularity as food is a basic need for the human body and people who are looking up new recipes can be your potential audience.
Starting a food blog can help you to share your recipes with other interested people, build a community of food lovers and also help you to earn money by monetizing your blog with ads or you can sell your recipe book to your audience.
In this guide, I will walk you through the step-by-step process of how to start a food blog and make money from it.
How to Start a Food Blog and Make Money in 8 Easy Steps
- Choose your food blog name
- Choose a domain name for your food blog
- Choose a content management system (CMS)
- Choose a web hosting to host your blog content
- Find a theme to use on the CMS to write new posts and build the food blog
- Learn how to write recipes for your food blog
- Learn How to grow your food blog traffic
- Learn How to make money from your food blog
Now, don’t get scared by seeing all these steps. These are simple to do if you follow my steps. When I started blogging I was scared too but it is easy going once you start your blogging journey. Now let us look into each step in detail.
Step 1: Choose your food blog name
- Keep it simple: You should choose a simple blog name. If you are looking to post recipes on your food blog the term ‘recipe’ should be in the blog name. If you are not finding a good name for the term ‘recipe’. You can choose a name that contains ‘food’ in the name. You can also use a name for a particular recipe or food. For example, if your blog is about pizza you can use that in your domain name. Once again you can use any name for your blog that you like it’s just it should be short and simple. You can also use your name for the blog if you like to brand it with your name
- Keep it short: You should try to choose a short name for your blog. This should be easy to pronounce and remember so that people can type in your blog name to reach your website once your food blog gains popularity
Step 2: Choose a domain name for your food blog
Now, once you have decided on a blog name, it is time to check whether the domain for this blog name is available or not.
I recommend using Bluehost to search for your domain name. All you need to do is go to Bluehost.
Use this link to go to Bluehost
Now, search for your blog name in the box. I tried for a name using the term ‘food’ and I got a name as you can see below:
As you can see I have got an available name for a food blog. Likewise, you can also try and get a name that you like for your food blog. Again the food blog name is not very important, most important is how you brand it and promote it to gain an audience.
Step 3: Choose a content management system (CMS) for your food blog
I would recommend using WordPress as your CMS. A CMS helps you to customize your blog, add features, create posts, and much more. So this acts as a backbone for your blog without which you cannot start a food blog.
WordPress is easy to use and comes FREE to use for any blog you want. If you choose Bluehost as your hosting company it is super easy to install it for your blog.
If you have a good budget you can use WP Engine. It is a managed WordPress hosting as it is an excellent option to choose because they manage WordPress for you and you just need to focus on your blog and leave all security, and management of WordPress to WP Engine. You can read my WP Engine Review to know more about WP Engine.
Step 4: Select a Web Hosting to Host Your Food Blog Content
Now, this is the most important step of your blogging journey. Choose a good web hosting service that is extremely important if you want your blog to be a success.
To start a blog I suggest using Bluehost as your hosting company. This is because they are good with WordPress websites. I have used their service and they are superb with WordPress. Also, they provide a FREE domain name for 1st year of hosting so it saves you money for booking a domain name as well.
Now you can buy web hosting from Bluehost using below two steps:
1: Click here to visit Bluehost and click the green “Get Started Now” button
2: Choose your web hosting plan
Select the ‘Basic’ plan if you would like to run one blog, you can also choose other plans like the ‘Plus’ plan if you would like to use multiple blogs on one hosting.
I like to recommend choosing the ‘Choice Plus’ plans because you get more features like Domain Privacy which protects your personal information like Email, Name, telephone number, and address from being published online.
Once you choose the hosting you’ll be able to settle on your FREE name. On the subsequent page, you’ll claim your free domain name. If you’re yet not ready together with your domain name, you’ll click on ‘I’ll create my domain later
On the subsequent page, you’re required to fill in your contact information. Skip some package extras which increase your costs as you can choose these later as per your hosting requirement. You can avoid paying for extra options apart from Domain Privacy Protection, you can uncheck everything else.
Now on the subsequent step, it’ll take you to the payment page where you’ll prefer to pay via your MasterCard otherwise you can click on ‘more payment options to pay via other payment modes. Click submit once you’re done.
Now it’s time to celebrate! Bluehost is cool because Here is the cool part: After you’ve completed the payment, Bluehost will automatically install WordPress software on your domain.
This means that your blog is prepared to use after just the payment is completed. Now you only got to log in to your account and see your activated services.
You can also install WordPress manually on Bluehost by the below steps:
- Log in to your Bluehost cPanel account.
- Find the website section and choose Install WordPress.
- Click the Install button.
- Choose the name to put in it within the field next to the domain, you’ll enter a subfolder like ‘blog’ or leave it blank if you would like the site’s main page to be the blog.
- If necessary, you’ll edit the e-mail address, username, and password for the new WordPress installation. Click “advanced options” and you’ll change those settings.
- Read through the license and repair agreements and check the boxes.
- Select the Install Now button.
- That is it Bluehost will install WordPress on your domain now.
- Once you get the login details you can log in to your blog to customize it further.
Step 5: Find a Theme to Use on the CMS to Write New Posts and Build the Blog
If you want your food blog to be a success. Then I suggest you use the best WordPress theme for your blog. I recommend buying the Neptune theme for a food blog. Check the Neptune theme here. The reason is, that all FREE themes of WordPress have limited features that you need to start a superb-looking food blog.
To install a WordPress theme all you need to do is go to WordPress Dashboard ->Appereance and click on the themes button. Then you will see a page like this below
Now you can search for your theme from the search theme box. After the search is completed just click on the Activate button and the WordPress theme will be installed for your website. if you bought the theme you can use the ‘Add New’ option provided on the same page.
Once the theme is activated you can see my instructions on the proper WordPress configuration for your theme in my blog post: How to Start a Blog and Make Money [Blogging Guide]
For FREE themes to use on your food blog you can check this list from WordPress itself. Some good ones are:
Paid theme (Recommended) by me is Neptune. This theme is perfect for a food blog and has good reviews and sales. This theme demo version looks like the below:
Let us look into the features this theme has which are excellent for a food blog:
- Neptune may be a stellar food recipe theme, which builds a perfect interactive interface between your visitors and you.
- With Neptune, you get multiple layouts for your food recipe page. Your food blog users can create profiles on your website as they interact in the forum.
- There is also an option to like, review and vote when you post your recipes so it improves engagement on your food blog.
- Users can register on your food blog and log in with their usernames and passwords.
- You will also get better SEO ranks with its inbuilt schema markups which are needed for SEO. The Neptune theme is mobile-friendly and responsive.
- You can create posts with nutritional information, and searchable food recipe ingredients.
- Plus it has a meal planner option where your blog users can create meal plans with automatic calories and other nutritional information counters.
With all these great features and more Neptune food blog themes if perfect for your food blog.
Step 6: Learn How to Write Recipes for Your Food Blog
If you are using the Neptune theme you can see the theme features by visiting the Neptune theme sales page. You can also find the documentation for the theme after your purchase which will guide you on how to use the theme for your food blog in the best way. For your information, there is a ‘recipe’ tab in the theme panel that you can use to create recipes for your blog posts.
Now, if you are using a FREE theme then also you can add recipes using a plugin called WP Recipe Maker. This plugin is good to create recipes for your food blog. You can refer to this plugin documentation to learn how to use this plugin.
To summarise it is very easy to use theme paid theme or free plugin if you just read the documentation as it is mostly just done by a few button clicks and following the procedure. You can also use Grammarly to check and correct grammar mistakes while you write recipes for your food blog.
Step 7: Learn How to Grow Your Food Blog Traffic
Congratulations, you have a food blog and it has a few posts and recipes. Let us now look into the ways you can increase your website traffic so that you get some visitors and earn money from your food blog. Let us look into the ways below:
Start an Instagram Food Account
How do I start a food blog on Instagram?
You can start a food blog on Instagram by creating an Instagram account and posting your food and recipe photos there. You can also use your already created Instagram account and post food pictures on it. Now, to be successful on Instagram as a food blogger you need to follow the below points:
- Follow other food bloggers in your niche: Yes this is extremely helpful as in this way you will build a network of food bloggers and extend your reach
- Use popular hashtags: You can use hashtags like #food #foodie etc in your Instagram posts to get attention from food lovers
- Take photos of all the recipes you create: To become a famous food blogger on Instagram you need to post regular and engaging content. You should always take photos of any recipe you create or mention in your blog. Take photos of preparing food. Eating food etc creates an urge in people to engage with your content
- Tag your friends: There is no better way to create engagement on Instagram than tagging your friends when you go out to eat. Your friends can be your most loyal followers in the future
- Don’t worry: Now you might be thinking “What!”. Instagram is huge and full of food lovers. So don’t put pressure on yourself to post every day and every 2nd hour. You should enjoy the process and post only when you are ready with something which adds value to people
Create a YouTube channel
This is extremely useful. YouTube is a very good platform where people often go to learn about new recipes and cooking advice. So you should create a YouTube account and start posting relevant videos of Food Recipes, How to cook pizza or any other food recipe which you can think of. In your video description, you can add your blog link so that people can go to your blog to discover more.
In this way, YouTube can be a superb traffic source for your blog. For creating the videos you can use software like Camtasia. Check my Camtasia Review to know more about this excellent video creation tool.
Drive Traffic to your blog from Pinterest
Create an account on Pinterest to post pins. Now Pinterest can help you reach more people as the platform offers a method to use Pins which can be images from your food blog-like recipes. You can include your keywords in your pins so that you can come to a Pinterest search.
To grow fast on Pinterest I would recommend a Pinterest marketing toolkit for bloggers which is called Tailwind. This is a tool that can help you to schedule your posts on Instagram and Pinterest and this can save a lot of time for you.
Using Tailwind you can schedule your pins at times chosen by you. Also, it can help you grow your food blog traffic by using a feature called tribes where you can join a group of other food bloggers or people with related interests who share each other content on their boards. This way you get automatic sharing of your pins and you can drive more traffic to your blog.
Try Tailwind for Pinterest for FREE
Learn Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
To grow your food blog and earn money from it. You need to learn some SEO. I have written some useful guides on how to do Search Engine Optimization and also a guide on the Top 10 Important Search Engine Optimization Tips For Your Website.
This can help you to learn how to use SEO to get higher search rankings. I will suggest you use Semrush to do keyword research, site audit, and many more things.
Does Semrush help with a food blog?
Yes, Semrush helps with a food blog by helping the food blogger to:
- Research for new keywords
- Run a competitive analysis
- Learn what their competitors are doing and where they stand in the comparison
- Track their current keyword positions
- Correct SEO issues using Semrush site audit
- Find long-tail keywords which are easy to rank in SEO
- improve their overall SEO efforts
So, I can say Semrush is a must-have tool for food bloggers if they want to improve their organic search ranks.
Step 8: Learn How to Make Money From Your Food Blog
Now comes the part which will be very interesting for you. Building traffic to your blog is of no use if we could not convert them to buyers of a product or clickers of an ad on our website. Now let us look into how you can easily earn money from your food blog:
Google Adsense: This is a very useful blog monetization technique but you should use it when you have at least 10 posts on your website and your blog has some traffic. You can apply for Google Adsense account form here. Once you apply to it after following their guidelines you need to wait for approval. Once you are approved you can put the Google Adsense ad code on your website. Once this code is in place Google will start showing Ads, and you will start seeing income from your blog traffic.
Use Affiliate Marketing: This is by far the best method for me. Affiliate marketing is the process in which you can promote other companies products on your blog and earn commissions when those get sold. This is useful because your job as an affiliate marketer is to drive traffic to a product page and it is the product owner’s responsibility to get it converted.
You will easily get a lot of products that you can promote on your food blog from these affiliate networks. You can Join below affiliate network for FREE and start promoting their product that matches your food blog niche:
B. ShareASale
C. ImpactRadius
F. Jvzoo
If you join all of these Affiliate programs you will get a lot of products that you can promote on your food blog. You can add their banner or product links to your posts to earn money. Amazon affiliate is a very good option for starters as you will get a lot of products to promote there. Like E-books, fitness products, health diet products, etc.
Sell your e-books: Now another way to earn money from your food blog is to create your book. There are plugins like WooCommerce which can help you build your online store and add your products to sell. You can create your recipe book, and a fitness book and sell them to your audience. This is the best way to earn more profit from your food blog.
Future of Food Blogging
Food blogging has a great future. It will not be easy to run a food blog in the future because it requires proper strategy and knowledge to keep your food blog running for a long time.
If you follow a good strategy and use social media properly you can increase traffic to your food blog. To increase traffic as a food blogger you can:
- Start your own Instagram and YouTube channels. By uploading videos and recipes to your channels you can increase followers and social media engagement. You can drive visitors to your website from your social media channels and increase website engagement
- Write e-books and sell them on your food blog to audiences who are interested in your content
- Content creation will become easy for you in the future and you can use good quality cameras and post beautiful photos of food and increase engagement and traffic
Frequently Asked Questions
Some of the most effective methods by which food bloggers make money are:
Selling their e-books about recipes or fitness
Using Google Adsense display ads
Using Affiliate marketing to promote and sell other related products
Earning money from YouTube views – Here YouTube pays using Adsense for the traffic you get on your videos
It takes a very little amount to start a food blog. You can buy web hosting from Bluehost which will cost only around $3.95 with a free domain name for 1st year. Other than that you can use a FREE theme or a premium theme based on your budget. So it costs significantly less to start a food blog. The main investment here is your time and dedication to food blogging which will make you a successful food blogger.
For a start, 10-20 recipes are good enough. Your recipes should have good and clear descriptions. You should take photos of all your recipes and use them to promote your blog on social media channels.
To make a successful food blog. You need to follow the below steps:
1. Post original and engaging content
2. Follow food bloggers and food lovers on social media channels like Instagram and Pinterest
3. Use YouTube to create recipe videos and reach more people
4. Be consistent and engage with your audience frequently
5. Monetize your food blog with Ads and products to earn money
6. Don’t lose hope as your food blog will need some time to show some results
To become a food influencer you need to post frequent engaging content on social media, follow other people in your niche, and promote your profile to get some initial boost by using Google Ads, Pinterest, and Instagram ads. Also, you need to take good photos because people like to see good images on Instagram and other social media channels.
Food Bloggers earn money and get paid in a variety of ways. The most popular way is to sign up with an ad network and monetize your food blog. They get paid by selling e-books, Google Adsense, and using Affiliate Marketing.
I hope that this article helped you learn how to start a food blog and make money. If you have any questions just type them into the comments below.
