Are you a foodie? Do you love to eat food, cook food, and write about food?
If so, you are the perfect candidate to start a successful food blog; that said, the food niche is particularly competitive, so you need to arm yourself with a few tricks of the trade to get noticed and grow.
Focus on Value Content
The standard of internet content is improving all the time, so whether you are just starting out or you’re a seasoned blogger, you need to focus on authenticity and make sure you are creating content that connects with your audience.
These days, readers can tell when you are a bit fake.
In terms of food content, there are different types of bloggers out there!
Some bloggers like to post recipes they come up with, while others prefer to create restaurant reviews; whatever you focus on, make sure you have a voice and engage audiences with personality and reliability.
Allow Time for Growth
This point is aimed at newbie bloggers because those with more experience will understand the nature of the algorithm.
It’s common for many bloggers to give up after a short time because they receive very little engagement for the first month or so, but patience is needed to rank.
In general, it can take between two and six months to rank on major search engines; this depends on the quality and relevance of your content and how well it has been optimized.
That said, some blogs can rank in a shorter time, but the key is to be patient with your food content.
Focus on Originality
The internet is becoming harder as it becomes more niche and the content becomes denser; however, there is room for optimism; just because something has been written before doesn’t mean it has been written by you. So make sure you turn on your originality with your content.
Writing in any capacity takes a degree of courage; you need to step forward and put your opinions into the world; you also have to strip yourself bare and be as open as possible for your voice to be authentic.
Although it can be a bit scary, this is the best way to connect with readers.
Make it More Personal
On that note, it’s time to make your content personal. Not only do you need to cultivate an authentic voice and harden yourself to rejection, but you also have to make your content as personal as you can.
This goes hand in hand with an authentic voice, which is good news.
Once you have established authenticity in your domain, it’s easier to make your content personal. Conversely, you can find your authentic voice by focusing on creating personalized content.
Think of your favorite influencers; they are able to talk freely on their platforms.
Join the Community
Blogging is as much about community as it is about writing, so make sure you connect with other bloggers in your niche.
By connecting with other bloggers in the food niche, you can share recipes and tips that increase the value of content on your website; it also leads to backlinks.
Backlinks are a very profitable metric in the SEO business; major search engines like Google use this metric to determine the quality of your website content, so if you connect with the food community and interact, you increase the chances of getting noticed and ranked by Google.
Integrate Social Channels
Connecting your network on your blogging platform is important for many of the reasons outlined above; however, you also need to remain open and responsive on your social media channels as well.
Don’t ignore this important networking opportunity and integrate social media.
Not only does social media increase your network and help to build your visibility on the internet, but it also offers you a focused and engaged audience to market your favorite 30 minute cold pasta salad recipe.
As with your blog network, engage social channels with a conversation.
Keep Site User Friendly
Another crucial metric for search engines is the user experience of the website. If your blog is overcrowded with images and videos, it slows it down and prevents it from ranking.
That’s because Google aims to improve the user experience with faster loading times and navigation.
When you’re blogging about food, you need images and the occasional video to demonstrate a process, so you need to be extra careful about the density of the content you publish.
If you want to test the speed of your website, you can do this by linking it to Google Search Console.
Activate Comments
Make sure your blog is available for comments; you can set this up on the dashboard of your website builder platform.
Comments mean engagement which is good for your visibility on the internet, but you can also strengthen your network by responding to comments individually.
Chances are you will receive comments about your recipes and reviews, especially original recipes that readers want to try for themselves.
Responding to comments on the webpage shows that you are an engaged blogger, and sending an email makes it all the more personal.
Make Sharable Content
If you can get a like or a follow on your blog, you’re on the right track, but if you can get a share, then you know you are creating the kind of content that people want to read.
To write this kind of content, you need to make it relevant and useful to a community – it should also be interesting.
Don’t forget to add share buttons to your blog so that readers can easily post a recipe or article to a social media platform.
A share is not only a signal of value; it also boosts engagement levels; imagine how many people will read and trust the content, then visit your website.
Post Original Recipes
Naturally, you will need to post original recipes, so get creative.
While you can’t post recipes that someone else has made, there’s nothing to stop you from giving it a twist, so kickstart your creative juices and get busy in the kitchen – don’t forget to bring your camera along for the ride.
