Are you looking to start a food blog in 2023? If you are a kitchen star and have a great passion for cooking then you would love to start your own food blogging site.
You would love to share your recipe with other users by creating a website. You can start a food blog with minimum resources & tools and with a few easy steps without needing any coding skills.
Starting your own food blog in 2023 would be your upcoming goal in your New Year’s resolution list.
In this free guide, I will show you how you can start a food blog in 2023.
You can do it in 2 ways.
First, hire a developer and spend thousands of dollars to create a custom website.
Secondly, create your own website using the best CMS platform which is WordPress.
Starting a Food blog is one of the easiest and best niche websites that you can create in 2023. It doesn’t matter if you are a 20-year-old or 60 years old; the only thing matter is if you love cooking then you should start a food blog.
To be honest, I don’t know cooking but my mom loves it and whatever she makes, she nailed it with her delicious mouth-watering dishes. In fact, I have recommended she start her own youtube channel so that people can follow her recipe.
If you are looking to start a food blog then there are many ways that can do that. You can start a food blogging website or create your own youtube channel. In this article, I will show you how you can start a food blog in 2023.
Most importantly, you don’t need to have any coding skills or high developing skills to start a food blog.
So, without further ado, let’s start a food blog and create mouth-watering dishes for everyone 😉
Decide the niche to start a food blog
Food blogging is one of the most trending things that you can find on the internet. You may find many types of food bloggers promoting different cuisines and dishes on Instagram.
Some of them have a passion to try and make different dishes. That passion could lead them to earn their livelihood by creating a small business.
Some of the best Food bloggers have their own websites where they can showcase their talent and share their recipes with everyone. Furthermore, food bloggers can earn a tremendous amount of attention to their blogs and get paid for their recipes.
If you are looking to create a food blogging website then you should pick up the niche which suits and target the audience in your community.
Since your niche is clear about food blogging you need to make sure what type of food blogging you will be publishing on your site.
Some of the key niches that you can choose from the food blogging industry are:
- Recipes that you can share about specific cuisine like Chinese, Italian, Indian dishes.
- Create a food blog on diet, fitness & health.
- Blogging recipes based on food recipes all over the world.
- Food blogs on cakes, breakfast recipes, or drinks.
- Food blogs that highlight different restaurants around the world.
If any of the niches suit the best interest for your food blog then you can easily create one without any hassle. You can share your own food recipes and contribute or welcome other food bloggers to share their recipes on your food blogging site.
Getting a domain name for your food blog
Since you have decided on your niche and started a food blog, then you should pick the best domain name for your website. Picking the right domain name will give you the identity of the users as to what type of website or blog you are showcasing.
Choosing the right domain name is one of the most important parts when creating a website.
WHY?
Because as mentioned earlier it will give you the identity and also give a slight idea to the users as to what type of website is all about.
Let’s see some great examples of food blogging sites on the internet check out Lizzie King’s food blog Lizzie Loves Healthy.
Your food blogging site can also be your domain name and your site name. You can see the uniqueness in her domain name where you can easily understand what the website is all about.
You can easily create a free food blogging site in free platforms like Tumblr, Medium or Blogger but I recommend that you can buy your own unique domain name.
The free blogging platform would have several restrictions which will make your site look less attractive and show several ads to distract users.
Where do I get a domain name?
So, you would be asking yourself as to where you can register or buy the domain name of your choice?
Fear not, there are many domain name service providers where you can easily get the domain name at a very affordable price.
Some of the top domain name service providers are Bluehost, GoDaddy, Hostgator, and BigRock. There are many domain extensions that you can choose for your domain name.
Some of them include .com, .org, .net,.info and so on. You can choose any of the extensions that you like according to your site that you have created. Moreover, some of the best hosting service providers like Bluehost or Hostgator will give you a domain name for free, if you buy their hosting service.
Since they provide both the domain name and hosting service you don’t have to go anywhere else to get the domain name of your choice.
Choose the right web hosting for your food blog
Once you have registered your domain name, you need to choose the right hosting service for your website.
“The web hosting service is where you can host your website to connect users and websites through the World Wide Web.”
It is important to note as to what type of website hosting service that suits your needs to start a food blog. There are many hosting service providers that you can choose from but I recommend Bluehost. It is one of the best web hosting services for creating a website.
Bluehost has small-scale plans to huge business plans which you can choose to host a website. You don’t need to buy or spend a huge amount of services that you don’t need or plan for hosting your website. When purchasing a hosting service you need to make sure that you look for better service for your food blogging site.
You should look for are simple, secure, support, and low-cost hosting service. Bluehost provides all these features and awesome services that I need. Moreover, you can choose any type of services that you need like Shared Hosting, Cloud Hosting, VPS and Dedicated hosting service.
Bluehost is affordable, secure and provides support 24/7. It gives you assurance and guidance that your website is safe. It will also guarantee that your website gives you the best performance on any search engine.
Since you have given so much dedicated time and energy to create your dream website you should feel that your website gets secured. You would be needing assurance that your website could not get into the wrong hands or get hacked by intruders.
Choosing the right platform for your food blog
Although, you have bought the domain name and hosting for your site. You would still be looking at how you can start a food blog in 2023. You would be looking if you need to hire a developer to create your own website and start a food blog or use a CMS platform.
Instead of spending thousands of dollars in hiring a developer, I recommend you can choose the best CMS platform.
But wait, which is the best CMS platform to start a food blog?
There are many like WordPress, Joomla, Wix, Drupal, and Squarespace. One of the best CMS platforms that you can choose is WordPress. It is far better than one of the best CMS platforms as compared to its competitors like Joomla and Drupal.
When I started creating my first blogging website I couldn’t decide as to which platform is best. Then I opted for WordPress which is easy to manage and create any type of website in minutes.
Is WordPress easy to use?
I have been recommending WordPress because this is how I created my first website and it was very easy to use.
Moreover, it is FREE, YES you heard it right it is free. WordPress is an open-source platform and you can download it for free from the WordPress official site.
According to w3techs.com, 35% of websites get created using WordPress. You see more than 990+ websites are created every month using WordPress. Moreover, it is one of the fastest CMS where more than 70 million new post gets created every month using WordPress. (WordPress.com Stats)
If you are new to WordPress then you can refer to the WordPress for Beginners guide. I have mentioned the basics of how you can install and use WordPress for your site.
The main reason that I recommend using WordPress is it is easy to use and one of the best CMS platforms. Once you master WordPress you can create any type of website.
Choosing the right theme to start a food blog
Finally, you have your own domain name and hosting for your website. You are convinced and decided that you would be choosing WordPress as the blogging platform to start a food blog in 2023.
Now, it’s time to choose the right theme to start a food blog. But first, you need to do some search by looking at some of the same niche sites or checking on other food bloggers.
You need to see what type of theme they have used to start a food blog. Check the functionalities, design, layouts, and so on. List down all the points and start looking for the WordPress theme that suits your needs. With WordPress, you will have thousands of Free & Paid themes.
There are thousands of free WordPress themes that you can find on the WordPress repository. But choosing a free theme would only give you limited features and functionalities to start a food blog. So, I recommend choosing a premium or paid WordPress theme to start a food blog.
There are many WordPress theme providers from which you can choose to get the best food blogging theme. You can find a theme that is flexible and adapt changes according to your needs. With a perfect WordPress theme, you can find many theme options and customization features that you can put in place on your site.
Free vs Paid Theme
Mostly, people would prefer going for Free WordPress themes as compared to paid ones. Moreover, you might be thinking I’m out of my budget and cannot take more on investing in purchasing a premium theme.
But I would like to mention here that there are many WordPress theme providers who provide premium themes at a very affordable cost. While some of the Free themes have their own limitations as compared to a paid theme.
Here are some of the best food blog WordPress themes I recommend and you can choose the best food blogging theme to start a food blog in 2023.
- Foodica by WPZoom
- FoodBlogger by Templatic
If you are not looking for a high-rated WordPress theme then you can create one by yourself using drag and drop page builder plugins.
One of the best and most rated page builder plugins is Elementor. Moreover, the plugin is free, and using any WordPress theme you can design your own custom page templates as per your needs.
Using a page builder would give you flexibility enough to create your own page templates and customize any theme as per your needs. You don’t need to have any coding skills or technical knowledge to design your own theme using the Elementor page builder plugin.
Install Plugins for your food blog
Since you have installed the premium theme to start a food blog then you won’t need any plugins installed on your site. But adding a plugin would boost some additional functionalities on your food blogging site.
There are thousands of WordPress plugins you can find on the WordPress repository. You can find plugins for any type of functionality that you need for your food blogging site. Like premium themes, you can find many premium add-ons or plugins which you can use to extend the functionality of your food blogging site.
But beware not all the plugins are helpful and give you better performance. Some of the plugins need large resources and server space that will slow down your food blogging site. So make sure that you choose only those plugins which you need to start a food blog in 2023.
Here are some of the few WordPress plugins which I use and recommend to you to start a food blog.
- Yoast SEO – This plugin helps you to optimize your site to rank high on SERPs
- WooCommerce – Since you are starting a food blogging site you will be selling some ebooks or products in the near future. You can create an online store and a food blogging site at the same time.
- WordFence – WordPress is a free and open-source platform therefore it is necessary to add some security to your website.
- UpdraftPlus – To keep regular backups of your food blogging site.
- WPForms – You can use this plugin to create contact forms, signup forms, and any type of newsletter form.
Customize the food blogging site.
When you buy a theme you will install it with the demo content data like sample posts, default logo, footer credits, and many things. You need to adjust according to your needs by changing all the default settings and options.
Many theme providers provide settings or options to change this on the customizer options. You can change these settings on the backend of your site Appearance >> Customize section.
You can change the Site Title and Tagline as per your needs. Once you change that you can change the color of your food blogging site according to the recipes that you sell on your website.
Furthermore, you are starting as a food blogger so you need to make sure that you have all the necessary pages to start a food blogging site. Some of the important pages that you need are:
- Homepage
- About Us Page
- Contact Page
Homepage of your Food Blog
The homepage will be the first page that every user will see of your site. It should be clean and distract-free. On the homepage, you will see the logo of the site, social media icons, search form, and many more details.
Let’s check out an example and see Sivaranjani’s food blogging site Ranjani’s Kitchen.
You can see the beautifully designed logo, social icons when you hover on the favorite icon, and proper layout which makes the site well organized and readable. Again make sure you have all the necessary options on the main page of your food blogging site.
- A beautifully designed logo that attracts users.
- A social sharing links so that you stay connected and get more followers
- A newsletter form where visitors can sign in and get the latest blogs from your site.
- Stunning pictures that you can use for your food blog.
- A Call-to-Action button that can redirect to any page of your food blogging website.
About us page of your food blog
Having an about us page is one of the most important pages that you need for any website. Whether you are starting a food blog or an online eCommerce site an about page is a must. An About Us page defines what type of information and your story encourage you to start your own website.
Check out an example of Karthik Gandhi’s website GastroHogger.
You must include your story as to how you started your journey. Always add any certificates or accomplishments that you have achieved in your career. Write your heart out so that your users can feel about you.
Create a Contact us Page for your Food blog
The contact page is also one of the important pages for your blogging site. It is where your visitors can easily get in touch with you. There are some users who would be looking to ask a few questions, blog queries, sponsored posts, and many more.
Let’s see an example of Sally’s Baking Addiction and what you should add on the contact us page of your food blogging site.
- If you have different email accounts you can list down them for different purposes.
- Having social media icons will be an advantage if your email doesn’t reach you your users can reach you via social media accounts.
- A corporate address or your office address if available can add it on the contact page.
- Having a disclaimer that you won’t be able to respond as quickly as possible.
Bonus Tips
Add images and videos
It is said that a picture says a thousand words. Well, that’s true having high-quality images will attract your users to stay longer on your website. Apart from that adding videos and graphics would be a bonus.
So, where you can find high-quality images? or how you can add images on your food blogging site?
Here are some of the options that you can try on your food blogging site.
Take your own photographs for your food blog.
If you are not a professional photographer it’s ok you just have to take pictures of your cooking. In between you can take a selfie as well as have some fun, this will make your photographs more real. Though I’m not an expert I would recommend getting a high DSLR camera and proper audio equipment for your blog.
Use Stock royalty-free images.
You can find many free stock royalty-free images that you can find online. If you use any royalty-free mages make sure that they are free and can be used anywhere on your site. You can find any type of images that you can use on our site.
Whether you need an image for food, cakes, actors, or anything you can find on – UnSplash, Pexels, or Pixabay websites. There are other sites like Shutterstock or Getty Images where you can pay for the subscription and get premium images that cannot find on the free websites.
Promote your food blog
You have your first blog published and in the upcoming weeks, you have published 15-20 blogs on your food blogging site.
Now what? You would be thinking that how can I promote my website? Is there any easy way to do that?
I would say that Yes, there is an easy way.
Here are some of the common and most useful methods that you can use to promote your food blogging site.
Share your website on Social Media
One of the easiest ways that you can promote your website is by sharing your site on social media. Today, social media has become of the major tools for promoting any business and increasing traffic on your site. This requires no cost and no effort you can simply share your content on social media like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
Start building an email list
Email marketing is one of the cheapest and best methods where you can easily share your blog with other users. You need to email the users who have subscribed to your website using the newsletter forms. Sending in them regular updates and recipes will make them share your recipes on their social media platforms. You can use tools or plugins like Mailchimp for WordPress plugin add a newsletter form on your site and get users to subscribe to your website.
Guest Post on other Food bloggers sites
Networking with other bloggers is a great way you can get traffic on your website. You can get a backlink to your site by adding the URL of your post on a third-party site. Once you publish a guest post on their site share them on your social media sites and the author of the website will do the same.
Also, accepts guest posts on your site as well this will ensure that your website will get more links through different websites. Moreover, your guest post authors will share your post on their social media accounts.
Making money from your food blog
This must be the final step once you have published your food blog. You would be looking at how you can earn or generate income from your food blogging site. I would say that your motive should be to spread the recipes and the passion for your cooking that you can share online. Making money would always be a secondary concern since your food blog is totally new and not getting enough traffic.
Some of the methods that you can use once you have high traffic on your site.
Accepting Paid Guest Post
Since your blog would be about food many food lovers would like to share their cooking expertise on your site. You can charge users according to the price that you offer to your users. In return, you can give them a backlink to their site.
Guest posting is one of the great ways that you can make money through your blogging site. New bloggers would be looking to get a backlink from your high-authority food blogging site. Therefore they would be paying you just to get their article published on your site.
Showing Ad Banners
This is one of the simplest methods you can use to get paid by displaying advertisement banners on your site. One of the best ways is to use Google Adsense on your site. Some businesses need to market and promote their business. They will send their banners to get displayed on your site.
You can use the Text widget to put on the banner ads and add the custom code to display banner images. Furthermore, a link to their website will be redirected when anyone clicks on the banner image.
Conclusion
Phewww!!! Finally, we have walked through how to start a food blog in the year 2023.
Just in case, you are looking to start your own food blog then this is the right place for you. Whether you are a passionate foodie or running a food catering business then you should start a food blog.
If you are a non-techie and don’t know about WordPress then you can check out my Beginners Guide on WordPress. I have mentioned a piece of detailed information about WordPress sections.
So now over to you. Are you a food blogger? Did you start your own food blog and how was your experience?
Please share your thoughts and comments below I would love to hear from you.
I hope you liked this post, I would really appreciate it if you could share this post on Facebook and Twitter pages.
Thanks for your time, Take care 😉