Would you call yourself a foodie?
When you go out with your friends for dinner, do you always order different dishes? Do you love to taste all the delicious munchies and consider every bite to be an explosion of taste in your mouth? Can you spend hours perfecting one recipe, making sure that it has just the right taste and structure? Do you know the difference between the béarnaise and the hollandaise sauce? Are you the go-to person in your group of friends when it comes to food, beverages, cooking, etc.?
If you recognize yourself in the previously mentioned sentences, all we can say is congratulations. You have all the necessary qualifications for becoming a credible food blogger.
However, starting a food blog and building a blogging empire is not that not easy or quick, especially nowadays when everyone seems to know everything about cooking (even though they are not professional chefs), and EVERYONE is suddenly posting photos of dishes they enjoy eating.
You might need a bit of help.
Luckily for you, we are here to give you a hand and provide all the must-know food blogging tips for beginners like yourself. Here they are:
Tip 1: Choose a niche
If you are a food blogger, one of the essential things you need to do is think about your niche.
Instead of trying to share with your audience a variety of recipes from all over the world, try to focus on the one recipes you love and make the best.
Do you know how to prepare organic, vegan dishes? Are you on a special diet, like Keto or Paleo, and cook these types of servings? Have you spent a summer in Tuscany and improved your cooking skills by watching passionate Italian chefs cook? Have you been to hundreds of French restaurants and tasted all the delicious French dishes and desserts? Whatever the case may be, be sure to find your niche.
Tip 2: Post tried & true recipes
One of the best food blogging tips we can give you is: posting any recipe that you haven’t tried at least two times is a huge mistake.
Why?
Several reasons for that:
1. The first time you are making a dish, you are surely going to make a few (minor) mistakes that can lead to the recipe not turning out as well as you have hoped.
2. The second/third/fourth time you recreate the recipe, you won’t repeat the mistakes you made the first time and could end up with a totally different result.
3. Once you perfect the recipe, you’ll be able to see whether it is worthy of your blog readers’ time or not.
Tip 3: Spend a good amount of time creating the perfect photos
Choosing stock photos for your recipe covers? Oh, hell, nah!
If you want to be perceived as a credible food blogger and engage your readers, you need to use your own images. Include a step-by-step process of creating a dish, followed by the pictures that explain each step. Use a clear background and natural lighting. Stand on a chair or your kitchen counter if you have to (just be sure to clean it after!) to get the perfect images. Do anything that is in your power to get the photos that will be as mouth-watering as your recipes are.
If you need a bit of help taking photos, we would suggest you check out the post on Expertyphotography.com on photography tips for food bloggers.
In the end, you can hire a professional photographer if you don’t want to do it yourself (at least in the beginning).
Tip 4: Be present on social media
If you don’t have accounts on social media, do you even exist, especially if you are a blogger? Probably not.
So, anything you share on the blog should also be posted on your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. We would suggest you focus on Instagram 一 this is the perfect platform for posting appetizing images of the recipes you create and share some “behind the scenes” footage.
Bonus tip: One of the most significant food blogging tips is: don’t forget about Pinterest! Pinterest is one of the most efficient ways you can get traffic to your blog.
Tip 5: Don’t forget about the importance of a newsletter
If you are planning on running a successful food blogging business, a newsletter is your BFF.
Sure, there are a lot of food blogging tips and techniques you can use to promote the blog (using Facebook ads, posting on Quora, etc.), but there is one thing that doesn’t require that much time nor money invested, and it’s the newsletter.
If you are having trouble with designing the newsletter or just don’t know what content to put in it, we would suggest you check out our post on how to write a newsletter recipients would love opening. And, just in case you don’t know where to start when it comes to creating the perfect subject line, you can check out four tips for creating catchy newsletter subject lines.
Tip 6: Write clear… clearly!
You’ll see 一 the more you write, the better you’ll get at it. You’ll develop your own writing style.
But, apart from having your own, unique style, you need to make sure that the blog posts are error-free and that all the sentences are grammatically correct. Also, try to avoid passive voice and don’t include jargon that much.
To conclude
In the end, you need to remember one thing about being a food blogger: being a food blogger is like being Santa Clause 一 your work should bring people joy. No matter how many miles or, in this case, recipes ingredients you have to buy and waste, it’s all about giving people what they want and packing “the present” in the most appealing and presentable way.
We hope these food blogging tips will help you in your blogging journey. Good luck, and let us know how it went.
