Recently, I was searching for a simple chicken recipe to prepare a special meal for my mum’s birthday.
I rarely cook, so I needed guidance to avoid a disaster. One thing I noticed is that there are numerous recipe blogs, and they get tons of traffic.
This made me very curious.
On researching, I found out that food and recipe blog niches are one of the the most profitable niches. They have an average monthly income of $ 9,169 compared to all others.
In this article, I’ve listed all the steps to start a thriving recipe blog and break the bank like many in the niche.
1) Understand the recipe niche
As much as cooking is a hobby for some, it is necessary to prepare food and eat to be healthy and alive.
This fact guarantees that the recipe niche will always be in demand. Research by Morning Consult showed that two-thirds of adults in the USA cook with a recipe daily.
The food market has an estimated revenue of $8.66 trillion US dollars. This revenue is expected to grow yearly by at least 6%.
When you look at Google trends data, the search term is stable, averaging 45 with peaks during the holiday seasons.
A recipe blog would do well, especially if targeted to a specific audience. Examples of recipe sub-niches you can focus on include:
- Quick recipes
- Healthy recipes
- Vegan recipes
- Keto recipes
- Baking recipes
- Appliance-specific recipes e.g., Instant pot recipes
- Gluten or dairy-free recipes
- Copycat recipes e.g., Chipotle homemade tacos
- Cuisine-specific recipes e.g., Mexican, Italian, Chinese, French
- Recipe reviews
- Pet recipes
- Kids recipes
Get ideas from the above and choose a niche that suits your interest. Think about your target audience and the vision for your brand.
2) Choose a name for your recipe blog
Once you have settled on a sub-niche, it’s time to find a name for your blog.
A domain name allows readers to find your blog when they type it into search engines. This step is crucial as it determines what people will identify you with.
Your domain name should be:
- Unique and memorable
- Simple to pronounce
- Relevant to the sub-niche
- Brandable
Find a few options and rank them in terms of preference. Next, search the internet to see if there are businesses with a similar name.
Avoid names that have a close resemblance with other blogs. This will eliminate any confusion.
Check this guide that details how to choose a blog name.
Once you identify a unique and brandable name, it’s time to register it. Many companies offer blog domain name registration.
I would recommend using Bluehost. It is a popular company that offers great services for domain registration and web hosting.
3) Get blog hosting and set up WordPress
You now need to make sure that your recipe blog is available online by using a hosting service.
Website hosting provides you with the necessary resources to create and manage your blog. You rent space on the company’s server where your blog data and files are stored.
There are many hosting companies and packages to choose from. You have the option to buy monthly or yearly packages.
When buying hosting, know your budget, preferred billing frequency, storage space, and hosting type.
Companies offer yearly or month-to-month hosting services. Consider WPX, Cloudways, or Kinsta for monthly hosting offers.
For yearly options, buy hosting from Bluehost.
Your hosting greatly determines the success of your blog. When choosing a service ensure that:
- They offer advanced security features
- They guarantee 99.9% uptime
- They are fast and affordable
- They provide frequent backups
- They have exceptional customer support
As soon as you get hosting, install WordPress. This is a content management system that will allow you to create a beautiful recipe blog.
You’ll be able to set up the blog without needing to know how to code.
To install WordPress, you need to navigate to your control panel. This article details how to install WordPress on your site.
4) Select a theme and design your recipe blog
When the WordPress installation is complete, it’s time to work on the blog appearance.
You’ll need to choose a theme related to your niche and modify it to suit your brand. Themes allow you to play around with color, design, and fonts.
The design of the recipe blog should be appealing, user-friendly, and intuitive. This will keep the readers glued to your posts.
You can get a wide selection of themes, both free and paid. WordPress features 9,000 free themes in its repository.
If you opt for premium themes, I’d suggest using Thrive Themes, GeneratePress, or Themeforest.
The Easy Meals theme from Themeforest is a good one to consider. It is an elegant food WordPress theme with numerous recipe templates and layouts.
It expands your functionality when compared to many of the free themes available.
To eliminate the need to set up your blog, choose a theme and make the right adjustments, engage my WordPress website design services.
You will cut down the time it takes to figure things out on your own. I will provide a complete well-designed recipe blog unique to your brand.
Reach out to learn more about my website design services.
5) Install the required plugins
The final step when setting up your recipe blog is to install key plugins. These work to enhance and extend the blog functions.
There are basic plugins that all blogs need and those that are specific to recipes. The plugins you need include:
Akismet spam protection
This examines all comments and eliminates any spam.
Yoast SEO
It is an SEO plugin that helps your content rank better on search engines.
Imagify
Since you’ll include a lot of images with your recipes, this tool makes the uploaded files lighter, speeding up your site.
WP recipe maker
It’s a must-have plugin that allows you to add any recipe to your post or page. It also allows the display of nutritional information.
WP Rocket
This is a premium plugin that speeds up your site through caching. It improves the blog’s page speed score and loading time.
Sassy social share
It allows your blog visitors to share your recipes on forums and social media such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Reddit, etc.
6) Write and publish blog content
Now you need to plan, write and publish your recipe content. Writing and publishing is a repetitive process.
You need to make a content plan to organize topics. This will allow you to keep a set schedule and eliminate the need to research every time you need to write.
Maintain a regular publishing schedule to build trust with your readers. You will also grow faster when you’re consistently publishing.
For success with your content, you need to:
Conduct topic research
Topic research allows you to identify the most popular topics with little to no competition. Don’t just write random recipes.
Make use of research tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Answer the Public. You can also utilize Auto Suggest and People Also Ask on Google.
Tools have an idea about what readers are looking for. Another way to find recipes to tackle is to research other recipe bloggers.
There are 10,000 keyword phrases you can target in the food niche that have low competition and traffic potential. Pick out a minimum of 100 topics to tackle.
Create topic clusters
The next thing is to group related topics and have topic clusters.
Grouping related recipes helps you to write faster and you can build authority around the topic.
For example, if your sub-niche is in Instant pot recipes, consider grouping chicken instant pot recipes. When you start writing, tackle all chicken recipes first before moving to the next food.
Write and publish regularly
Now get to writing. Ensure that the recipes are detailed.
Make use of visuals such as photos and videos to take the reader through the recipe.
Use simple language throughout the content. Remember to use the recipe plugin to enhance the appearance of your content.
7) Optimize your recipe blog for search engines
Make it easy for search engines to rank your content by employing key SEO practices.
Use appropriate headings and link-related content. The SEO plugin will guide you with what to do before you publish.
8) Promote, market, and grow your blog
There are thousands of recipe blogs on the internet.
To get people reading and using your recipes, you need to promote and market your blog as soon as possible.
Thanks to the many content-sharing platforms available, you can start promoting your blog easily. You can promote your blog content using:
Social media platforms
The easiest way to promote your recipes is by using social media sites such as Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
Create profiles for your brand and start sharing as you create the different recipes. Make sure to join groups on Facebook where other food enthusiasts reside.
Social media platforms allow you to share content, connect with an audience and build a community.
YouTube
If you’re able to record yourself creating dishes using your recipes, YouTube is a great platform to share your videos.
Your audience gets an option to follow your video tutorial, written recipe, or both. You just need to link the content and you’re all set.
Forums
There are many cooking, recipe, and food forums you can join to share recipes and have discussions around food.
You can search for niche groups in popular forums such as Reddit. Also, consider joining niche forums like discuss cooking.
Collaborate with other recipe bloggers
You can reach a wider audience by working together with other recipe bloggers in creating recipes, cooking challenges, etc.
Identify bloggers who are closely connected to your niche and reach out. The process may take time but can be worthwhile if you work with established bloggers.
9) Make money from your recipes blog
It’s now time to incorporate ways to start earning from the recipe blog.
The earning potential of recipe blogs is unlimited. You need to be creative and employ as many techniques as possible to enjoy several income streams.
Ways to make money from your recipe blog include:
Affiliate marketing
This involves recommending products and services to your readers and earning a commission from the sale.
You can recommend kitchen tools, appliances, or services in your recipes by including a link to the products.
Display Ad networks
Several ad networks allow bloggers to display ads and they pay them when blog visitors view these ads.
Ad networks you should use include Mediavine, Ezoic, AdThrive, and Monumetric. All these companies have traffic requirements except for Ezoic.
If you have sizeable traffic, you can make a good income just from ad revenue.
Sell recipe guides and e-books
Increase your income stream by selling digital products such as recipes. Create a simple and helpful product for your audience.
The key is to package the content properly and ensure that it meets their needs. It can be as simple as compiling your top recipes with bonus tips.
Offer cooking classes
You can offer cooking classes if you have a signature dish. The classes can be physical or online depending on demand.
Sell branded products
Another way to make money is by selling products branded with your logo and recipe-related quotes.
You can brand t-shirts, mugs, caps, or pens and sell them. You’ll need to create an e-commerce store to make it easier for people to order.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you start a recipe blog?
The process of starting a recipe blog is simple. You need to identify a specific niche, choose and register a domain, get hosting, install WordPress, and plugins.
Once you set up WordPress, you’ll need to add a theme and design your recipe blog. The final step is to create the recipes and promote them to gain traffic.
Is starting a recipe blog worth it?
Yes, starting a recipe blog is worth it. The recipe sector is a trillion-dollar industry with continuous growth, providing an opportunity for bloggers.
Are recipe blogs competitive?
Yes, recipe blogs can be competitive. However, you can create a successful recipe blog by focusing on a specific niche and conducting thorough topic research on recipes to tackle.
How do recipe bloggers get paid?
Recipe bloggers get paid through different avenues such as Check, direct deposit, Payoneer, and PayPal.
It all depends on the method of monetization and blogger preference.
