How to Create a Food Blog Website: A Full Guide + Tips For Growth
You want to share your culinary creations with the world. This is how you can create a food blog and recipe website.
We will use photos and guide you through the process of creating your very own food blog/recipe website.
In 4 Easy Steps, How to Create a Food blog
- You can set up a site domain (ie your own website address).
- Web hosting is the place where your website lives.
- Install a content management platform (ie, WordPress) to organize your information.
- It can be your recipe and food blog (ie, it can look and do whatever you want).
This is a lot like my guide to building WordPress-powered websites. However, it can be customized to meet your food and recipe needs.
Setting Up A Food Blog Domain
You can save money and make it easier in the future by purchasing your domain separate from your hosting. Domain selling and hosting are two distinct activities. Most companies do only one well and at a fair price.
I recommend namecheap (view plans here and review here) to purchase your domain name. They offer lower long-term prices and a better interface.
Go to Namecheap, search for the name that interests you, and then proceed with the checkout. No upsells are required. Your hosting company can provide everything you need.
*Note: If you already have domains with GoDaddy, that’s great! These instructions will also work for them.
Set up hosting for your food blog
It is crucial to choose a reliable web hosting company for your website. Web hosting companies can make it difficult with a lot of features, low prices (then high long-term costs), and promises of customer service.
There are hundreds of web hosting providers on the Internet. There is no “overall best”, but there is the best option for you and your situation . As you’re reading this guide, I will make some assumptions about your budget, performance, and other parameters. You can take the quiz.
Here are three companies I recommend. If you are interested, you can also check out my best web hosting reviews. These include HostGator and InMotion.
- – Very affordable all-around plans, particularly if you intend to install many WordPress websites. Good customer service & performance. They are great for smaller sites. Check out their plans with a 45% discount
- Web Hosting hub – Independently owned with beginner-focused customer support. Excellent plans at a great price with good performance and deep discounts over the long-term. View their plans with the current discount.
- Independently-owned, great customer service and a 90-day money-back guarantee. Plans with some limits are affordable and offer great performance. They can also grow as your site expands. They actually offer a hosting plan for this site. Their site is also available for screenshots. Check out their plans with a 53% discount.
This guide works for all three companies (and other), but the purchase and setup steps will be different for InMotion hosting. HostGator offers a few extra upsells and ads, but the overall experience is identical. Web Hosting Hub is nearly identical.
Step 1. Choose the hosting plan that best suits your needs.
Go to InMotion Hosting and look at their ‘Shared Hosting Plans’. Select the plan that you prefer. If you only have one or two ideas for websites, the Launch Plan is ideal. If you have multiple websites to launch, the Power Plan may be a good option. If you don’t want any limits, the Pro Plan is for you.
Next, enter your domain name and click Continue.
Step 2.
Fill in the fields on the checkout page and confirm your plan. The Max Speed Zone is what determines if your website is physically located in California or Virginia. This can be shaved a bit if you update the site frequently, but it should still be the correct default choice.
Although the Content Management Installer is useful, I prefer to choose “No, thanks” and have it installed after purchasing the hosting product (which will be done).
Step 3. Access your account & technical details.
Your account will take a few minutes to prepare. InMotion Hosting will send you an email that looks something like this after your account is ready.
After you have logged in to your account management panel go to the Account Tech Details.
Scroll down and you will see two “Nameservers”. Copy them. These will “connect your domain name to the hosting server.”
Step 4.
Copy the 1st & 2nd Nameservers and log in to the place where you purchased your domain names. Next, navigate to your Domain’s DNS section. Next, replace your current DNS with those provided by HostGator.
In GoDaddy, go to My Account-> Launch Domains-> Manage Domain -> select Set nameservers-> Select “I have custom nameservers” -> Copy the 1st and 2nd InMotion Nameservers.
Login to Namecheap. Select Domain. Select Manage. Select Manage. Select Custom. Place your nameservers there. Save changes.
This is how you set up hosting for your food blog. The last step is to install the blog software. We’ll cover this in the next section. Although it can take up to 24 hours for Domain Nameservers (DNS), the process usually takes less than 10 minutes, if you are in the USA.
How to Install and Configure Blog Software
Now that we have an address for our website and a location where it will live, we can start to set up a WordPress website. WordPress will be the software that powers your website. It must be installed on your web hosting server before WordPress can power your website.
This is how to install and configure WordPress.
QuickInstall for WordPress Installation
Although installing WordPress manually is possible, InMotion (and others) offers a free and secure way to install WordPress quickly on your new hosting account.
Step 1.
Return to your InMotion Account Management Panel. To go to your control panel (cPanel), click the link. This should log you into cPanel.
Yes, you can click on the link to “Install Popular Software”. However, that link will take you to cPanel through a different login screen. It is easier to directly go to cPanel.
Step 2.
Once you have logged in to the hosting cPanel, you will need to search for the icon “WordPress” or “Softaculous” then open it. This is what you’re looking at:
Step 3.
Continue by opening the WordPress auto-installer script and continuing.
Step 4. Enter website information into the installer.
Fill out the information and click on Install. Make sure your email address is correct. The field after / should be left blank. This is only for people who already have a website at the domain they wish to continue using. Once you have installed WordPress, enter your Blog Title. You can edit it later.
Step 5.
You are now done! Now you have a WordPress website.
Copy your username and password carefully. It will be sent to you by email.
And go login to your new WordPress site at http://[yourdomain.com]/wp-admin! To access login and other information, you can also check your email.
Set your URLs when you log in for the first time.
Now, you can move on to the design features. Let’s get on with the design aspects.
Creating Your Recipe and Food Blog
You now have your website. How do you create your own recipe or food blog? It’s easy to break it down into three issues.
First, you must tell the world that this website is a food site.
You will also need website functionality to present your recipes/food content in the best possible way. This includes rich imagery and printable recipes.
You need third-party visitors who are interested in food, recipes, and your unique view of the culinary world.
Let’s take a look at each one individually.
Design & Themes
WordPress is a content management system that allows you to create almost any design you want. It’s code speaks the same language as browsers (HTML/CSS). But you don’t need to write all of that code. WordPress makes it easy to install a ” template” premade design that you can customize to your liking.
WordPress offers many free designs. There are also some high-quality ones. Navigate down to Appearances >> themes from your Dashboard.
You can click around to see them all, then choose one and install it! They all meet certain coding requirements so you don’t need to worry about viruses and other bugs.
You can shop around for a premium theme if you are unable to find one or you want to purchase a better quality theme. There are many. These providers are a good place to start your search.
- StudioPress – These are the Genesis frameworks, which allow you to overlay skins or “child themes”.
- ThemeForest is the largest marketplace for independent designers. Many options at affordable prices.
- MOJO Templates Another big marketplace for independent designers.
- ElegantThemes High quality theme-builder.
This article provides a detailed guide to WordPress Themes.
Pro-tip: Do not get a theme just because it is a “food” or a “recipe” theme. These themes can be great sometimes, but they may just be a normal theme with preloaded food photos. Layout and flexibility are more important than anything.
Plugins and Functionality
Plugins are little bits of code that can be added to your site’s functionality. It is up to you and your goals. However, most food blogs have some functionality that plugins can be used to enhance. Here is my list of essential WordPress plugins every website should have (for instance, a solid security system, Google Analytics, etc).
These plugins can transform your blog into a recipe or food blog.
WP Ultimate Recipe
This is a great way to make recipe cards that fit into your posts. It is easy to create a recipe. Your readers can easily share, modify portions, and print it. It also automatically adds Schema Markup to allow search engines such as Google to show “Rich Snippets”, aka images w/ stars, in search results.
Compress JPEG and PNG Images
Lots of images are necessary for a site that is food-focused. This plugin compresses files without affecting the quality so your site loads quickly.
WP Canvas Gallery
This plugin extends WordPress’ built-in support of picture galleries to let you display images in many different ways. This plugin is not like NEXTGEN which focuses on the fundamentals and does not include frills. Because it integrates with WordPress’ existing image features, there won’t be much extra overhead.
Social Warfare
Stunningly light (i.e., fast) social media sharing plugin
Pinterest Pin it Button for Images
Pinterest is a great source of traffic for recipe websites and food blogs. This plugin will automatically add the Pin-It link to your images. It is both useful for readers and for your marketing strategy.
OptinMonster
This plugin is highly customizable for lead captures. It can be used to create pop-ups, scroll ins, and calls-to-action. It is very customizable and well worth the cost and learning curve.
YARPP
Displays “related posts box” beneath your posts. This plugin increases engagement and keeps people on your website. This plugin works well for food blogs and recipe websites. However, plugins of the Related Posts type can add weight to websites and slow down website speed.
WooCommerce (optional)
WooCommerce plugin is recommended if you plan to sell products on your website. You can find a complete guide here. You can sell physical products, such as cookbooks or ingredients, or virtual products (such as eBooks), through your website. It integrates seamlessly with WordPress, so you don’t need to use any third-party solution.
Marketing & Strategy
You probably don’t want people to visit your site unless you are recording recipes or ideas for your own personal use.
You don’t want just any traffic. You want people to be interested in your recipes, food and culinary ideas. Let’s break it down into three issues.
Audience
Which niche are you in? And for whom exactly? It’s difficult to be a generalist blogger with huge websites such as Yummly and AllRecipes.
Choose a targeted audience and create content for them.
Traffic Sources
The next step is to learn how to attract visitors from the traffic sources they use. Google Search is the best way to find recipes and food photos.
Google Search: I recommend you read my post about keyword research and keywords using the Yoast SEO plugin. Also, this post on Google Search Console.
Pinterest I recommend you read my article on Pinterest research.
The next step is to remain consistent and continue learning.
Time and Adjustment
You’ll gain a solid sense of what is working and what isn’t over time. Keep updating and publishing. Keep an eye on your analytics to learn about new traffic sources (Pinboard, StumbleUpon ).
