Now that you have created your blog, what do you do next? Here are some basic blogging tips to help grow your blog.
1) Post quality content, regularly
Post quality content and post regularly. Set yourself a posting schedule so that you are posting consistently. For example, plan to on Tuesday and Friday. It gives your readers an idea of what to expect. Posting 2-3 times a week is a good number. Don't make your readers wait a month between posts.
I use the Epic Blog Planner to plan my posts. There is enough room to plan for the entire year and makes my life sooo much easier! I highly recommend it.
2) Improve your food photography
Your photos are what draws people to your website. The better your photos, the more views your posts will get. The formula is that simple.
I highly recommend the Tasty Food Photography e-book to help improve your food photography. This book contains tons of tips and tricks to make your food photos stand out and attract more viewers.
3) Submit your photos to foodie submission websites
Once your photography improves, foodie websites will accept your submissions to their websites. This will drive more people to your website. It's basically free advertising.
Foodie websites to submit to include:
4) Advertise on social media
I share every blog post on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest. Make sure you have social media icons to allow your readers to follow you on social media sites easily. I use the Simple Social Icons plug-in for the social media buttons on my side bar.
Use Pinterest! Pinterest is HUGE for blog traffic. I highly suggest creating special Pinterest photos for your posts. This means creating a photo that contains both text and images to make the pin look nicer to draw more people in. See some examples on my Pinterest board.
5) Keep learning and connect with other bloggers
The way to grow your blog is to never stop learning. If you keep researching different resources and ideas on blogging, the only thing that you can do is to improve. Connect with other blogs and leave comments. Gain inspiration from others who have been in the business for much longer that you have.
Food Blogger Pro is an amazing resource with a ton of information on food blogging including food photography tips, making your blog grow and monetizing your blog. Subscribe monthly to access this information.
6) Monetize your blog
Make money from your blog.
- Set up ads. This is the easiest way to make money by doing nothing! I highly recommend an Ad Network like Gourmet Ads. They make it so easy!
- Join affiliate programs
- Work with companies to create sponsored posts
- Freelance photography
How to Monetize your Food Blog is an essential e-book that teaches you how to make money from your blog. It is full of tips on how to achieve success in these areas (eg. ads, affiliate programs, sponsored posts).
Media Kit: This media kit helps you summarize your blog on a pdf template to help you "sell" your blog to companies that you want to work with (scroll down to the bottom of the linked website).
Don't have a food blog yet? Learn how to get started today!
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These are some very good tips. In food particularly, I think pictures are extremely important.
The photos on a food blog carry so much power. They are critical for sure but they also seem to take a ton of practice and effort.
These are great ideas!