- \n
- 40aprons.com \u2013 $31,000\/month<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- midwestfoodieblog.com – $23,000\/month<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- stephaniessweets.com \u2013 $20,375\/month<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
If you want to learn how to start a food blog, you\u2019re in the right place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authority Hacker has over a decade of experience building profitable blogs<\/a>, and we\u2019ve broken down the complexity of starting a food blog into 10 simple, actionable steps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nHow to Start a Food Blog in 10 Steps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Here are 10 steps you can follow to start your very own successful food blog today and make money \ud83d\udc68\u200d\ud83c\udf73.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1<\/em> Narrow Down Your Food Niche<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The food blog niche is very competitive, so \u201cniching down\u201d into a more focused topic can make it easier to succeed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not only will you rank better on search engines due to increased topical authority, but it can also help build a following through more focused branding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Food Niche Examples<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are many ways you can niche down, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Type of cuisine (Italian)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Type of food (Seafood)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Location (New Orleans)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Dietary restrictions (Nut-free)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Cooking methods (Air frying)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Occasions (Picnic food)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s important you\u2019re passionate about the sub-niche you choose. It\u2019s okay if you\u2019re not an expert, but true success in food blogging requires participating in your niche. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One non-expert success story is that of Chocolate Covered Katie, a food blogger who dropped out of college<\/a> to focus on her blog full-time. <\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"chocolate](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/chocolate-covered-katie-food-blog-1024x512.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nFrom her humble beginnings, she\u2019s grown her blog to nearly 1,000,000 pageviews per month and has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Fox, and other television networks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Research Your Target Audience and Sub-Niche<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once you’ve chosen a few potential sub-niches, it\u2019s time to qualify your research with hard data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best way to do this is to examine successful food blogs and see which niches other food bloggers are succeeding in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s how you can identify profitable food blogs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Make a list of blogs in your prospective niche. <\/strong>You can find them by searching Google for keywords you might write about. For example, if I were making an air frying food blog, I could search for \u201cbest air fryer recipes\u201d and see if any air frying blogs show up. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Check how much organic traffic the blog is getting. <\/strong>You can use the Semrush<\/a> tool to find traffic estimates. Sign up for their 7-day free trial, go to the Traffic Analytics section in the left menu, and analyze the websites you find.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n
\n![\"semrush](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/semrush-food-blog-traffic-1024x412.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nThat\u2019s it! Food blogs are pretty easy to monetize through display ads, so if a blog is getting significant traffic, you can consider it a success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can\u2019t find any successful blogs in your prospective niche \u2014 but still think it might be a winner \u2014 use Google Trends<\/a> to gauge the topic\u2019s popularity in the organic Google search results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s simple. Just go to Google Trends, type in your niche \u2014 potentially with a qualifier like \u201crecipes\u201d at the end to make sure you weed out non-food related searches \u2014 and see how much traction it gets. <\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"google](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/google-trend-search-for-food-keywords-1024x475.webp\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nYour target audience will likely be the United States, so select the United States as your location. You can also look at a 5-year window to see if the niche is rising or falling in popularity. <\/p>\n\n\n
\n\n\ud83d\udca1 Pro Tip:<\/strong> Compare your niche against other niches you\u2019re considering to see which has a higher traffic ceiling. <\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n2<\/em> Choose a Blogging Platform<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Now that you\u2019ve chosen your niche, it\u2019s time to choose your blogging platform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I recommend WordPress<\/a> \u2014 out of the top 1 million sites, 28.8% use WordPress<\/a>, and for good reason. It\u2019s free, highly customizable, and easy to use. Plus, it has many third-party plugins that enhance your site’s functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"wordpress](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/wordpress-usage-statistics.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nYou can<\/em> use any platform you want, but I must warn you that this guide is written with WordPress in mind, so much of it will be of little use if you choose another platform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For alternatives, check out our guide to the best blogging platforms.<\/a> Assuming you choose WordPress, you\u2019ll install it once you get a web host, which we\u2019ll get to in a little bit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Check how much organic traffic the blog is getting. <\/strong>You can use the Semrush<\/a> tool to find traffic estimates. Sign up for their 7-day free trial, go to the Traffic Analytics section in the left menu, and analyze the websites you find.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n
- Make a list of blogs in your prospective niche. <\/strong>You can find them by searching Google for keywords you might write about. For example, if I were making an air frying food blog, I could search for \u201cbest air fryer recipes\u201d and see if any air frying blogs show up. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- midwestfoodieblog.com – $23,000\/month<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
![\"food](\"https:\/\/www.authorityhacker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/food-blog-domain-name-example-1024x650.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n