So, you want to become a food blogger?

All of us love food, right? While some of us get to just taste the food, some people write about the experience and share it with the rest of the world: food bloggers. A food blogger is someone who gives their honest opinion about food or shares amazing recipes. Food blogs are not only popular, but also a great online business that you can start from home.

While many people think that food blogging is easy, the truth is that just like anything in life, you have to put in hard work and be consistent. You need to know that it takes planning, following up, and persistence to be successful.

Step by step guide for food bloggers

Do you want to start an awesome food blog but don’t know where to start? We’ve assembled a step by step guide, along with examples of blooming food bloggers in the region that will help inspire you to start your journey as a food blogger.

Decide the type of your food blog
Choose a blog name
Get your domain name
Create your blog
Start publishing amazing content
Market your blog

Decide the type of your food blog

The first step is to choose your food blog’s type. Choose a niche that you are interested in like gluten-free, kid’s meals, vegan or fast food restaurants review. You can also specialize in a type of food such as chocolate, meat or bakery. Just make sure the niche you choose is specific enough for your blog to stand out, and broad enough for you to create tons of content.

Choose a blog name

Choose a name that best describes your blog and represents your business. Choosing a blog name is one of the most important decisions that you’ll have to make. Keep your blog name short and catchy, so people can remember it easily.

For example, if you’re a bakery blogger based in Dubai you can call your blog “Bake X Dubai” or if you recreate recipes with a healthy approach you can call it “Healthy and Yummy”. You can call your blog after your own name, the city you live in or the niche you specialize in, the options are unlimited. Be creative.

Get your domain name

The first step to set the online identity of your blog is to get a domain name. You’ll have to pay for it and it will cost a few dirhams. You can buy a domain through GoDaddy and choose a domain extension that best fits you like .kitchen, .cooking or .recipes.

Create your blog

Now that you’ve chosen the blog’s type, name and purchased a domain; you’re ready to build the blog. You have two options; either hire a web designer - which can be costly - or build it yourself, which isn’t that hard.

If you’re looking to build your own blog yourself, you can create a beautiful and functional one using WordPress. You’ll need a reliable WordPress host like GoDaddy’s WordPress Hosting which comes with pre-built sites and drag & drop page editor for beginners and automatic WordPress core software and security updates. Then install WordPress - it's free -, connect your domain to your blog, install a theme with a clean and simple design and voila you’re ready.

You can also check this article that has a step by step guide to start a blog in 19 minutes.

Start publishing amazing content

You’re done with setting up a pleasant and functional blog? It’s about time to start publishing some content. We have a couple of tips for you to create unique and engaging content that will keep visitors coming back:

Take mouthwatering photos and videos: There’s a saying that says: eyes eat before the mouth. For food blogs or restaurant reviews; the photo of a dish is a crucial factor for your readers. Sometimes readers will read a recipe just because it looks delicious, they may even decide to try it out just because it looks appealing. Before you publish your first piece of content, you can check some online videos about food photography or may even enroll in a food photography course. Taking some time to conceptualize and plan your dish is worthy. You may even go the extra mile and shoot a video of the recipe to showcase the steps and upload it. And remember to always post the best pictures that you take.

Post regularly and consistently: You can choose the frequency of the content you post, whether it’s once a day, once a week, or once a month. Just make sure your content is both regular and consistent. Readers like to know that you post regularly and helps them know when to return to your blog for new posts.
Develop your own recipes: Copying or adapting others’ recipes isn’t a great idea, especially if you’re trying to stand out and create unique content. Developing your own recipes is a fantastic way to catch the reader’s eyes.
Be authentic and different: Authenticity and genuineness will make your blog shine. Our tip for you is to stay true to your thoughts, your blog should reflect your personality and to always keep your blogging tone sincere.

Market your blog

Now that your blog is up and running and you’re publishing articles on a regular basis, how will people know about your blog? How will they find it? How can you drive traffic to your blog? You should develop a marketing plan and strategy to help drive traffic to your blog and to spread the word about it. Here are some marketing techniques that you can use:

Optimizing your blog for the search engines: Read about and learn search engine optimization (known as SEO). If you’re using WordPress we recommend installing the Yoast plugin to help you optimize every post for search engines. You can also check this guide for writing a search friendly blog content. This way your content will organically rank in the search engines.
Consider email marketing: Start collecting your audience’s email addresses to build a mailing list. Once you’ve put together a decent list, start sending out monthly, biweekly or weekly newsletters to keep your readers up-to-date on the content that you publish, blog news or latest updates. GoDaddy has an email marketing service that helps you create and track emails that integrate with your website, all plans include mobile friendly design and professional templates.
Be active on social networks: Your first step should be setting up social media accounts such as: Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram to share your articles and recipes. Ask yourself: where do my potential readers gather? When it comes to creating social media content to market your blog, the sky's the limit. You can post delicious pictures of your recipes, a step by step video, Fun facts or food contests.

5 Food bloggers that you can follow for inspiration

Let’s explore five well-established food bloggers in the region that you can follow to motivate and inspire you through your own journey.

Dima Sharif:

Dima is a Dubai-based Food Artisan and she’s the author of multi award-winning cookbook ‘Plated Heirlooms’. She shares her culinary journey, her recipes and her company’s activities & news in her website. She also has an online shop called “Mooneh” that offers artisanal goodies. She doesn’t only post recipes in her blog, she also writes reviews, comparisons between cuisines and culinary tips and tricks.

But First Chai:

Famidha - the founder of But First Chai- is an Indian expat who’s currently living in the UAE. Her blog has an international feel to it and the recipes are very versatile and diverse. From breakfast recipes, ice creams to stews and soups her blog is very informative. Besides her regular blog posts, she also started a globe cooking challenge where she cooks a meal from each country around the world and publishes the recipe.

Foodie & Fabulous:

Foodie & Fabulous is Rupal Bhatikar. She’s a passionate home-cook with a curiosity for cuisines, cultures, documenting delicious food & travel adventures, nominated for Best UAE Blogs at Masala Awards and Ahlan Awards 2015 and named one of the top 15 influential foodies on social media according to HotelierMiddleEast.com. She posts mouthwatering recipes and her travel diaries about eating experiences in different countries.

Kitchen Keys

Sara started her career as a food blogger back in 2015 and ever since she’s been posting yummy recipes in her blog. Aside from her blog, her social media accounts are dedicated sharing her cooking experiences and reviews about restaurants and culinary utensils.

EAT . SLEEP . DUBAI . REPEAT:

Yasir Chaudhry is a self-proclaimed expert on everything that Dubai has to offer. His blog has an eye-catching design along with vibrant and vivid imagery. He has an amusing and humorous tone that will keep you entertained.

You’ll notice that all the food bloggers that we’ve mentioned keep an updated and functional blog. They also have a strong presence on social media platforms to market their blog and to help them drive traffic. We hope that the step by step guide and the tips mentioned will help you launch your food blog successfully.