Food blogs are money-making machines! Whether you are a restaurant owner looking to promote your business, a cookbook author writing a future bestseller, or an emerging foodie influencer, running a food blog is a great way to build and monetize your audience. The most successful bloggers in the niche are earning more than $7 million a year! But the competition is fierce. If you are going to start a food blog, follow expert advice and avoid costly mistakes. Let’s take a look at the top 8 ways to increase your food blog revenue.
Recipe Templates
Recipe cards became popular with American housewives almost 80 years ago. Since then little has changed, except that most people prefer to look for templates online instead of making cards by hand. These cards usually include the recipe itself, a list of ingredients, and preparation instructions. If you a looking for an easy-to-use recipe template Google Docs is a great option. Cards designed using Google Docs can be hosted on any blogging platform easily. If you give your visitors a nice little freebie like a recipe card, you will increase their loyalty and tempt them to come back for more. Selling custom-designed templates is another option if you want to make a few bucks.
Engaging On Social Media
Don’t wait for food lovers to come to your site, engage with them on social media! You don’t have to spread yourself thin trying to get on every platform. Focus on the sites where your target audience prefers to spend most of their time. YouTube is leaning towards the male demographic, while Pinterest and Instagram are great platforms for engaging with your female audience. If your blog is aimed at teenagers, TikTok is the place to be.
Curating Content
Producing tons of original content in the food niche can be tough. But your audience is not always looking for unique ways to make bacon and eggs, so to speak. What they often need are tried and true tips, hints, shortcuts, and interesting facts about different cuisines. You can source these tidbits from cookbooks, and other blogs, packaging them for your audience. It’s a win-win situation, as you will be promoting both your blog and other people’s work. Most people don’t want to spend hours looking for this information on different sites. If you will compile it for them into an easily digestible list (pun intended), they will be grateful and become regular visitors.
Using a CDN
Food blogs require a lot of photos and videos. If you want them to load fast, use a content delivery network. A CDN will make your blog more accessible to people around the world, and it will also improve your search engine rankings. When you move your blog to a CDN, a copy of your website is loaded from the data center closest to the user. It reduces bounce rates, making your blog URL appear higher in the search results.
Connecting To Ad Networks
Advertisers love food blogs. There are dozens of ad networks, that you can connect to your website and create additional revenue streams. On average, food blogs can generate $18 per 1,000 page views per month. You don’t have to create a huge blog about everything. Focus on a popular niche and turn your page views into cold, hard cash.
Affiliate Marketing Opportunities
Since the Pandemic hit, most food-related businesses have moved online and stayed there. Online cooking classes, food delivery, subscription boxes, nutrition plans – partner with these businesses or create your own and promote it. More and more people are used to buying products and courses online, and selling them has never been easier.
Using Food Directories
If you run a takeout business or partner with one, use popular directories like Google My Business to list your website. A lot of customers are using them to compare prices, delivery time, and ordering options. You can edit your listing to include a direct link to your online ordering system. You can also promote your page on social media. Whether you want to share your menu updates or other business-related news, the ordering link can be included in every post.
Focusing On Your Niche
If you run a brick-and-mortar restaurant, a cooking course, or a takeout business, focus on your local community first. Even in the age of online orders, most people prefer to buy food and related products locally, if they have the option. The delivery will also be faster and the food will stay fresh. Social media sites like Facebook allow you to create targeted ads. You can tailor them to a specific location or a demographic.
Similarly, when writing blog articles or creating videos, focus on a single niche, like family meals, veganism, baking for kids, grilling, smoothies, or recipes for busy moms. Once you have built a relationship with your key audience, you can expand into neighboring niches.
