How to start a food blog and make money
Who else wants to know the groundbreaking secret of starting and profiting from food blogging? As a blogger, I get lots of messages from readers who ask me how to start and grow their blog overnight. So, if you are one of them, then here is the ultimate secret you need to know on how to start a food blog and make money easily.
Sometimes starting blogging about food can be very challenging for newcomers, especially when they are not technically good. I have helped a lot of readers start their blogs, this is why we are always asked how to start a food blog and make money from it. Today, we will show you a step by step guide on how to start a food blog and make money even without much technical skills.
Is it possible to generate money with a food blog?
Yes, it is possible. There are many food bloggers out there that are already making money off their blogs.
Let’s look at Mike Beripane’s food blogging story….
Mike was my high school friend who couldn’t afford money to go to college. Mike had a passion for food and in March 2019, I taught him how to start a food blog and he quickly realized that he could make money from his food passion.
But note that Mike wasn’t making enough income from his food blog in his first two months as he was still his job at the office working 9-5. After quitting his job and concentrating on his food blog for 1 month, he tripled his income. Today, Mike Beripane is making over $10,000 monthly, that’s 3 times the monthly income of his former 9-5 job.
This happened because he realized that having enough time to make quality and valuable content every day, rather than just weekends will pay off. According to Mike, life is what you bake it!
You need to find your path, be an entrepreneur, and grow your food blogging brand today. But note that Mike Beripane is not the only one that is successful with his food blog.
Now is your turn. You can do and achieve more if you follow this tutorial to the end.
We have lots of ways you can generate money via food blogging when you finally create yours, however, it depends on how you want to run your business. Below are a few of them:
- Selling eBooks with Your Recipes
- Display Ads Using Google AdSense
- Affiliate Marketing
- Selling ad spaces
- Publishing sponsored post
- Creating and selling food recipe videos
- And lots more.
Every step of this tutorial is very important. Follow this guide to start your WordPress food blog and learn to make money from it.
How to create your food blog in less than 5 minutes
1. Choose a domain name:
Visit www.Bluehost.com to register your domain name and get a hosting plan too. A domain name is an address to your blog (eg. JennifersFoodBlog.com, Finefoodgallery.com etc.) One of the first things needed when starting a food blog is to brainstorm on the name your blog will bear. Although, it can be difficult sometimes. But all that you need is just a simple domain name for your blog.
In case your chosen domain name is not available for you to use, don’t give up. You can even add numbers to the name. For instance, if my desired domain name (JennifersFoodBlog.com) is not available, you can add something else like figures (eg. JennifersFoodBlog55.com, FineFoodGallery247.com) until your domain name is available.
One advantage of Bluehost is that they give you a one-year free domain for your food blog as long as you purchase 12 months Bluehost web hosting plan. Remember that doing this will allow you to save some money from paying for your domain name registration. Well, great deal, isn’t it? Grab this deal on Bluehost fast!!!
2. Proceed to get a hosting account from Bluehost
Creating a food blog on Bluehost can be very simple. Here are the steps needed to start your food blog through Bluehost.
- Just visit Bluehost.com and then click the “Get Started Now” button.
- Go and choose the web hosting plan you would like ( If you are a beginner, I suggest you start with the least plan; you can always upgrade when you have grown).
- After that, enter the food blog domain name you have chosen and then sign up.
- Note that you will be asked to enter your personal and payment details.
- Now create your password but ensure the password is secured.
3. Install WordPress
Alright, I know probably this is the step that all of you have been waiting for. In case you want to begin a WordPress food blog on Bluehost then you should continue reading.
Installing a WordPress food blog on Bluehost is very simple, the reason is that Bluehost made it extremely simple to install a WordPress blog FREELY. Below is how simple it looks.
- After you must have chosen your web hosting plan and password, you will be guided on everything that you need to build your food blog by Bluehost.
- Next, pick a nice blog theme. You should choose any theme that fits your food blog niche. However, it can still be changed later or just go to the bottom side and skip this step.
- After that, click on “Start Building”.
- Note that you will be asked to choose Business or Personal on the next page.
- Once all is done, bravo! Now you have your WordPress food blog on Bluehost. Was it not simple? Of course, it was.
How to install & customize a WordPress food template for your new blog
A lot of newbie bloggers keep asking how to start a food blog and make money or how to install and customize a WordPress food template on Bluehost, so if you are also wondering how to do this, follow the simple steps below.
- Just visit your WordPress Dashboard, then on the left-hand side, you will find your main menu.
- Once you find it, then click on Appearance.
- You will be redirected to the Appearance section of your blog. Then choose Add New.
- Search for a new theme on WordPress then click the theme and it will be installed. You can then click Activate to automatically use your new theme on your blog.
For Those Who Need More Pro Features Should Buy Templates From Themeforest Or Mythemeshop Only
In case you want more flexibility and features on your blog template, then you need a third party theme. Just visit www.Themeforest.com or www.MyThemeShop.com to find an exclusive food recipe theme at an affordable price. After purchasing the theme, go and install it on your WordPress blog, just follow these steps:
- On the Appearance section, click Add New. Now you will have to select the option Upload Theme.
- Make sure that the theme folder is in zip format. After that, choose Browse and search the theme on your computer, and then click Install Now.
- Once the theme is installed, then click on the Activate button and your blog will appear with your new theme.
4. Start creating content for your food blog
Note that creating content happens to be an indirect method of monetizing your food blog. They say content is KING and it’s true. By creating good content, you will open gates of traffic to your food blog as well as improving your conversion rate that is if it is done correctly.
Just ensure you provide content that has value knowing that creating content is a good long-term strategy. You should consistently create hot, valuable content and appealing content about your food blog. Doing this will eventually land you some loyal readership and audience.
However, if you find it difficult to create quality content that is relevant to your food blog niche, then you can use the service of a freelance writer to get your content done quickly. To get a writer, just visit www.Fiverr.com, www.Upwork.com, etc.
5. Monetize your blog – How to make money with your food blog
Like I said earlier, there are lots of ways to generate income via food blogging which also depends on how you want to run your food blog business.
- Develop a Membership Sites
Create a membership website as your readers grow and make them join paying you a monthly or yearly fee. With this, you can charge them for accessing your content or some valuable information you can’t give out for free.
You can also offer other incentives such as member’s only products, special forums, guides, and groups. With this, you will make it worth their money.
- Make Money Selling Ebooks With Your Recipes
One effective way to make money through your food blog is to sell your digital downloadable products. You can also sell physical merchandise like t-shirts, mugs, printed books, etc.
However, to sell such things via your WordPress food blog, WooCommerce is needed. This is a plugin available on the WordPress platform which will add an online store on your food blog automatically when installed.
- Make Money With Display Ads Using Google Adsense And Others
One easy way to start making money from your food blog is via Google AdSense. This allows you the opportunity to display targeted advertisements inside your blog and make some money whenever your reader clicks on any ads.
Use Adblade: www.AdBlade.com is a premium ad network that accepts blogs with large traffic. This means as a beginner, this might not be ideal for you. But once you reach 500,000 monthly visitors, then join this platform.
Join Conversant: this platform www.ConversantMedia.com displays ads of 5,000 big brands which includes over 400 blue-chip companies.
- Make Money With Affiliate Marketing
Note that Affiliate marketing happens to be another strategy to generate additional income via your blog. You just need to add links to affiliate products via your food blog content. Anytime someone purchases any product through your link, you will be able to earn some commission.
However, you will first find affiliate products related to food. Just join Amazon’s affiliate program, then start recommending their products to your readers and earn commissions.
Other affiliate networks are:
Why we recommend only Bluehost service for starting a food blog.
There are reasons bloggers choose Bluehost for their food blog, and also, they are one of the best-paid web hosting providers. Here are some of the reasons why Bluehost is good:
- They are easy to use. Bluehost has all the tools needed to start a WordPress food blog the easy way.
- They also offer technical support.
- Bluehost is very affordable allowing you to start a WordPress food blog starting at just $2.75 per month.
- Bluehost offers you a FREE blog domain.
- Bluehost WordPress installation is FREE.
- Bluehost offers you a money-back guarantee in case anything goes wrong and you want a refund.
- If you want to monetize your food blog, then Bluehost allows you to self-host your blog.
- They will make your food blog to look professional to your readers.
Reasons you need Bluehost paid plan for your food blog instead of the free WordPress hosting
In case you are wondering whether to use Bluehost or WordPress free hosting for your food blog, we recommend Bluehost paid web hosting. This is because Bluehost happens to be one of the best web hosting companies in the world and lots of bloggers are having a better experience with their services.
Note that there are lots of differences between Bluehost and WordPress free hosting services. You need to know that WordPress happens to be one of the most popular CMS in the world. However, their free hosting services can’t be compared to Bluehost. www.Bluehost.com is one of the best web hosting providers in the world that even www.WordPress.org themselves recommend them to blog owners over their platform.
There are lots of reasons Bluehost is WordPress number 1 recommended paid hosting platform. This is because of their ease of use as the company provides 1-click WordPress Installation for FREE allowing you to get your food blog up and running in less than 5 minutes.
Another reason is the Bluehost pricing plan. WordPress may seem cheaper to you but will end up being expensive than Bluehost. Bluehost on the other hand offers four packages, which ranges between $2.95 and $13.95 per month.
Bluehost has a very cheap entry point when you compare them with most of the other big hosting providers and WordPress.
Another reason is that Bluehost is a lot more open allowing you the ability to use any CMS you want. Note that we recommend you use Bluehost for your food blog because Bluehost provides affordable hosting services and also helps you set up your food blog in a few minutes.
Bluehost offer beginners a one-click WordPress installation, meaning you can create your food blog in less than 5 minutes.
So, what are you waiting for?
Head up to www.Bluehost.com and sign up for an account and start a food blog and make money today. You will be able to get freebies when you sign up now such as a free domain, free food template, free plugins, and a free WordPress tool, and lots more.
However, this offer is limited to people that will sign up today, so hurry up and visit www.BlueHost.com
