Did you know that 77% of food bloggers post at least once a week?
To keep up with the food blogosphere you need to be posting consistently.
Easier said than done?
I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be so hard.
I can help you:
Find a topic to write about.
Write content that people actually want to read.
Choose post content that will rank in google
Hook your reader in
Devise an easy food post blog template
End your post with a bang!
If you want all these things and more, do not fear. By the end of this article, you will be knocking out amazing food blog posts.
Choose Your Topic
Find something to write about
There’s a lot to think about when choosing your topic.
A good blog post should add value to the reader.
To do this, think about what your readers are looking for?
Do they need to solve a problem?
Perhaps they need a quick and easy version of a recipe. Are they looking for an honest review of a cooking gadget or utensil?
To help your blog post to rank on google you need to think of “niche” topics
Blog posts with a unique niche angle are more likely to rank better. But make sure you write about things that people are searching for.
Some niche ideas include recipes from a cuisine in a certain part of the world, dietary restrictions, improving on a classic recipe with a twist, specific diets such as Paleo and vegan dishes and new trends in cooking.
If you can find a gap in the market your blog posts are more likely to rank on google as they will have less competition. It’s about finding topics that people are searching for but which don’t have many blog posts yet.
Outline Your Post
Once you have your topic, it’s a good idea to outline your post.
An outline or template for your post makes it easier to write.
As you write more, you may have templates for different types of articles that you can use which will give you a specific outline.
For example, recipe posts may follow a specific format such as:
1.) An amazing photo of the finished product.
2.) An intro line to tell readers why they need to make the recipe (the hook)
3.) The ingredients
4.) The instructions
5.) More info:
(FAQs / ingredient substitutions/ serving suggestions/how long it keeps for etc)
6.) An insider tip to finish
Some posts are easier to outline for others. For example, How to posts and listicles are self explanatory.
If you’re writing about 10 secrets to make pastry making easier. Brainstorm a list of tips. Choose 10 as headings. And use these as the outline for your post.
The danger of not having an outline for your post is that you will end up losing focus and writing much more. Ultimately the blog post takes much longer to write, and most likely won’t be as easy to read or as good.
Killer Introduction
Your introduction is perhaps the most important part of the food blog post.
Did you know you have about 15 seconds to stop a reader hitting the back button? You have to write something that will hook them in straight away.
Some ways you can do this include:
– A short sentence
– A shocking statistic
– An interesting fact
– An intriguing question
– A surprising achievement
– An amazing claim
A short and sweet introduction is important for many food blog posts. Short killer lines that promise to solve a problem can be enough.
Need a quick, easy baking recipe for the kids? These cookies take 10 minutes to make and need just 4 ingredients. And they taste amazing!
Or
Did you know you can make chewy, melt in your mouth cookies in 10 minutes?
Sometimes you have to give the reader what they want to keep them.
I’ve clicked the back button on many recipe posts because there is a massive story before you get to the recipe. And guess what? I don’t want to read a story. I want to make a recipe. You can always write the story after.
The website I go to for most recipes has their recipes near the top of the post, so I can easily find and use it. Guess which blog is my starting point when I am looking for recipes? This one! I come back to it again and again because it delivers the information I want quickly and I can find it easily.
It can help to write your introduction last. This may not work for everyone but it works best for me!
Write for the Internet
Most people will scan articles on the Internet rather than read them word for word. Therefore, it’s important that your food blog post is easy to scan.
To do this make sure there are subheadings throughout the post so readers can easily pick out the content they want.
Your font shouldn’t be too small.
Short sentences and paragraphs work well.
Use bold to make sentences stand out.
Ensure there is lots of white space.
Images and photos can help break up the text.
5.) Write for Your Audience
Use a conversational tone
You don’t need to write formally for a blog post.
Your tone can be conversational. This can make it easier to write as well as read.
It’s also easier to build up a connection with your readers too.
This connection is everything. Connect by writing like a human. Treat your readers as equals.
Don’t worry about perfectionism. Write interesting stories and anecdotes that your readers can identify with and will teach them something.
Share your experiences, your mistakes and your flaws as well as your achievements.
Photographs
As you can imagine photographs of the food you are cooking, reviewing, dreaming about are important in a food blog.
People want to see the finished creation.
Images and photographs are also very important for SEO and social media.
Articles with images get 94% more views than those that don’t
Remember to add ALT tags to your blog posts. Doing this is very good for SEO and it makes your image searchable in google as well as the blog post.
Quite often images will rank in google before a blog post does.
You can name the photo the recipe name to help it rank in google.
Have a memorable conclusion
Don’t let your blog post fizzle out.
A boring summary is a bad way to end a blog post.
Save a surprising tip, a mind blowing stat, an amazing picture or something else new to leave your readers with.
A good conclusion will inspire or call the reader to action.
Writing how good a conclusion should be does set me up to fail at the end of this post! How can I end this blog post well after dispensing such advice?
Well, I will leave you with one word: Video
Why?
Adding video content to a blog is 50 times more likely to drive organic search traffic than plain text.
Think outside the box a little and win the food blog posting game!
