I started a food blog in 2011. I always enjoyed baking and loved sharing pictures of my cookies and cupcakes on Facebook with my friends and family. I followed food blogs and loved the idea of using a blog as a way to share my family recipes—a personal little online outlet for cookies, if you will. I love to write, I love to take pictures, and I love to bake. A baking blog felt like the perfect hobby. But how on earth do I create one?
You Need a Website Platform
There are many options for website platforms these days. I did my research and chose Wordpress.com as my hosted blog platform. This means my website’s URL was initially www.sallysbakingaddiction.wordpress.com.
What is Self Hosting?
There’s a very big difference between a hosted blog and a self-hosted blog. The hosted solution is where a company houses and maintains your blog on its servers. It frees you from the stress of manually backing up your site and updating your software. And it’s free. Not knowing how much time I’d have to dedicate to Sally’s Baking Addiction, I chose the hosted solution. Within four months, I wanted more leverage, more design control, more freedom, and the ability to install third party advertising on my site so I could earn money and maybe one day call this my job? That was my goal. I wanted a more professional URL (without the .wordpress) and I wanted to own my domain—sallysbakingaddiction.com. I wanted the ability to install my own plug-ins, which are the little design bells and whistles you see on my site. I purchased my own domain through GoDaddy before switching to a self-hosted solution. After 4 months using wordpress.com to host my blog, I transferred to a self-hosted blog through wordpress.org so I could allow my blog to really take off. There is no right or wrong choice when you are considering a hosted blog or a self-hosted blog. It all depends on what your goals are. To take total control of your blog with endless customizations, a custom domain, and so many plug-ins to choose from, I highly suggest bypassing the hosted option and head straight for self-hosting.
The Bluehost Solution
I self-hosted my website through Bluehost in the beginning. Bluehost has the cheapest prices around and you can register your domain name for FREE. At the time, I paid $6.95 per month to host my site. The whole hosting-domain stuff can be quite confusing at first, but Bluehost will be more than happy to walk you through anything. I highly, highly recommend them. After Bluehost, I switched to WP Engine. They are my current host. To self-host your blog, you need a host server like BlueHost or WP Engine AND you need to install a blogging software. Installing and configuring your own blogging software is very serious stuff to understand and implement. To save myself from the headache trying to figure out .zip files and configure scripts (???), I hired help. Wordpress.org does offer a 5-minute install guide but even step 1 left me confused. To avoid completely breaking my blog, I paid a web designer for help and a seamless transition.
Wordpress Plug-ins Include:
For Wordpress users – once your blog is self-hosted, you’ll be able to add in little bells and whistles all over your pages. These are called plug-ins and they can extend the functionality of your blog. There are so many available and most are free.
Akismet – Akismet guards my blog from spam comments. As your site grows, this plug-in is crucial or else you will be monitoring thousands of spam comments on your own and ultimately go insane! Related Posts Thumbnails – The bottom of each of my posts always have tiny thumbnails with links to similar posts or recipes. Based on the recipe category, similar posts are chosen at random to display at the bottom. It’s another easy & effortless tool to advertise your other posts.
Website Design
My website has gotten many facelifts over the years. I began with sweet Lindsay from Purr Design in 2013. She’s made several design updates over the years and I highly recommend her talent and services. She designed my logo! In 2018, I launched a major redesign with Southern Web, who is also my monthly tech support. There are so many talented website designers and helpful tech support teams. Do your research to find a good match.
Two Things to Consider
Before you start a food blog, I encourage you to consider these:
Dedication. How dedicated are you to your new blog? I was not sure if the whole blogging thing would work out for me given my schedule limitations and commitments. Within a few months, I realized how much I enjoy blogging and how much time I am willing to dedicate to it. I immediately wanted to take it to the next level. I wish that I began my blog as a self-hosted site, but starting with a free blog from wordpress.com allowed me to get my feet wet before taking the self-hosting plunge. As of April 2013, my full time job is my blog! Budget. If you are looking to significantly increase your traffic and really make a career out of food blogging, you have to make an investment in your site. Paying for a web designer, paying for a server, paying for technical support, etc. Then there is the camera, lenses, food props, groceries, etc. You may, of course, design and maintain your blog on your own but being quite tech-clueless, I opted to pay for help in the technical area. If you truly dedicate yourself to your blog, the money invested into the start of your blog will be paid back to you plus more. I have made a career out of my blog through consistent hard work.
Don’t Be Intimidated
Don’t let the millions of other bloggers out there intimidate you as you take the blogging plunge. What began as a mere way to share my recipes with my friends has grown into something that now means the world to me. I still remember the first day I reached 100 site views. Then 1,000. And it still makes me smile to read an email, a picture, or a comment from a reader saying they made and enjoyed one of my recipes. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there in a very large food blogging community, but there is room at the table for YOU and what YOU have to offer. 🙂 Check out my other blogging pages:
Blogging Strategies: Quality Content Food Photography Basics Food Blogging as a Career
