WordPress Food Blogging

WordPress Food Blogging

WordPress food blogging is an easy way to express that culinary creativity lurking in all of us. Whether your a die hard foodie or just want bragging rights for Granny’s recipes, a food blog will get it all out there. So, let’s take a look at some ideas for kick starting your own. And it works equally for an existing blog as well as a scratch blog.

Assuming you already have a WordPress installation set up, you’ll need a good plugin to really get things going. I’m recommending the plugin approach instead of just typing a recipe into the WordPress editor. This let’s you create, not code. Other things you might want to consider is a decent camera for photo’s. Doing videos won’t hurt either. With that in mind, let’s look at plugins.

As a 10 year food blogger, I’ve looked at about every recipe plugin available. Unfortunately most of them either died on the vine or were abandoned. One stood out which was the WordPress Ultimate Recipe Plugin from Bootstrapped Ventures. If you’re really serious about creating a food blog with recipes, this is a must have. And there is a free version to try out.

Installation is typical for a WordPress plugin. Just do a search in the Add New pane and click the install link. Hit the activate now link, and you’re ready for your first recipe.

Before you start in adding recipes, take some time and read the tutorials. Also familiarize yourself with the various plugin settings. The learning curve is fairly steep and the more time spent upfront pays off in the end. In particular, keep an eye on your ingredient list(s). If you’re just starting, try adding some common ingredients and grouping them accordingly. You of course can add them on the fly, just be consistent. Importing recipes is another story entirely, and beyond the scope of this article.

Another item to consider is SEO. As Google has a new recipe category, which is handled well by the plugin, make sure you complete all the fields associated with the recipe. If you’re using analytics for your site, Google will give you gentle nudges if you don’t. The video field can be problematic if you don’t have videos associated with the recipe.

Overall, for the cost there isn’t anything equal to this plugin, at least that I’ve uncovered. But don’t take my word for it. Head on over and give the free version a try. Upgrading isn’t a problem with an annual subscription and there’s a discount for paying early. Totally recommended if you take food blogging seriously. Also recommended is looking at WordPress Recipe Maker, their latest version.

Bon Apitit.