Running a food blog is in simple terms, just another small business. Like all businesses, food blogs should have multiple income streams. Not only does this earn you more money each month, it ...
Blog
Rethinking the Nav Menu
Last year we updated the header/logo, making it simpler to manage for food bloggers, and correcting some faux-pas, like hidden off-screen text. We've continued listening to feedback and monitoring ...
Why we removed the banner-top on mobile
Modern versions of the themes have the "Before Header: Newsletter" widget area set to display:none; on mobile. This is an update to bring the themes in-line with search engine requirements to provide ...
Disclosures for Food Bloggers
Food bloggers that take compensation (in any form) for promoting content are legally obligated to disclose it. This can include: moneyfree productsfree trials or subscriptionsquid pro quo ...
Food Blog Site Structure
A good site structure helps search engines understand and crawl content, and it helps visitors find related recipes. As of 2019, we recommend a simpler website structure that will save bloggers ...
Genesis 2.6.0 Search Menu Disappeared
Studiopress pushed out version 2.6.0 with extensive changes. Among these, they've "deprecated" the search function - among others - which has been around for quite some time. This means that ...
About Theme Updates
We'll clarify some questions and concerns customers have had about updating themes - why there's been so much recently, and whether or not you should update. The two main points are: Your ...
Configure the classic theme category Pages
If you're using the Feast Plugin ignore this tutorial. This tutorial covers how to configure the category pages (formerly known as the "content archives") for all themes: Foodie ProBrunch ...
What am I paying for with a theme?
We'll outline what the role of a theme is here, and what you've paid for when purchasing a theme. What does my $75 - $125 pay for? When you purchase a theme, you're making a small payment to ...
Should I remove content?
The following is a Facebook post from Casey Markee on the topic of deleting vs. re-writing content. We've republished it here with his permission. It's amazing how much incorrect and just plain ...
Future of Food Blogging
Food blogging has come a long way in the past few years, and I'm sad to say that our themes had fallen behind the times. These will be the changes moving forward: Mobile is King Most customer ...
Feast Design Co. Has Acquired the Cookbook Recipe Plugin!
We recommend everybody migrate to WP Recipe Maker! Not a day goes by that we don't get asked about recipe plugins. This is something that's critical to food blogging and therefore, something we ...
Paywalled Recipe Posts
A popular avenue for large, long-established editorial sites is to create a paywall for their content. A paywall is a feature that blocks visitors from accessing content on your site (like a wall), ...
How to Write a Recipe Post
There are days when writing is a breeze, and others where the words just don't flow. In both cases, having a structure to work off and knowing what's important to answer helps the flow so that you can ...
Foodie Rates for Recipe Development, Sponsored Posts
A common question we get is: How do I set rates for my freelance work? The all-encompassing answer is: whatever the market will pay. We'll address the issue of creating sponsored posts for a ...
Rethinking the Featured Image
This has been completed, and rolled into the Modern Thumbnails. It was recently brought to our attention in July 2019 that Google's requirements for featured images have changed on articles and ...
Category Pages Need Content
An often overlooked part of creating a food blog is the category pages, which double as recipe indexes, grouping recipes that share certain characteristics. Actually, this is a mistake that almost ...
SEO for Food Bloggers
Our themes come pre-designed for SEO as best as they can be, but we cover only a fraction of what it takes to compete in search in rankings. Functionality does not belong in themes. SEO features ...
Font Styling
This post is outdated and should not be used or implemented. As of 2020, we no longer recommend any custom fonts on food blogs due to CLS, pagespeed and potential accessibility issues. Instead, all ...
The Feast Plugin
The Feast Plugin completely replaces your theme setup with a rewritten modern standard, built not just around aesthetics, but also making giant leaps in: SEOpagespeeduser ...
Copyrights
This post reflects our current understanding of copyrights within the recipe industry at the time of writing. It is not legal advice. Always consult with a lawyer. As a content creator online, you ...
When should I start using ads?
Broadly speaking, we don't recommend adding ads until you qualify for Mediavine or AdThrive. Why? The pay out just isn't worth it. While it can be enticing to think you can start to "cover ...
Rethinking the Header
Update 2019/05/14: we'll be taking this another step further in 2019 with rethinking the nav menu. Update 2019/12/01: this has been completed and released as the Modern Mobile Menu Update ...
Food Blog Sitelinks
Probably one of the least capitalized-on opportunities for food bloggers is sitelinks. What are sitelinks? The Feast Plugin Sitelinks inserts navigation code into your page's content, adding ...
Theme Update Philosophy
We've had some questions about why certain features are implemented, or modified, or dropped when it comes to theme updates. There are a number of factors that go into the decisions, but the most ...
Protected: Food Blogging for Fun and Profit
This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: ...
Food Blogging Trends
Visitor Participation What do all the top recipes in the search engines have in common? High visitor engagement. This isn't a coincidence - factors such as time on page, and pages-per-session are ...
heart_this Removed from Cook'd Pro
Why was it removed? The heart_this plugin was developed as a styling element for Cook'd Pro, which was removed from version 4.0.0 released on December 21, 2018. The issue was that nothing it ...
Configure the Category Pages
This tutorial covers how to use the fields on the "edit category" page for each category. The how to use categories tutorial covers best practices for categories overall. Setting the category ...
Holiday Foodie Gift Guide: Our Top Picks
Want to give a cookbook? Learn how you can (quickly) make your own here. Food gifts are underrated. And we can probably thank fruit cakes for that. But, let's look at the facts. Everyone eats ...
Here’s a Holiday Gift Idea: Why Not Publish a Food Blog Cookbook?
Have you made your Christmas shopping list yet? Let me guess. Golf balls for Dad? A new pair of kicks for hubby? Maybe a Sephora gift card for your best friend? Yeah. Okay. Maybe that's ...
Best Food Blog Designs of 2022
What makes a food blog great? Loads fastGreat design that highlights contentRecipes that are focused around a theme or topicPictures of the food for reference (and to drool over) Our themes get ...
Classic Recipe Index Page Layout
Note: we highly recommend setting up the Modern Recipe Index using the Feast Plugin instead. WARNING: Recipe index pages are "thin content" pages and should be no-indexed to avoid a low-quality ...
Food Photography
Looking to outsource your food photography? Check out these ...
Why Should I have an Editorial Calendar? Food Blogging Tips You Need
In the early stages of food blogging, many people are recipe-dependent. You add flair here and there but rely on recipes to learn new techniques and explore flavors. But as you hone your skill, you ...
3 Tips for Food Bloggers to Avoid Marketing Burnout
Avoiding your computer's gaze, so you don't have to edit one more image? Have a post ready but can't bring yourself to write the caption and hashtags for Instagram? Sure, you could be stressed. Or ...
How often should I post?
As much as you can. If you can put out 1000 high quality recipes by tomorrow, do it. Just post the content when it's ready, and make sure it's good quality content. You can't just glaze over ...
Stay Focused on Important Things (or: why Pinterest sucks)
This is an opinionated post from Skylar, arguing the counter-point about why Pinterest and social media is a waste of time. Lots of food bloggers use Pinterest very successfully and derive income from ...
Recipe Page Guidelines for Food Bloggers
Wouldn't it be nice if you knew exactly how your food blog was evaluated for quality, and what you might be doing wrong (or right)? Well, you actually can know. [Update 2019/03/31: you can find a ...
The Secret Ingredient: How to Grow into a Top Food Blog
The secret ingredient that makes your recipe pop, like pickle juice or fish sauce, can sometimes get weird. So, we're getting weird in this blog post too. Or, at least, different. Because the ...