Start A Blog
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Secrets Revealed: Are you interested in learning how to start a Food Blog? We started Natasha’s Kitchen in 2009 and I’m so glad we did! It has grown into a very fulfilling and seriously FUN full time career for my husband and I. We’ve gotten so much helpful advice from top food bloggers over the years and we are so happy to be able to do the same for you. We’ve found that the most successful people are also the most willing to help others. We created this page to share advice based on what we’ve done that worked and also mistakes we’ve made (and some were so time-consuming and stressful that we want to spare you the same troubles we had).
Your blog can be LIVE in less than 30 minutes; no technical skills required! Let’s dive right in to: How to Start a Food Blog 🙂
Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means we earn a commission if you purchase something after clicking the link. As always, we only recommend products and services that we trust.
How To Start a Food Blog:
First of all, I wanted to share a really great resource with you that I think would be super helpful for many of you.
If you have a blog or are considering one (even if it’s not a food blog), you need to look into Food Blogger Pro. It’s a membership website for food bloggers that shows you how to set up and grow your food blog step-by-step. It has 250+ video tutorials to teach you everything from:
- Starting a blog (step-by-step video instructions!)
- Building traffic and growing your blog
- Improving your food photography, and editing photos
- Social media setup and growth
- Utilizing all the “essential tools” for your blog (Google analytics, managing giveaways)
- How to generate an income through your blog
- Writing and creating an e-book
Food Blogger Pro is a membership-based website so you have the option of a monthly membership or yearly membership. It will take your blog to the next level and that’s why I’m so excited to share it with you!
(Step 1) Naming YOUR Blog
If you are serious about your blog, take some time to brainstorm a domain name. Pick something that is catchy, relevant and easy to remember. Run your ideas by your closest friends or fam and get feedback. I think my sister Alla gave me the idea for NatashasKitchen.com! Head on over to GoDaddy and plug in your ideas. This part is fun and you can stake your claim on your unique domain name asap!
Once you’ve purchased your name, also purchase domain privacy (so your home address isn’t floating on the internet) and also open accounts on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else that you can secure your business name (i.e @natashaskitchen).
(Step 2): Webhost
1. The two biggest factors to consider when choosing a hosting company are reputation, customer service and performance. We recommend Rocket.net and signing up is easy, fast, and secure. Their hosting is delivered and optimized by Cloudflare Enterprise, making our website load quickly for all of our readers around the world. I am an affiliate with Rocket so let them know I sent you and you will get a 20% discount on your hosting plan.
(Step 3): Installing WordPress
After you’ve signed up with Rocket.net you will need to install WordPress (a blogging software). We have used WordPress from the birth of our blog and love it because of it’s simplicity; it’s very user-friendly and installation is a breeze. The team at Rocket.net can walk you through the process.
You’re there. You’re officially a blogger. Congrats!!
Choosing a Theme or Design for your Blog
Thesis Theme for WordPress
– We started out with Thesis and used it for about 2 years. Genesis is a very popular theme as well.
Free Themes for WordPress
– WordPress has tons of free themes available if you’re not ready to purchase a “premium” theme right. Please do some research and check the theme’s rating before downloading and install it onto your blog. Avoid themes with three stars or less.
If you’re serious about your blog and want it to the next level, invest in a custom web design. Cre8d redesigned our blog in 2015 and it was blog changing! We continue to work with them and I always recommend them; worth every penny. If you get a quote from them, let them know I sent you by using my referral code: NK.
Creating an Income With Your Blog
When you’re first starting out, if you decide to place ads on your site, they will help to cover costs. As your blog grows with time, dedication and hard work, it is possible to create a full time income from blogging. The primary ad network we work with is Adthrive.
Click Here for More: Blogging Resources
I hope you found this tutorial on how to start a food blog helpful and do let me know once you’ve published your first blog post. Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging. 🙂
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Natasha Love your recipes and presentation and I also Love your honesty girl!!!
Thank you so much for sharing your encouraging, thoughtful comments Loretta!
Hello Natsha Thanks for sharing your recipes, they helo me a lot. I send your a hug.
Hello there! Thanks for following! 🙂
This probably is not the correct place for me to post this but since I watched your great video on how to make Artisan bread I have made/baked at least 20 loaves. I have searched all all over trying to find the little flour duster/sifter you use in the video..Could you tell me where you found it? I’d love to have one..
Thanks for your time and especially for your recipe’s. Especially love the bread !!!
I’m so glad you enjoy that recipe!! That little duster is actually a seasoning ball (half of it anyway), that broke so now I use it as a duster. A comparable one would be this one from OXO. (amazon affiliate link)
Hi Natasha:) I have a question for my blog that I can’t seem to find the answer to anywhere. How do you add a more about me link that takes you to your about me page under your about me widget on the side of your homepage? I haven’t seen that option in the actual widget that I uploaded. Thanks!
Hi Denae, I’m afraid I can’t be much help with that. Our web developer custom designed that for us so I honestly don’t know how he did it.
Hi Natasha,
Love you blog and have for a long time.
Your advice is great. I looked into the blog designers your recommended but the average food blogger like myself can’t afford the $5,000. What company would you advise to seek help from that wasn’t so expensive?
Hi Lynn, I have gone to less expensive ones and I sure paid dearly for it in lost time (tons of site down time) and stress. I have heard good things about the genesis theme and I believe that pinch of yum also has something out that is a pre-made customizable template. Since finding cre8d, I have stuck with them because even though it costs, it is worth every penny for me :).
Hi Natasha…I love your food blog. I had thought of one time to do blogging on food but I don’t know where to stand. After reading this info about food blogging I really want to start. But I guess I need to have a debit card to pay for the service. Thank you. I will be asking you questions from to time. Is that okay? I will let you know when I start
Hi Natasha, and thank you for this page! I’ve toyed with the idea of a food blog for some time, but have never felt very confident about doing so, so this is really appreciated. I’ve noticed on Facebook that you post a combination of your own material, which you also repeat occasionally, as well as links to other blogs. It’s obviously impossible to come up with new recipes daily, but still, it never feels like you are just constantly recycling the same old stuff, so I was wondering if you have some kind of ratio that you use for original material, repeats, and links? Whatever it is, it works!
Hi Roz, I have a schedule that I follow and I post 6-7 times a day with 1 to 2 of my own videos, 3 video posts from blogging friends and 2 photo recipe posts. I post a new video every Friday and I re-share my own videos because Facebook typically shows to only 10-25% of your audience so I re-share, especially if something is really doing well on Facebook because that builds momentum and it just works on Facebook. I hope that helps! I would suggest studying Facebook pages you admire and finding a groove that you like. I use Facebook insights and watch the pages that I admire and I copy success, tailoring it to my own style 🙂
Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Hi, sometimes I get a 503 website message when I view this page. I thought you may wish to know, regards
Hi Nury, can you refresh and let me know if that is still happening for you? I’m not seeing the error on my end but I definitely want to make sure things are working properly. Thank you!!
HI Natasha!! Love the page! I am posting one of your recipes for my Arbonne customers because it is great and fits into our healthy living challenge. Do you have a # (hash tag) I can tag you in so they can visit your blog?
Yes absolutely it’s #natashaskitchen and thanks for sharing!
Natasha, if you follow English grammar rules in this sentence it should say: “it has become a full time thing for my husband and ME”, not I. For +object =For me. “I” in objective case would be ME. Just thought to let you know. Love your blog and recipes BTW. Very colorful and engaging. I am from Ukraine and teach English here now.
Thanks for the tip Alia! Thank your for following.
Hi Natasha, I got a question regarding ad inserting. You know how you add ads within the post instead of just sidebar? I’m currently transferring from Weebly to WordPress and I can’t find an answer how to insert like MediaNet and Google Ads in the middle of posts. Is there a plugin for it or how did you do it? On Weebly it was copy/paste and it worked by itself and here it’s not that simple. Thanks
Hi Olga, to be honest I have no idea. My ad provider does it for me. Have you considered signing up for something like adthrive? I’m not sure what their qualifications are for publishers but you might check them out. They optimize everything for you.
Hi Natasha,
Is the recipe box a plugin or is that part of the theme you’re using?
I’m using easy recipes plus, although their customer service and responding to issues is really poor right now and no one knows why. I may switch in the future but I have been using the easy recipes pluggin for a long time.
Those plum pictured are called “Italian” plums.
Hi Natasha, Thank you so much for your Bloggers. I have been thinking about a blog for myself for a long time. Your blog has inspired me a lot. I will let you know how far I can go. Thank you once again.
Hi Natasha! First off, you blog is beyond inspiring. I’m a new blogger, just trying to get started. I was wondering, if one draws inspiration from another blog, how would you give the credit? Like, do you link to their blog at the bottom or when describing the recipe? I know this is a pretty dumb question but like I said, I’m brand new to this.
You can do it whatever way feels comfortable for you. It can also depend on how much changed the recipe is, but no one will ever look down on you for giving credit where credit is due 🙂
Hey Natasha, I am a first time food blogger and loved your jello cake… wanted to try this for so long. Going to try today with a left over fruit cake… will send you my pics. Thanks for this wonderful recipe. 🙂
You are welcome Shilpi and I will be waiting for those pictures 😁.
Hey Natasha! I was thinking of starting a food blog because I love cooking and sharing recipies 🙂 but a lot of the recipies I share are from “all recipies” which is where individuals share their recipes, sometimes I look at a couple of top rated recipies and blend them together into 1, is that considered copying? I guess the big question is are you allowed to use recipies that you did not create on your own from scratch?
And let’s I do find a recipie I like is changing 1 ingredient considered my own recipie then? Sorry for any confusion if there is!
To be on the safe side, I always give credit where credit is due 🙂 I have found that readers don’t ever mind if you credit another source. I hope that helps!
Thanks for the tip about Food Blogger Pro! I just launched a lifestyle blog featuring stress-free recipes and I’m excited to find new resources to help me get going. By the way, your site rocks!
You’re so nice! Thank you 🙂
Thank you for sharing your resources and how to start a professional blog. I have been meaning to start on but wanted to do it the right way. I found the info you provided very helpful.
I’m so glad you found it helpful 🙂
Hi I just want to say that I love your blog , I did so many recipes and they always been a success . What computer do you use for your blog , Apple or PC also what camera are you using to take all this beautiful photos as well as video
Thank you so much
Tanya
Hi Tanya! We use an Apple computer. Here is a list of the tools we use 🙂