And get this, even if you just want to be a hobby food blogger, you can still make your new blog very profitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best part? You don\u2019t need any coding or technical blogging skills<\/a>\u2014or even much of a financial investment to start food blogging today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if you\u2019re ready to learn how to start a food blog that actually makes money<\/a>, then this guide is for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this guide to starting a food blog, we’re going to walk through the eight steps of how to start a food blog\u2014backed by my interviews with some of the world’s most successful food bloggers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disclosure<\/strong>: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission. When you purchase web hosting using one of my affiliate links, I’m compensated, which helps make this content free of charge to you. Know that I only recommend products and services I\u2019ve personally used and stand behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Join 45,417+ bloggers, marketers, writers & business owners in using RightBlogger, my very own <\/em>Autoblogging solution<\/a> with a built-in automated Content Schedule, and a kit of 80+ powerful tools for blogging, SEO, and marketing. You’ll create AI SEO-optimized content faster & get more traffic from Google and ChatGPT today. Plus, you’ll access online courses, a community, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n Now, let\u2019s dive into my ultimate guide on how to start a food blog<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Food blogging is a very broad<\/em> topic area if left this generalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may already know exactly which aspect you want to focus your food blog around, but it’s important to start by really sharpening your angle & message. The realm of tasty calorie-smart recipes<\/a> has so many facets, that deciding where to begin can be a bit daunting. Thankfully, with so many options to choose from, brainstorming fresh content for your blog shouldn\u2019t be a challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n Either way, having a specific niche when you start a food blog, will keep you focused and make it easier for you to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right, so let\u2019s look at some different blog niches<\/a> you can choose from within the overall food blogging industry (peep my list of niches<\/a> for more ideas):<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, it\u2019s in your best interest to pick a niche that goes nicely with your own passions, interests, expertise, and personality when you start a food blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Picking the right name for your blog<\/a> can make it stand out and quickly catch the attention of your target readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The right name for your food blog also communicates what your food blog is all about, your position in the industry, and even who your recipes are for\u2014in mere seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take for example the clever, simple, and fun name of Gaby Dalkin’s food blog\u2014What’s Gaby Cooking<\/a>?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n Your food blog’s name, also known as its domain name<\/strong> or blog URL\u2014will be your blog’s address on the Internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is what people will type into their web browser’s address bar in order to navigate straight to your food blog\u2014or they could even search for its name on major search engines like Google. It’ll look like this right here (and you’ll usually want it to end in a .com<\/em>):<\/p>\n\n\n While you definitely can<\/em> start food blogging for free by using platforms like Medium, Tumblr, or Blogger (or even by just building up a following on Instagram first), it’s important to buy your own domain name\u2014so that it belongs to you\u2014in case you eventually want to build a business or earn an income from your food blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The free blogging sites of the world will severely restrict your capabilities when it comes to the design, features, functionalities, and ability to monetize your food blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s pick the name (and domain name) for your food blog.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are a few quick tips to help you pick a catchy name for your food blog:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if you’re not quite sure what to name your food blog yet, let’s keep moving\u2014you can always settle on a name later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your food blog needs to be hosted online by a web hosting company before you can do anything else (and make it visible on the Internet).<\/p>\n\n\n\n At this stage, we’ll also be deciding on the blogging platform you’ll use to actually start your food blog\u2014alongside the web hosting plan<\/a> you\u2019ll use to get your food blog online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The blogging platform that 95% of food bloggers use is called WordPress<\/a>, and the web hosting company I recommend (to get your food blog online) is Bluehost<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WordPress is a publishing platform that’s been around for nearly two decades and currently hosts more than 34% of all websites on the Internet (including my blog right here). Bluehost is one of the most reputable, longest-standing hosting companies that bloggers use to get their websites online. This is the combination we’ll be using throughout the rest of this food blogging tutorial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disclosure: <\/strong>Please note that when you purchase web hosting using my Bluehost affiliate link, they compensate me, which helps me make this guide free of charge to you. Know that I also use Bluehost hosting, and I would never recommend a product, tool, or service I don\u2019t personally use & advocate for \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, let’s choose the name and hosting plan for your food blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014> Click here to go to Bluehost<\/a> and then click the “Compare all plans” link to see all the options<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Choose your food blog hosting plan.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, you\u2019ll select a hosting plan. I personally recommend choosing the Business plan<\/strong>\u2014because it comes with Domain Privacy included free for your first year, which will protect your personal information (your full name, email address, phone number, and home address) from being published anywhere online as the owner of your new food blog. With this plan, Bluehost will guard that information on your behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Choosing your plan will look like this right here. Click the blue \u201cSelect\u201d button on your plan of choice:<\/p>\n\n\n Secure your food blog\u2019s domain name.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, you\u2019ll get to choose the domain name you use for your food blog:<\/p>\n\n\n Just type in the food blog domain name you\u2019d to register (like eatsbyryan.com<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your food blog domain name of choice isn\u2019t available, you can either try another option that comes to mind\u2014or (what I recommend) select the option to choose your domain name later<\/strong> after getting the rest of your blogging details squared away and taking some more time to think the name through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After either securing your food blog’s domain name (or opting to select it later), you\u2019ll be taken to the final step\u2014creating your account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Create your Bluehost account.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Start by filling in your account details, like your email address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Select the right hosting package for you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On the top right, you’ll choose an account plan based on the price you want to lock in and how far in advance you\u2019ll pay for your hosting today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bluehost offers options for you to pay 1, 3, or 4 years upfront. They also offer a monthly payment plan (but like most hosting companies that offer monthly payments, they charge quite a lot more for this). With whichever plan you choose, the price still works out to be a good deal for getting your food blog online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which plan is best?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Personally, I recommend choosing the \u201c3 Years\u201d <\/strong>option if you want to lock in the lowest possible price for your hosting. That\u2019s what I use. It secures your blog hosting at their lowest rate for the next 3 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, I recommend going with the longest-duration plan that your budget can spring for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The total you\u2019ll now see is the amount you\u2019re going to pay today. Remember, you won\u2019t have to pay again for 1, 2, 3 or 5 years depending on the package you choose. Plus, there\u2019s a 30-day money-back guarantee in case things don\u2019t go as planned with your food blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enter your billing information.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now you\u2019ll input your billing information, check the box that you agree to Bluehost\u2019s Terms of Service, and then hit the green \u201cSubmit\u201d button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s time to party! You’ve completed the first major step of how to start a food blog! \ud83c\udf89<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the initial signup process complete, it\u2019s time to move into the next stage of getting your food blog fully set up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014> Click here to head over to Bluehost<\/a> and register your domain if you haven\u2019t already<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alternatively, you can check out Cloudways Hosting for Food Bloggers ($11\/mo)<\/a> if you’d prefer a flexible, month to month cloud hosting setup. Plans start at $11\/mo for the first 3 months with code RYROB30, then renew at the standard rate of $14\/mo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to evaluate some more options for hosting, check out my regularly updated list of the best web hosting plans<\/a> on the market today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At this point, you’ve now gotten your WordPress-powered blog installed and hosted on Bluehost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s a blank slate for us to now make beautiful! And we’re going to do that using free tools & templates.<\/p>\n\n\n To achieve success when you start a food blog, not only must your food blog look<\/em> attractive\u2014it also needs to give your readers a fantastic user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that\u2019s why the right food blog design is so important. Check out the Minimalist Baker<\/a>‘s website for an example of a fantastic food blog layout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The good news is that you can design your food blog and achieve wonderful results even by using free tools and WordPress themes<\/a>. And we’re going to be walking through a few different categories of free resources to use in designing your food blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, let\u2019s take a closer look at each one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, you need a content management system\u2014also known as a blogging platform\u2014so you can write blog posts<\/a>, share photos and publish recipes or reviews on your food blog. Take some inspiration from my roundup of honest Bluehost reviews<\/a> to see the different kinds of formats a review article can come in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’ve followed along with our tutorial so far, then you’ve already chosen to use WordPress as your CMS. Great!<\/p>\n\n\n\n You’re in good company. Check out <\/strong>these amazing statistics about WordPress<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n WordPress is search engine friendly (blog SEO<\/a>), very simple to use, and allows you to organize your content strategically, and add video and images\u2014while still giving you control over every design aspect of your blog. It\u2019s also free to use (with the exception that you need to secure your own monthly web hosting plan<\/a>) and it gives you the ability to easily add more features to your blog like forums, an online store, and even paid memberships from your readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, let’s talk themes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A WordPress theme is going to be your food blog’s behind-the-scenes “template” that controls the visual layout, look, and feel of everything on your food blog. Choosing the right WordPress theme that gives you the options you’ll need, therefore, is a very strategic decision.<\/p>\n\n\n With WordPress as your CMS, you can customize and improve the look of your food blog by choosing a free WordPress theme to start out with\u2014and worry about getting a more premium theme with additional features later on down the road once you’re getting some readers to your blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like I said though, you should start your food blogging journey with as many free tools as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s my pick for the best free WordPress theme and page builder you should use when you’re just starting:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elementor<\/a> Page Builder + WordPress Theme (Free)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n Elementor’s Page Builder<\/a> paired with their free WordPress Theme is hands down the best combo for new food bloggers to get started with because these two working together allow you to design your entire food blog with a vast amount of customizability\u2014without any coding knowledge\u2014and to great effect with stunningly beautiful page layouts & designs. On top of that, the Hello Theme is also the fastest<\/em> WordPress theme I’ve ever tested, so your site will load at lightning speed for your readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the very center of this WordPress theme is the drag-and-drop visual page builder that’s designed to help you easily make a website<\/a> and design it to suit your needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To get you started, it comes with a collection of diverse page templates, design elements, and various widgets that can help enable tons of core blogging features (like email capturing, clickable buttons, video embeds, scrollable Google Maps embeds, form submissions, and more).<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can truly design a fully functional food blog without any help\u2014and they also have a vast library of tutorial articles & videos to help guide you through it. Here’s a sneak peek of what Elementor looks like behind the scenes:<\/p>\n\n\n Did I mention it’s free?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to create a relatively simple food blog layout (which is perfect if you’re just starting to blog<\/a>), then the 100% free version of Elementor will do the trick. Once you’re ready to upgrade to Elementor Pro or evaluate other theme options, you’ll unlock an entirely new world of possibilities for designing a standout blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can head over and get the free version of Elementor Page Builder here<\/a>. Their free WordPress Theme is right there too so you can use the two together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you’re ready to upgrade to a more robust theme, Kate of cookieandkate.com<\/a> recommends using one of these two top (paid) food blogging WordPress themes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, to pick the right WordPress theme for your food blog, it\u2019s important to keep these considerations in mind:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, let’s examine the must-have WordPress plugins you’ll want to install right away to add some additional functionality to your food blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because you\u2019re using WordPress as your CMS, you can further improve the functionality of your food blog by using a range of free and paid plugins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simply put, a plugin<\/a> <\/strong>is a small piece of software that can be added to your food blog to improve how it works and add new features without writing any form of code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similar to themes, there are lots of free and paid plugins available on the market. Here are a few of my favorite plugins you should consider installing on your food blog right away:<\/p>\n\n\n\n When visitors arrive on your food blog, it\u2019s normal for them to have questions about your food blog.<\/p>\n\n\n They’ll often wonder how it\u2019s different from other food blogs in your space\u2014and based on the layout of your site, will very quickly form an opinion of the person (or people) behind the food blog and whether or not your content will be for them. Take Lily’s homepage example from her food blog\u2014Clean Food, Dirty City<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To answer these questions in advance for your readers, it\u2019s important to create the main pages <\/strong>of <\/strong>your blog<\/a>, especially these three:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In most cases, your food blog home page<\/a> is going to be the first page visitors will find themselves after typing your blog name into a search engine, or discovering it from a guest blog post<\/a> you’ve done for another food blogger\u2014and your homepage should provide a detailed overview of the various sections of your food blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow to Start a Food Blog in 8 Easy Steps (in 2026)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Create Automated SEO Blog Posts in Minutes with RightBlogger<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\n<\/a>1. Choose your food blog niche<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.ryrob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/How-to-Start-a-Food-Blog-and-Pick-a-Name-for-Your-Food-Blog.jpg\")
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<\/a>2. Pick a catchy name for your food blog<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Food](\"https:\/\/www.ryrob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Food-Blog-Example-Whats-Gaby-Cooking-copy.jpg\")
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<\/a>3. Get your food blog online (web hosting)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.ryrob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/bluehost-homepage-2026-1024x489.png\")
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a>4. Design your food blog with free tools & templates<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Minimalist](\"https:\/\/www.ryrob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Minimalist-Baker-Example-of-How-to-Start-a-Food-Blog-Homepage.jpg\")
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Content Management System (CMS)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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WordPress themes for food bloggers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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WordPress plugins for food bloggers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a>5. Create the main pages of your food blog<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Example](\"https:\/\/www.ryrob.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Example-of-Food-Blogger-Clean-Food-Dirty-City-Homepage.jpg\")
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The homepage of your food blog<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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