My 5 Step Process To Writing Food Blogs
I’ve been professionally writing throughout my marketing career, but have recently discovered my love for writing food blogs. As someone who learned how to cook after college, I’ve come a loooong way since not knowing how to make pasta (LOL). Now that I know what I’m doing in the kitchen as well as in front of my keyboard, I’ve combined these two loves into a flourishing career.
I started writing for food bloggers at the beginning of this year, ghostwriting about recipe after recipe. I’ve since developed a 5-step foolproof process that allow me to develop content for my clients that is well-researched, covers informative topics, and helps them rank higher on Google.
Here’s my 5-process to writing food blogs:
Step 1: Keyword Research
The writing doesn’t start until I’ve done my research.
Using the clients’ provided recipe, I’ll perform a search using one of my favorite keyword research tools. The results will provide me with keywords and wording to include in the post, as well as topics to cover that I might not have thought of. The goal is to use this research in order to cover all my bases while informing the reader as much as possible.
Check List:
Perform two or three keyword searches relating to your recipe
Create a blank spreadsheet
Export search results to a .CSV
From those results, transfer any high volume keywords that are relative to the recipe to your spreadsheet
Determine specific questions to answer
Determine the headlines
Step 2: Competitive Analysis
The keyword research will lead to the top-ranking posts from other bloggers regarding that recipe (or similar). I’ll read through their posts to see what kind of content they’re writing about, gather ideas for headings (H2’s), and questions that may need answering.
No two blog posts are the same, which is why it’s helpful to review multiple posts on a similar topic or recipe. In one post, I’ll be able to cover the information that three bloggers have mentioned.
Check List:
Open your keyword searches
Copy and paste four to five high-ranking competitor links into your spreadsheet
Read through the posts from competitors
Analyze their headlines, the questions they answer, and specific wording
Determine if there could be area’s of improvement to apply in your post
Step 3: Headlines
Headlines throughout the post make it easy for the reader find the information they need if they don’t read the entire post. They help to break information down into easy to digest pieces rather than one large piece of writing. I like to break my food blog posts into sections that help explain how to make the dish, the ingredients, available modifications, and any other questions that a reader may ask.
H1 Headlines
There should only be one H1 in your post, and it will be the post title.
H2 Headlines
Bloggers who utilize H2 headlines are well-liked by Google because they increase the quality of the content and provide ease while reading. Using H2’s to break the post into easy to read section makes the information easy to digest.
H3 Headlines
It isn’t necessary to include H3’s in a post, but they can help to answer a question that’s relative to its H2 tag above.
Check List:
Write your post title or H1
Write at least 3 post headlines or H2’s
Determine if you need sub-headlines or H3’s
Place the headlines in an order that makes sense for the reader
Step 4: Writing
Using my research, questions, and headlines, I can finally start the writing process. I always try to write posts that are friendly, yet informative. It’s important to use language that’s easy to understand, no matter the readers’ cooking level.
To do this, I like to think of the reader as having little to no knowledge in the kitchen. I’ll avoid the use of jargon, break the recipe down into steps, explain ingredients, and offer modifications to fit a variety of dietary needs.
I’ll also include internal links in the post that link to the client’s other blog posts. Sometimes it’s necessary to include external links to websites other than their own as well.
Check List:
Use your headlines to outline the post in a new document
Ensure the writing tone (ie: friendly, knowledgeable, neutral, etc.) relates to your brand voice
Include internal and external links in the post as necessary
Include at least 1 or 2 paragraphs under each H2 tag
Use tools like Grammarly to ensure proper grammar, spelling, tone, etc.
Step 5: SEO
Now that the post is written and edited to perfection, it’s time to include the last pieces to help with SEO. The more back-end information you include, the more Google likes you!
As the writing is uploaded onto the client’s Wordpress site, they’ll include images. These images will require alt tags, AKA a description of the image, and its contents. It’s crucial to include alt tags for visually-impaired readers or for when images are turned off.
Additionally, it’s important to include a meta description (a small description of the post), social media descriptions for easy sharing, post tags, and categories.
Check List:
Upload the text, recipe, and images to a new post on your website
Format the wording, headlines, and images
Include alt tags on all of the images to describe its contents (do this in the Media Gallery in Wordpress)
Write a meta description (155 characters) to summarize the post
Write social media descriptions
Tag and categorize the post appropriately