Food Blogging Toolkit

The tools & resources below are what I recommend for serious food bloggers working towards monetization. They are not for hobby bloggers.

As with any business, starting and growing a food blog has upfront and recurring costs. I’m sharing these resources so that you can start off on the right foot, instead of starting cheap and wasting more time & money later on.

While I trust and highly recommend the resources below, please do your own research before purchasing anything. It’s important to understand and know how to use every tool in your toolkit!

Please also note that some links are affiliates, meaning I earn a commission if you sign up using my links. I will never recommend something I do not truly believe in.

Last updated by Kayla Burton on October 3rd, 2024.

Starting a Food Blog

These are the essentials I recommend when launching your food blog.

Domain Name

Once you have a name & niche, you’ll need to purchase a domain name (typically about $10/year). I recommend Namecheap or another trusted domain registrar.

Tip: Claim your handles on social media once you have your domain name!

Web Hosting

Reliable web hosting is important for site speed, security, and more.

I highly recommend BigScoots Managed WP Hosting. I have the Starter plan, which starts around $31.46/month.

Discount: Get 99% off your first 2 months of BigScoots’s WPO Starter, Professional, and Business plans with the code FOODBLOGCOACH. And, if you join one of these plans, they’ll set your domain up on WordPress for you!

Content Management System (CMS)

Create your recipe blog for free on WordPress (wordpress.org).

Note: wordpress.com is different from wordpress.org. I do not recommend using wordpress.com for your food blog.

WordPress Theme

A quality theme is important for SEO, site speed, accessibility, and more. I use Feast (with the plugin) for my food blog and highly recommend it. Restored 316 (what I use for this site) is another popular food blog theme provider.

Tip: Check out Feast’s Getting Started Guide for tips & deals.

Google Search Console (GSC)

Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that allows you to measure Google traffic, fix issues, and more.

Tip: Add your sitemap under Indexing – Sitemaps in GSC.

Google Analytics (GA)

Google Analytics (GA) is a free tool from Google that allows you to measure all blog traffic, conversions, and more.

Microsoft Clarity

Microsoft Clarity is a free analytics tool. It lets you see how users interact with your site via live session recordings, heat maps, and more.

Recipe Card Plugin

I recommend using the WordPress Recipe Maker (WPRM) plugin. There are free and paid versions available.

Tip: Start with the Pro Bundle and fill out unit conversions, nutrition information, etc. to make your recipe cards as complete as possible. This will save you time later on.

SEO Plugin

Yoast SEO is a great SEO tool for food blogs. I recommend starting with the free version and upgrading as you see fit.

Tip: Use this as a tool. Do not go chasing the green smiley faces.

Photo Compressor

ShortPixel is a plugin that compresses and optimizes photos uploaded to your WP media library.

You can start with the free plan and purchase credits as needed.

Tip: Use their Lossy compression setting. If you export images with Lightroom Classic, grab my free LrC export guide).

Website Caching

WP Rocket is a caching plugin that helps with website speed and optimization.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is important for food bloggers because it lets you build and connect with a loyal audience in a place where you have control (email)!

There are many email marketing platforms to choose from. ConvertKit is what I use and recommend (free up to 1,000 subscribers).

Made For You

Enjoy these tools and resources I’ve created to make your life a little easier as a food blogger!

New Recipe Post Checklist

This free blog checklist is customizable, reusable, and pre-filled with 30 pre- and 6 post-publishing recommendations.

Food Blog Photo Guide

This free 15-page photo guide explains image sizing and how to export photos for your food blog and social media using LrC and Canva.

All-in-One Dashboard

I created this Daily Dashboard to organize everything in one place! It includes an agenda, content calendar, journal (with daily & weekly prompts), and so much more!

Blogging Bites Newsletter

A laptop on a table with a food blog coaching newsletter on the screen.

GA4 Analytics Dashboard

Struggling to find data in Google Analytics (GA4)? This analytics dashboard has 4 pages of organized data that you can easily filter by date, traffic source, and page.

GSC Content Analyzer

This content analyzer tool uses Google Search Console (GSC) data to organize and color-code your posts to show which ones could benefit from an update.

Work With Me

Get personalized help through 1-on-1 coaching calls & blog audits or join a group of food bloggers to learn & grow with!

If you’re more established and would like to join a trusted community of food bloggers, check out our mastermind group!

Free Tools & Resources

Below are additional recommendations to help you learn and build your blogging business.

WordFence

Add an extra layer of security, including 2FA, to your site with WordFence!

Patterns (Reusable Blocks)

Patterns (previously named Reusable Blocks) is a built-in WordPress feature that lets you create custom blocks and templates to reuse across posts. Using patterns will make your publishing process faster and more efficient.

Canva

Canva is a great tool to create designs for your brand. I also use it to add text to my recipe ingredient shots and category images.

I started on the free plan and eventually upgraded to Pro for the extra features.

SEO for Bloggers

TopHatRank hosts free quarterly webinars with experts Casey Markee, Arsen Rabinovich, and Andrew Wilder. They cover food blogging SEO and tech topics and I highly recommend watching every episode!

Food Bloggers Central

Food Bloggers Central is a free Facebook group where food bloggers can connect with each other and ask questions.

Site Backups

UpdraftPlus is a WordPress plugin that allows you to save manual backups of your website to a local drive. There’s a paid version as well, but the free version is what I use.

Yoast Duplicate Post

Yoast Duplicate Post is a WordPress plugin that lets you duplicate & republish posts or copy them to new drafts.

Link Whisper

Link Whisper is a WordPress plugin that helps you manage internal links throughout your website. There’s a paid version with more features, but the free version is all you need.

Drafts for Friends

DraftsForFriends is a WordPress plugin that lets you share blog post drafts with others. I use it for clients reviewing sponsored blog posts.

Paid Tools & Resources

The following resources cost money but have made my life easier as a food blogger. Research and purchase them as you see fit.

Computer Backups

Backblaze automatically backs up your hard and external drives to a cloud. You can access and download files whenever, wherever.

This was a lifesaver when my desktop folders randomly disappeared on me!

Lightroom Classic

Lightroom Classic (LrC) is what I use to edit photos. Grab my free LrC photo guide here.

Get Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and Photoshop by purchasing Adobe’s Photography Plan for $9.99/month.

Hubbub Pro

Hubbub Pro (formerly Grow Social Pro) is a social-sharing WordPress plugin. It lets you create hidden pins and social media images so that you can control photos & headlines displayed when someone shares your recipes!

Spam Filter

Akismet is a WP plugin that automatically filters out spam comments. I waited to purchase this until I was getting so many spam comments that I was wasting time deleting them. Another spam filter plugin I’ve heard good things about (but have not tried myself) is Antispam Bee.

Legal Policies

There are many different ways to create your privacy policy, terms & conditions, accessibility policy, etc. I am not a legal expert so this isn’t legal advice, but I’ve used Termageddon and Complianz. You can also purchase templates from Businessese. Please do your own research and/or talk with a legal expert about these.

Cookie Banner

Cookie banners are often packaged with legal policies. However, you can also install them separately. I’ve seen food bloggers use the Cookie Notice plugin or CookieYes.

Keyword Research Tool

KeySearch is a powerful and affordable tool to perform keyword research and track keywords.

Use code KSDISC for 20% off!

Clariti

Clariti is a tool that collects and organizes your WordPress and analytics data. It’s great for project planning and analyzing changes to blog posts. You likely won’t need this until you have 50+ blog posts, but it’s helpful once you start updating blog posts.

Grocers List

Want to grow your email list and automatically send IG commenters your recipe links? I’ve been loving Grocers List! It’s easier to use than Manychat and it’s made with food creators in mind.

Get 100% off your first month with my referral code FOODBLOGCOACH!