Ultimate Food Blogger Resource: Over 100 Links to Help You Build a Successful Blog

From photography to blog monetization, from social media to writing, I’ve compiled all the helpful resources that helped me to improve my blog. Though most of the articles are focused on food blogging, you’ll also find some general blogging tips as well.

Grab a coffee and get yourself comfy, because you’re gonna find lots of good reads here. I’m talking the most helpful blog posts, podcasts, books, tools and more. Ready?

But first… why am I doing this?

My beloved macbook air of 5 years is giving up, so I’m slowly moving to a new laptop. The change is hard for me, I don’t like changes, but to stay sane, I have to.

Anyway, in the process of moving everything I went through all my bookmarks and decided to write this post, because 1. To have all the helpful links in one place. 2. To help you to discover crazy helpful food blogger resources, because each of these links helped me tremendously to get my blog to where it’s now.

I love reading all things blogging, photography, writing, monetization, productivity, social media, you name it. And over the last few years, I’ve read thousands of articles on these topics, and saved the most helpful ones in my bookmark. Moving forward, I’ll regularly update this post with my new finds. And I hope you find this helpful as well.

(Some of the links below are affiliate links. Thank you for your support.)

General Food Blogging Resources:

Food Bloggers: 150+ Links to Everything You Need to Know. If you’re new to food blogging, this is a great place to start. Lori compiled huge resources here, where I found lots of gems!
Food Blogging Links from Food Blog Alliance
Daily Blog Tips is a great site with lots of tips on general blogging.
40 Awesome Case Studies for Bloggers and Internet Marketers. Marc complied a great list of case studies of successful bloggers from around the globe. It’s a great read!
1000 True Fans is all you need to be successful. I love this concept and highly recommend reading this.
17 Useful Links for Food Bloggers and Writers, including how to file DMCA. Another great resource, compiled by Dianne Jacob.
26 Blogging Mistakes that Are Costing You Time, Money, and Credibility from ProBlogger, overall an amazing site to help you to be a better blogger.
Food Blogging for Dummies Cheat Sheet
Food Blogger Pro Blog, chockfull of amazing information from one and only Bjork Ostrom (team Pinch of Yum).
Food Bloggers Central, created by amazingly kind Nagi of RecipeTin Eats, is full of amazing tips and inspirations.

And here are links to Superstar Food Bloggers’ resource pages:
White on Rice Couple 
Minimalist Baker
Pinch of Yum
Sally’s Baking Addiction

Tips on Writing About Page:

Welcome Visitors to Your Blog with an About Page by Food Blog Alliance
11 Ways to Write an Irresistible Intro to Your Blog Post by Write to Done
5 Important Points to Include in Your “About Me” Page by Rachel Gurk
How to Write a Fun Bio by Silver Square

Blogging as a Business

How to Write a Blog Business Plan by Cookin’ Canuck
Ask the taxgirl: Eating Your Words (Food Bloggers and Deductions) by TaxGirl
7 Habits of highly Effective Bloggers by Kevin Muldoon
How to Get Organized with an Editorial Calendar – it’s Easier than you Think! by Peg Fitzpatrick
Why a Fancy Logo is a Waste of Time and Money (and What You Need Instead) by Smart Blogger
The Guide to Creating a Stellar Content Plan by Regina
How I Turned my Food Blog into a Career by Sally’s Baking Addiction
The Ultimate Guide to Finding Your Unique Selling Proposition by Corbett Barr

Google Analytics

20 Must-Know Tips & Tricks To Master Google Analytics Data by Hongkiat
Google Analytics: Page Views Vs. Unique Views by Sue Smith
Using Google Analytics to Unlock the Secrets of your Blog’s Audience by ProBlogger
How I use Google Analytics ‘Compare’ Feature to Motivate Me to Grow My Blog by ProBlogger
5 Goals Every Blogger Should Set Up in Google Analytics by ProBlogger
Why You Should Use Adjusted Bounce Rate and How to Set It Up by Moz

Writing a Good Excellent Content

How to Create Super Share-Worthy Blog Posts (and a Template of What They Should Include) by Regina
How To Write Awesome Blog Posts With The Science Of Appeal by CoSchedule
5 Places to Find Popular and Trending Recipes by Food Blogger Pro
4-Step System For Writing A Great Blog Post, Even If You Have Writers Block by CoSchedule
How to Become a Great (Food) Writer: The Big Secret by Four Hour Work Week
The 51 Greatest Articles About Writing I’ve Ever Read by BufferApp
The Two Most Important Words in Blogging by CopyBlogger

Writing a Recipe

How To Write A Recipe Like A Professional by The Kitchn
10 Ways to Write Clear Recipes by Dianne Jacob
100 Verbs for Recipes, from Julia Child by Dianne Jacob
Recipe Attribution by Food Blog Alliance

Photography

Story on a Plate: Food Photography & Styling workshop video by Todd Porter and Diane Cu on CreativeLive
Food Photography Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials by Taylor Mathis
Photo Tips and Techniques for Beginners: How to Shoot in Manual by Stacie Grissom
Learning Your Camera and How to Shoot Moody Images with Peter Georgakopoulos by Gourmande in the Kitchen
My Take on Food Styling and Photography by 6 Bittersweets
How to Take Razor Sharp Photos (Without Pro Gear) by Food Bloggers Central
How to Photograph “Floating” Food by Gimme Some Oven

Food Styling/Props

Finding Props for Food Photography with Naomi Robinson by Gourmande in the Kitchen
Food Photography Behind the Scenes by The Spice Train
Food Styling Tips by Food Bloggers Central

Photo Editing

How to Create a Cool Matte Finish Look in Lightroom by Eat the Love
Why Lightroom May Be The Only Photo Editor You Need by Kevin & Amanda
How to Make Quick, Easy & Free Photo Collages by Gimme Some Oven

Driving Traffic

How To Increase Blog Traffic by A Merry Life
How To Get Your Blog Noticed By 100,000 People In 8 Simple Steps by Matthew Woodward
5 Ways to Grow Your Blog Without Relying on Google Traffic by ProBlogger
21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic by Moz
Proof That Emotional Headlines Get Shared More On Social Media by CoSchedule
10 Ways to Market Your New Blog or Website by The Every Girl
30 Ways to Promote Your Blog Posts by Launch Grow Joy

Pinterest

How to Get More Pinterest Exposure With Less Work by Social Media Examiner
How to Get Pinterest Recipe Rich Pins by Sweet C Designs
5 Ways to Get Your Pins Noticed on Pinterest by Social Media Examiner
4 Pinterest Tips to Make Your Pins More Searchable on Pinterest by MCNG Marketing
35+ Pinterest Tips from Basics to Beyond by Amy Lynn Andrews

Facebook

15 Resources to Improve Your Organic Reach on Facebook by Constant Contact
How to Use Facebook Ads to Reach the Right People with Tony Rulli from IntentionalSpark.com by Food Blogger Pro

Building an E-mail List

9 Plugins for Growing Your Email List That Work So Well It Feels Like Cheating by Smart Blogger
Zero to 5,273 Subscribers in 90 Days by ProfitBlitz
Building Your Mail List is Your #1 Growth Priority by Food Bloggers Central
10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Grow Your Email List by ProBlogger
7 Simple Ideas for Mailing List Opt-Ins by ProBlogger

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

5 Ways to Improve Your Blog’s SEO by Austin Food Bloggers
Keyword Search by Copyblogger
Writing for SEO by Katy Widrick
SEO for Food Bloggers by Bake Your Day
SEO Starter Guide by Google
Metrics that Matter (Spoiler: It’s Probably Not Page Views) by Katy Widrick
10 Food Blog SEO tips from Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO by Food Blogger Pro
SEO: What Are NoFollow and DoFollow Links? by Blogging Basics 101
Fix These Overlooked SEO Opportunities in 10 Minutes Flat by Katy Widrick

Blog Monetization

My Top Affiliate Marketing Tips by Amy Lynn Andrews
$72,000 in E-Books in a Week – 8 Lessons I Learned by ProBlogger
How to Make Money Blogging by ProBlogger
Sponsored Posts: Where to Find Them, How to Do Them, and What You’ll be Paid by Food Bloggers Central
Pinch of Yum’s Traffic and Income Reports by Pinch of Yum
The best type of affiliate marketing: What it is and why you need to do it by Food Blogger Pro

Working with Brands

Q&A: Recipe Girl’s Lori Lange on Working With Brands by Dianne Jacob
Working with Brands: Pick Up the Phone! by Food Bloggers Central
Amazon Affiliate Program
Kitchen PLAY Marketplace for Bloggers– It’s a membership-based marketplace that connects influencers with brands.
Social Fabric/Collective Bias– This is where I started doing sponsored posts.
IZEA: The Creators Marketplace

Crazy Useful Tools

GTMetrix– A great tool analyze your site’s speed.
Peek Usertesting – Provide your website URL and get 5-minute video review of your site by a real person. You can do this 3 times a month for free. Your site is reviewed by a random person with or without any understanding of your niche, so I suggest to take their advice with a grain of salt.
Get a Pin Count– Enter your link and check how many times it was pinned.
Mobile-Friendly Test– Test your site to check if your site passes the test.
Free Broken Link Checker– Super simple tool to find the broken links on your site.
Blog Post Headline Analyzer– Make sure you’re writing the best headlines for your post.
Link Report/ Nofollow Tool– An easy tool to verify nofollow links.
CoSchedule– I use this tool mainly for editorial calendar to schedule my posts and tweets, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a great tool for teams, scheduling social media messaging (FB, twitter, Pinterest, etc).
Evernote– My favorite tool for note-taking. I have it both on my laptop and phone, where I can access my note anytime, anywhere.
PicMonkey– This’s what I use to create my long collages for Pinterest. Love the ease and flexibility of use!
Namechk– Super useful tool to quickly check if the domain name and corresponding social media usernames are available. Ever thought of rebrading? This’s a way to start brainstorming your new blog name.

Books and e-Books

Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Memoir, Recipes, and More by Dianne Jacobs
Food Blogging For Dummies by Kelly Senyei
Strategies Worth Sharing: How I Grew My Facebook Page from 2,000 Likes to 100,000 Likes In Five Months by Brittany Ann
Food Photography Behind the Scenes – Bright Food, Dark Shadows by Nicole Branan

Podcasts

ProBlogger Podcast: Blog Tips to Help You Make Money Blogging
The Food Blogger Pro Podcast
Online Marketing Made Easy by Amy Porterfield
The Chopped Podcast
Blissful Bites Podcast