In my five years of running The Scatty Mum, I've tried my fair share of tools – the good, the bad, and the meh!
Now, I'm excited to share my ultimate list of food blogging resources!
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From must-have plugins to game-changing SEO tools and hosting gems, these recommendations have helped catapult my blog from 15K to 50K in just six months!
Disclosure: This page does include affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission if you buy products that I recommend at no cost to you.
Please be assured that I will only ever recommend the products I love and currently use myself!
All prices are correct as of April 2024, but please check the individual company websites for the most up-to-date prices as these can change.
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✔️Hosting
Web hosting is like renting space on the internet to store your website's files.
Essentially, web hosting makes sure that your website is up and running 24/7, allowing people to access it from anywhere in the world.
Without web hosting, your website would not be visible or accessible on the internet. I would recommend setting up a wordpress.org site and using BigScoots as your host.
BigScoots
BigScoots is the third company I have used for my web hosting since starting my blog. ( I have also used Bluehost & Siteground). I can 100% hands down say BigScoots far surpass the other two companies in all areas - especially their customer service!
They are super quick to respond to any queries and have saved me HOURS of time by solving technical issues in 5 minutes that would have taken me 5 hours!
They offer free migrations from other web hosts and will take care of everything for you.
My site speed dramatically improved once I had moved to BigScoots and installed WP Rocket. I started to pass core web vitals straight away!
I’m currently on their BigScoots fully managed starter plan @ $34.95 per month and it is worth every penny.
✔️Courses
Cooking With Keywords by Aleka Shunk
Cooking with keywords is a thoroughly in-depth but super easy-to-follow course all about keyword research specifically for food bloggers.
But it’s so much more than that! Aleka Shunk takes you through over 30 modules from free v’s paid keyword research tools, image optimisation, and revamping old content to an in-depth walkthrough on how to keyword research effectively to pick the best keywords to grow your traffic.
( My top-performing post was created using the keyword research method explained in this course - see below graph)
I love Aleka’s way of teaching (you can tell she used to be a teacher!) she explains everything in a simple way, so don’t worry if you are not technically minded (like me).
The course is usually updated once a year and you can have continued access to the course forever with the free updates. You also have access to a super helpful Facebook group where Aleka is active & will answer any questions you may have.
Profitable Productivity by Productive Blogging
This is a course by Eb Gargano @ productive blogging. ( Pssst... If you're not already on her mailing list, you're missing out on some seriously awesome blogging/SEO/productivity tips!)
I LOVED this course and it completely changed my way of working!
I didn’t think a course about how to be more productive would have such an impact on my blog growth and bottom line, but it had a massive effect.
Eb guides you through planning out your next year (it’s not as scary as it sounds!) by creating annual, monthly, weekly and daily action plans, explains how to do “focus work” sessions and so much more!
Eb uses two case studies as you go through the course and one of them is a food blogger, so it’s really easy to relate everything in the course to your daily work.
This course has increased my productivity so much by using Eb’s method of working, to use her tagline. I’m working “smarter not harder!”
Pinteresting Strategies 2.0 by Carly Campbell
Pinterest had always been one of those things that I “did” but didn’t really understand. I had always put off taking a course as I was so set on increasing my Google traffic but with all the recent advice that it’s more important now than ever to diversify your income and traffic sources, I decided I had better get a hold of Pinterest.
I did quite a lot of research on the best Pinterest course and the same name kept coming up. Carly Campbell AKA Mommy On Purpose.
The course has been around a long time and Carly is considered one of the top Pinterest experts. She updates the course regularly (It was last updated in 2023) & is a mixture of written text and video.
She talks you through it all, from setting up your boards if you haven’t already got an established Pinterest account to the nitty gritty of Pinterest SEO and the pinning strategy that she recommends.
Carly says Pinterest is a long game and it can take up to 8 months before any real results will show, but as you can see, these are my Pinterest clicks for the past year & I have started to see lots of growth over the past couple of months since implementing Carly's strategies so it’s looking good!
✔️ Keyword Research & SEO
Keysearch
Most people may know Keysearch as a keyword research tool, which it is ( and a very good one at that!) but it also offers so much more!
Sure, it helps you uncover those elusive search volumes and keyword difficulties. But wait, there's more! You can track keywords, spy on your competition's strategies, and even use the content assistant to ensure your post is super optimised for Google's algorithms. It's like having a virtual SEO guru by your side!
I have tried both SEM Rush & AHrefs with a free trial and whilst they are great for the more technically minded and can dive that little bit further into keywords, they are also a much bigger investment. (Around $100 a month!).
Keysearch is just a fraction of this, infact you can get a 20% discount off their monthly subscriptions using my code KSDISC & with plans from just $17 per month, this is one tool you won’t want to live without!
✔️ Plug Ins
Feast Plug In
Ever wish your website could just follow Google's rules without you having to lift a finger? Enter the Feast Plugin – your website's new best friend!
Think of it like a behind-the-scenes helper that keeps your blog theme customisable while also making sure it's SEO-friendly.
But that's not all! This plugin also helps to enhance your website's speed and performance, which is crucial for keeping visitors happy and climbing those SEO rankings.
When you sign up, you get access to all 5 Feast Design Co. themes included in the price too!
Setting it up is quite easy (trust me, even I managed!), and there are step-by-step guides to walk you through. Plus, it's highly recommended by SEO experts like Top Hat Rank and people on the Food Bloggers Central Facebook group.
The feast plugin is $249 per year (as of Feb 2024).
WP Rocket
WP Rocket is like a supercharger for your WordPress website. It speeds things up by caching pages, squishing files, and optimising scripts. All the things I have no idea how to do!
With WP Rocket, your site becomes faster, smoother, and more efficient, giving your visitors a better experience and helping your site rank higher in search results. It's a must-have for anyone serious about making their WordPress site super fast!
This was another plugin recommended by a top hat rank seminar & those guys know what they are talking about! Along with changing hosts, this helped my site pass core web vitals almost straight away!
A WP Rocket license is $59 per year.
✔️ Recipe Card
WP Recipe Maker
WP Recipe Maker is my must-have plugin for sharing recipes on my WordPress site. It's super easy to use and packed with features like customisable templates and nutrition info.
The support team have always been quick to respond when I have had to contact them.
There are three tiers, premium, pro & elite. I currently have the pro plan which is £99 per year.
✔️ Email Marketing
Mailerlite
MailerLite is an email marketing platform that helps bloggers create, send, and track email campaigns. I find the platform user-friendly, there are customisable templates, automation features, and detailed analytics to track your email campaigns.
I was with Mailchimp previously and I find the Mailerlite portal much easier to navigate.
It's ideal for anyone looking to build and engage their email list effectively, whether for promoting digital products, sharing blog content, or trying to build your list.
It’s free for up to 1000 subscribers and then the price increases as your subscribers do. This is the only downside of Mailerlite, but this hasn’t affected me yet as I’ve only just started to get going with email marketing.
When you sign up you will receive a 30-day FREE trial of their advanced plan!
Convertkit
Update June 2024 - I am in the process of launching a digital product arm to my business and the teacher of the course I am taking recommended Convertkit.
I must admit, I had always been put off by the price, but the teacher was so passionate about how great Convertkit were that I decided to sign up.... and I LOVE it too!!!
Its SO simple to understand and use (I'm not technical at all!) and it has loads of great features including unlimited forms, landing pages and broadcasts. A great feature where you can mutually recommend other publishers, the list goes on.
AND they have also just launched a FREE plan for up to 1000 subscribers. I'm totally sold on it and sure you will be too once you check it out.
✔️ Banking
Wise
I am part of the Mediavine ad network and I get paid by them in $ US dollars.
As I am in the UK, the fees charged by Paypal to be paid into my Paypal account are quite high, so have found the most cost-effective way is to have the money be paid into my Wise account, convert it to GBP and then transfer the money to my UK business account.
It only takes 2 minutes to convert the money and then transfer it and is really simple to do.
✔️ Image Optimisation
Shortpixel
ShortPixel is a tool that helps make images on websites smaller without losing quality. It makes your website load faster because smaller images take less time to load.
They have lots of different pricing options from monthly subscriptions to one off purchases.
I ordered the one-off 50,000 credits and it has lasted me ages!
To have a fast website you definitely need an image compression tool.
✔️ Podcasts
Here are a few of my favourite food / blogging podcasts that I love to listen to and have got some much value from!
- Eat Blog Talk - I have recorded an episode of this and will keep you posted on the release date!
- Food Blogger Pro
- The Blogging Millionaire
- Niche Pursuits
- Food Blog Audit
- The Blogger Genius Podcast
- Simple Pin Podcast
- The Vine Podcast
I hope you find the above helpful and if you have any questions about anything I have mentioned in this post, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]
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