When I started my food blog, I had no idea what I needed to invest money in, where to find the best resources and what I could skip! Here is the list of resources I wish I would have had when I started out to start me on the right track of getting into Mediavine.
This post may contain affiliate links which means I may earn a small commission when you click on the links and make a purchase. I will only ever recommend products and services that I fully support. You can read my full disclosure here.
Education
There is a lot of information out there. Some helpful and some terrible. You can join Facebook groups and find so many varying opinions and information, it can be overwhelming at times for sure!
Instead of getting distracted by a lot of bad information, I recommend seeking out reputable sources and sticking to them.
Free
You can find a wealth of information from the following 4 sources. If you have a question about something related to blogging, chances are you'll be able to answer it with one of these sources.
Top Hat Rank Webinars- These webinars feature SEO experts and are targeted at bloggers. They are honestly so helpful and you are able to go back and re-watch earlier episodes.
Eat Blog Talk Podcast- Hosted by Megan Porta, a food blogger herself, I find this podcast extremely easy to listen to and full of great information.
The Blogging Millionaire Podcast- I have learned so much about blogging from these podcasts. They are great for listening to when you are on the go.
Productive Blogging Blog- This was the first solid blogging resource that I stumbled upon and it was without a doubt a game changer for me. It has tons of posts with actionable takeaways.
Paid
I have invested in 3 different courses so far in my blogging journey and they have all been tremendously helpful!
SEO Jumpstart - I can’t say enough good things about this course for me. For someone who had no clue about SEO, it took it from being this gigantic overwhelming concept into something actionable and digestible.
Cooking with Keywords - Understanding keyword research is critical for SEO success. I learned so much from Aleka's course and now have multiple posts ranking #1.
Email Marketing Jumpstart - If you are interested in engaging with your subscribers and building your email list, I found this course very helpful! It teaches you both the technical side of integrations and automations as well as understanding how to structure your emails for engagement.
Technical and Tools
Host- BigScoots
I started out with Bluehost and then changed to BigScoots a year into blogging and it was so worth it!
With Bluehost, you have very little support- I kind of felt like I was all on my own and just prayed that nothing would go wrong.
But the support that BigScoots provides is amazing! Any time that I have needed anything, I have gotten a response in minutes (if not seconds).
Theme- Feast Plugin
I sometimes find the technical side of things to be a bit of a challenge, but the Feast Plugin is incredibly user friendly. It is easy to set up a site that looks professional and Feast is very on top of staying up to date with SEO best practices.
Recipe Plugin- WP Recipe Maker
If you want to create recipes that rank as well as have user friendly functions, using a recipe card plugin is imperative. I started out with WP Recipe Maker because it has a free option. Once I decided to take my blog a bit more seriously, I upgraded to the Pro Bundle for extra functionality.
I started using RankIQ in early September and find it very helpful. Providing both a keyword research tool and a content optimizer, it helps to reduce my time spent on keyword research.
Community
And lastly, blogging can be lonely, but it doesn't have to be.
I was going at it totally alone for my first year which is one of my regrets. Connecting with other bloggers is extremely helpful.
Facebook Groups- Food Bloggers Central is full of support and great information.
Connect on Instagram- Follow and engage with other bloggers on IG. Try to find bloggers at a similar point to you rather than trying to connect with someone who has 500k followers.
Food Bloggers of Canada- If you are a Canadian blogger, FBC is a great place to connect with fellow Canadian bloggers.
I hope that you've found this list of resources helpful!
Interested in More? Read about my Blogging Milestone 1: Mediavine.
Karen
Janessa, thank you for your behind the scenes strategy snd timeline. You are my hero. blogging has recently become heartbreaking to me. So much work for so little reward. Making money feels like a far off dream. I appreciate and respect your diligence and discipline. I dabble in the learning and then go down rabbits whole. Your posts are providing much needed inspiration. Congratulations on your traffic growth and getting the rewards you deserve. Karen - Supper Sanity Founder
Janessa
Thank you so much for your kind words, Karen! I'm glad you found this post helpful. Best of luck in your blogging journey!! 🙂