I am here to help! There are many ways to start a blog and as a girl who has been blogging for the last ten years, I have done it both the hard way and the easy way. I have learned a few lessons over all these years and I want to share the blogging resources that make a huge difference for me personally.
If you are ready to start a blog, whether it is about food or fashion scroll down to see a list of posts designed to help take the guesswork out of getting started. Below that you will find a list of all of the resources you need right now.
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Siteground Hosting
6 Reasons Why SITEGROUND is the best!
- The easiest way to start
- The best customer service
- Seamless WordPress
- Seamless WooCommerce
- In house plugins save $$$
- Free domain based email
This is a long section because this is so important. This is the best thing you can do for yourself when you are just starting out. I have started blogs and websites many different ways over the last ten years. Siteground was by far the easiest start up I have ever done. If you want to see how easy it is, visit my page The Easy Way To Start A Blog Fast. In a nutshell, you are able to set up a WordPress.org site at the same time that you start up hosting. That means there is no installing WordPress via FTP. Not sure what I mean? It's best to skip that whole thing and use Siteground. View that page I mentioned above to see why having your own hosting is so important. If you have ever looked into Bluehost, let me tell you something...it's not easy. There are FTP issues, customer service issues, remembering issues on how you even get to the back end of you site. None of that exists with Siteground.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: In the beginning I had a few issues (caused by me) and Siteground customer service was there for me. Quickly. That makes them a gold star-solid 10 for me. When you are new to blogging and need to figure things out quickly, great customer service counts.
SET UP: They offer you seamless WordPress and WooCommerce set up. That Amy Cakes is set up for WordPress only, and The Farmhouse Lifestyle is set up for WordPress and WooCommerce in case I want to direct sell products in the future. It took 5 minutes to set all of this up, and that is a good feeling when you just really, really, want to get started.
PLUGINS: They offer in house plugins like SG optimizer, and free backups once a day. This saves you money because backup services like VaultPress can be pricey.
FREE EMAIL: They offer you free domain based email! For example, I set up [email protected], for free. Other companies like Weebly (which I also have used and am now moving away from) make you pay monthly for Google Apps. Google Apps is EXTREMELY difficult to deal with in my opinion.
The fastest and easiest way to set up a new blog is through Siteground.
WordPress
Make sure that you choose WordPress.org through Siteground. This is the way you will be able to make custom changes to your website and begin to become a successful blogger. I recommend starting with Siteground (above), you will be able to start your WordPress.org website all in one fell swoop.
Genesis Framework
I recommend choosing your own theme when setting up your WordPress blog. This allows you the maximum amount of control over the beauty and functionality of your pages. Genesis is the most well thought out parent theme available. It is also the easiest to customize! When you are starting something new, that may be a little confusing, it's important to make it easy on yourself. Genesis is easy.
Foodie Pro Theme
Once you choose Genesis as your parent theme, Foodie Pro is the PERFECT child theme. It can work for any genre of blog but it is SO perfect for food blogs. It's what I am using right now on That Amy Cakes.
I also have Market Pro, Cook'd Pro, and ...on other sites. Out of everything, Foodie Pro is the easiest to customize with colors, logos, etc.
Food Blogger Pro
This is one of the ultimate food blogging resources. Once you have set up your site with Siteground, your next step is to sign up with Food Blogger Pro. They will explain ALL of the next steps to you in great detail. They begin by showing you how to set up WordPress. They cover everything from essential plugins to making money from your blog. They will show you how to take great pictures, write blog posts, use Pinterest, set up your business, and ultimately make money.
Bjork and Lindsey literally give all of their knowledge away to help us achieve the success that they have (by the way...they are making millions).
WP Tasty
WP Tasty is run by Bjork and Lindsey from Food Blogger Pro. They have come up with the most important plug-ins Food Bloggers can have. I use all of them and they are seamless. They offer Tasty Pins (to help you achieve success on Pinterest), Tasty Links (to help you monetize your blog), and Tasty Recipes (to help you publish your recipes, make them printable, and help them be found by Google). These are essential blogging resources.
Tasty Food Photography
I have been a professional photographer for the last ten years. If I wasn't, this book would be where I would have started. Again, published by Lindsey from Food Blogger Pro (I love them because they want to help others succeed). I have seen Lindsey in action during photography courses on Food Blogger Pro, and I have gleaned information that I didn't think of on my own. This makes it one of the best blogging resources.
In Tasty Food Photography, she really tells you everything you need to know to get started taking great pictures. Great pictures are the most important aspect of food blogging and blogging in general.