Disclosure: Please note that this page contains affiliate links. And I will receive a commission for purchases made through those links with no extra cost on you. I have used the products listed below and recommend them because they are helpful and trusted companies.
I have created this Blogging Resources page to remind me of my humble beginnings, which I am still at, as well as to follow the success of Happy Tummy Recipes over time.
This page contains affiliate links to some of my favorite tools, techniques, and tips for establishing a blog and online presence.
Photography and Editing Tools
iPhone 7
I started my blog using my iPhone 7 camera and so far it did a good job in capturing our tasty recipes. Although I must say that it might not have the best quality pictures, nevertheless, it can still take pictures that are of good quality. Anyway, I still believe that it is not the gear that you use that will hinder you from starting out. I believe that you can use whatever you have to begin with, the important thing is to start. I am still on the lookout for a good DSLR to buy and I will update you on that.
Canva
Canva is my favorite creative and editing tool. Since I started my food blog, I’ve used Canva to edit my photos, make my Pinterest pins, and my YouTube thumbnails. So far, I am happy with using Canva because it is so easy to use and it has a lot of free designs and templates to get you started, the only limit is your imagination.
Try using Canva today!
TOOLS FOR STARTING A BLOG
Bluehost
When I decided to be serious about blogging, I sign up with Bluehost as my hosting provider. For a newbie like myself who is still learning the ins and outs of food blogging, Bluehost has made it quite simple to get my WordPress blog up and running.
You must pay for a minimum of 12 months in advance. You can also save money by signing up for a 24- or 36-month plan. I would recommend Bluehost to anyone serious about blogging as it is an affordable and reliable hosting provider.
You can read my post on How to Start a WordPress Blog on Bluehost for more details and instructions.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is my email service provider that sends email to my email lists. You can build emails, social ads, landing pages and more. It is easy to use and is free
Mailchimp deliver world-class technology and assistance to help your business begin, build, and grow to match your one-of-a-kind vision, even if you don’t know the first thing about marketing.
With one smart platform, you can build your brand, engage with people, and learn as you go. With their 24/7 assistance, you can get the help you need whenever you need it. Connect all of your tools to Mailchimp to gain access to even more functionalities. When you engage with a Mailchimp partner, you can take your marketing to the next level.
Try Mailchimp for FREE!
WP Rocket
It took approximately 1-2 minutes for my webpage to load when I first started it. If you are a first-time visitor to my site, you will most likely be frustrated and leave right away. My friends have also expressed their dissatisfaction with the loading time.
When I finally decided to upgrade my website, I discovered that page speed is an important factor in SEO rankings. Also, I discovered that your audience can only wait for a page to load for a maximum of 3 seconds before leaving and visiting other websites, resulting in a high bounce rate.
I sorted out my website page loads after learning about these things, and the WP Rocket plug-in became my solution. It decreased the time it took for my website to load and increased its performance to the point where it now loads faster than ever before (about 0.2 seconds!). The best part is that you don’t need any coding skills; they’ll take care of it.
If you’re looking for a way to speed up the loading of your website, WP Rocket is a good alternative. Annual prices for 1 website ($49), 3 websites ($99), and unlimited websites ($249) which includes product updates and support.
If you are not satisfied with your purchase, you can request a refund within 14 days of purchase.
Thirsty Affiliate
This is a paid affiliate marketing plug-in that I used. Because I’m an Amazon affiliate, this plugin comes in handy because I have a lot of things to link to in each post.
Thirsty Affiliates is used by thousands of affiliate marketers and bloggers all around the world. Imagine having hundreds or even thousands of blog posts on your site and having to manually link your affiliate links on each one, which is both time-consuming and exhausting.
Thirsty affiliates work with all affiliate networks and allow you to generate money through affiliate marketing on your WordPress blog.
Thirsty Affiliates offers a 100% No-Risk Guarantee if you don’t like it after 14 days of use, no questions asked.
Food Blogger Tools
Food blogger Pro Course
After blogging for some time, I felt frustrated that my blog views were not increasing at all. Then I decided to join Food Blogger Pro in August 2021, when I got tired of figuring out how to grow my blog all by myself. And I must say that it is worth every penny as I was getting much more than I paid for.
Food Blogger Pro is a membership site started by Bjork and Lindsay from Pinch of Yum. This is where they reveal their website’s secret to success. It includes video tutorials on how to start your own blog/website, gets traffic to it, SEO, food photography, Social media tips, and much more!
They also have a fantastic team that is both nice and helpful, and the community forum is fantastic! A community forum is a place where you may ask other food bloggers questions and get answers.
Even if you’ve been blogging for a while, you can still learn a lot and stay up to date on what’s new in the blogging industry, as well as obtain answers to your queries from the tips and advice of the community forum’s experts. They also host a monthly live Q&A session where you may ask Bjork and Lindsay questions and receive live responses.
Check out my Food Blogger Pro Review post to learn more.
Nutrifox
As food bloggers, we want to show our audience how many calories each recipe has. With Nutrifox, you can easily generate, modify and embed nutrition label in your recipes.
By just pasting in your recipe or ingredient list, you can practically instantly create labels. Customizable to your personal preferences. Choose which macro and micronutrients should be displayed on your label. Nutrifox labels are mobile-friendly and easy to customize. It’s as simple as posting a YouTube video on your website.
Bloggers and website owners will find this a useful tool.
Try Nutrifox for 14 days at no cost!
WP Recipe Maker
If you’re a food blogger, you should definitely use a recipe card plug-in to write down your recipe. I am using WP Recipe maker plug-in ever since I started my blog. I used the free version at the beginning but eventually moved to WP Recipe Maker Pro because of its awesome features. As a food blogger, recipe plug-ins are great for SEO and help you organize your recipes for sharing, pinning, or printing as well.
Check out WP Recipe Maker recipe card plugin here to get more information.
Writing and SEO Tools
Grammarly
Grammarly is a free grammar checker available online. It checks for contextual spelling, 250 grammatical rules, and a slew of other features to ensure that your writing is accurate and unique. Definitely a must-have to aid in the creation of blog content. They also provide premium plans with more features.
You can check out my post on Grammarly: A Useful Writing Tool for Bloggers
Yoast SEO
This is a free plug-in that greatly aided my SEO content creation. It provides you the green light that your content is SEO-friendly. It also provides comments on the structure of your postings, ensuring that they are readable by your target audience. While some may question the effectiveness of this plug-in, I find it really useful in organizing my blog posts and keywords.
Check out Yoast SEO here!
Ubersuggest
I use Ubersuggest for my keyword research. You may gain access to their SEO tool, SEO training and support, daily rank tracking, and tailored SEO tips by registering for free. You can also conduct three keyword searches every day, which is what I am doing right now and it is working well for me.
Sign up for Free here!
