Category: Trans

Webflow is a website builder that has recently gained a lot of popularity. Using its vast range of sophisticated customizations, you can build custom websites to suit your exact preferences—all without writing a single line of code. 

Webflow can also be a WordPress site replacement, thanks to an impressive feature set that includes eye-catching templates, drag-and-drop designing tools, and a no-plugin experience. But its steep learning curve means the tool may not be suitable for everyone.

Webflow Compared

We didn’t feature Webflow on our list of the best website builders. While it’s a great option to consider, Shopify is the best website builder that offers an easy and fast way to create high-quality websites and online stores. Start your 14-day Shopify trial to experience the platform.

• Shopify – Best for selling products and services
• Wix – Best website builder for your first website
• Zyro – Best for keeping website costs low
• Bluehost – Best for WordPress websites
• Squarespace – Best website builder for creators of all stripes
• Weebly – Best for solopreneurs
• GoDaddy – Best for building your website from your phone

About Webflow

Webflow was founded in 2013 by Vlad Magdaline, Sergie Magdaline, and Bryant Chou and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. It offers designers, marketers, and entrepreneurs an intuitive drag-and-drop interface and a visual-based CSS and HTML editor to build custom websites without relying on expensive developers. 

The fact that it has been well-received by users has inspired the Webflow team to continue innovating and expanding its offerings, making it a leading player in the web design and development space.

• Webflow Website Builder Review

Webflow Products and Services

Webflow‘s product offerings are divided into three categories, each with its own services. These include:

Build a Website

• Designer — Creative control and flexibility
• CMS — Flexible content management
• Ecommerce — Manage online stores
• Interactions — Craft immersive experiences
• Membership — Curate gated content

Optimize for Growth

• Editor — Cross-functional collaboration
• Logic — Customize logic-based workflows
• SEO — Fine-tuned control, without engineers

Scale Your Business

• Security — State-of-the-art web app security practices
• Hosting — Fast and reliable AWS-provided hosting 

Webflow Health and Security

Webflow’s main mission is to make web design more accessible and approachable and empower people to bring their ideas to life digitally. Since its launch, the platform has built a strong following and has seen significant growth in recent years. 

Webflow recently raised $120 million in a Series C round led by Y Combinator Continuity, with existing inventors like Accel and CapitalG also participating in the funding. This round raised the platform’s valuation to $4 billion and put it on track to hit a $100 million annual recurring income. 

Needless to say, Webflow is only becoming stronger and isn’t going anywhere.

Webflow Pricing

Webflow offers scalable site plans for both general and ecommerce use, using which users can build a website or prototype within the platform. While the free Starter plan is excellent for getting the hang of the platform, you can also sign up for the paid site plans to publish, host, and gain access to additional features, such as content editors and a custom domain.

Aside from this, Webflow also offers shared workspaces, where you can invite team members and clients to work together. Like the other plans, you can start with the Starter plan for free to learn the ropes and upgrade to paid plans as needed.

Webflow Pricing Structure

Webflow allows you to pay for plans on a month-to-month or yearly basis. If you choose the latter, you can save up to 22% on the site plans and 32% on the workspace plans. 

Another thing to note here is that the Workspace plans are chargeable per seat, with each plan having a predetermined seat limitation. If you want your Webflow workspace to support unlimited seats, you’ll have to sign up for the Enterprise plan.

As you sign up for Webflow, your free Starter Site plan and free Starter Workspace will activate automatically. You can then upgrade to the paid plans as needed.

Webflow Pricing Comparison 

Webflow has general site plans starting from $14 per month when billed monthly and going up to $39 per month. You can also request a custom plan to bring enterprise-level security, compliance, and scalability to your website. For ecommerce-specific sites, plans start at $29 per month and go up to $212 per month.

The general site plans are middle-ground pricing, as you’ll find both costlier and cheaper plans. For instance, Shopify’s paid plans start from $39 per month, and Zyro’s paid plans begin at just $2.90 per month.

Webflow Trials and Guarantees

Webflow doesn’t offer a trial, but the fact that it offers two free forever plans more than makes up for it. You also don’t get any money-back guarantee on any of the paid plans.

Webflow Website Builder Review

With Webflow, you can create custom websites without coding. You get access to several awesome features, including an intuitive drag-and-drop interface and a visual-based CSS and HTML editor that help designers, marketers, and entrepreneurs build and design their own websites. A range of templates, custom domains, ecommerce capabilities, and integrations with popular tools make Webflow a comprehensive solution for website building.

What Makes Webflow Website Builder Great

Scalable, Flexible Plans: Webflow offers some of the most versatile and flexible paid plans on the market. Whether you’re looking for basic-level website building or something suitable for advanced website building, you’ll find plenty of options here. And, of course, it has solid free plans as well.

Admittedly, the paid plans are (slightly) on the pricier end, which is why we’ll recommend the platform for businesses with a budget to match. Overall, though, the plans give good value for their prices considering the offered features.

Excellent Range of Templates: Webflow offers users tons of unique, attractive, and optimized ready-made templates to suit every website. Additionally, all the templates are mobile-responsive. This is a significant advantage considering the mobile-first world we live in. Note that currently, only around 30 of these templates are free or included with a free plan. The paid templates start from $19.

Highly Customizable Designing Tools: Webflow’s customizable designing tools are one of its biggest strengths. Thanks to these tools, you won’t need to hire a designer to build your website from scratch or learn to code it yourself. What’s more, Webflow’s advanced designing options allow you to create a dynamic website with interactive elements in a relatively shorter period. 

From adding animations to parallax scrolling to micro-interactions, with Webflow, you can treat your clients or customers to a truly unique experience. And let’s not forget the live prototyping feature that allows you to close the gap between visual design mocks and the final website, setting tangible expectations for the final design.

No Plugins Needed: Webflow doesn’t require plugins to build a functional website. This helps make your site run faster while freeing you from the constant burden of constantly updating and micromanaging plugins to ensure they remain up to date. 

Secure Platform: Webflow offers a high level of security, making it one of the most reliable website builders on the market. All of its plans come with free site backups and an SSL certificate, plus the platform itself complies with important security standards and restricts backend access. Built-in DDoS protection is another useful feature, providing adequate protection against sophisticated hacking attempts.

SEO Support: Webflow’s flexible contact management tools let you optimize your website following SEO best practices. You’ll also have full control over SEO meta tags, indexing rules, 301 redirects, and more. A built-in audit tool provides SEO-specific recommendations, such as improving heading structure or adding alt text for images. Alongside this, you can also define meta titles and descriptions using fields in the CMS collections.

Where Webflow Website Builder Falls Short

Steep Learning Curve: Unfortunately, the long list of advanced features leads to a steep learning curve. But this is a natural trade considering you’re trying to develop a website without actually writing the code. Still, I recommend reviewing the platform’s resources and tutorials before getting started and using the editor. The learning curve won’t last long once you get the hang of how things work, all thanks to Webflow’s drag-and-drop interface and efficient support.

Limited Code Customizations: If you’re looking for complex code-level customizations in a website builder, you’ll find Webflow lacking. While the platform works well with its versatile, ready-made templates and editor customization, customizing it at the code level is mostly minimalistic. Additionally, you can’t import the entire site code into Webflow, so you’ll have to download it instead. 

Convoluted Pricing Structure: Webflow’s extensive free and paid plans are both a pro and a con. While you have more options to choose from, each plan has separate schemes that take time to comprehend. This may lead to unnecessary confusion and complexity, making it difficult to identify suitable plans for your needs.

Webflow Website Builder Compared

Webflow is a great platform that seriously simplifies web design and development. But the best website builder for most readers according to our research is Shopify, thanks to its user-friendly and incredibly versatile features that let you do anything you want, be it selling books, booking appointments, or scheduling deliveries.

• Shopify – Best for selling products and services
• Wix – Best website builder for your first website
• Zyro – Best for keeping website costs low
• Bluehost – Best for WordPress websites
• Squarespace – Best website builder for creators of all stripes
• Weebly – Best for solopreneurs
• GoDaddy – Best for building your website from your phone

Webflow Final Verdict

Webflow has all the makings of a responsive website builder to visualize and build your own website. It’s one of the best options for web designers and other users who don’t want to bother with complicated coding but still desire a highly customizable solution. That said, we’ll only recommend Webflow if you’re willing to put in the time and effort to familiarize yourself with the platform and its features, thereby flattening the learning curve.

We recommend WordPress with Hostinger for new bloggers because it’s easy to learn, has affordable plans, and offers 24/7 customer service. Get started today for 80% off with our Quick Sprout code. 

For many people, starting a travel blog is a dream come true. You get to build an audience, a brand, and possibly a career out of visiting gorgeous places and writing about your vacations. 

However, starting a travel blog can be extremely competitive because it’s so much fun. Without knowing how to set up a blog correctly or how to target a niche audience, you might get lost in the sea of other travel blogs out there. This guide breaks down the 10 steps you need to set up a successful travel blog that gets traffic. 

The 5 Best Blogging Platforms For Starting a Travel Blog. 

Starting a blog is easier if you use a good blogging platform. We’ve spent hours looking at the best options available and analyzing their strengths and weaknesses. Here are our top recommendations based on our research: 

• WordPress with Hostinger — Best overall
• Wix — Best for beginners building a professional blog
• Squarespace — Best for artists and designers
• LinkedIn – Best for networking
• Medium – Best for writing to a built-in audience

You can read our full review for a detailed breakdown of why we chose these five as our favorite blogging platforms. 

Start a Travel Blog in 10 Easy Steps

Starting a travel blog is fun, but there’s so much to do at the start that it can get overwhelming. Because it’s something so exciting, you can get paralyzed by choice or ideas, so we’ve broken it down into 10 easy steps: 

1. Get Signed Up With WordPress on Hostinger
2. Choose a Niche
3. Choose a Blog Name
4. Set Up Your Site and Activate Your SSL
5. Get a Theme
6. Customize Your Blog
7. Plan Your First Few Posts
8. Add Plugins
9. Add Legal Pages
10. Set Up Social Media

For this tutorial, we’ll use Hostinger with WordPress as our blogging platform because it’s affordable and simple for new bloggers. Plus, Hostinger runs sales throughout the year, and right now, you can get started with Hostinger for 80% off with our Quick Sprout code. 

Step 1: Get Signed Up With WordPress on Hostinger 

The first step to starting a travel blog is to get set up with a hosting platform. We’ll be using Hostinger.  

Go to Hostinger’s home page, and set up an account by clicking on Hosting in the top menu and then WordPress Hosting. 

You can then choose your hosting plan. The WordPress Starter Pack is our top choice because you’ll get access to a free domain for the first year, and it has all the features you need to run a blog. 

When you’re ready, add your chosen plan to your cart, and decide how many months you want to subscribe for. The longer your plan, the cheaper it is, but if you want to start with just a year to try, that works, too. 

Then, add your payment information and purchase your plan. 

Log in to your Hostinger dashboard, where you’ll see your plan and the option to Set Up. 

We’ll walk through that in a second. First, there are a few other steps you need to complete.

Step 2: Choose a Niche 

The next step is to choose a niche. 

Travel is a niche in itself, but there are many ways you can narrow it down even further. For example, you could have a solo travel blog or a blog that explores hidden gems in Los Angeles. You can also have a blog for budget travel or one for luxury hotels. 

The more niche you are, the easier it will be for you to find an audience. Travel is very competitive when it comes to blogging, so finding something you are an expert in and creating detailed content on that subject will make it easier for you to break into blogging. 

Once you know what niche you want, consider who might read that information and how it might affect your branding. Will your readers be women? Will they be young? Will they be interested in stories or more interested in practical tips and recommendations?

Once you have an idea of who will read your blog and what topics you will cover, you can move on to the next step.  

Step 3: Choose a Blog Name 

Once you’ve decided on our niche, you can choose your blog name. Some people use their own name for a travel blog, like “Jack around the world” or “where is Sarah?” You can choose anything you want—just make sure it’s not already taken. 

When you are deciding on a name, here are some things you should consider:  

• Choose a name that is relevant to your niche
• Choose something short and easy to type or spell 
• Choose something memorable 
• Choose an available domain 
• Choose a .com domain 
• Choose a blog name that is free on social media 

Hostinger offers a domain name tool that can help you check if your domain is available:

Just be careful not to choose a name too similar to anyone else’s. You could get in trouble for copyright or trademark infringement or simply lose traffic to the other person’s website.   

You also want something unique, as this will help you stand out and build a brand from the start. 

Once you’ve decided on a domain name and know it’s available, go to Set Up in your Hostinger dashboard and get your free domain. Then, select Build a New Website and go to the next step.  

Step 4: Set Up Your Site and Activate Your SSL

Once you’ve set up an account with Hostinger and have a name, you’re ready to set up your site. 

In your Hostinger Setup, go to Build a New Website, where you’ll be asked to choose a hosting platform. Choose WordPress, then create a login and password for your WordPress account. 

You can then browse themes for your site. In the search bar, you can look for themes specifically for travel or blogging. You don’t have to stick with these long terms, but just choose one and select Continue for now. You can change themes later, too.

After you choose your theme, you’ll arrive at a page that says your site is ready. Before opening your WordPress Dashboard, you’ll want to ensure your SSL certificate is installed. Go to the option that says Control Panel and click Manage Site. 

If you need to set up your SSL, there’ll be a yellow button that says Finish Domain Registration. Select it. Add personal details like your name, address, phone number, etc. Once you’re finished, click Set Up, and continue to Control Panel. 

Next, go to Hosting in the top menu bar, click Manage next to your website, and from the Hosting Account page until you reach the Advanced section, where you’ll see the SSL icon. Select it. 

Click Set Up, then Activate, then Install. You’re done! You’ve finished the technical stuff and now get to move on to the fun part – customizing your site! 

When you’re ready, move on to Step 5. 

Step 5: Get a Theme 

Once you’ve finished setting up the technical parts of your blog, you can move on to making your blog look the way you want by customizing your theme. 

For some blogs, appearance isn’t as crucial because people focus more on the content. For travel blogs, though, people expect beautiful pictures to help them get lost in the stories and get inspired by your trips. 

If we look at examples of popular travel blogs, you can see what we mean: 

When choosing a new theme, you have a few options. 

You can go to your WordPress dashboard by adding /wp-admin to the end of your URL. If you go to Appearance, you can choose a new theme from the WordPress library. They do have free travel blog templates, but they’re very simple. 

Travel blogs are usually beautiful, as images are a big part of the branding, so this is one place where it makes sense to invest in a nicer theme. You can find them for affordable rates on Etsy, purchase them through the WordPress store, or opt for a more expensive theme from a website like Hello You Designs. Theme prices usually range from $10 to $100+, but setting them up is much easier than coding.

Once you buy a theme, upload it to your site by going to Appearance?Themes, then Upload. The seller will usually send you detailed information along with your purchase explaining how to set up and customize your theme. 

Once you’ve chosen and uploaded a theme, you can move on to step 6. 

Step 6: Customize Your Blog 

Now that you’ve chosen a theme, you can start to customize your blog. 

This includes changing the images to your own. You can use stock images here, but for travel blogs, many people like to use their own images to give their blog personality or credibility. You should also update the language on your site, on your menus, and on your buttons. 

You can create a brand color palette and a logo for your site here as well. A great tool for creating a brand color scheme is Coolors, and Canva is a great way to create a free logo. 

It’s also time to write and add content to your homepage, about page, destination pages, and contact page. You can look at other travel bloggers for inspiration, but don’t copy anyone! Add as much personality as you can to your content, as that will build you a following in the long run. 

Once you’ve finished updating your content and customizing your blog, you can move on to the next step. 

Step 7: Plan Your First Few Posts 

The next step is to plan out what you’ll write about. 

For travel, if you have chosen a specific niche, this won’t be too hard as it is easy to plan and structure your posts by interests or destinations. For example, if you are starting a travel blog about Thailand, you might have posts about Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Krabi, and Phuket. 

Or, if you are starting a family travel blog, you might have posts about flying with kids, child-friendly restaurants, family-friendly hotels, and the best activities to do with young children at the beach. 

You can use your market research or inspiration from bloggers you like in your niche for ideas. Try to create a plan with your posts that makes sense and can help you start building your menus and destination pages. 

The more you can fit posts together and link between them, the easier it will be to keep people on your blog longer. Once you have five pieces of content or more and have a rough edit or at least a plan of what you will write, move on to the next step. 

Step 8: Add Plugins 

The next step is to add plugins to your blog. 

Plugins add extra features to your site, like interactive maps, email sign-ups, or cookie banners. WordPress will automatically include some plugins for you, but if you need other plugins for your site, you have to download them from the plugin store or upload them to your site. 

You can view your active plugins via the WordPress dashboard by clicking on Plugins in the side menu. You’ll then see a list of the plugins you already have and a button at the top of the page that says Add New. 

If you click through to Add New, you can search different plugins and upload your own. Add as many as you want, but remember that too many plugins can slow down your site. Here are a few to get you started that will help you with the basics of running a blog: 

• Akismet Anti-Spam (Filter against spam comments) 
• WP Fastest Cache (Boost your site loading speeds) 
• Updraft (Saves and backs up your site) 
• Yoast SEO (Improve your SEO and posts) 
• Cookie Notice (Keeps your site compliant) 

If you want more information about plugins and those we recommend, we have an extensive guide to the best WordPress plugins here. 

After you’ve added your plugins, you can move on to step 9. 

Step 9: Add Legal Pages 

Every site needs legal pages, whether for a blog or a business. 

This includes your Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions, which are required by law, and need to be placed somewhere obvious and easy to find on your site, like a menu or sidebar. 

A Privacy Policy tells users how their data is handled and which third-party plugins they use. Terms and Conditions just let users know any rules you have for your blog, like how old someone should be to access it or whether your photos are copyrighted. 

You can use a generator like Termly, or Terms Feed to create these pages for you with a template you then fill in. However, as a disclaimer, these are not the same as getting official pages drawn up by a lawyer. To ensure your legal pages are correct, you should always consult a legal professional. 

Once you have created and added your legal pages to your site, you can move on to the last step. 

Step 10: Set Up Your Social Media 

Now that your blog is ready to launch, you can set up social media accounts using your blog name.

Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest will be most useful to you as a travel blogger because people prefer to see travel images and stories of trips. You can still set up Twitter and Facebook, but you might not get as much traffic from those sources. 

It’s also better to set up a business (WordPress calls it “Professional”) account from the start to track your traffic, and it’s easier for brands to reach out to you for partnerships or press trips. All social media platforms let users create business accounts to link their sites and analyze audience data for free. 

After you have set up your social media, you can link those to your site, and you’re done. There’s nothing left to do but write your content, travel, and start living your dreams! 

Final Thoughts About Starting a Travel Blog 

Travel blogs are competitive and can be hard to monetize, but they’re so much fun it’s worth all the hard work. With these 10 steps, you’ll know how to set up the foundations of a travel blog and give yourself the best shot at success.

For most people, we recommend using WordPress with Hostinger to start a blog because it’s easy to set up and comes with lots of user-friendly features and tools. You can get started with Hostinger and WordPress for as little as $1.99 a month. 

If you love cooking, photography, and teaching, then starting a food blog has probably crossed your mind. You get to build a community and an audience while doing what you love and, hopefully, make some money. 

But starting a blog can feel overwhelming unless you have a clear guide and the right tools. In this post, we break down everything you need to know, from setting up the tech to the market research you need to do. Keep reading to learn exactly how to set up your own food blog in 10 easy steps.  

The 5 Best Blogging Platforms For Starting a Food Blog

When you set up your blog, you’ll need to use a blogging platform with hosting and a domain name. We’ve spent hours researching the best platforms for starting a food blog and put together a detailed review of our top picks. 

• WordPress with Hostinger — Best overall
• Wix — Best for beginners building a professional blog
• Squarespace — Best for artists and designers
• LinkedIn – Best for Networking
• Medium – Best for Writing to a Built-In Audience

You can read the full reviews here to choose the best blogging platform for you and your goals. 

Start a Food Blog in 10 Easy Steps

Setting up a blog can seem complicated, but it’s easy if you take it step-by-step and use tools to help you. Here are the steps we’ll be breaking down in our tutorial: 

1. Get Signed Up With WordPress on Hostinger
2. Choose a Niche
3. Choose a Blog Name
4. Set Up Your Site and Activate Your SSL
5. Set Up Your Social Media
6. Customize Your Blog
7. Add Copy To Your Blog
8. Add Plugins
9. Add Legal Pages
10. Create Your First Five Posts

For this tutorial, we’re using Hostinger with WordPress as our blogging platform because it’s affordable and easy to use for newer bloggers and has an easy setup with WordPress. Plus, Hostinger runs sales throughout the year, and right now, you can get started with a plan for as little as $1.99/ month. 

Step 1: Get Signed Up With WordPress on Hostinger 

The first thing you’ll need to do before you start your food blog is to set up web hosting and get your site up and running. 

If you head over to Hostinger’s home page, you’ll be able to sign up for an account by clicking on Hosting in the menu bar and then WordPress Hosting. 

Then, choose your hosting plan. Hostinger often does discounts and sales on their plans throughout the year, so check to see if you can get access to a deal. 

We recommend choosing the WordPress Starter Pack because you’ll get access to a free domain for the first year, and it has everything you need to run a blog. 

Then, add your choice to the cart, and choose how many months you want to subscribe for. You get a bigger discount the longer your plan, but it’s fine to start with just one year, as you don’t know if your blog is going to be a success. 

Then, add your payment information and purchase your plan. 

Now, you’re ready to get started with WordPress and set up your blog. You can log in to your Hostinger account and your dashboard, where you’ll see your plan and the option to Set Up. 

We’ll cover that in just a second. First, there are a few other steps you need to complete.

Step 2: Choose a Niche 

Before you set up your blog, you need to spend some time planning. 

This includes working out what your niche is and who your target audience is. Although a food blog is already a niche, it’s still a broad category. If you want your blog to succeed, you need to narrow it down further to attract an audience. 

For example, you might want to focus on vegan food or baking. The clearer you can get on your niche and sub-niche, the easier it will be to build a recognizable brand and connect with an audience. 

Once you’ve decided on your niche, you need to think about what kinds of people will be interested in it. So, for example, if you are writing about luxury restaurants, you might expect chefs and food critics to be more interested than families. 

The more you know about your audience and your niche, the easier it will be to brand your blog and market yourself on social media. Once you’re clear on your niche, move on to Step 3. 

Step 3: Choose a Blog Name 

Once you have a niche in mind, you can choose your blog name. This will also be your domain name, and it’s how people will find you online. 

You want to choose a good name that reflects your niche and brand, but there are other things to consider. 

Here are the main things you want to think about when choosing a blog name: 

• Choose a name that is relevant to food and your niche 
• Choose a name that is short and easy to remember 
• Choose a name that is easy to spell and type
• Choose a blog name that has an available domain
• Choose a .com domain name because it’s easier to monetize 
• Choose a blog name that is available as a social media handle on all platforms
• Don’t choose a name that is similar to any other blogs or business names online or on social media 

Hostinger has a domain name search that will tell you if your domain is available. 

It can be tempting to use a domain name similar to another blog if you really like the name and it’s available. However, we recommend against this because when you want to monetize your blog, you can get into issues with copyright if your name is too similar to someone else’s. 

It’s better to avoid this at the start and create your own distinctive blog name, so you don’t have to change it later and risk losing the audience you’ve built. 

Once you’ve decided on a domain name and know it’s available, go to Set Up in your Hostinger dashboard and claim your free domain. Then, choose Build a New Website and move on to the next step.  

Step 4: Set Up Your Site and Activate Your SSL

Now that you’ve done the groundwork for your blog, you’re ready to actually set up your site. 

In your Hostinger Setup, once you select Build a New Website, you’ll be asked to choose a hosting platform. Choose WordPress, then create a login and password for your WordPress account. 

You’ll then be asked to choose a theme or a layout. You can use the search bar to look for blog layouts. You can edit your layout later and change your theme, but starting with a premade theme will make everything much easier, especially if you are new to blogging. 

Once you choose your theme, you’ll get to a page that says your site is ready. Before you go to your WordPress Dashboard, you’ll want to ensure your SSL certificate is installed. Go to the option that says Control Panel and click Manage Site. 

If you need to set up your SSL, you’ll see a yellow button that says Finish Domain Registration. Click on it. You’ll then just need to add all your details like name, address, phone number, etc. Once you’re finished, click Set Up, and then Continue to Control Panel. 

Then, go to the Hosting section of the top menu bar, and select Manage next to your website. You’ll be taken to the Hosting Account page, and you need to scroll through the different options and icons until you reach the advanced section, where you’ll see the SSL icon. Click on it. 

Then, click Set Up, then Activate, then Install. Your site is now set up and ready to be customized. Once you’ve finished this step, move on to the next one. 

Step 5: Set Up Your Social Media 

Before editing your blog, you’ll want to set up social media with your blog name. 

Even if you don’t think you’ll use every account (you might prefer Instagram over Twitter, for example) you should still set up a free business account on each. 

This is to avoid anyone else taking that name and help create consistency across your branding for when you need to market or monetize your blog. 

Most social media give the option to set up free business accounts, which make you look more professional and allow you to measure stats about your blog and business. You’ll also be able to add your blog directly to your profile once you’ve got it up and running. 

Once you’ve got you’ve created social media accounts for your blog, you can go back to your Hostinger Dashboard and move on to Step 6. 

Step 6: Customize Your Blog 

Now that you’ve gotten all the technical setup out of the way, you’re in a position where you can start editing your blog. 

If you use a template to set it up, you can go and look at your site by typing in your URL. This will give you an idea of what you do or don’t like about the template so far, and what you want to change. 

Next, go to your WordPress dashboard by adding /wp-admin to the end of your URL. From here, you’ll be able to edit your blog, choose a new theme, and add plugins. 

If you go to Appearance, you’ll have the option to choose a new theme. You don’t have to do this, but if you don’t like any of the themes Hostinger suggests, you can choose a theme here. 

You do also have the option to purchase a premade theme either through WordPress or through a third party and then upload it. This is only if you don’t want to customize your own theme or build it out, but you want your blog to look really nice. 

You can find lots of affordable themes that you can download and upload on sites like Etsy. When you purchase the theme, they’ll give you detailed instructions on how to add your theme to your WordPress site. 

Whether you choose a WordPress theme, a builder like Elementor, or a paid theme, you need to update the colors, the font, and the text to fit your own brand and your blog. You can also add your own images or free stock images from sites like Unsplash to make your site unique. 

Once you’ve updated the appearance of your blog and you’re happy with it, move on to Step 7.

Step 7: Add Copy To Your Blog 

Once you’ve set up your blog’s appearance, you need to go ahead and update the copy for your blog. 

This just means updating the content (excluding the blog posts, which we’ll cover later). 

Your template might not even come with copy examples, so deciding what to write might require a little research. You’ll need to add copy to your homepage introducing people to your blog, and you’ll also need to add content to your About Page and your Contact Page. 

To decide what copy you want to add, go and take a look at some of your favorite blogs for inspiration. What kind of information do they include on the homepage? What do they tell you about themselves on their about page? What kind of copy do they have on the buttons or the menus?

Of course, copy and pasting is a huge no-no. You can get in big legal trouble for this, but you CAN use other blogs to inspire what kind of things you can write. Don’t be scared to let your personality shine in your copy because people like to get to know an author’s voice when they visit a blog.

Once you’ve added copy to all of your pages and spell-checked it using a free tool like Grammarly, you can move on to Step 8. 

Step 8: Add Plugins 

Next, you need to add some plugins to your blog. 

Plugins are basically little tools that you add to your site that help you with smaller functions like having an email subscriber form, stopping spam comments, or speeding up your site. Chances are, when you first set up WordPress, some plugins are already included.

To see your active plugins, go to your WordPress dashboard and select plugins. You’ll then see a list of the plugins you already have and a button at the top of the page that says Add New. 

If you click through to Add New, you can search different plugins, or upload your own. There’s no set rule on which plugins you need, but it’s a good idea to include:

• An anti-spam plugin, like Akismet Anti-Spam, to avoid annoying comments on all your posts
• A cache plugin, like WP Fastest Cache, to help keep your blog speed optimized
• A backup plugin, like Updraft, so that you never lose your blog, even if it crashes 
• Yoast SEO, which will help you create optimized posts for search engines 
• A cookie banner plugin, like Cookie Notice, so you can stay compliant with internet laws 

The other plugins you add are up to you, depending on what features you want to add to your blog. If you want help choosing plugins, we have an extensive guide to the best WordPress plugins here. 

Once you’ve added your plugins, you can move on to the next step. 

Step 9: Add Legal Pages 

The next step for starting your food blog is to add legal pages. These are pages like your Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions that are required by law on any website. 

These sound scary, but they are really just to protect you and your readers from any trouble. A Privacy Policy lets users know how their data is handled, and which third-party plugins they use. This is required by law for many countries and states, so make sure you have it and add the link to the page somewhere obvious, like your footer menu. 

Many countries also require your terms and conditions, and these just let your audience know what rules you have for your blog, like how old someone should be to access it or whether your pictures are free for public use. 

To get these pages, you can easily use a generator like Termly, or Terms Feed to get templates, where you can then add your details. However, as a disclaimer, these are not the same as getting official pages drawn up by a lawyer. If you want to be sure your legal pages are correct, you should always consult a legal professional. 

Once you’ve set your legal pages up and linked them somewhere clearly, like your footer menu, you can move on to the last step! 

Step 10: Create Your First Five Posts 

The last step is to actually start creating content! 

You can launch your site without content, but it’s better to try to get 5-10 pieces live on the blog before you start marketing it or sharing it with friends and family. 

This is the fun part because you get to sit down and brainstorm ideas based on your market research and niche about what content you want to write about. A good idea is to start with one topic and create a map of posts that are related to it for the other pieces of content. 

For example, if you write one blog post about a tomato soup recipe, you could write another post about five comforting winter recipes. These posts can then link to each other, which will make it easier for your audience to navigate your blog and encourage them to stay on there longer. 

Once you’ve planned five pieces of content, there’s nothing left to do but sit down and write them. You should edit them a few times and get some high-quality images of food to go with them before you upload them onto your blog. 

To upload the posts, just go to Post in your WordPress dashboard, and Add New. Then, you can add your content and images and publish the posts. And then – you’re done! 

Congratulations! You’ve officially started your very own food blog. And if you want to know what next steps you should take, you can read our guide of what to do once you publish a blog post here. 

Final Thoughts About Starting a Food Blog 

Starting a food blog doesn’t have to be hard, and once you get the setup out of the way, all you have to worry about is cooking good food and writing great posts. The hardest part of starting a blog is navigating the technical side of things, so now you have that out of the way, you can sit back and enjoy becoming a bonafide blogger. 

And who knows? Once you’ve put out a few posts and built a community, you might even be able to start thinking about monetizing your blog, selling ebooks, and growing your brand into a cooking empire.