Recently I asked food bloggers to tell me which posts received the most comments and why. I’ve analyzed the responses (thanks to everyone who commented) and created this simple list.
The next time you’re wracking your brain to come up with a blog post idea, choose a number below and see what develops. Or try one of the strategies to draw more people to your blog and increase your chances of comments.The suggestions are in no particular order.
- Ask a question: “How do you use this vegetable?”
- Write an essay that expresses your passion for cooking, such as how cooking connects you to your past, how you learn from it, what you hope to pass on from your children, what you love to cook for friends.
- Have a really strong opinion about a food-based subject in the news.
- Post a recipe for a classic, old-fashioned dish.
- Create a recipe for backyard produce used at the peak of its growing season.
- Get your photo onto Tastespotting or your post on Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchen.
- Post more photos than you would do normally.
- Post a mouth-watering photo.
- Write about doing something trendy, ex. making cheese at home or attending a butchery or macaron-making class.
- Post about a foodie movie and invite people to comment on it.
- Create recipes for dishes that are inexpensive (particularly eggs), comfort food, and/or dessert. Combine all three for a bingo.
- Write about kitchen disasters. Fires are particularly good. Use humor.
- Write an in-depth product review comparing two expensive kitchen items, particularly if they’re trendy.
- Create a recipe for a popular restaurant chain dish. (See a successful blog, Copy Kat, based on this principle.)
- Tie your recipe to a current event.
- Use familiar recipe ingredients in a new and intriguing way.
- Offer useful information on a subject affecting you personally that is not discussed to death online.
- Write about your ordeal trying to follow a diet.
- Become an expert on a certain dish and offer inside information on mastering it.
- Make something difficult and triumph. Document with step-by-step photos.
- Be part of a cooking event based on making a dish with other bloggers, where you all comment on each others’ outcome.
- Post on a Tuesday.
Got any more ideas? Anything here you think is dead wrong?
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?? What does posting on a Tuesday have to do with getting comments?
…oh, wait…
Use an absolutely beautiful header photograph to draw readers in. It worked right now! Love that photo Dianne, and its clever tie in with your banner line on pithy snippets. A really useful post, and one that’s very pertinent to me right now. Feel I’m also taking something away from its wonderful simplicity and brevity. Thanks so much.
Thank you very kindly for the mention
My biggest tip is be passionate about what you are writting. Write posts on things that you are really interested it, otherwise it is such a struggle to overcome the lack of real interest.
Great list. And I can personally attest to the success of point 12 (kitchen disasters). Wish I weren’t quite so versed on this topic, but a well told story of failure does get comments.
Anything magic about Tuesdays, Dianne?
Paris Breakfast says it works for her.
Love it. I’m going to print out these tips and try at least a few over my next few posts. Thanks, Dianne!
Fascinating that Tuesday posts get more comments!
So, um, basically, write a food blog? Are there topics not on this list aside from event listings?
Giveaways…hmmm. I guess if you’re already doing all these things you must get lots of response!
I’m certainly not overwhelmed!
And I don’t do all of these things, I was only noticing that this is a broad list.
Great ideas. Excited to try them.
I agree with Stephanie that being passionate about your topic to begin with, whatever it is, is pretty key. And, I think an interesting, not-too-complicated recipe for a dish that also looks incredibly appealing is critical for maximum comments (assuming, for the moment, that getting comments is your goal). Finally, great photos seem to speak louder than words. Get a photo on TasteSpotting and/or Foodgawker for just such a recipe, and you’re good to go. (Get photos for the same post at the same time on both those sites and look out!) My non-scientific impression is that most people who visit those two photo sites tend to click through more frequently to simpler recipes (cookies, muffins, etc.) vs. tougher stuff (fancy cakes, yeast breads, etc.).
Thanks Jane. A not-too-complicated recipe with a super photo sounds just right.
Something I JUST noticed recently (why I didn’t notice at first is strange) — a big variety (different angles or backdrops, process, etc) of photos is good. More to look at, especially because many people don’t read the words.
That is a good one! Thanks, Mariko.