10 Social And Community Websites To Drive Traffic To Your Food Blog

We all blog for various reasons. The underlying motive behind any kind of blogging is the need to express and the need to be heard. Expressing yourself is the easy bit, being heard is the hard part. Especially in today’s digital world of chaos, everyday startups, short attention spans and overcrowding in every genre possible. While it was a lot easier to get your blog noticed in the hey day with not many around. While that may have been the case, there are many sites out there that can aid you to get your voice out there and put your food blog on the map, sites you can piggy back on from time to time to help you get new readers and conversations. A link back from sites like these with a higher Google page rank than yours will improve your site’s SEO. It will help you break into new online territories and fingers crossed, get noticed. For non-bloggers, these sites are a fantastic resource for recipes, photos, ideas and creativity. They are excellent for learning and building thriving communities that instruct and share. So in short, there is something in it for everyone. I personally use quite a few of these with positive results. With the exception of curated submission websites, you have to invest time and effort to build a network of loyal followers just like Twitter. I hope you find some old and some new links in the list below to explore in your own time.

10 Social And Community Websites To Drive Traffic To Your Food Blogs

1. Foodgawker ( Link To My Foodgawker Page )

Foodgawker is a user submitted, curated food gallery site launched in 2008 by Chuck Lai. A part of the Gawkeverse Network of sites, Foodgawker has a page rank of 5 and a global Alexa ranking of 11,700. (Links subject to approval)

2. Tastespotting ( Link To My Tastespotting Page )

The original visual addiction gallery, Tastespotting launched in early 2007. Soon after, it was closed and amidst the moans and mourning of food bloggers, Foodgawker was created to pay homage to the original. And then Tastespotting was back on track and there were two. Tastespotting has a Google page rank of 6. (Links subject to approval)

3. Tasteologie ( Link To My Tasteologie Page )

Part of the Notcot Network of design sites reaching an audience of 5 million every month, Tasteologie is another curated grid based food gallery. The Notcot Network also has Liqurious.com which used to be the old Tastespotting. Tasteologie has a Google page rank of 4. (Links subject to approval)

4. Delicious ( Link To My Delicious Network )

Previously del.icio.us, the new Delicious was launched in 2003 by Joshua Schachter. Delicious is a bookmarking site which was acquired by Yahoo for a brief time in the mid 2000s and by 2008 had nearly 180 million unique bookmarked URLs. Delicious is not only great for filing away your own recipes and recipes from other websites/blogs with the ability to share, it is great to drive traffic to your own blog. Delicious has a Google page rank of 8. (You maintain your own links)

5. Pinterest ( Link To My Pinterest Page) *Personal Favourite*

A newcomer to the social scene, Pinterest is a pinboard style visual bookmarking site. It is the Pay-It-Forward of all bookmarking sites and is perfect for visually and creatively driven individuals and websites. With the ability to make photos and articles go viral, Pinterest took the world by storm in early 2012 by crossing 11.7 million unique users, the fastest website in history to cross the 10 million mark. If you love nothing more than to ogle beautiful food shots all day long, this is the place to be. Pinterest has a Google page rank of 7. (You maintain your own links)

6. Feastie ( Link To My Feastie Page ) *Shows A Lot Of Promise*

A very recent addition to the ever growing world of food blog aggregating, Feastie was launched as a food blog search engine with a nifty little grocery list tool embedded in it. The curation happens at the time of submitting your food blog. Once you are accepted, your feed updates the gallery everytime you make a new post. Feastie also maintains your blog details and allows users of the site to follow your updates and your blog. Feastie has a Google page rank of 4. (Links subject to approval)

7. Stumbleupon ( Link To My Stumbleupon Page )

Stumbleupon is one of the most widely used bookmarking site. Highly addictive, it held the market share for idle "stumblers" until the "pinners" (Pinterest) took over. It was founded in 2001 and was briefly owned by eBay in the late 2000s before being brought over by the original investors. Stumbleupon has a Google page rank of 8. (You manage your own links)

8. Food Blog Search ( Search for Cook Republic )

Launched in 2006, Food Blog Search is maintained by the talented bloggers at Simply Recipes, Kalyn’s Kitchen and The Perfect Pantry. Building on the Google Custom Search Engine service, acceptance into Food Blog Search is based on approval. Food Blog Search has a Google page rank of 6. (Links subject to approval)

9. Bakespace

Bakespace was launched in 2006 and is a browse and swap based grassroots community. If you are looking for something beyond plain promotion of your own blog, this community based social site has a lot to offer in terms of food related forums, mentors and gatherings. Bakespace has a Google page rank of 5. (Free Membership. You manage your own links)

10. DailyBuzz Food ( My Foodbuzz Profile)

Previously Foodbuzz, DailyBuzz Food is a community based food, recipe and gallery site. I have always found it fiddly and confusing to use and I have spent considerable amounts of time on it in the past. Foodbuzz is largely American but has thriving pocket communities from other countries. Foodbuzz has a Google page rank of 6. (Free Membership. You manage your own links)