How Carrie Forest Rebuilt Her Food Blog With SEO To Reach $20k+ Per Month

TL;DR

Carrie Forrest shares her journey from a hobbyist blogger to a successful food site owner using SEO strategies.

Transcript

welcome to the niche pursuits podcast today we are joined by carrie forrest who is a food blogger and has a very successful site in the food and recipe niche now carrie started her site all the way back in 2009 and basically didn't pay attention to the seo side of her website until 2018 she calls it her aha moment or when the light bulb came on and... Read More

Key Insights

• 😋 Carrie Forrest transformed her food blog into a profitable business by emphasizing SEO strategies after realigning her focus in 2018.
• 👨‍🔬 Leveraging tools for keyword research is essential for optimizing content and understanding search trends that drive traffic.
• 🥶 Updating and revitalizing older content can significantly enhance site authority and performance, making existing posts work harder for the blog.
• 🚥 Google Web Stories are a powerful tool for visual engagement, capable of driving substantial traffic when effectively implemented.
• 💯 The blogging journey requires resilience; setbacks like Google core updates can be painful but are manageable with the right strategies.
• 👻 Outsourcing specific tasks allows bloggers to focus on their strengths and effectively manage their time, increasing productivity.
• 👥 Engagement within communities, such as Facebook groups, can enhance traffic and provide support through shared experiences.

Questions & Answers

Q: What inspired Carrie to focus on SEO for her food blog?

Carrie had her "aha moment" in 2018 when a fellow food blogger shared her six-figure income success. Realizing her own site had untapped potential ignited her focus on SEO, leading to significant traffic growth.

Q: How did Carrie manage to update her site's content after years of neglect?

Carrie systematically updated her blog by deleting low-quality posts, restructuring remaining content based on keyword research, and applying strategies such as using Google Search Console for tracking search performance.

Q: What role do Google Web Stories play in Carrie's blogging strategy?

Google Web Stories have become a vital part of Carrie’s strategy, generating substantial traffic by creating engaging visual content linked to her existing blog posts, which helps diversify her audience engagement while increasing visibility.

Q: What challenges did Carrie face when responding to Google’s core updates?

After suffering a 60% traffic loss in 2019 due to a core update, Carrie invested in technical SEO improvements and learned to monitor her site’s keywords carefully, ultimately leading to recovery and growth.

Q: How does Carrie handle the balance between content creation and managing her blog?

Carrie emphasizes the need to outsource tasks she dreads, such as food photography, allowing her to focus on higher-level strategies while managing a more sustainable workload.

Q: How important is mindset according to Carrie in the blogging journey?

Carrie believes cultivating an abundant mindset is crucial, helping bloggers to stay resilient against competition and setbacks, and to recognize their unique value and authority in their niche.

Q: What metrics does Carrie prioritize in her blogging success?

Carrie focuses primarily on page views rather than revenue for tracking her success, believing that traffic reflects the site's growth and reach, which eventually leads to monetization opportunities.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Carrie Forrest, a food blogger since 2009, transformed her hobby into a successful business by focusing on SEO strategies after 2018, rapidly increasing her traffic and revenue.

• She emphasizes the importance of keyword research and updating old posts while leveraging Google Web Stories to boost site visibility and engage users.

• Forrest advocates for an abundant mindset in blogging, recognizing the value in collaboration, and highlights the mental resilience required to navigate challenges and setbacks.