Looking to start a blog to promote your nutritionist services? In the ever-evolving field of nutrition and online coaching, blogging can be a great way to attract and retain clients.
By correctly marketing your business, you can attract clients from around the world for online consulting and also bring in people from your area for in-person consultations.
What Is a Nutrition Blog?
A nutrition blog involves writing articles on nutrition-related topics like healthy recipes, health tips, or your personal experience related to health and wellness.
Blogging not only helps your clients, but it’s also a great way to keep yourself abreast with the latest health and nutrition news and educate your audience on it.
How Do I Start a Successful Nutrition Blog?
Before starting your blog you should know your end goal and have a content strategy to help you achieve it. You can generate ideas for your nutrition blog by:
- Doing keyword research (so you can target a specific topic e.g. ‘nutrition for toddlers’ or ‘keto weight loss’)
- Creating a content calendar (or getting one for free here).
After having an idea of what you want to blog about, choose a blogging platform, hosting plan, and domain name (e.g.www.yourbusinessname.com).
After getting a hosting plan and designing your website you can follow your content calendar and start publishing blog posts regularly.
What Should You Post On Your Nutrition Blog?
Write blog posts on topics related to your services and topics that are being searched for by your target audience. Here are some nutrition topic ideas:
- Meal plans for your clients e.g. a fitness coach can create meal plans for athletes
- Plant-based diet
- Keto or vegan recipes
- Weight loss dieting
- Food and mental health
- Top gluten-free foods
- Health and fitness tips
- How to develop healthy eating habits
If you’re a nutritionist who targets a specific type of client, like you help women over 40 who are going through hormonal changes, then write on topics related to that type of audience. You don’t have to write about everything under Nutrition.
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How Do I Create a Nutrition Blog?
Blogging is a great way to share your knowledge and get new clients. Create your nutrition website (and blog) by following these steps:
- Set your SMART goals and make a plan
- Find your niche
- Use keyword research to generate blog topics
- Create lead magnets that go with your blog posts
- Choose your domain name
- Find a fast & reliable host for your blog
- Create a design lookbook
- Design and personalize your site
- Install crucial plugins
- Create cornerstone pages
- Create a blogging schedule
- If shooting recipes, learn how to use the camera
- Use email marketing to build your fanbase
- Write your first blog post
- Guest post on other blogs related to your niche
- Use social media
- Start funneling traffic
Set Your Smart Goals and Make a Plan
Before getting started, you should have a roadmap to make this process easier. Here’s one thing to consider before creating content. What’s the final goal of your website and how do you plan on reaching it?
The purpose of your website may be to get clients or to build an audience for a course you’re launching in the future. Setting a SMART goal allows you to have a target [t] and a deadline [d] for reaching that target…
Goal 1
‘‘I want to build an email list of 500 subscribers [t] before launching my course in April [d]’’
Plan: create freebies to entice people to join your email list, and promote them on social media and in your blog.
Goal 2
‘‘I want to publish content regularly and start getting organic traffic [t] to my blog in 4 months [d] so I can stop spending a ton on ads’’
Plan: Stick to your content calendar and publish at least 2-4 articles a week to start ranking. Work on securing backlinks to boost SEO and website credibility.
Find Your Niche
Your blog should reflect your niche and services. So how do you find your niche? You probably have one already. Who are you helping, what do these people have in common?
Are you helping working moms with meal prep, toddlers’ eating habits, sports athlete nutrition, etc? Those are all niches.
Being a nutritionist, you probably get a lot of similar questions from your clients…So if many of your clients come to you with gut issues, you can create content around digestive health and brand yourself as an expert in gut health.
Remember, people prefer a specialist over a generalist, so target a specific type of client and build your brand as an expert for that type of thing, then branch out if you want.
Use Keyword Research to Generate Blog Topics
The main goal of blog content is to drive traffic to your website, and ultimately turn those readers into paying clients. That’s why you have to make sure that the right people are coming to your website. How do you do that? Using keyword research.
Keywords are words and phrases related to your niche that are being searched on the internet. So, if you create content around those keywords people who are typing those keywords into Google will see your content in search results and some will click on it and end up on your website.
I use Ubersuggest, Google Trends, and SEMrush to find topics and keywords to write about. By implementing SEO keywords into your articles, your target audience will come directly to you, and they’re more likely to use your services than anyone else.
Create Lead Magnets That Go With Your Blog Posts
Lead magnets are a great way to build your email list fast, and they help you attract the right people to your business who’ll end up needing your services. lead magnets should be specific and actionable, so your new subscriber should be able to see some kind of result after using it.
If you’re a nutritionist specializing in gut health and you create a blog post on “The dangers of inflammation”, then a freebie “17 anti-inflammatory smoothies that are ulcer friendly” would be more appropriate for that article than something like “ A guide to keto substitutes for desserts”.
You could also set up a tripwire funnel where you sell an expensive product for a fraction of the price ($7 at most) for all new signups. This way you’ll be making money while building your blog and your audience will be more likely to buy from you again.
Choose Your Domain Name
It’s easy and really convenient to use your practice or business name as your domain (website) name.
So if your business name is Nutritionist Rosa LLC then your domain can be www.nutritionistrosa.com — this is to the point and your niche/service is in the URL which helps with SEO. Also, using your name as in the website URL is a great way to build your personal brand.
If you want to be more specific and draw out your target audience, e.g. Let’s say Rosa helps vegans specifically, then a name like www.vegannutrition.com would make sense.
Make sure your domain name isn’t too long or it’ll be hard to read. No need to make this over complicated or you might never start your website.
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Find a Fast and Reliable Host for Your Blog
WordPress is the most notable and recommended blogging platform, and it comes with a whole range of blog templates and plugins, so you can find a professional theme that suits your brand.
You can also optimize your articles on WordPress with SEO plugins, increasing its visibility in search engines.
**If you want a site that’s quite pleasing to the eye then Squarespace is also a great option.
After settling on a domain name and blogging platform, you need a platform to host your blog. This is basically a place where your website lives (all the files are kept) on the internet.
Hosting companies ensure your blog is always online and running as fast as possible.
I recommend using Siteground or Hostinger (I use Hostinger as it’s super affordable for complete beginners and has a one-click WordPress installation…making website setup a breeze).
Create a Design Lookbook
Now it’s time to get creative and choose your brand colors and fonts. If you need some inspiration, look at other blogs in your niche or your competitors and see what ideas you can incorporate into your own branding.
A fun thing you could do is create a mood board on Pinterest. Just go onto Pinterest and type in ‘nutritionist’ or a niche topic and you’ll see related pins pop up. Save pins that resonate with you onto a board named ‘mood/branding’. Things to keep in mind are colors, fonts, designs, and tone of writing.
After pinning to your mood board you might notice things the pins have in common:
- maybe the colors are similar
- maybe you chose fonts that are girly or fonts that are bold yet simple
- maybe the copy is factual and informative, or it uses storytelling and big promises
**Remember, your social media feed should fall within your mood board as well, giving your website and social media the same vibe and branding.
Design and Personalize Your Site
If you suck at design but you want to build your own website, you’re in luck. WordPress comes with an extensive library of premium and free themes to choose from, that’ll help get your website where you want it.
After installing and activating WordPress, it’s time to find a theme that works well with what you are trying to accomplish. I recommend the Astra theme because it’s the most popular WordPress theme due to its functionality, speed, ease of use, and flexibility.
I’d recommend downloading the Astra Starter Templates plugin with mobile-friendly website templates that you only have to edit to include your fonts and brand colors.
**Tutorial: How to add the Astra theme to your website and select a premade template.**
Install Crucial Plugins
Plugins are tools that give your blog more features. Here are some plugins that are essential for a nutrition blog:
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Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is a WordPress plugin that improves your website’s rankings on search engines. So you can create search engine-friendly blog posts and optimize your site’s content and keywords.
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Foodie Nutrition Facts Label
This plugin lets food bloggers and nutritionists create FDA-compliant nutrition facts labels with ease.
These labels ensure you’re giving factually correct information about recipes to your readers.
Simply fill out the nutrition values, let the plugin do all the calculations, and view the finished label. Both Calories from Fat and % DV are calculated automatically.
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WP Recipe Maker
The WP recipe maker plugin allows readers to search, adjust, use, and save the recipes they’re after.
Ingredients can be shown inside or next to instruction steps, and there’s also unit and temperature conversion for readers across the globe
There are also various print options so you can change the serving size and print a recipe tailored to you. And much more!
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WPRocket
WPRocket caches your web pages and minifies its code, delivering content ASAP.
WP Rocket is not just a WordPress caching plugin. It’s the most powerful solution to boost your loading time, improve your page speed, and optimize core web vitals.
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ShortPixel
ShortPixel is a plugin that compresses images without any humanly visible differences.
This is crucial because large images cause webpages to load forever and readers will decide to leave your site, increasing the bounce rate.
ShortPixel dramatically reduces image file size, which in turn speeds up loading speed.
Create Cornerstone Pages
After building your website, you need to create a few basic pages so your visitors are able to navigate your site easily and know what services you offer.
Create these five must-have pages for your site:
1. Home page
The home page clearly shows what your brand is all about and your offer in terms of value, services, or products. Slap a huge graphic at/near the top of your home page showcasing your freebie opt-in so it’s visible to everyone and encourages sign-ups.
2. About page
The About page should provide visitors with more information about you and it has to resonate with your target readers.
Many people make the mistake of thinking that the About page is actually about them, it’s actually not.
You don’t need to add your life story (unless it’s relevant), only mention things that are related to your business and how you can help readers.
If you’re a dietitian, mention your struggles with food or your degree and accolades, as long as it can help build trust with your audience.
3. Services page
Here you can explain your services, pricing, and the working process, and an FAQ section answering common queries. Make this simple to digest so it’s easy for visitors to say yes to your offer.
4. Contact page
This is a very straightforward page with a contact form where visitors can input their details and send you a message.
I actually have my email and a link to my Calendly schedule for readers who want a free discovery call for my copywriting services.
5. Blog page
This page is where your latest blog posts appear when you publish them. You can have a simple header and add a post grid plugin that pulls up your latest blog posts so you have a mini blog archive.
Create a Blogging Schedule
Starting a blog is easy, but many of us fail at being consistent and end up ghosting our blog.
One way to commit to it is by coming up with a blogging schedule that works for you.
Figure out how much time you have each week to focus on your blog and how long it takes you to write and edit a blog post.
Setting aside at least an hour a day to write your article will ensure you stay committed to blogging and you’ll get faster at writing.
By blogging regularly your readers will know when to expect an update, whether it’s weekly or biweekly.
This is how you build an audience and have people coming back to your website, which also helps your new articles get traction even if it’s not ranking yet.
If you want to create consistent quality content for your nutrition business but don’t have the time, let me help!
Check out my blog management services or get a free 3-month blog calendar with topics tailored to your biz🎉
If Shooting Recipes, Learn How to Use The Camera
Invest in a good-quality camera, or if your phone takes high-quality images then start with that. Learn how to take appealing photos or hire a professional photographer.
Always try to use natural lighting as it’s especially great for taking food photos.
Use Email Marketing to Build Your Fanbase
You should set up and grow your email list immediately after building your website.
I use Systeme for my website’s email marketing because they provide many premium features for free, forever:)
Systeme is great for beginners and easy to customize. You can send unlimited emails to up to 2000 subscribers, for free.
You can also create 3 sales funnels with a maximum of 15 steps, other email service providers don’t usually let you build funnels on their free plan.
You can even build a course with unlimited students, which is great for nutritionists and coaches. Yes, we’re still talking about the free plan.🙂
Create newsletter and freebie opt-ins that pop up when visitors enter or want to leave your site.
So you can capture their emails, send personalized automated email sequences, and nurture and bring them back to your website.
Write Your First Blog Post
If you’ve done your keyword research you’ll have a ton of topics to write on. Take the topic from your blog calendar and start writing.
Don’t be afraid to get personal and share your journey in blog posts, if it’ll make you relatable to your audience – Show them that you understand their concerns and goals.
Consistently publishing blog posts will help establish your blog as an expert within your niche.
Regular blogging = higher impressions = more traffic
Eventually, your blog will come to life with many visitors engaging with your content and acknowledging its value.
Guest Post On Other Blogs Related to Your Niche
Guest posting is great for link-building, establishing authority, and networking with other bloggers in your niche.
So if you write an article for an online magazine or another website, you can include a link to your blog in your byline. This way a portion of those readers may come to your website!
Guest posting is a great way to build quality links You can start by finding other blogs in the health and fitness space. Reach out to them and offer to write a guest post on their blog.
Linking back to your blog posts from authority websites helps boost your blog’s authority and you end up getting indexed faster.
Use Social Media
While SEO helps with your content strategy, in the long run, it’s good to promote your blog immediately on social media to get that initial traffic.
If you’re new to social media, I recommend starting with Pinterest. Just create a few pins and link them to a blog post.
With Pinterest as long as you stay consistent the traffic will build and you’ll have regular Pinterest traffic coming to your website in no time.
This is a free method and it takes a lot of time, but have at least two social media accounts set up and try to post content regularly.
You could use Tailwind to schedule all your pins for Pinterest, Tailwind automates everything so you don’t need to design graphics or create captions.
Start Funneling Traffic
There are a few ways to get traffic to your site. As I mentioned before, you can use social media to get traffic to your site quickly if you have a good following or run ads on social platforms.
There are also Google ads that will get your article on top in search results and in front of people.
When talking about funneling traffic, you have to think about what’s going to happen after getting traffic. The main thing is to get traffic to blog posts so Google knows we are serious about our blog and getting indexed.
But, you could also promote freebies on social media: To make sure you’re getting the most out of your time, link to a landing page offering a freebie in exchange for the person’s emails – so you can build your list fast!
Why you need an email list: Instead of getting some traffic to your blog and having readers click away. It’s better to capture their emails so you can nurture them through email and later recommend articles and promote things to them.
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How Do I Create a Nutrition Blog – FAQs
How Do I Start Writing a Blog for Beginners?
To start a blog as a beginner you first need to choose a hosting platform, give your website a name, install a theme, and then start creating content for your blog. Check out the full tutorial on how to start a blog here.
Do Blogs Make Money?
Yes, there are many ways for bloggers to make money, including:
- Affiliate marketing
- Sponsored posts
- Ad revenue
- Selling your own products or courses
Can You Start a Blog With No Money?
You don’t have to pay to blog, but you do need a hosting plan to keep all your website files – Fast and affordable hosting costs a few dollars a month. But if you want something that’s completely free to get started then I suggest trying Systeme.io.
Systeme.io is an excellent choice for anyone looking to start blogging for free. With Systeme.io you can easily set up a blog in minutes and use their other free features such as sales funnels, course creation, and more.
How Do I Start a Nutrition Journal?
A nutrition or food journal is used to record the specific foods you eat throughout the day. You can track your eating habits, such as:
- Types of food you eat
- Food portion size
- At what times you eat
- How many times you eat in a day
- Where you eat
- Your emotional state before, while, and after eating
- Hunger levels
Write everything down, no matter how small it seems. Don’t wait till the end of the day [because you may forget] to write in your food journal. Write whenever you have the chance.
How Can I Write My First Blog?
Here’s how to go about writing your first blog post as a beginner:
- Generate some topic ideas and headlines
- Create an article outline for your blog post
- Start writing. Once you have an outline to guide your writing, the rest is easy
When I first started blogging I wanted every article to be perfect and spent too much time milling over topics, headlines, and everything in between. But it’s okay to not have a perfect first draft… after doing your edits you’ll have a fully finished blog post in no time.
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