Tomato Crostini with Basil

I’m sharing this super fresh and simple tomato crostini and three tips to improve your food blog. Check it out!

This post contains affiliate links. Read the affiliate disclosure.

Tomato Crostini with Basil and Tips To Improve Your Food Blog

Tip 1: Get the SSL Certificate

In my own “simplified” words, an SSL Certificate makes sure that your site is secure. This is very important if you’re collecting any kind of information from people or just want people to feel safe browsing your site. You can tell if a site is secure because it will read “https” in the url instead of just “http.”

Contact your web host to setup your SSL Certificate. My host made this very easy to do – in other words, it was included in my hosting package. I am currently using ShowIt for my web hosting and purchased my website template through Tonic Site Shop.

A two-year Standard SSL Certificate can be around $120.00 or so. It depends on your hosting company. It’s worth it to know that I’m providing a secure site for my readers.

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Read More About: How To Improve Your Photography Website

Tip 2: Get the Cookbook Recipe Plugin

I didn’t used to use a recipe plugin with my blog before… (gasp!) I know, that was a big mistake on my part, because they can help with SEO when people are searching for specific recipes.

My initial research for recipe plugin’s started with the freebies. The main issues I had with the free plugins were that they looked terrible on my site and I couldn’t reach anyone when I had questions. You get what you (don’t) pay for, right?

During the redesign of my website + blog, I knew that I would need to invest in a good plugin and I decided to work with CookBook. I’m not a developer, so I’m not going to get too technical on you here. I will tell you that if you’re currently using a recipe plugin and might want to switch to Cookbook, you can! Going through each recipe would be really tedious, but they can help you make the switch and save you a ton of time.

Here are the main reasons I chose this plugin:

IT’S BEAUTIFUL

As a professional photographer (and a former art director), I am a visual person and I want things to be easy to use and look really good at the same time.

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GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE

The team at Cookbook is responsive, super helpful and oh-so-friendly. And, they were all of these things BEFORE I made the investment. Instant win.

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EASY TO USE

This is key for me, because I don’t have the time to try to figure something out. If I’m paying for a plugin, I want it to be easy to use. Feel free to check out more information here and see what you think.

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COST

The Cookbook Plugin is billed annually at $59.99 to ensure the longevity of the plugin and keep it functioning correctly. Right now they are offering $10 off your first year. Woo Hoo! Totally worth it to me to have a beautiful, easy-to-use recipe plugin for my recipes.

Tip 3: Hire A Web Designer

As a photographer and blogger, I wear many hats. However, there are some hats I am not meant to wear. Web development is definitely one of them. I simply don’t have the time to learn how to do backend coding with my website or blog. Most templates and themes are beautiful on the surface. But, after you buy one, it can be a challenge to figure out how to customize certain things to reflect your brand.

I hired Ingrid from Penguin Designing, who is a fabulous web designer and developer. She helped me add some special customization to my blog and I would hire her again in a heartbeat if I need anything else in the future.

I also worked with Kiley over at Brainchild Studios to learn some basic SEO practices for my website and blog. This ensured that I was using the right keywords and labeling my H1-H2-H3 tags correctly. These are important steps to help Google rank your website… and I didn’t know anything about any of this before.

I highly recommend working with a developer if development isn’t your thing. It will save you so much time and you’re supporting other entrepreneurs in the process. Win win!

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Need A New Website? Check out Tonic Site Shop and Save 15% with code ReganSent Me

Recipe Notes for Simple Tomato Crostini

Now that I’ve given you some good information to think about for improving your food blog, check out this delicious recipe. It’s is full of fresh cherry tomatoes mixed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, minced garlic and fresh basil. Add salt and pepper to taste and let it sit at room temperature for 3 hours at room temperature before serving on grilled slices of a baguette. You can quarter the tomatoes or dice them – it’s up to you!

It’s so easy and it makes a lot, so invite your friends over and have a party!

Happy Cooking!

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click or make a purchase through my site, I might make a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only promote products that I actually use and support. 

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All images ©Regan Baroni 2018.