Key tips to making Recipe Videos for your Website or Food Blog

Making recipe videos is not as easy as it may seem. There are many aspects of the process to consider, and if you get it wrong it could have a negative effect on your advertisers’ profits, which is the last thing you want. Below are some key issues to keep in mind when creating professional looking recipe videos.

• Good Equipment

Without good camera and lighting equipment, the video that you make could appear amateurish. If you want to give any product credibility by creating a video about it, making it a good quality video is the first step to success. Invest in decent equipment and look for highly recommended cameras and lights that would work well together to avoid fuzzy pictures. Don’t underestimate a good sound recording system either – no one will want to watch a video that sounds crackly or muffled!

• Clear and Concise Process

Always have someone cooking a recipe who really knows what they are doing. The ‘expert’ doesn’t need to be a celebrity chef, nor do they have to be well practiced and as slick as the cooks on the TV. However, the presenter needs to know how to cook the recipes and give clear instructions to their audience. Always know the measurements for what you are cooking; telling your audience that you “pretty much guess” is not going to look good! Also, make sure all your preparation is done beforehand – have all of your ingredients in front of you and set out in an aesthetically pleasing way (in small bowls for example).

• Keep the Video short

No matter how keen a cook a consumer is, no one out there will want to watch any recipe videos that are too long. Again, keep it concise and your viewers will find it all much easier to follow. If just one camera angle seems to be a little boring, mix it up and use close-ups of the food from high angles. This will give the viewer an idea of how their food should look.

• Make your Recipe Videos Search Engine Accessible

By adding keywords to your recipe videos and tagging them, you can make them a lot easier to find through a search engine.

• “Watchability”

When the final video has been created, make sure it is well edited to give it a slick appearance. Make sure lots of camera angles are used to make the clip a lot more exciting to look at, however don’t go overboard- too many changes in camera angles could send your viewers dizzy!

• The Best Tip of All

So many chefs that appear of recipe videos look so miserable when they are cooking, so the best thing you can have in your video is your chef smiling! A smile goes a long way, and just could be the last straw in making recipe videos, making your audience are a lot more likely to stick around and watch a clip of someone enjoying cooking.

Gourmet Ads is always looking for websites or food blogs featuring recipe or cooking videos. For more information visit our page on Video Advertising.

Making Recipe Videos is a post from: Gourmet Ads Publisher Portal

Strategies for creating a content plan for your food blog

A blog is one of the best ways to build an audience for your site, advertise new products, and build your brand; hence the importance of creating a content plan for your food blog. If you are a food retailer or manufacturer, you already know that filling your blog with relevant niche specific content is the best way to keep bringing in traffic.  But when you post to your blog, do you have a plan in mind?

A content plan for your blog is part schedule, part strategy.  You don’t necessarily have to post something new everyday, but you should develop a strategy so that your readers know when to come back for more information. Whether that is twice a week or seven days a week, you will want your readers to anticipate when the latest installment of your blog will be out. A content plan is highly effective in helping you manage your time as well.  When you first start your blog, you are probably full of ideas for posts that you want to do, but it is easy to get burned out and run out of ideas.  By knowing how often you are going to post, you can spend time deciding on a few specific areas to write about rather than sorting through dozens of ideas. Not only will this make it easier for you to plan the time you need to devote to your blog, it will also build loyal readers who realize that you are posting content that is well thought out and interesting.

Creating a content plan for your food blog is essential for being a good blogger

A content plan makes it easier to become a good blogger. You will want to schedule time to monitor your posts so that you can respond to comments. You will also be writing regularly, a strategy that improves your standing in the greater food community. The more often your blog is updated with content that your readers want to see, the more you will be looked to for good information. Keep in mind that writing a food-related blog isn’t just about reviewing products or reminiscing about favorite meals. A successful blog post for a food retailer or manufacturer may include a recipe, notes on an upcoming sale, or meal ideas for busy moms.

The strategy portion of creating a content plan comes into play when you start developing an idea of what you want to post and when. Start by pulling out a twelve month calendar that you can make notes on.  What are some of the important dates on that calendar? Write your blog based on those dates.  For example, as spring approaches, you may want to write a blog about traditional Easter meal ideas. With Mother’s day right around the corner, what about a blog post talking about ways to make a special breakfast in bed for mom? Or barbecuing tips to make dad that perfect steak in June?  Break your blog post ideas into categories that relate specifically to calendar dates, and then make notes of what you want to cover.  Not only is this a great way to match your blog to your advertising goals, it can also provide much needed inspiration as your stare at your computer screen. Also, don’t forget to put information on your calendar about major sales or promotions so you can blog about those as well.

Your blog is an ideal forum for promoting everything from New Year’s black eyed peas to Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas hams. A content plan will give your food blog the professional feeling that will bring customers back to your site. In essence, creating a content plan for your food blog can make your blog more effective and bring in more viewers.

Creating a Content Plan is a post from: Gourmet Ads Publisher Portal

Last weekend our ad serving partner, Cox Digital Solutions updated the platform to improve the delivery and reliability.

Part of the update was a data migration between two systems. The data migration is still occurring which is why there is a delay in the data being visible in your account.

Some publishers have seen a 24-36 hour delay in their reporting. Rest assured that ad serving is unaffected and reporting is being counted as per normal, however there is still a delay in the data being displayed in your reporting system.

We will update this Blog Entry as we are advised.

Reporting Delayed is a post from: Gourmet Ads Publisher Portal

Why Put a Gourmet Ads Website Badge on your Site or Food Blog ?

There’s a lot of evidence that shows that when your site displays a website badge, you benefit by;

• Building Trust and Creditability with your Audience
• Showing your Site Publishes Quality Content
• Contributes to more Page Views per User Session
• Demonstrates your site is part of a Global Network
• Shows Advertising Agencies where they can buy your Website or Food Blog

We’ve made it really easy to put the Website Badge on your site. All you need to do is select the Website Badge you like, then copy and paste into your sidebar or footer and you’re done. That’s it.

Choose your Gourmet Ads Website Badge here

Gourmet Ads Website Badges is a post from: Gourmet Ads Publisher Portal

• Building Trust and Creditability with your Audience
• Showing your Site Publishes Quality Content
• Contributes to more Page Views per User Session
• Demonstrates your site is part of a Global Network
• Shows Advertising Agencies where they can buy your site

Below you will find two types of Gourmet Ads Badges (ones for Food Blogs and ones for Publishers) that you can put on your website or blog, which help viewers recognize your site as part of Gourmet Ads.

Tips on where to place Badges;

• In your side bar or footer on every page (tacit reminder you’re credible & trustworthy)
• Prominently on your Homepage so the badge is seen within 5 seconds of loading

Simply select the badge you’d like to use, copy and paste the embed code and post it manually on to your site.
If you have any questions, please Contact Us.

Featured Food Blog Badges

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
	88×31
Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_blog_88x31.gif"></a>

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
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Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_blog_120x60.gif"></a>

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
	120×120
Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_blog_120x120.gif"></a>

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
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Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_blog_160x70.gif"></a>

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
	160×160
Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_blog_160x160.gif"></a>

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
	250×140
Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_blog_250x140.gif"></a>

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
	300×150
Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_blog_300x150.gif"></a>

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
	300×300
Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_blog_300x300.gif"></a>

Featured Publisher Badges

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
	88×31
Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_publisher_88x31.gif"></a>

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
	120×60
Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_publisher_120x60.gif"></a>

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
	120×120
Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_publisher_120x120.gif"></a>

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
	160×70
Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_publisher_160x70.gif"></a>

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
	160×160
Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_publisher_160x160.gif"></a>

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
	250×140
Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_publisher_250x140.gif"></a>

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
	300×150
Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_publisher_300x150.gif"></a>

Copy and paste the code below on your blog or website:
	300×300
Embed Code:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gourmetads.com" title="Food Advertising" alt="Food Advertising"><img border="0" src="http://publishers.gourmetads.com/badges/GADS_featured_publisher_300x300.gif"></a>

Website Badges is a post from: Gourmet Ads Publisher Portal

Advertisers running regular display advertising and rich media campaigns on Gourmet Ads, often ask about supplying their own branded content to publishers in the network. The content could be in the form of a branded recipe or could be a review of a new product or a photo graphic competition featuring their brand or product. For the most part the content is written content, supported with logos and photos.

The type and quality of content provided differs from advertiser to advertiser. As an example, often branded recipes are developed and tested in the brand’s own test kitchen and is accompanied with quality photography.  Sometimes advertisers will even provide recipes from Celebrity Chefs.

Branded Content can be a great way to increase the content on your website or blog, however we do ask publishers do disclose to their audience that the branded recipe content is an “Advertising Feature”.

If you’d like to accept Branded Content from Advertisers, then the Gourmet Ads Publishing Team will contact you on a campaign by campaign basis to help incorporate the content in to your site.

Branded Content is a post from: Gourmet Ads Publisher Portal

Placements Questionnaire is a post from: Gourmet Ads Publisher Portal

Thanks for providing us with information about what Premium Placements can run on your site or food blog.

If you have any question, please visit our Publisher Contact Us page.

Learn about our free Traffic Booster Program which helps sites drive more relevant traffic to your site.

On Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin? Socialize with Gourmet Ads.

Thanks for your Site Information is a post from: Gourmet Ads Publisher Portal

Placing your Ads Above the Fold

For those that don’t know, the term Above the Fold advertising is a design concept that was used in placing important news stories or stunning photographs on the front page of newspapers. When newspapers are delivered to readers, they are usually folded in half, making only the upper half of the front page visible. Knowing this, graphic designers would place the headlines or photos that were most likely to make readers dive into the paper on this area, “above the fold” of the front page. Today, the term is used to refer to the most lucrative advertising space on a website – the portion of the site that is visible as soon as a visitor navigates to the page.

For publishers, above the fold advertising space is the most important place on your site – see Positioning Your Ad Units. Advertisers are willing to buy more ads- and pay more money- for ads placed above the fold. The basic reasoning behind this is that customers who do not look anywhere else on a site will view above the fold ads. This leads to a greater number of page impressions and a higher click through rate. Some advertisers value this space so highly that they are only willing to work with sites that agree to place their ads in the coveted above the fold advertising space.

Gourmet Ads contributes the success of above the fold advertising by serving our ads from a highly efficient server that ensures that ads pre-load, ensuring that customers see the ad before they see anything else on the page. Advertisers look favorably on this type of banner advertising, because customers are willing to look at an ad while they wait for the rest of the page. This gives advertisers the time they need to make a good impression on customers.

For publishers, placing Gourmet Ads served advertisements in above the fold locations can lead to more views, and a higher click through rate that will make your page more valuable to our customers. Gourmet Ads ad server monitors incoming visitors to determine the type of browser they are using, their screen resolution, and the size of the monitor the ad is being viewed on so that visitors get the best possible experience each time they visit. Not only does above the fold advertising improve the value of placing ads on your site, it also appeals to customers who will see a professionally designed ad on your page as they enter.

Above the fold advertising is a win-win situation for publishers and advertisers. Above the fold advertisements create the type of traffic that drives sales and increases advertising revenue- targeted views that encourage customers to click through and find out more. By placing Gourmet Ads advertisements in your above the fold advertising space, you can help bring in the clicks that will make your site more profitable and make advertisers more willing to place ads on your website.

Above the Fold is Important is a post from: Gourmet Ads Publisher Portal

Twitter is a popular tool for publishers large and small because it allows you to have two way a conversation with your audience. The benefit of having this conversation from a publisher perspective is that not only can you inform your audience about new content, but you can ask their opinion, have a discussion and learn more about what kind of content that would like to see in the future.

Today we’re going to share some of the tools and ideas we use to have this conversation on Twitter and how you can use them to not only grow your followers, but engage with your audience and drive traffic to your site.

Get a Twitter Account
First off if you haven’t got your own Twitter account, then grab yours now. Try to get your website’s name and try not to use underscores or hypens. Make it easy and memorable – ours is @gourmetads
Once your Twitter Page is setup, add a description about your site and the URL. The more descriptive the description the better as the Twitter search engines index this and could be path to having people search for you using one of the search tools twitter has like http://search.twitter.com

Promoting your Twitter Page

Once you’ve got your Twitter start by promoting it. Some ideas could be a ;

• A Blog about you setting up a Twitter account
• A spotlight image linked to your Twitter Page
• Embed your Twitter Feed on to your page
• Add your Twitter link on the contact page
• Add Twitter link to your business card
• Send email to your newsletter database with links to Twitter page

Publishing Content to your Twitter
Earlier in the Traffic Booster Program we talked about RSS and how syndicating your RSS Feed on the internet can be great for gaining backlinks. Well RSS can be great for syndicating content for to users. Using your RSS / XML feed from your site, you can easily publish your content back into Twitter using Twitter Feed or one of the many RSS to Twitter Services out there. You can simply set and forget. Add your RSS feed URL, the publishing times and how you want the Tweets published and that’s it. Now every time you publish something on your website or blog it will automatically be syndicated to Twitter driving traffic back to your site.

Scheduling Tweets
Like all publishers it’s important to plan your communication. So using an application like Twuffer you can schedule your Tweets into the future. So if you are running a competition on the site, you could schedule say a dozen Tweets over a week to inform your audience of the competition.

There are hundreds of other ways you can use Twitter to drive traffic to your site, feel free to Contact Us and share your ideas with us.

Tweet

Twitter Page is a post from: Gourmet Ads Publisher Portal