An overview of SEO best practices for formatting recipes to increase search result rankings for Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines. Includes an overview of the benefits of using hRecipe or other Google Rich Snippet formats, as well as practical tips even if you are not using a structured format. Includes information on free WordPress plugins.

1. SEO for Recipes & Food Blogs
Geoff Allen, ZipList
July 24, 2011

2. SEO for Food Blogs: Overview
• Content is King, but Structure is
Queen
• Let Search Engines Know You
Have Recipes on Your Site
• Get to Know Rich Snippets &
hRecipe
• Importantly, Make Your Food
Blog More Findable

3. Above All Else, Be Consistent
• Recipe Title, Title Tags & URL
Should Match
• Always Use the Labels
Ingredients & Instructions
– This helps if you are not using hRecipe or
other Rich Snippet formats
• Keep Heading Styles Consistent
(e.g., <H2>, <H3>)
Source: Two Peas and Their Pod

4. Use HTML List Elements for Ingredients/Instructions
• Use Bulleted Lists for
Ingredients
– Unordered Lists <UL>
• Use Numbered Lists for
Instructions
– Numbered Lists <OL>
• Free Form Text Makes it More
Difficult for Search Engines to
Differentiate Recipe Content
– Don t Use <BR> and <P> in Lists
• You still have control of styling
– You can still use HTML lists without Source: Hoosier Homemade
showing bullets or numbers

5. Give Special Treatment to Special Sauces
• Ingredients for Sub-Recipes Need
Special Sub-Heads
– Glazes, Sauces, Frosting, Marinades
– Example, For the Glaze:
– Use a different style from your other
headings, decide on your text and be
consistent about it
• Do Not Include the Sub-Heads
Within HTML List Elements
– Example, <OL>, <UL>
Source: Steamy Kitchen, Mother s Famous Chinese
Egg Rolls Recipe

6. Don’t Forget a Meta Description
• Always Include the Name of
Your Recipe
• Stick to 150 Words (First 30 are
Key)
• Recipe Searchers See This First
Before They Click, So Make This
Count
– A good meta description can increase
your click-through rate

7. Optimize Your Recipe Photos
• Make the First Photo That of the
Finished Recipe
• Your Post Title & Photo Name
Should Match
• Describe Photos Beyond the First
Photo in Your Post
• Put Dashes Between Each Word
When You Save a Photo
• Beware of “hidden markup”
– Photos included within an hRecipe
should not be hidden via CSS as Google
may ignore it
– E.g. don’t use (display:none;) Source: $5 Dinners, Spanish Stew – Vintage Recipe

8. Converting Your Recipes to hRecipe
• The hRecipe Microformat Tells
Google This is a Recipe
• hRecipe Makes Your Recipes
More Relevant to Google
– Helps on search results, the search result
description and further recipe ltering
• Free hRecipe WordPress Plugins
– ZipList Recipe Plugin
– EasyRecipe
– RecipeSEO
Confidential & Proprietary, Copyright ZipList, Inc. 2011

9. Create an XML Sitemap (Automatically)
• Sitemaps help search engines:
– Understand your site structure and locate
content accurately
– Know when content is changed
(which not only increases freshness
but improves your search results)
• WordPress plugins are available
– Example: Google XML Sitemaps
– http://bit.ly/Pl74T

10. Contact Me
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ziplist
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/ziplist
• Email: geoff.allen@ziplist.com
• Free E-Book: 26 SEO Tips for Food Bloggers
– http://bit.ly/foodblogseo
• ZipList Recipe Plugin
– http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ziplist-recipe-plugin/
– Questions on the ZipList Recipe Plugin? Email: plugins@ziplist.com.