We cover information about how Amy tripled her traffic during Google’s HCU as well as strategies for effective interlinking, crafting compelling opening paragraphs, and shifting mindset around recipe creation and keyword research.
Listen on the player in this post or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or your favorite podcast player. Or scroll down to read a full transcript.
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Amy founded The Copper Table in 2019 to share recipes that minimize processed ingredients with a focus on cooking in season and cooking from scratch using fresh produce. She wanted these recipes to be for people who are busy and often don’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen, but want great meals that make them feel good after a busy day. She lives on a small island in Washington state between Seattle and the Canadian border in a richly agricultural area that provides a lot of inspiration and recipe ingredients! |
Takeaways
- Update your About Page regularly: Continuously revise and expand your about page to showcase your expertise, authority, and trustworthiness as your knowledge and experience grow.
- Link to your About Page conversationally: Incorporate links to your about page in a natural, conversational way within your recipe posts to guide readers and signal your authority.
- Establish expertise in the opening: Dedicate the first 1-2 paragraphs of your recipe posts to clearly establishing your expertise and authority on the topic.
- Address specific pain points: Focus on addressing specific pain points or needs that your recipe solves for the reader in the opening paragraphs.
- Leverage your personal experiences: Incorporate relevant personal experiences, family history, or educational background that demonstrate your expertise in the niche.
- Interlink strategically: Develop an interlinking strategy that connects your recipe posts to other relevant content, categories, and your about page to showcase the depth of your knowledge.
- Prioritize helpfulness over metrics: Shift your mindset to focus on being a helpful, one-stop resource for your readers, rather than solely chasing traffic volume or low competition.
- Continuously expand your expertise: Consider taking additional classes, courses, or pursuing other opportunities to deepen your knowledge and skills in your niche.
- Maintain a positive mindset: Adopt a mindset of focusing on the present and not worrying excessively about future changes, as each day brings its own challenges.
Resources Mentioned
About Me Page and EEAT Resources:
3 Quick Wins for E-E-A-T
How To Show Up As An Expert In Your Food Blog’s Niche
The SEO Strategy That Doubled My Food Blog Traffic
Examples of establishing EEATÂ in posts and linking to the About Page:
Rhubarb Vinaigrette
Turkey Salad With Cranberry And Sage
Roasted Vegetable Sandwich
If You Loved this Episode…
You’ll love Episode 428: 5 Biggest Mistakes Food Bloggers Make In Their SEO with Ty Kilgore – this episode is referenced in Megan’s conversation with Amy.
Transcript
Click for full script.
EBT603 – Amy Angelli
Supercut 00:00
Hey, food bloggers, check out our new SEO supercut, a bonus 15 minute episode capturing highlights from SEO episodes we have recorded recently. Go to eatblogtalk.com/SEOsupercut to get access today.
Intro 00:16
Food bloggers. Hi, how are you today? Thank you so much for tuning in to the Eat Blog Talk podcast. This is the place for food bloggers to get information and inspiration to accelerate your blog’s growth, and ultimately help you to achieve your freedom. Whether that’s financial, personal, or professional. I’m Megan Porta. I have been a food blogger for 13 years, so I understand how isolating food blogging can be. I’m on a mission to motivate, inspire, and most importantly, let each and every food blogger, including you, know that you are heard and supported.
Megan Porta 00:52
How is your relationship with that acronym, E-E-A-T, how are you feeling about that? Do you feel like you have leaned into that in the past year or not? Maybe you’ve completely ignored it. Amy Angelli from The Copper Table, comes to this interview with a really cool perspective, which is the fact that she really leaned into E-E-A-T in the past year. She leaned into her niche, and she also leaned into leveraging her about page, and this has resulted in tripling her traffic all through Google’s HCU. We do a lot of talking in the episode about how to create a really solid, robust about page that Google and your user is going to find super helpful. It’s a really important piece of the food blogging equation. And my opinion, in Amy’s opinion, I think, and she talks about other things surrounding that. So linking to your about page from your recipe posts, creating really compelling opening paragraphs in each post, having an interlinking strategy, and changing your mindset about the recipes that you create and the numbers the search volume and the competition numbers that you find in your keyword research tools. This is an important conversation. It’s something we don’t talk about enough, so I hope you find immense value in this conversation. It is episode number 603 sponsored by RankIQ.
Sponsor 02:17
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Megan Porta 03:09
Amy Angeli founded the copper table in 2019 to share recipes that minimize processed ingredients with a focus on cooking in season and cooking from scratch using fresh produce. She wanted these recipes to be for people who are busy and often don’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen, but want great meals that make them feel good after a busy day. She lives on a small island in Washington State, between Seattle and the Canadian border, in a richly agricultural area that provides a lot of inspiration and recipe ingredients. Amy, it is so good to have you on the podcast. How are you doing today?
Amy Angelli 03:45
I’m great. Megan, how are you?
Amy Angelli 03:47
I’m doing good having a good day. So far, my youngest just went off to his first day of high school, so it was a little bit of a teary morning, but I’ve pulled it together. But it’s all good.
Amy Angelli 03:58
That’s so hard, isn’t it?
Megan Porta 04:00
Yeah, it is. I didn’t think I would react that way, but he was like, just, you know, steadfast leaving for the bus. Like, no big deal. And I was like, how can he be like this? I’m about to die. Oh, gosh, but I’m super excited to chat with you. This is a topic that I feel really strongly and passionately about that. I don’t feel like gets enough attention. So I personally really value this and appreciate you bringing it to the table. So thank you for being here. Amy,
Amy Angelli 04:33
You are so welcome. I am glad to have this conversation, because I think it’s very important too.
Megan Porta 04:41
So we will get into leaning into E, A T and leveraging your about page. But before we do all of that, do you have a fun fact to share with us Amy?
Amy Angelli 04:50
I do so I actually live on an island.
Megan Porta 04:56
What?
Amy Angelli 04:57
I do.
Megan Porta 04:58
Where?
Amy Angelli 04:58
I live in Am a large chain of islands that is north of Seattle, south of the Canadian border, and there are over 100 islands in this group that I am a part of. And my the island I live on is one of only two that are accessible by bridge. The rest of them, it is seaplane or ferry.
Megan Porta 05:26
Oh my gosh, wow. What is the name of the Island?
Amy Angelli 05:30
Fidalgo Island?
Megan Porta 05:31
I have never heard of that, but that is so interesting. How many people live on your island?
Amy Angelli 05:38
So there’s probably about 15,000 people.
Megan Porta 05:42
Oh, wow. So yeah, that’s significant
Amy Angelli 05:45
on this island, some of the cast of the show, Deadliest Catch live here. Oh, no way. Yeah, and it was also the home of Burl Ives of have a Holly Jolly Christmas fame.
Megan Porta 06:02
Wow. So a lot of fun facts thrown in there. I love it, yeah, I did not know you lived on an island. Now, I know.
Amy Angelli 06:09
I do.
Megan Porta 06:11
All right. Well, we’d also love to hear a little bit about your blog, The Copper Table. Amy, would you mind giving us just a little bit of a background on that?
Amy Angelli 06:20
So the copper table is about fresh produce forward recipes with CSA box and farmers market finds or what you have at your local grocery store, and trying to use local products as much as possible in an approachable way that isn’t fancy or intimidating, but just really good food that you can feel good about cooking and enjoy by yourself or with your family. And I try to make sure these recipes are easy and for the most part, aren’t really labor intensive. There are a few on the site that are, but I’m an overwhelmed sports mom, and I’m often a slave to the practice calendar, so I want these recipes to be easy for people who don’t have a lot of time, yeah, and what kind of works itself in there too, is cooking from scratch, making as many things as you can yourself as possible, instead of buying them, and in a way That is also easy and minimizing in the process, minimizing processed ingredients.
Megan Porta 07:45
Love it. I think a lot of people can relate to a lot of what you just said. And then you started your blog in 2019, correct.
Amy Angelli 07:54
I did, yeah.
Megan Porta 07:56
And how has growth been for you?
Amy Angelli 07:58
At first, it was extremely slow, and part of that was I, I had trouble really defining and executing what my site was about, and I really had trouble articulating that, and I think it’s because I was still really trying to figure that out myself, and I wasn’t consistent about posting. I think I had, I had a lot of imposter syndrome, and, you know, just lack of confidence in what I was doing, which I shouldn’t have, but I did. We all go through it and back in was it 2021 or 2022 I met Jen from Cookie Girl, who you know and she really was a huge help to me. She pushed me off the proverbial cliff, if you will. And in a lot of ways, I wouldn’t be where I am without her advice. So thank you, Jen. I have to call you out. I love that you
Megan Porta 09:10
did that. Hi, Jen. I miss you.
Amy Angelli 09:12
I miss you too. Jen,
Megan Porta 09:14
she’s so great. I thought she did that. So she just kind of, I don’t know what was the advice she gave you that pushed you off the cliff?
Amy Angelli 09:24
So just rating my Instagram DMS with weekly homework assignments, if you will. And then she would poke me, did you do that? Did you do that? Did you do that? And we would meet up, and I would tell her stuff that I knew that she didn’t know, and she would give me this big information dump, and I took all of that that I learned and listening to podcasts, and I just started doing the work, yeah, and then I was probably. This past spring. So earlier in 2024 it was somewhere. It was either on Madison Wetherill’s website or her podcast. I can’t remember the exact way I heard this or first found it out, but it was definitely Madison about linking to the about page. And I thought, well, oh, well, let’s give that a try. So I started doing that, and I was sort of in this rut, so I was updating old posts, and I started linking to the about page, and those older posts as part of the update, and then everything new that I did from that point on was linking to the about page. So in October of 2023 my blog was at 8000 sessions. And then in June of this year, it was at 45,002 weeks ago, I went live with ads.
Megan Porta 10:58
Oh, yay, congratulations. That’s huge. So awesome. Excited for you. It’s a big milestone in a blogger’s journey.
Amy Angelli 11:06
Yeah. So I it was probably spring of 2023, when I started linking to my about page.
Megan Porta 11:12
And okay, so you heard Madison mention the importance of the about page and linking to it. So then did you do a deep dive? Like, Oh, I should probably know what’s on my about page and figure all of this out.
Amy Angelli 11:25
I had already kind of written a pretty comprehensive one before that. I just wrote it, and then it sort of sat there, not really doing anything for me other than existing. And I got that the information I used to build that was from Eb Gargano of productive blogging. She is also a food blogger who has a blog called Productive Blogging. She has blogging courses and a lot of articles on productive blogging that are very much in the vein of what Eat Blog Talk is about just a lot of advice and relevant information for bloggers. And she had an article about crafting an about page, and that her framework was what I used as a starting point. And then over time, I just as I learned more and as I gained more experience, I just started adding to that. And the about page that I have now is the result of a pretty long evolution over a couple of years.
Megan Porta 12:40
Okay, so it isn’t, I mean, you can get it started. You can get a solid base in a day, I feel like, but it’s something that you can constantly go back to and revise as you’re kind of learning more about your niche, right?
Amy Angelli 12:53
Yeah, and you and you should be and, you know, sometimes it’s just a simple, oh, I know how I could talk about this one thing a little bit more clearly or in in a better way. And so you go in and you just change a paragraph, and I do it whenever I need to, so you should always be updating it.
Megan Porta 13:16
Yeah, and this is such a good way to establish that infamous E-E-A-T that we all hear about. All bloggers are like, how do I improve my E A T? Well, here is where you start. I think it’s so important for all food bloggers. If you’re listening and you haven’t updated your about page, you haven’t paid attention to it, go do it. Just get started with it. It’s such a huge message and signal to Google and to your user that you know what you’re about, and you, you’re an expert in this area, and you have experience in this area, right? So it’s a really, really solid tool to use.
Amy Angelli 13:56
Yes, and I think it’s actually maybe the most important page on the whole site.
Megan Porta 14:02
I love that. So do it? People ignore this all the time. I was just telling you before we started the conversation that I’m in groups or, like, on calls all the time, and people ask, How do I improve E-E-A-T and then I look at their about page, and I’m like, Oh, well, you should definitely start there. It is so important. So, yeah, yeah.
Amy Angelli 14:24
And I think, you know, and I’m sure you’ve seen this, and looking at people’s about pages, you go there and it’s, I’m Susan, and I love walking my dog, and I love reading, and I love sharing recipes here, yeah, well, that’s great, Susan, and we can probably hang out, but you have to tell me why your recipes are the best and why they are the ones I have been searching for.
Megan Porta 14:53
Yeah, and to give Susan some credit, this is how it used to be. Mm. Like we just used to throw up a few sentences, maybe a few paragraphs, that had nothing to do with your authority or expertise or anything. So it’s okay that it’s like that. It’s just it’s time to change, because times are changing.
Amy Angelli 15:14
Yes and in that, you know, we need to show our human side, and we need to talk about ourselves, but we also have to remember that the about page is actually about the reader, and you have to show that you’re here for for them. Yes, you know. And the way that I have done all of that is I caught in a conversational way I talk about what my site is and what it’s about. I try to do that in a way that lets them know first thing that they found their home. And I talk about what’s on the site. I talk about what kind of recipes and tips are on the site. I show them how I can help them by doing that, I also give them tips on how to find recipes on the site.
Megan Porta 16:12
I love that. So you’re not just telling them what you’re about, but you’re kind of guiding them through your blog.
Amy Angelli 16:17
Yes, and I do that by naturally linking to recipes as I write about what’s on the site. And by doing that, it shows readers and search engines what they can expect from you. And by linking to those recipes in a conversational way, it actually shows EEAT because you’re talking about what you’re providing, you’re talking about how you’re a helpful resource. When I write that and I link to the recipes, I don’t use the actual recipe title as the anchor text. I try to do a related key phrase. So instead of chocolate buttercream frosting. It might be four ingredient chocolate frosting or easy chocolate frosting, something that’s related, but not the actual title of the recipe. So they when they click on it, they know where they’re expecting to go if they click on that. But it’s not the same. It’s not the exact recipe title, because I know for good SEO, we’re not supposed to use the same anchor text every time, if we can help it. So I try to throw some variety in there and talk about your philosophy about cooking. You know what makes you excited in the kitchen. What? What are you passionate about related to cooking? Because you know, enthusiasm is contagious. So if you’re showing what makes you enthusiastic and how much you love cooking, it’s likely to make them love you and love cooking even more.
Megan Porta 18:03
I love that point. Enthusiasm is contagious. So if you can convey that enthusiasm on your about page, you’re going to let people know that you are enthusiastic about your cooking, and you’re going going to get them enthusiastic, yeah,
Amy Angelli 18:18
Cooking, and, you know, talk about your family history or other experiences, any education or charity work, past day jobs, if you have digital products, if any of that relates to the site, it provides topical authority while you’re telling the audience more about you. And that leads into how you’re helpful. So if you bake cookies for a bake sale every year, you should probably be talking about that. If you took a class a four week sourdough bread intensive, you should probably be talking about that, if you went to culinary school, if your family has been cooking the same recipes for generations, if, if that’s if that ties into your niche, it should be there.
Megan Porta 19:14
I love that point too. I completely agree. And then as far as like being featured in press or maybe podcasts mention that as well. Correct?
Amy Angelli 19:24
Oh, absolutely. Yeah.
Megan Porta 19:26
I noticed that you were on Cooking Chat with David’s podcast, and you mentioned that on your about page, which I love. I think, if you’re featured anywhere that’s relevant to your blog or your niche or cooking or any of your areas of expertise, mention it, put the links. Yeah, I’m all for that.
Amy Angelli 19:46
Yes, you know, we’re always concerned about having the right h 2s in our posts and making sure that we pepper those relevant keywords in in our recipe posts. But. The about page is kind of where you can let the storyteller in you really shine. So use that as an opportunity to be the creative writer that sometimes it’s a little harder to be in the posts. Yeah,
Megan Porta 20:16
No, that’s a good that’s something that we need to hear, because we don’t often get that. I know you lose it. Use the about page as your opportunity to shine a little bit. We feel so restricted on our recipe post, I feel like,
20:31
Yeah, yeah. As far as linking to it, I also do that in a conversational way from the recipe posts, because you should really be doing that in every post. I’m not quite there yet, but
Megan Porta 20:47
How do you give us an example of how you do that conversationally?
Amy Angelli 20:51
So you can do that in really any, in really any number of ways. I have a couple of examples from my own site that I can show you. Yeah,
Megan Porta 21:08
that would be awesome. So I assume you link to your about page from your recipe card as well.
Amy Angelli 21:15
I am working on that. I’m moving through that process as well. The I’m focusing on the posts mostly right now. So one way that I do this in posts is I also try to give them a little blurb about what the site is about in every post. Okay, so in this particular paragraph I’m going to read you, is one way that I do that this site is all about using these types of ingredients and how to make more things from scratch and eat fewer processed foods. If you are wanting to do all those things too, then I’m glad you’re here. I love helping others cook food they feel great about while using fresh ingredients. If you’re visiting The Copper Table for the first time, I encourage you to find out more about me and the blog. So find out more about me and the blog is the anchor text to go to the About page. And then another way that I have done that.
Megan Porta 22:13
I really like that. I think that adds a little bit of, yeah, just extra value. Not only are you showing your value, you know, on your about page, but you’re also showing the value in each recipe post like, yes, yeah, go here and learn more.
Amy Angelli 22:31
It’s more than establishing EEAT and on the about page, it’s establishing it in the posts as well, exactly. And I have another post where I did this, and I said, as a food service professional, I know how important it is to reduce food waste, and at my day job, we are always looking for ways to use leftovers where we can and food service professional is the anchor text that takes you to the about page.
Megan Porta 23:02
Oh, yeah, so there are creative ways to do it. They’re not saying the same thing over and over.
Amy Angelli 23:08
Right? That you’re also, in a conversational and natural way, just telling them, Hey, I know things and I can help you, because that’s what the helpful content update was about, right? Was being helpful, right? We should try to be helpful, if we can. I think.
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Megan Porta 24:12
And through the helpful content update your blog did pretty well?
Amy Angelli 24:16
I grew the entire time.
Megan Porta 24:19
Oh my gosh, amazing. Amy, that’s so inspiring.
Amy Angelli 24:22
Yeah, I from about the time the update started. I was at, when did the update start? Was it?
Megan Porta 24:31
I mean, March was kind of the bulk of it.
Amy Angelli 24:33
It was kind of so fall of 2023, I was at 8000 sessions. And then in just in June of this year, I was at 45,000 sessions. So I grew the whole time and in the months preceding when I was at 8000 sessions. Was when I had started really leaning into this strategy, and I can’t help but think that this is why I’m where I’m at right now, to a great degree, yeah, in addition to so much advice and encouragement and help from so many other bloggers.
Megan Porta 25:21
I agree. I think that this was a smart strategy. You kind of listened to what Google was telling you they wanted, and you’re, you know, like delivering information to your user, and that’s really what you focused on. And you have grown despite all the changes going on.
Amy Angelli 25:40
And, you know, I think one of the things that was really hard about the helpful content update was that for so long, the experts said, Oh no, you can’t have any humanity in there, no fluff, no personal stuff. And so everyone said, Okay, well, I guess I’m gonna stop talking about all that. And so they did, because that’s what they were told. And then we’re kind of finding that it’s coming full circle that you shouldn’t be talking about thing personal things in your posts that are irrelevant. You should be talking about things that that do relate to that post, whether it’s a family history. You were making this recipe with your grandmother since you were six years old. Well, obviously you know how to make this recipe, and you’re probably the best person. Somebody should be getting it from in that case, and you’re showing your humanity. You’re talking about who you are as a person, but you’re doing it in a way that shows the audience and search engines that I know what I am talking about, relating to this particular subject, right?
Megan Porta 26:53
And not just saying that like I know what I’m talking about, but giving those really specific examples, just like you mentioned, why you’re Why are you the person that should be writing this? Get into that.
Amy Angelli 27:06
Yes, and your interview with Ty Kilgore absolutely made my brain explode when it came to that. That was probably one of the most eye opening interviews I’ve ever listened to.
Megan Porta 27:23
It was good, right? A new perspective on how to write for our recipe posts.
Amy Angelli 27:29
That is what really that was a huge catalyst for me. Was what he said, and that opening and he talked about the opening paragraph, yes, and you really have to, you have that opening paragraph to tell them why this is the recipe for this particular dish that they need over any other recipe. And one of the best ways I can think of to do that is think of a pain point that it solves. Is this ready in less than 30 minutes? Does it use up too much of some of something they bought? Or is it a way to use leftovers? There’s there’s so many with each post, you have to think about, what pain point does this solve?
Megan Porta 28:26
Yeah, like specific pain point, not just oh, dinner’s hard, right? And evenings are stressful, but really getting to that one thing that people are going to be able to really relate to, yes, and Ty said that so well. So if you are listening and you haven’t listened to that episode with Ty, I can look up the number while we’re talking, but it was so good. I agree. Amy, it was kind of mind blowing because it came from an SEO perspective, but it kind of made us think, like a marketer, does that make sense? Like, yes, you know that pain point and the solution and all of that. So I agree it was kind of mind blowing.
Amy Angelli 29:08
And when it comes to establishing EEAT and leaning into your niche and establishing that authority for that specific recipe in a post, I really try to do all of that in the first two to three paragraphs, preferably the first two paragraphs, okay, you know, you get it out of the way in the beginning. You know, you hook them in, so to speak. You get them to read that, that opening paragraph that they really you know? Oh, yeah, okay, this, this is looking good. And then they read another paragraph about how you have been making this your whole life, or how you grow this in your garden and you cook with it all the time. You’re showing them that. Yeah, I know what these ingredients are. I know what I’m doing with them. I know how to make this, and I want to show you how to make this as well.
Megan Porta 30:10
Yeah, I think just capturing people right away, instead of getting to a long story and then halfway down or at the bottom of your post, getting into that nitty gritty that we’re talking about. No, you need to do it right at the top of each post. The episode number is 428, so if you haven’t listened, go listen to that. It’s really good. So, yeah, I think that’s so smart. So you’re focusing on your about page, which is huge, and then you’re also focusing on establishing all of that EEAT within each recipe post as well.
Amy Angelli 30:45
Yes, and how you do that in each post is always going to be a little different, because maybe you grow this one thing in your garden, but maybe there’s another recipe that you make this every Monday, because you have sports practice and it’s easy, and it gets your it gets your family eating dinner quickly. There are so many things we do every day that establish authority that we don’t even realize, and we’re so caught up in the mundane of our lives and all the routines that we have every day that I think we forget all of these things that we do that give us experience and give us knowledge that we can then share with others. So there’s a lot of things we do that establish that, that I think we all forget about. So everyone should just think about their own life, day in and day out, what it is that they do that probably establishes authority that they never thought about.
Megan Porta 31:55
And what about getting insights from a friend, or maybe a blogger friend who knows you really well? I was gonna say a spouse, but then you I don’t know. I just feel like somebody who’s in the business might be able to pinpoint certain things like, Oh, I’ve heard you talk about mac and cheese, your mac and cheese trick 100 times. You know, those specific blogging things that you do. And yes, you know what I mean. So relating, relating it back to your life and how it makes your life easier, and just having that pointed out from somebody else can be so insightful. Because, like you said, we can get in our own just routines and not see the things that other people can see and point out to us.
Amy Angelli 32:41
And you know, that’s part of what prompted me to reach out to you about being on the podcast. Was Samantha and Christina and Jill from our EBT accountability group said, You have a great about page. You know something about this? You You need to have Megan interview you about this.
Megan Porta 33:04
Oh, I love it. Yes. Not so great, yeah. And you probably were like, oh, right, yeah. I guess I have leaned into that. I really did put some intentionality there. Yeah, I know people say things to me once in a while where I’m like, Oh, I never saw it like that, and that is another reason to involve yourself in a good group of people who know your business. There’s so so so much value in doing that. So EEAT, you are definitely leaning into it. Are there things you’re going to do in the future to continue doing that? Are there things you haven’t done yet that are on your radar?
Amy Angelli 33:43
You know, actually not that far from me, across the bridge on the mainland, King Arthur baking has a baking school. So I’ve thought about taking some bread baking classes and getting a little stronger in there. I have thought about seeing about teaching some cooking classes, publishing a cookbook.
Megan Porta 34:10
Yes, that’s a huge one.
Amy Angelli 34:12
Yeah, so I have, I have some things on my to do list for the future, to just keep growing that and that that’s an important point. You know, once you’ve established that EEAT, it’s important to keep growing. It keep keep just, you know, let those roots run deeper and deeper as you go.
Megan Porta 34:36
Yeah, it is really something to keep top of mind for food bloggers. I’ve had this thought lately that the bloggers who have focused on EEAT, whether consciously or not, and just have their hands in different areas of the blogging world. So they have a YouTube channel, they have a cookbook, they have they’ve been on the news, they you know, like they’ve done all these things. Things that are signals that they know what they’re doing. Those are the bloggers who are really thriving right now. I had this aha moment after the HCU this spring. I was like, Oh my gosh, this is why we should do all the things, maybe not all at once, but do all those things that are going to send that signal that you really do know what you are doing in your niche.
Amy Angelli 35:24
You know. And another, another blogger I can think of, who is a really great example of this strategy is Jamie Silva.
Megan Porta 35:31
Oh yeah, yeah.
Amy Angelli 35:32
She’s from A Sassy Spoon, and she, she is Cuban American, and she does Cuban food on her website. And she leans so heavy into her Cuban heritage and her family history, she grew up cooking and eating these dishes, so it’s obvious that someone like her is the best person to be sharing that with the world, and her podcast is amazing. It’s called The Sassy Solopreneur, and there were a couple of episodes in particular that were right up there with Ty kilgore’s interview for me that I went, Whoa.
Megan Porta 36:14
That’s awesome. Yeah, that’s great.
Amy Angelli 36:17
So sassy solopreneur is another great podcast that everyone should be listening to if they’re not.
Megan Porta 36:23
Yeah, definitely.It’s worth scoping out all that’s out there.
Amy Angelli 36:27
Yes.
Megan Porta 36:29
And then how does mindset play into this for you, since you’ve been one of the I don’t want to say lucky, but fortunate ones who’ve actually thrived through this crazy year when a lot of people have not thrived, how has mindset played a role? So
Amy Angelli 36:46
it has changed my mindset behind the recipes that I create, and my attitude regarding keyword research? Okay, a lot. So we should look at traffic volume. We should look at is this lower, high competition? But that shouldn’t be the first place we go. And I know for a long time that’s where everybody’s mind went. Can I rank for this? Is it high search volume, etc, but I think part of being helpful and serving readers is being a one stop place for what they need, and sometimes that means putting recipes on your site that you can establish EEAT for that are part of your niche that are high competition, but because you are able to establish EEAT for that recipe. You are able to strategically interlink it to other recipes on the site, and by its mere existence on the site being helpful, I say, put it up there.
Megan Porta 37:56
I agree with that. I’ve always said that low competition, high competition, or otherwise, you should only be writing content that falls into that category, that you have experienced, your expertise, like all of that should apply no matter what.
Amy Angelli 38:11
Yes, and I think you know, when you’re just trying to grow and rank, it’s really easy to get stuck in that mindset of, oh, but this isn’t very high search volume at all, or, Oh, this competition’s too high. I’ll never rank for this. I’m on page one for a couple of things that you probably think I wouldn’t be because of that.
Megan Porta 38:35
Yeah, just knowing you know your content and you know your expertise better than anyone else, right? So, yeah, nobody, no SEO expert can tell you, Oh, Amy, you’re going to, you’re not going to rank for that. You know, if you are not, or you if you have a chance. So if you feel like you do, go for it. Yeah, yeah. Even if the numbers say, Oh, this is really high competition, I go for it, because if you get it, yeah, amazing. That’s gonna boost you so much.
Amy Angelli 39:05
Sometimes that that takes time right as far as moving up in the ranks with those higher competition posts, but at least in the meantime, you’re helping your readers, because it’s there.
Megan Porta 39:15
Yeah, I am so on board with that. I love this perspective so much so don’t be a slave to your keyword research tool. I think is the key, yes, right? Don’t limit yourself to Okay. I have to stay between this competition number and this one. That does not need to be the case. If something feels right in your soul, go for it. You never know. In five months, five years, you could be number one. Yeah. And then do you have an interlinking strategy?
Amy Angelli 39:49
I do, and part of that is when I’m thinking of a new post to write or an older one to update one of. The things I think about in creating new content or updating old is, how can I link this to other pieces of content on the site in a way that doesn’t already exist in this post, if it’s old, or in however way I’m going to do it. If it’s a new post that doesn’t exist yet, I link to whole categories. I link to other related posts. I link to the about page, whatever the the about page is something that I do every time. I always interlink to at least one, preferably two other posts. And if I can, I link to a category, because in linking to a whole category, you’re showing, hey, I have other recipes that are like this. I’m really good at this. And it’s not, it’s not in a bragging way. It’s a I’m showing visitors and search engines that, yes, I know how. I know how to do this, because I have all of these other recipes in this category that show that this isn’t just this post that you’re reading. Isn’t just a one off.
Megan Porta 41:22
It’s part of a much larger story. Yes, yeah. So it is, like, this big strategy, Yeah, feels a little bit complicated, but really, it doesn’t have to be no. So would you recommend, if somebody is listening and they’re just like, Okay, this sounds really good, but it sounds like a lot. Would you recommend just start with the about page and then piece it together from there.
Amy Angelli 41:44
Start with the about page, and as you’re updating older content and creating new link to the about page, link to it in the recipe card and in the post and in new content and old establish EEAT, lean into your niche. Talk about why you’re the best person to go to for this recipe. Make the opening paragraph really count.
Megan Porta 42:17
All of that is so important, yeah. And getting feedback from your peers. I think that was a good point that you brought up that, yeah, could be so valuable. And just a matter of like, hey, what do you think I’m an expert in from your perspective, right? Might you might come up with things that you were just not on your radar, right?
Amy Angelli 42:37
Yeah.
Megan Porta 42:38
Is there anything we’ve forgotten, Amy, that we haven’t mentioned that you feel is important to touch on before we start saying goodbye?
Amy Angelli 42:45
I think we pretty well covered everything, unless there was anything that you wanted to revisit or anything else you want to go over.
Megan Porta 42:55
I don’t think so. I think that it’s pretty clear. It’s really a very simple formula, and I just want to say, try not to be overwhelmed by it. I love what you’ve done to your blog over the past year, not even a year, and I think this will be really inspiring for people to hear, because it is such an important piece of your business you’ve got to focus on EEAT you have to know your niche. Get to that about page, and I promise, if you just give it the attention that you did Amy, that you’ll find traction. Yeah, thank you. This was amazing. And thank you for sharing your story. And I’m so impressed with the way you’ve grown in the past year. Just so happy for you and I, I know you’re gonna keep growing from here.
Amy Angelli 43:41
Thank you.
Megan Porta 43:42
Yeah, it’s inspiring. Do you have a favorite quote or words of inspiration to leave us with?
Amy Angelli 43:47
I do, and I think it’s a very relevant saying that a lot of us will relate to as we come out of the HCU and navigate yet another Google update that we are currently experiencing, yay. And that is, therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow, we’ll worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Megan Porta 44:14
Amen to that. Oh my gosh. I think this, this could be the subtitle of my life. I’m always telling people, don’t worry. It’s okay, it’s going to be okay. And sometimes we’re presented with these troubles that never come to fruition, and we’ve spent so much time worrying about them, right? Yes, which is why I literally never worry about any of the like, quote, blogging news, because we just never know. You have no idea what’s coming, so focus on what you what you can today. I think this was the absolute perfect way to end this conversation. Thanks, Amy.
Amy Angelli 44:49
You are so welcome.
Megan Porta 44:50
We’ll put together a show notes page for you. You can find those at eatblotalk.com/thecoppertable. Tell everyone where they can find you. Amy?
Amy Angelli 44:59
You can find me on my website, thecoppertable.com you can also find me on Pinterest and Instagram and Facebook. Though I’m not very active on social media, but if anyone has any questions, I do answer Instagram DMs or emails, you can go to my contact page if you want to contact me.
Megan Porta 45:24
That’s very generous of you. Thank you. Yeah, just thank you Amy, for everything, and thanks for listening food bloggers. I will see you next time.
Outro 45:34
If you enjoyed this topic, you’ll also love the episode I recommend in the show notes, click on the episode description to find the link, thank you and I will see you next time you.
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