This week Luchia, who blogs at Luchia Cooks, shares her top tips on how to stay ahead of content during the darker seasons when daylight is limited. Find out ways to fake natural light, and how to come up with endless blog ideas when you’re on a budget.

Over to Luchia…

I love food blogging; it’s been a hobby of mine for roughly three years. However, when we get nearer to the winter, I used to dread the struggle of content production as I work full-time and feel as if I’m on a ticking time bomb to get a well-lit shot. It’s taken me a while, but I finally feel equipped to tackle any season, and now you will too!

• Manipulate your mirrors

If you’ve got some leftover tin foil or a couple of unused mirrors, use them as reflector panels to help direct more light onto your subject – every little helps!

• Start using a lightbox

This bad boy will transform your photographs when you haven’t got the luxury of daylight. You can pick one up for about £40. Or if you’re a bit of a DIYer, you can find loads of tutorials on YouTube and make one yourself.

• Think outside the box

If I’m out and about and happen to come across a great idea for a blog post (for instance, a restaurant review) I won’t have my studio available to shoot a nice selection of images. Instead I have to use what’s on offer and become resourceful. Constructing a backdrop by using a menu, cookery book or even a map is a great way to add a new depth to your photographs. 

• Utilise image libraries 

Sites like Pixabay and Unsplash offer a wide range of high-resolution images for you to use, and did I mention they were free? You’d be silly not to use them! They’re great to use when writing a blog post that doesn’t need personalised photographs (i.e. not recipes, instead advice led).

• Get friendly with Google’s keyword planner

Got writer’s block? Google’s free tool can help you spark an idea. It shows you related long and short-tail versions of your keywords, as well as their search volume. This will not only help with generating ideas but also your site’s SEO.

• Don’t just read other blogs, find what’s missing

Lots of people suggest reading other blogs to help come up with new content ideas, but I’ve found that this makes me want to reproduce their ideas – and that’s not useful to anyone! Instead I try and think about what’s missing or what I’d like to see from them. For example, technical/ industry advice or a lifestyle post similar to ‘Through the keyhole’.

• Repurpose, repurpose, repurpose

On those days when nothing seems to work and you’ve ran out of time to bake or make anything (yes we all get these), think about the content you made six months or even a couple years ago and get creative. Content shouldn’t just sit in the back of your cupboard and collect dust – bring it back to life with a ‘favourites’ or ‘round up’ blog post. This way you encourage users to visit old content (helping your SEO) and although you’re not technically providing any new content, you’re refreshing what you’ve got and helping the user journey of your site!

Thank you to Luchia for this great advice. As well as running her food and home blog, Luchia shares her culinary adventures on Twitter. You can also follow her on Pinterest and Instagram. 

If you’ve had success in keeping ahead of the blogging game during the darker seasons, we’d love to hear your tips in the comments below!