How Allrecipies.com Gets More Than 52 Million Monthly Visitors as a Community-Driven Food Brand

How Allrecipies.com Gets More Than 52.9 Million Monthly Google Visitors as a Community-Driven Food Brand

In 1997, Tim Hunt and a group of his friends started Allrecipes.com (originally, CookieRecipe.com) as a way to share their favorite recipes with the world.

Their goal was to create the ultimate online recipe destination, where home cooks could find any recipe they were looking for and connect with other home cooks who shared their passion for cooking.

Today, the Allrecipes website offers thousands of recipes, as well as cooking tips, videos, articles, and a vibrant community of home cooks who share their recipes, tips, and ideas.

In fact, according to AHrefs, Allrecipes.com is one of the world’s largest food brands, reaching 52.9 million home cooks every month.

The vast majority of their traffic is from Tier 1 countries as well, which means a strong RPM for this niche. 

The success story of Allrecipies.com is truly an encouraging one for anyone who’s trying to turn their passion into a successful business.

So, if you’re thinking about starting a food niche business online, or already have one but are searching for ways to grow, Allrecipies.com’s story is one that you can learn a lot from.

Let’s dive in. 

Table of Contents

• How Allrecipes.com Gets Traffic
• The Types Of Keywords Allrecipes.com Targets
• Allrecipes.com’s Link Profile
• How Does Allrecipes.com Make Money?
• What We Can Learn From Allrecipes.com

How Allrecipes.com Gets Traffic

Allrecipes.com gets the majority of its traffic (69.11%) organically through direct search results with a small minority from ads.

With recipes and cooking tips hugely popular on YouTube, niche food websites might not seem like they would get a lot of traffic from Google. 

But Allrecipes.com is actually one of the most popular food websites on the internet, ranking number 1 in the food and drink category (in the U.S), according to SimilarWeb.

So, how does Allrecipes.com get so much traffic from Google?

The answer is simple: they hyperfocus on creating high-quality content that is optimized for the keywords their audience is searching for.

Additionally, Allrecipes.com has a team of food writers and editors who create new recipes, videos, and articles every day. They also have a team of SEO experts who help them tweak their content for the keywords their audience craves.

But, that’s not the only way they get their target audience to their brand’s website. With over 11 million followers, they also have a very strong presence on social media, especially on platforms like Facebook and Youtube.

These numbers might seem high, however, considering more than 70% of adults tend to use social media for finding recipes instead of cookbooks, it might not be that surprising after all.

A powerful Tik Tok presence 

Cooking is very popular on this social platform and AllRecipie’s Tik Tok game is strong. After checking their metrics I see they’ve over half a million followers and rising. 

The hashtag #TikTokFood was viewed by Tik Tok’s users over 43 billion times in 2021 alone and Allrecipes knows how to have fun on their channel. This recent video in an ice cream store is a great example of how they use Tik Tok in a lighthearted manner. 

This focus on creating quality content and engaging with their audience on multiple channels has helped Allrecipes.com build a large and loyal following, which in turn has helped them get more traffic from Google.

The Types Of Keywords Allrecipes.com Targets

According to SEMrush, Allrecipies.com ranks in the top 3 for a whopping 628,000 keywords.

But, exactly what types of keywords does Allrecipes.com target?

The answer is a mix of short-tail and long-tail keywords.

Short-tail keywords in this niche are single, two, or three-word phrases that are broad in nature. For example, “chocolate cake recipe” is a short-tail keyword.

Long-tail keywords in this niche are four, five, six, or seven-word phrases that are more specific. For example, “best chocolate cake recipe for a birthday party” is a long-tail keyword.

Allrecipes.com targets both types of keywords because they know that their audience is searching for both types of keywords.

Additionally, another important thing to note about their content strategy is that most of their keywords are non-branded (97.6%) and informational keywords (87.9%).

Allrecipes.com’s Link Profile

As expected from one of the biggest online food brands, Allrecipies.com has a solid link profile, with a Domain Rating (DR) of 88 and approximately 27.9 million backlinks from over 203,000 referring domains.

And it’s not like these links are from sub-par websites, most of them are from high-quality and trusted domains like MSN.com, SuperOneFoods, and The Guardian. Indicating how the brand has established itself as an authority in the food and drink industry.

The brand also does a great job of balancing the type of links, with approximately 37% being no-follow. Showing how the brand also values building relationships and aims to provide quality content, and isn’t just focused on backlinking purposes.

The Allrecipes Community

Members of their food-focused community actively encourage one another through images, reviews, and videos they contribute, in addition to submitting their own recipes for publication.

Weekly Community Stats 

Added to the website each week by the community are:

• 2,000 recipe ratings
• 800 new recipe photographs
•  200 new recipes

Additionally, 27 people in the community save recipes they love or wish to try later every minute of every day.

How Does Allrecipes.com Make Money?

Allrecipes.com makes money through a combination of advertising and affiliate marketing.

But, the majority of their revenue comes from advertising.

They have various types of advertising on their website, including banner ads, video ads, and sponsored content. 

Given their massive monthly traffic, its likely the site is with the premium Adthrive network. And, if they’re not, it’s definitely something they should consider to increase their revenue even more.

In addition to advertising, Allrecipes.com also makes money through affiliate marketing and product reviews. They have affiliate partnerships with various food brands, cooking products, and kitchenware companies like FoodAndWine.com and MarthaSteward.com.

For example, if you click on one of their recipes and then purchase the ingredients or kitchen supplies needed to make that recipe, Allrecipes.com will earn a commission from that sale.

They also offer content licensing as part of their parent company, the behemoth that is the Meridith Food Group. 

And lastly, the website also makes a significant sum from selling its own products like cookbooks, magazines, and meal plans. These are promoted not just through their website, but also via their app and newsletter. 

Allrecipes aren’t just a bog standard recipes blog, they are a living, breathing, exceptional food and lifestyle brand.

What We Can Learn From Allrecipes.com

Allrecipes.com is a prime example of a niche food website that has been able to build a massive and loyal following by creating quality content and engaging with its audience on multiple channels.

Here are some key lessons we can learn from them:

1. Focus on your niche and build a loyal community around it.
2. Create quality content that is optimized for the keywords your audience is searching for.
3. Be active on social media and share your content with your followers.
4. Use a mix of short-tail and long-tail keywords to reach a wider audience.
5. Make use of backlinking to improve domain rating and to build a brand image.
6. Generate revenue through advertising and affiliate marketing.
7. Embrace rising Social channels like Tik Tok.
8. Build an engaged channel that Google has no say in, such as your newsletter.
9. Build a Pinterest channel. Pinterest users love food and Allrecipes is testament to that with 1.2 million followers on the platform.  

By following this strategy - and with a decent budget, a solid team and a truck load of tenacity - you can create a successful food website or blog of your own. And, who knows, maybe one day your website will be as popular as Allrecipes.com.