Food blog diaries Q4 2025

I wanted to keep you up to date with my food blog performance so far in 2025. I wrote a similar post in 2024 and had last updated in in March 2025. Between then and now there has been a bit of traction.

Contents

• 2025 - Turbulent times
• The influence of AI
• Consistency is key
• Focus and becoming "Indistractable"
• Heading into the year end
• Your Comments

2025 - Turbulent times

In the March/April time of this year (2025) little did I know I was in for a bit of a rollercoaster ride relating to my full time job (this blog is a little hobby for me to document my BBQ and cooking passion). There were some significant changes in the business and this did affect my motivation and how I felt about the world of work.

During a turbulent couple of months lots of options and soul searching took place and probably being in my early 40's there was also an element of "is this what I want to be doing". One thing I did take out of all this was that my blog was important to me.

DadWhatCooks.com is my creation and something I'm proud of. While I don't have control and decision as to what happens in my day job, I am in control of the dadwhatcooks destiny and what I put in will impact what comes out.

The influence of AI

It was apparent AI was incoming and I needed to get ahead of the curve. No matter where I work or what I do I think it is important to carve out a niche in my skill set. The role of AI was going to be important in the world of tech and learning new skills would be the key to success.

I enrolled in Aleka's Blog Smarter with AI as having completed the Cooking with Keywords course I knew Aleka knows her stuff. This course opened up a lot more about combining blogging and AI. It helped fill in some blanks about the AI world which I had at the time. I'd recommend this course to any keen bloggers looking to grown their skill set.

Google stats update

I made sure to focus on what I had learned during the course which took a little time. I also had to wait a little while for the results to show, but over the summer and a few shifts in the Google algorithm I began to see the effect.

Consistency is key

The other learning I took was about remaining consistent with my posting and marketing. I had to make sure I did not rely solely on Google for traffic - a mistake many have made in the past.

I am glad to say I've been able to spread traffic sources across a few locations. Namely:

• Pinterest
• Newsletter
• Socials (Instagram and Facebook)

This all works in a circular motion, with Pinterest doing a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of new traffic and then driving newsletter sign ups to the site. Furthermore Instagram and Facebook as good for promoting previous posts. I use a tool called Buffer.com for this to help schedule posts.

Focus and becoming "Indistractable"

The biggest benefit I have learned this year around spending time to focus on my blog is to be become indistractable. I.e., the ability to not be distracted.

I read the book Indistractable by Nir Eyal and must recommend it to any blogger. The book offers a selection of actionable methods - some of which are surprisingly obvious - to help you improve your focus.

Nir comments that the opposite of traction is distraction and this is really what hit home for me. Without distraction, I get traction and the ability to get my blog going in the right direction.

Getting 'anti' social

I mention this book as one of the best changes I made was to come off social media on my phone. So I deleted Facebook and Instagram from my phone, only allowing myself access on a desktop computer when I had scheduled time to do this. I have noticed a distinct change in how often I pick up my mobile now.

Heading into the year end

With the whole Black Friday, Cyber Monday and then Christmas around the corner I am hoping to end the year on my biggest traffic yet. While still pittance in relation to some blogs I firmly remain proud of my achievements so far and hope this helps inspire other bloggers out there to keep going.