Tips to Get the Most Mileage From Your Yummly Additions

It is my pleasure to have Marilyn from Marilyns Treats as my featured guest today. Many of you know sweet Marilyn already through the Thursday Favorite Things  link party. We all will enjoy learning some of her tips for getting the most out of the Yummly platform. I was not familiar with Yummly so this is all very interesting for me too.

The optimum use of Yummly came to me with a complicated learning curve. I found many tutorials on what Yummly was and how to get your recipes added to your recipe box. But the recipe box isn’t public and only you can view it!
I was confused why some of my submissions would show in Yummly’s search function and why some only showed in my personal recipe box. I also wanted the information on how many yums my recipes received. I would like to share some important tips I learned on making the best use of this great resource for recipes. Since we are using Yummly to expose our recipes to the public it is helpful to know the steps you need to follow to get them shown and included in their recommendations.

1. First, it is best if you have added a yum button to your recipe posts. This is very simple to do with many sharing plugins. If you are on Blogger or your favorite share system doesn’t include Yummly there are two options. A yummly button (http://www.yummly.com/goodies) or a bookmarklet for your browser (http://www.yummly.com/bookmarklet). Please note that Yummly does not offer you a choice of the image they will use. They pick the first clean image that is in your post and large enough for their use. They will resize images (that are large enough to retain clarity) to fit their needs.

2. There are two ways for a user to see their yums. A recipe box where every recipe or post you have yummed is housed. Not all yummed recipes fit their “public” criteria. You can find which ones have by going to http://www.yummly.com/profile/MarilynLesniak/recipes. Replace my USER ID and add your own. Only you can view your recipe box.

3. Then there is your page. Posts on your page are the recipes that fufill all the Yummly requirements to be added to their search function and recommendations and are public for anyone to find. You can find it by going to http://www.yummly.com/page/marilynstreats. Replace my BLOG NAME with your own. Please note that you recipe box is your ID and your public page is your Blog.

4. On your page you will find some subtle differences from your recipe box. Optimal image size is 730px by 410 px (vertical or horizontal) but 230px by 230 px will be accepted. The first image that fits that requirement will be the image chosen. That image should be of the completed dish. Branded images or images with overlays don’t always make it to acceptance for public view. The image must be a .jpg. If you don’t use Picmonkey or Canva you can find a feww converter here (http://image.online-convert.com/convert-to-jpg). The image on your page will have your blog name and link at the bottom in bold capitals added by Yummly.

5. Your recipe must be in a specific format. Yummly presents the recipes with one large image. It is followed by the recipe name, the list of ingredients and instruction to click a link to your blog to get the directions. They add the nutritional information and sales on ingredients at local markets at the bottom. They also offer a shopping list for the reader to add what they need to buy to make your dish.

6. In order to provide this information your recipe MUST include all ingredients with specific measurements. (This is how nutritional information is figured). The recipe must also include complete directions even though Yummly directs your reader to your blog so you get the page views, ad clicks, etc. You can insert images showing the process of making your dish, however, a complete recipe with no interuption in recipe card styling is required. (Think cookbook style).

7. The recipe must be of one item. Most collages won’t become public. Roundups, tips, and multiple dishes to create a full meal are not “accepted” for public search and viewing. If your dish has a secondary component such as frosting for a cake, you can include this by putting all ingredients together. The directions can be written for the two separate parts.

An example of an accepted recipe available to the public:

Disclosure: I am not an affiliate of Yummly or any company included in this article. I have not been compensated in any way. Information obtained is solely from my experience.
I hope I have helped in some small way to assist you in using this great Recipe Resource to extend your social media reach!

It was a pleasure to have you as my guest today Marilyn, I know there a lot of us who want to put your Tips to Get the Most Mileage From Your Yummly Additions into action

You can still link up and share at yesterdays link party!

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