The New York Times Organic Growth Opportunities

Create a comprehensive library of ingredient substitution pages to capture users in the middle of a recipe who need an immediate solution. This play targets millions of monthly searches with high-intent, problem-solving content that establishes NYT Cooking as an indispensable resource.

Example Keywords

• "heavy cream substitute for alfredo sauce"
• "what can I use instead of eggs in brownies"
• "vegan substitute for butter"
• "gluten-free flour replacement for bread"

Rationale

Ingredient substitution queries represent a massive, underserved search category. While competitors mention swaps within recipes, few have dedicated, SEO-optimized hubs. By creating stand-alone pages for thousands of ingredients and use-cases, NYT Cooking can capture a huge volume of high-intent traffic from users who are actively cooking and likely to convert to subscribers once their problem is solved.

Topical Authority

With over 70,000 tested recipes, NYT has unparalleled authority on how ingredients function and interact. The test kitchen's deep knowledge of food science ensures that the substitution advice is reliable and trustworthy, differentiating it from less credible sources and solidifying its position as a culinary expert.

Internal Data Sources

Leverage recipe test kitchen notes on successful and failed swaps, summarize millions of reader comments for crowd-validated tips, and utilize the internal nutrition database to show the health impact of each substitution. This rich, proprietary data will produce highly differentiated and valuable content.

Estimated Number of Pages

27,000+

Systematically convert thousands of existing popular recipes into versions optimized for modern kitchen appliances like air fryers and Instant Pots. This strategy taps into a massive and rapidly growing search trend, attracting a new audience of tech-savvy home cooks.

Example Keywords

• "air fryer chicken wings time and temp"
• "instant pot chicken curry recipe"
• "sous vide steak temperature chart"
• "slow cooker pulled pork nytimes"

Rationale

The market for appliance-specific recipes is exploding, with millions of users searching for guidance on how to use their new gadgets. By creating dedicated, tested adaptation pages for its most popular recipes, NYT Cooking can capture this high-volume traffic and establish itself as the authority for both classic and modern cooking techniques. This content serves a clear user need and has high potential for converting device owners into loyal subscribers.

Topical Authority

NYT's test kitchen provides a scientific, rigorous approach to recipe development that can be applied to appliance testing. This ensures precise timing, temperature, and technique recommendations that are more reliable than those found on amateur blogs, building trust and authority in this modern cooking niche.

Internal Data Sources

Utilize original recipe instructions, internal test kitchen timing and temperature tables, and laboratory notes to calculate accurate conversions. This data-driven approach ensures the generated content is precise, reliable, and superior to competitors' offerings.

Estimated Number of Pages

15,000+

Build a vast network of pages that answer the fundamental cooking question: "What flavors go well together?" This play establishes NYT Cooking as a foundational educational resource, moving beyond single recipes to teach the principles of cooking.

Example Keywords

• "flavors that pair with salmon"
• "what spices go with chicken"
• "best herbs for roasted potatoes"
• "fruit pairings with goat cheese"

Rationale

Home cooks are constantly looking for inspiration and guidance on how to build flavor. By creating a knowledge graph that maps pairings for thousands of ingredients, NYT Cooking can capture a huge volume of exploratory, high-funnel search traffic. These pages serve as an entry point to the NYT Cooking ecosystem, encouraging users to browse related recipes and subscribe for deeper learning.

Topical Authority

NYT possesses a massive structured dataset of flavor profiles, recipe tags, and ingredient co-occurrence across its 70,000+ recipes and millions of reader ratings. This data provides an unparalleled foundation for creating an authoritative and data-driven flavor-pairing engine that no competitor can easily replicate.

Internal Data Sources

Use an ingredient co-occurrence matrix from the entire recipe corpus, reader star-rating data to weight top pairings, and notes from the NYT Wine School for beverage suggestions. This creates a deeply interconnected and uniquely valuable resource based on proprietary data.

Estimated Number of Pages

15,000+

Create a library of recipes systematically adapted for common medical diets, such as Low-FODMAP, diabetic-friendly, and heart-healthy (DASH). This play targets a high-intent audience seeking trustworthy, medically-aligned culinary guidance.

Example Keywords

• "low fodmap chicken soup recipe"
• "diabetic friendly dessert ideas"
• "heart healthy dinner recipes dash diet"
• "low sodium pasta sauce"

Rationale

Millions of people manage health conditions through diet, but finding delicious and reliable recipes is a major challenge. By combining the authority of the NYT Well desk with the culinary expertise of NYT Cooking, this play creates a uniquely credible resource. It addresses a critical user need, fostering deep trust and driving subscriptions from a highly motivated audience.

Topical Authority

The collaboration between the NYT Well desk's medical experts and the Cooking section's recipe developers creates an unbeatable authority. Competitors may offer "healthy" recipes, but few can provide adaptations rigorously vetted for specific therapeutic diets with the credibility of the New York Times brand.

Internal Data Sources

Leverage annotations from registered dietitians used for Well articles, the internal nutrition facts database for precise calculations, and peer-review citations from the NYT research vault to back up claims. This ensures the content is not only delicious but also medically sound.

Estimated Number of Pages

12,000+

Develop a large-scale content hub dedicated to solving the universal problem of leftovers and surplus ingredients. This play targets recurring, high-volume search queries, especially around holidays, and promotes sustainable cooking practices.

Example Keywords

• "leftover thanksgiving turkey recipes"
• "what to do with leftover rice"
• "can you freeze cooked chicken"
• "how to use leftover ricotta cheese"

Rationale

The query "what to do with leftover..." is a constant for home cooks, spiking massively after holidays. By creating a comprehensive resource for thousands of dishes and ingredients, NYT Cooking can become the go-to destination for reducing food waste. This strategy captures users at a moment of need, drives significant seasonal traffic, and aligns with the brand's values.

Topical Authority

NYT Cooking's vast recipe database, which can be tagged and cross-referenced by primary ingredient, provides the perfect foundation for this play. The brand's broader coverage of sustainability and food waste in other sections of the newspaper lends additional credibility and authority to the content.

Internal Data Sources

Utilize the existing recipe corpus tagged by primary ingredient, cooking video transcripts demonstrating repurposing techniques, and relevant articles on food waste from other NYT desks to create rich, interconnected content.

Estimated Number of Pages

9,000+

Improvements Summary

This strategy targets 11 NYT Cooking pages currently ranking on page 2 by refining on-page SEO, expanding content, and strengthening internal linking. The plan includes keyword-focused updates, schema enhancements, and new evergreen guides to capture more clicks and improve rankings.

Improvements Details

Key tasks include rewriting titles and meta descriptions with primary and secondary keywords like 'pan seared fish' and 'ground beef recipes', adding FAQ and video schema for rich results, and embedding short videos. Internal links will be added between related recipes and hubs, while new content such as a 'Pan-Cooking 101' guide and listicles will support topical authority. Technical updates like image compression, canonical tags, and schema markup are also prioritized.

Improvements Rationale

These improvements address missed click opportunities by aligning content with high-volume, mid-tail queries and increasing SERP visibility through rich results. Strengthening internal links and expanding relevant content will concentrate authority and improve user navigation, while technical optimizations support better rankings and user experience. The combined approach is expected to move target pages into top search positions and drive significant traffic growth.