Meet Elisa Snyder | Content Marketer & Pizza Connoisseur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elisa Snyder and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elisa, what makes you happy? Why?
Creating content that makes people smile! I love creating useful and FUN content – whether that be a healthy recipe or quippy pizza caption. It makes me feel good when I can brighten someones day.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Pizza is something most people love – it’s at the center of birthday celebrations, sports games, office gatherings and late-night after parties. I’ve always had an enduring love for the cheesy food, but I mostly just talked about it on social media. When my friends encouraged me to start my own pizza account and blog to share my favorite pizza spots, I was hesitant but excited. Would people read it? Would they care? I decided to take a chance and find out.

Professionally, I’m a content marketing director for Jenny Craig, so when I started the blog, I thought of it as a chance to hone my writing and SEO skills. I love creating content as much as I love leading the strategy, so this gave me a personal creative outlet (it also gave me the excuse to eat more pizza).

Creating a website isn’t easy and I applaud anyone who takes the time to do it. Beyond the technical aspects, thinking through the overall concept and content strategy was challenging. And the initial idea has changed over the years. I started writing reviews of my favorite pizza restaurants, that evolved into reviewing products and now I’m creating recipes.

Once I got my site up and running, I kept wondering how I could drive more visitors to the site and monetize it if at all. Turns out, with my SEO skills, I could. I worked hard to optimize my blog – I’d spend nights after work reading Google updates and figuring out how to write code. I delved into Google Analytics and keyword research. This was definitely the most challenging aspect of building the site. After about a year I’d grown my organic traffic by over 400%. Once I was ranking for some desirable keywords, I was able to get a few affiliate partnerships in place and product donations (taste testing is hard, but someone has to do it!).

I think what sets me apart from other food creators is that I have a specific niche – and it’s focused on a food that 99.9% of people love (you can fact check that but I’m 99.9% sure it’s accurate).

I’m so honored to be asked to be interviewed by a local magazine. 5 years ago when I started this project, I would have never dreamed of this happening!

Being a content creator takes patience, dedication and passion. When you find something you’re passionate about – in my case pizza, and can share that with the world, it’s not just rewarding, it’s energizing. I love talking about pizza as much as I love eating it. I’m grateful I can share that with others. I hope that I can help someone find their new favorite pizza joint – or try a new pizza recipe that becomes their Friday night go-to. I love what I do because pizza makes people happy and happy people make the world a better place.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m a Carlsbad native, so I’m partial to the area. I’d take my friend on a tour of North County.

Eat: All of the pizza spots.
1.Buona Forchetta in Encinitas. Their Neapolitan-style pizzas are out of this world. The closest thing to slices in Rome I’ve had. Besides pizza, their selection of pasta and other Italian favorites are top notch.
2. Pizza Port in Carlsbad. The perfect place to hangout with friends. If you love beer, this is your spot. They have an awesome lunch special that includes a specialty slice of the day and a beer.
3. Knockout Pizza in Carlsbad. 2 slices and a soda – that was my go-to order in high school. While my taste has evolved since, you can’t go wrong with classic slices from this joint. The ambiance is laid back and it’s located right by the beach so it’s perfect for a post-sunbathing meal.
4. 264 Fresco in Carlsbad. The Affumicata pizza is one of my favorites (Sausage, mushroom, mozzerella and basil – delish!). They have a new deck with views of the ocean and their cocktails can’t be beat.

Do:
Rent a golf cart and go explore Carlsbad and Oceanside. Driving along the Pacific Coast Highway is even better with the wind in your face! Make a day out of it and stop at different beaches and restaurants along the coast.

Relax at the beach. North County has some of the best beaches. In the fall months they’re much less crowded.

Take a walk along the boardwalk in Carlsbad. If you wake up earlier enough, I bet you’ll spot some dolphins! My husband and I walk along the boardwalk almost every day.

De-stress with some yoga. Yoga on State Street is one of our favorite places to recenter and destress after a long week. It’s a great way to kick off the weekend.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband and friends have been huge supporters of my pizza passion project. My friends were the ones who encouraged me to start the blog and even came up with the name (thanks, Kevin!). My husband has tried way too many pizza recipes to count – the good, the bad (vegan cheese is banned from our house) and the messy (homemade cauliflower crust, not for the win).

Website: https://www.elisaeatsapizza.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elisaeatsapizza_/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisa-snyder-5b8a0082/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elisaeatsapizza

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=4MzzEQpkV9TAD8pe1Q_hug

Image Credits
Wedding photo: Valerie Durham Photography