SEO for restaurants, also known as search engine optimization, is an important tool to get your business noticed online. Restaurants face the added challenge of cutting through the clutter of competitors.
Making your online profile stand out is the objective of SEO. According to a study by SRI, 46% of daily searches are for information on products or services. Make your restaurant’s website stand out by putting SEO to good use.
SEO Tips and Strategies
Before you start to worry about SEO and your website, know that one simple piece of information will immensely help your restaurant’s website get noticed by search engines: a menu. By uploading a menu, and keeping it current, you are greatly contributing to getting your website noticed.
Don’t overthink the menu; it could be uploaded as a PDF, or givenits own page on your website. Either way, it will get noticed by search engines. Link to the menu from your home page to make it easy for customers to find. If there’s anything unique about your restaurant’s menu, like vegan or gluten-free items, be sure to list that as customers with those dietary restrictions will certainly be using those words in their search terms.
SEO Tactics
More and more marketing budgets are shifting away from outbound marketing toward inbound marketing, like social media, virtual events and SEO.
- Determine relevant key-words. Besides key-words that relate to your menu items, consider using key-words to describe your location, clientele, pricing, and party packages. Below are some ways that customers may be searching for you:
- “Mexican restaurants in Sacramento”
- “Family-friendly Mexican restaurants in Sacramento”
- “Best Mexican food in Sacramento”
- “Mexican restaurant party rooms Sacramento”
Another important part about using keywords on your website is to make sure that they are used naturally. Don’t plaster your page with search terms; rather, write thoughtful content that is aimed at your customer before it’s aimed at the search engine.
- Become an authority with a blog: A HubSpot study found that most people read blogs more than once per day. For the foodies that you’re trying to capture, blogging about your restaurant, its cuisine, and the industry will make them frequent your page…and your restaurant. The blog isn’t only about gaining page views. Thoughtful blogging will earn you a spot as a thought leader in your field, and will enhance your online credibility as a leading restaurateur. Besides your own website, offer to write guest blogs on other’s sites, all linking back to you, of course. Again, this strategy will benefit you by positioning you as a leader and pointing new readers to your website.
- Work closely with social media: A Gartner study found that 74% of consumers rely on social networks to guide purchase decisions. You’re probably already a part of Facebook, Google+, and Twitter, but are you using them to their full potential? According to SEOMoz, the amount of activity on a social media site will help your page rank higher, since search engines have learned that the information shared on social media is influential. So start liking, linking and sharing as often as you can on your social media pages.
- Hire the best NYC SEO Firm: Restaurants are targeted by SEO firms, but make sure you are choosing one that knows your business and the unique difficulties you face as a restaurant. SEO for restaurants needs to go beyond keywords. Make sure the firm you hire can write strong content to get you noticed by search engines and bring in more customers to your door.
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