Customers’ decisions are influenced by a variety of factors, including customer reviews. Because it’s hard to try every restaurant’s food or visit every one to see what’s on the menu, customers resort to the next best thing: reading what other people have to say about the restaurants they’ve visited.
Before going out to lunch, customers check Google reviews and online recommendations. In fact, 90% of customers look for restaurant reviews while on the go.
Percentage of customers who use the internet to look for restaurants
You might see how satisfying a taste for a specific dish could evolve into a search for the best-served cuisine within a three-mile radius. What’s the best part? If you have a solid strategy in place, you can take advantage of this.
Your Clients Are Close By
First and foremost, concentrate on your neighbourhood — your location. This is where the majority of your clients come from. You’ll see an increase in positive ratings if you cater to customers in your immediate neighbourhood. As a result, your popularity spreads, allowing your restaurant to attract additional customers.
When it comes to restaurants, it’s best to focus on SEO marketing from the outside in rather than vice versa. Rather than casting a wide net with big holes and hoping to catch some small fish, focus on a small specialty and work your way up to a larger audience.
- Carve out a zone that is beyond the grasp of your target customer. Exclude places that are beyond the reach of your company.
- Use keywords that are geo-targeted. Use keywords that are particular to your audience’s target area rather than broad terms.
- Make a page for each location. This allows you to target your audience’s geo-location while simultaneously providing them with relevant content.
It’s a “Google It” society.
The most crucial tool in a restaurant’s arsenal is local SEO. Today, potential clients use Google to find a new hangout location, coffee shop, special occasion restaurant, and even wedding sites. Flyers and billboards are no longer used (though those are still effective, and maybe even necessary). Accessing information via a smartphone, tablet, or laptop is more convenient. Only a few terms separate you from Google results and recommendations.
You’ll be left as that one place that could have been good but no one heard about it if you don’t use SEO to increase your business’ visibility. All the raving reviews, the steady stream of visitors, and the devoted following will be a pipe dream if clients don’t know what you specialise in or haven’t tried your food.
SEO Includes Social Promotions
Online marketing includes more than just managing a social media presence. Facebook postings can be shared on Facebook as well as other platforms such as Messenger and Twitter. But what if your potential consumers are using Google to find you? If your business website is buried in the tags, your Facebook popularity won’t get you very far.
Set up your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, but don’t stop there. While they allow you to promote your business and post about your cuisine, you should also be reachable outside of those accounts. This is why search engine optimization is a valuable ally.
Google is designed for folks on the go, who are out and about but don’t know where they want to dine. When it’s time to dine, they simply go to Google and look for something to eat.
Rich Cards, which offer search results with reviews from TripAdvisor and other reliable sites, were launched by Google to make things easier for searchers. You won’t be able to maximise the free advertising from Google’s Rich Cards if your site doesn’t have enough data and reviews to rank in these listings.
There’s also Google Maps’ incorporation of real-time updates, which tells searchers how to get to your company and how many people are now eating in your restaurant.
Google Support: Maps Update (http://support.google.com/mapsupdate/)
On the Web, Real Life
The majority of your clients are technologically sophisticated. The barrier between real life and online has been increasingly blurred; nowadays, everything people do is based on something they saw or read online. More sales will result from a heartwarming marketing about a cake shop or a family-friendly restaurant. If you continue to rely on offline marketing strategies, you will lose traffic.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” size=””] [perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” size=””]
Remember, everyone else is already optimising their websites for search engines. [/perfectpullquote]
Remember, everyone else is already optimising their websites for search engines. Consumers check internet evaluations for local businesses in 92 percent of cases, according to a research. Refusing to participate in the race is akin to refusing to serve the one dessert that everyone craves. In other words, you’re turning down business.
Good ratings, aesthetically beautiful Instagram photographs, and engaging Facebook postings are all battlegrounds in today’s restaurant environment. On top of that, you’ll need to develop an SEO strategy that highlights the aspects of your establishment that you’re proud of, such as superb food and accessibility.
You should consider purchasing a package, especially if you’re a digital marketer who specialises in SEO for restaurants and other specialty enterprises.
Start small, attract a tiny audience, and let your delicious food spread like wildfire. While you’re doing all of this, make sure your web presence is strong so people don’t forget about you.