About 60% of search engine users click on one of the top three search results. With search engine optimization (SEO), you can reach local, hungry patrons. As you attract more people to your restaurant, your business will thrive.
Restaurant SEO can help you rank ahead of competitors, ensuring consumers find your business first. Not sure how to start using SEO for restaurants? Here are a few do’s and don’ts to keep in mind.
After reading this guide, you can use the best restaurant marketing strategies possible to set your business up for success. Read on to learn more.
The Do’s
In order to improve your organic rankings on search engine result pages (SERPs), you need to implement SEO best practices. Here are a few ways to start effectively using SEO for restaurants to boost your rankings.
Gather Keyword Research
An effective restaurant SEO strategy first requires research. Otherwise, you could make assumptions about your customers and their search behaviors.
First, consider who you’re trying to appeal to online. Gather demographic and psychographic information like:
- Age
- Gender
- Household income
- Location
- Buying behaviors
- Pain points
- Interests
- Food preferences
- Food allergies
Group your target audience into smaller buyer personas. Then, research what terms and phrases each group uses to find your restaurant online. You can use tools like SEMRush, Moz Pro, Keyword Planner, and Google Trends to build a list.
When gathering keyword research, look for long-tail keywords and local keywords.
Long-tail keywords feature four or more words. These phrases are more precise, allowing you to better understand what the consumer needs. A broad, short-tail keyword like “restaurants,” however, can provide a larger range of results.
You might have a more difficult time ranking for short-tail keywords.
Local keywords feature your geographic area, like a city, suburb, or street name.
Add niche-specific terms and brand terms to your keyword list, too. For example, you can specify “pizza,” “sushi restaurant,” or “date night spots” for niche terms. Brand terms will help you appear when someone searches your restaurant by name.
Dominate Local Search
Over 45% of all Google searches are local. For example, people want to learn about your menu, business hours, or how to get to your restaurant.
About 76% of consumers who complete a local search will visit a business within five miles of their location, too. Meanwhile, 28% of those searches result in a purchase. Local marketing for restaurants using SEO can help you reach those hungry patrons.
First, claim and optimize your Google Business listing. This listing displays your name, phone number, business hours, website, and other details. Consumers can visit your listing to find directions to your restaurant.
Make sure your name, address, and phone number (NAP) appear consistently across all online directories, too.
Create Unique Content
A strong food service SEO service also involves content creation. Google prioritizes websites that create fresh, unique, engaging content throughout the year.
Use your keyword research to determine what topics to cover within your posts. Then, create blogs, including:
- Articles
- eBooks
- Polls
- Quizzes
- Videos
Unique, engaging content can help you attract new people to your website. Make sure your content aligns with the user’s search intent.
Update Your Website
If you want to improve your SEO rankings, invest in your web design and development this year. First, make sure your site is fast, user-friendly, and mobile-optimized. Google will check the mobile version of your site first to determine rankings.
If your site is slow, people will leave without exploring additional pages, causing a high bounce rate. Your organic rankings will drop, making it more difficult for people to find your site.
Don’t forget to optimize your site for mobile visitors (since they’re out, about, and likely hungry!).
The Don’ts
Making costly mistakes with your restaurant SEO strategy could cause your rankings to drop. Here are a few tactics to avoid when developing your strategy for the year.
Forget Social Media
Once you start creating website content, share it on social media. A strong social media presence can help you build your organic search presence. Popularity, engagement, and content all align with your SEO relevance and authority.
As people begin commenting on your post, engage back! Answer any questions promptly to show consumers you’re always available. Quick responses can benefit your customer service.
Neglect Reviews
Local marketing for restaurants also involves customer reviews and testimonials. Encourage your guests to post their reviews on your Google Business listing. People are more likely to choose restaurants with high star ratings.
Higher ratings will benefit your restaurant’s reputation, helping you stand out from competing businesses in the area.
Use structured data markup to have your star ratings appear in search results, too.
Work with your marketing team to develop a strategy for generating more customer reviews this year.
Overlook Backlinks
Backlinks appear on other websites before directing readers to your content. Generating backlinks from sites with a high domain authority (DA) can benefit your DA, too. A higher DA could help your rankings rise.
You can start generating backlinks by guest blogging on other websites. Otherwise, consider working with an SEO agency this year. They can help implement your entire food service marketing strategy to help boost your rankings.
Disregard Schema Markup
You can gain more online exposure using structured data. Implement the Schema.org library for restaurants to get started. You can also hire an agency to complete this step for you.
Ignore Your Data
Once you start using SEO for restaurants, review the data from your efforts. Determine which blog posts generate the most attention. Then, use your data to improve your SEO strategy over time.
Making adjustments to your strategy can help you create content your customers want. Then, you can improve your rankings to reach even more people online.
Restaurant SEO: Serve Up Higher Rankings Today
A strong restaurant SEO strategy can help your restaurant attract new patrons for years to come. Get started by implementing these “do’s” and avoiding these “don’ts.” Otherwise, consider hiring a food service SEO agency this year.
With their help, you can improve your rankings in no time.
Eager to get started? Book a free SEO strategy call with our team today!
