A plethora of factors have compounded the pressure on restaurants to enhance their online presence.
Whether due to pandemic disruptions, rising competition, or the increasing significance of a strong digital presence, it’s clear that we need to elevate our online game.
Improving local visibility right now is crucial for both dine-in and carry-out options.
There are numerous paid advertisements, partner services, and referral channels for attracting traffic. However, achieving top positions on Google’s organic search results and Map Pack often offers a more effective and cost-efficient way to gain relevant and direct traffic that converts into customers.
In this article, you’ll discover 10 restaurant SEO tips to boost your visibility, traffic, and customer base.
1. Define Your SEO & Content Strategies
Before diving into various tools, platforms, and engagement channels, start by defining your SEO strategy. This approach will help narrow your competition and provide a faster route to driving quality traffic to your website.
Define the geographic area you want to dominate (where most of your customers reside, work nearby, or are visiting).
Then, research the keyword terms and phrases your audience uses through reliable keyword research tools. This will reveal specific groupings of terms you should classify, each with different levels of competition.
High-level restaurant terms: These are the most common variations, such as “restaurants” or “Kansas City restaurants.” Set your geographic focus to the area you identified and use both generic terms and geographic modifiers.
Niche-specific terms: These terms are related to the specific categories your restaurant fits into, like “Mexican restaurants,” “pizza,” or “romantic restaurants.”
Brand terms: Don’t assume you’ll top brand search rankings by default. Know how many people search for your restaurant by name and compare this to high-level and niche-specific search volumes.
2. Dominate in Local Search
Claim, standardize, and optimize listings for your restaurant across major and relevant local search properties. This includes search engine directories, social media sites, and industry-specific directory sites.
Moz Local and Yext can help identify existing directories and data sources so you can update them.
Ensure your NAP (name, address, phone) data is consistent across all sources. Work on optimizing information fields like business descriptions and categories to align with your keyword focus.
Focus on directories that matter, starting with Google My Business, then expanding to Yelp, TripAdvisor, and others.
3. Engage With Customers on Social Media
While the direct impact of social media on SEO is debatable, social engagement can drive traffic to your site.
A robust social media presence correlates with strong organic search performance, as it aligns with key SEO aspects of relevance and authority.
Develop a social media strategy and interact with followers promptly. This sets the tone for your customer service and overall approach. Engaged followers can influence others and drive more visits to your website.
4. Encourage Reviews & Testimonials
Reviews and ratings appear in search results because people are drawn to higher star ratings. Structured data markup can make your ratings appear in search results, enticing users to click your site over competitors’.
If your online ratings are not reflective of your restaurant’s quality, devise a review strategy to accumulate positive reviews before displaying ratings in search results.
5. Create Unique Content
For single-location restaurants, this task is easier than for multi-location chains. Ensure your website has unique and engaging content that adds value for visitors.
Content doesn’t have to be just text; use videos, photos, and graphics to present menus and promotions. Regularly update content to maintain engagement and differentiate yourself from competitors.
6. Consider Content Localization
Make sure to provide enough cues and context about your location and the area you serve, as not everyone may know neighborhood names.
7. Apply Basic On-Page SEO Best Practices
Start with ensuring your site is indexed correctly. Check your robots.txt and XML sitemap, and set up Google Search Console for error detection. Optimize page URLs, title tags, meta descriptions, headings, page copy, and image alt attributes.
8. Think Mobile First
Google now prioritizes the mobile version of websites. Ensure your site is responsive, loads quickly, and provides a great mobile user experience.
9. Implement Schema “Restaurants” Markup
Use structured data to build context for search engines. Implement the Schema.org library for restaurants to gain exposure in search results. This usually requires a developer or the right website platform.
10. Measure Your Efforts
Track visibility, engagement, and conversion metrics to understand what aspects of your strategy are effective. Measure your progress and adjust as needed for the best returns on investment.
Summary
To keep your restaurant bustling with patrons or maximize your delivery and carry-out business, it’s essential that people can find you online. These 10 tips will help you improve both visibility and customer engagement.
More Resources
- 12 Reasons Why Your Business Absolutely Needs SEO
- 3 Social Media Strategies You Can Use to Boost Your SEO
- A Complete Guide to SEO: What You Need to Know
