The restaurant industry is among the most competitive and this has been further highlighted during COVID-19. If businesses weren’t forced to cease or postpone operations, they were required to shift to meet contactless and remote accommodations. However, as the months rolled on, businesses have been able to rise above and service their customers. What hasn’t changed, however, is the aforementioned competitive nature of the industry. Are you an entrepreneur looking to make headway? Digital media, search engine optimization included, will be needed. To this end, here are some of the do’s and don’ts of SEO for restaurant owners to know.
Consider your geography. One of the most important things to know about SEO for restaurant owners is location. More likely than not, a restaurant is going to cater to a certain geographic region. For example, a restaurant based in Suffolk County, New York is likely to draw patrons from Babylon, Islip, Manorville, Patchogue, and other neighboring towns and cities. Thus, the restaurant will require a marketing strategy with the larger county in mind. This is one of the elements that a Long Island SEO agency will consider as they assist the restaurant owner in question, allowing them to rank better, especially in those specific areas.
Build a responsive website. Next, every restaurant owner should have a responsive website that complements different devices. After all, one shouldn’t assume that a user will look up information from the comfort of their home alone. Consider the possibility of an individual or group looking up places in their area to eat. They may stumble upon the website of a particular restaurant in their search. If that location’s website doesn’t provide a solid user experience, including easily readable text and fast loading speed between internal pages, the user will be more likely to click off. Speak to your local Long Island website design agency to learn more about responsiveness and how your own site can benefit from it.
Update your tagging as needed. Staying on the subject of website design and development, SEO for restaurant owners can be furthered by proper tagging. Essentially, tags – whether for titles, descriptions, or media such as images – describe the content they’re associated with. Additionally, tags help search engines better understand the context of content, which yields more accurate results based on the terms that users search for. From a technical standpoint, tagging is essential. With this in mind, check your website’s various tags and update them as needed.
Create user-focused content. Even if a website is responsive, it won’t matter unless it provides value to its intended users. With this in mind, user-focused content must be a priority. For an idea of what this may entail, consider the following example. If a new season rolls around, a restaurant may wish to unveil new seasonal entrees or beverages that coincide with said time of year; it wouldn’t be farfetched for the restaurant to promote these limited-time items through blog posts or email newsletter campaigns. Furthermore, content should be properly optimized for search, including relevant keywords and links alike. While it may go without saying, content is critical to ongoing SEO efforts.
Encourage user reviews. To take your SEO efforts, as a restaurant owner, to a higher level, it would be in your best interest to encourage users to leave reviews. This is especially true if you’re one-hundred percent confident in the service that your business provides. While it may not seem obvious, user reviews can impact search engine rankings. Consider that said reviews allow users to leave brief feedback, such as star ratings. The higher one’s star rating is, the higher its click-through rate will become, as users will be more likely to learn more about a well-received establishment. Though it can be argued that user reviews aren’t necessary for SEO, they provide a significant boost all the same.
Stay on top of your SEO efforts. One of the longest-standing truths regarding search engine optimization is that it’s everchanging. While there are certain practices that will remain consistent – high-quality content creation being one such example – others may not be as potent as time goes on. It stands to reason, then, that SEO for restaurant owners will require consistent research. If time can’t be committed to said research, consulting an experienced SEO agency would be best. By doing so, a restaurateur can stay focused on day-to-day operations with peace of mind, knowing their digital marketing will be in capable hands.
About fishbat: fishbat is a full-service growth marketing agency that takes a holistic business approach to their clients’ digital marketing programs. The fishbat team understands the importance of business principles just as well as the nuances of the latest digital technologies. fishbat offers every digital marketing service available from digital marketing research and planning to brand development to website and asset creation through social media management and search engine optimization programs – all custom calibrated for both B2B and B2C businesses.
