Restaurant industry is extremely competitive and more challenging than it seems. Some big players can receive so many customers that it is impossible to visit them without reservation, while others are struggling to cope, having very few customers.
Your clients can be local, they can be tourists, but they will all look for your service on the internet. When somebody feels like eating out, she or he will take various steps in order to choose the right place. You need to be present at every step of the decision-making process, which happens on the internet.
Local SEO for restaurants.
Most probably your potential client would first type in Google: restaurant near me, sushi near me, Mexican food near me etc. The term near me is crucial in this case. It is a keyword you need to target in your SEO strategy.
The competition for keyword “near me” is big, but there are still some advantages you can create for your business. First of all, your competition for this keyword consists only of other restaurants in your area.
Secondly you can rank for other keywords as well, develop some longer, yet relevant ones such as: vegan food near me, sushi near me, Italian pizza near me etc.
Ok, lets assume that you already rank for trending keywords. Now you need to have Google my business profile. Crucial for all local SEOs. From there customers can contact you, see the prices, access your website and have a look at reviews.
You are surely aware how important are reviews in your sector. You are also aware how hard it is to satisfy some customers. Restaurant sector is probably one of the most sensitive ones in case of reviews and getting some low ratings is very common.
Sooner or later, you are likely to get a bad review. Make sure to draw conclusions from them to improve your service. You should, if possible, try to answer every review: the good ones and bad ones. This will show your customers that you really care about them.
Ok so we are present at every step of decision-making process of our potential customer. Not necessarily. Now we need to make sure that we are also visible. We need to position our business high in local search queries. How to do that?
The most efficient way is to acquire local backlinks to our website. The website obviously needs to be optimized for mobile and generally well developed. So how to get local backlinks?
First of all, you can ask local websites to write review of your restaurant and post a link to your website there. Use social media to share your website link and create content which can be shared. You can for example post some recipes or write about the cuisine served in your restaurant.
Digital marketing for restaurants.
Some may think that digital marketing is useless for restaurants. This statement is not true in the modern world! Digital marketing is a great tool to reach broader audience and establish a solid brand image.
Let’s have a look at social media for example. Majority of your clients is present there few hours a day. This is perfect place to connect with them and transform into loyal customer base.
You can inform them of any news, promotions etc. You can share your content there and let your fans share it as well. Apart from that there are some strong strategies you can use online.
Very effective approach in case of restaurants is influencer marketing. Reach out to local influencers and offer them free meal in exchange for post about your business on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Obviously, a post, promoting your business in a positive way.
People tends to trust influencers their follow and associate places they visit with prestige and high status. You shouldn’t ignore that opportunity.
Another opportunity, which can give you a competitive advantage is interaction with your customers through social media. You can post surveys for example and ask your customer what changes they would like to see/ any new meals etc. Give them exactly what they want, that’s the best marketing strategy there is.
