In 2022, an online presence for your restaurant business is essential.
When looking for a new restaurant, people quickly turn to searching thousands of results, but the competition is fierce.
If you want locals to find your restaurant, you need to have a strong online presence and appear prominently in search results.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the best and most affordable ways to differentiate your restaurant online.
On-page SEO is all about optimizing your website, while off-page SEO focuses on increasing your reach online.
Below is a restaurant off-page SEO checklist with all the elements you should track on a regular basis.
Learn about Google Business Profiles, TripAdvisor, Yelp, social media, link building, and more.
1. Apply for a Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly known as Google My Business, is one of the most powerful tools for businesses around the world.
Owners can make a good first impression by increasing your business’ visibility on Google and highlighting your uniqueness.
Whatever information you highlight is what people see when they search for your restaurant or nearby restaurants on Google.
If you want customers to find your restaurant on Google Search or Google Maps, you’ll need to apply and complete a Google Business Profile.
The more information you add about your restaurant, the more likely hungry customers will find it.
Your restaurant website is the most important element you should add to your Google Business Profile.
It provides incredibly valuable and free backlinks, making it easy for people to reach your website.
Equally important for a business is displaying menus and ordering pages.
Other required Google Business Profile information includes:
- position.
- business hours.
- contact address.
- Photos of food and restaurant atmosphere.
Showcase daily specials, promotions, events and behind-the-scenes videos to make your GBP profile more engaging.
If you have multiple restaurants, we recommend creating a separate Google Business Profile for each.
2. Register your profile on Yelp and TripAdvisor
Yelp and TripAdvisor are close to number two on this off-page restaurant SEO checklist.
According to BrightLocal research, 98% of customers will read online reviews of businesses in 2021.
Websites like TripAdvisor and Yelp are visited by millions of consumers each month.
Naturally, that’s where your restaurant needs to be.
Add your restaurant to TripAdvisor and Yelp, or register if it’s already listed.
Yelp for restaurants
Once you’ve entered your basic information, follow these steps to customize your Yelp profile and stand out from the crowd.
- Add menu.
- provide additional information For services such as delivery, table reservations and online payment methods.
- Add a description of the restaurant you are optimizing for Use relevant keywords such as ‘Italian restaurant’, ‘pizza’, ‘New York’ and visit this guide to learn how to do keyword research.
- Add a Yelp badge to your restaurant website.
- Your Yelp Rating Encourage reviews and complete your profile 100%.
- Add a call to action button Redirect customers to your website.
TripAdvisor for Restaurants
The above rules also apply to TripAdvisor.
Start by entering basic information for your profile, such as your name, address, and website.
Then, take your profile to the next level with our tips for ranking well on TripAdvisor.
- Collect and respond to reviews Immediately (starting with the negative ones).
- your latest list.
- Order Branded TripAdvisor Stickers to decorate your windows.
- Set up direct messages Allow your customers to contact you directly. (This allows the complaint to be resolved without affecting public review).
- Create a storyboard Showcase your best photos and reviews.
3. Link your website on social media
Social media is another important aspect of off-page SEO for restaurants. This is not a direct ranking factor, but it can indirectly affect her SEO.
How? Redirecting your social media profiles to your website will increase your traffic, your business, and your online authority.
However, having a profile is not enough.
You need to have a positive presence, engage with your followers, and encourage them to share your content.
Each social network has its own features.
on Facebook[注文開始]You can use buttons to post menus and actively increase sales.
Instagram is where your food shines. Post photos that your followers will love.
Twitter is a great place to address customer concerns.
Use it to update information your followers want to know, such as changed hours, new menu items, or events.
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the holy trinity of social media platforms, but you can take advantage of others like Pinterest, Snapchat, and TikTok that can deliver amazing results.
On Pinterest, you can post photos of your delicious menus, link to websites, create recipe boards, connect with others in the restaurant industry, and create special giveaways.
Snapchat uses geo-filters to attract more local customers and small games and hidden discount codes in stories to help attract viewers.
Use TikTok to connect with younger audiences, create hashtag challenges, do funny skits and challenges, and take your customers behind the scenes.
Don’t forget to add all your social media profiles to your website.
We also use social media to share user-generated content.
However, make sure you have the customer’s explicit permission to share the post on your Page.
4. Do link building outreach
Getting quality backlinks from high-authority websites can improve your site’s authority, reputation, and search rankings.
You can also spread your business to new customers by listing your restaurant in local online publications.
First, find a website with a good reputation in the food industry and approach it with a guest post pitch.
You can provide your knowledge as a chef or restaurant owner and include a link to your restaurant’s website in your article.
Next, find your local business directory and get in touch to add your restaurant.
The same is true for websites that rank the best restaurants in the area.
Offer to include discount codes for visitors to sweeten the deal.
create a restaurant blog
If you want people to naturally link to you from related websites, consider opening a blog where you share your experience in the restaurant industry.
Don’t forget to do keyword research to find topics people are interested in reading so that your articles rank higher.
Here are some restaurant blog topic ideas you can explore.
- How-tos and cooking guides (how to cook seafood, how to season rice, wines that go well with fish).
- A list (X common kitchen ingredients, X dinner etiquette tips, X types of movie night meals).
- Menu, food, or industry trends (food trends 2022, restaurant trends 2022)
- Menu updates, exclusive products, and frequently asked questions.
- New features or products (how to order online, how to book a table online, how to pay for meals online).
- Pages about you and your staff (employee of the month, owner profiles, restaurant stories, etc.).
When looking for keywords, keep the restaurant’s cuisine and main selling points in mind.
For example, if you run a vegetarian restaurant, you might write about “vegetarian lunch box ideas” or “how to season grilled vegetables” instead of “how to cut a steak.”
5. Work with food influencers
Food bloggers and influencers with a social media following can be great promoters for your restaurant.
By linking to your domain, you can increase traffic to your website and boost your search engine rankings.
Invite local influencers to taste your newest menu items exclusively and allow them to post on your blog and social media.
You can even offer your followers special discount coupons.
Find local influencers on a subreddit created by food bloggers for food bloggers, or use tools like meetup.com to find foodie groups gathering in your city.
If you want to invest more in blogger outreach, try paid blogger outreach software.
6. Keep NAP up to date on all platforms
Consistency in your NAP (name, address, phone number) is an important step in restaurant SEO and a must-have on this off-page SEO checklist.
NAP information should be available on websites, social media and third party websites.
Search engines especially like this information because it helps users find answers to their questions.
In order for your restaurant information to appear in relevant searches, your NAP information must be visible and constantly updated across all platforms.
Make sure the information is spelled the same and presented in the same format.
Otherwise, it can confuse users and be unreliable for search engines.
7. Add your restaurant to popular review platforms and business directories
Once you’ve covered your location on Google Business Profiles, Yelp, and TripAdvisor, research additional directories and websites where you can list your restaurant.
Some of these will help you get valuable backlinks, but all will expose you to new customers.
For example, Bing may not be as popular as Google, but it’s worth adding your restaurant to Bing Places.
Other websites that should add restaurants to boost off-page SEO are:
- city search.
- Foursquare.
- Local.com.
- Yellowpages.com.
- white pages.
Remember the advice from the previous section. Keep your NAP information consistent across all platforms.
overview
Good food is just one factor in a restaurant’s success.
You can’t serve today’s foodie audience without a strong online presence.
Getting noticed online starts with your website but continues with off-page restaurant SEO.
From social media to review websites and food blogs, tick off everything on this off-page SEO checklist to make your restaurant a regular fixture in your community and a dominant force in search results.
Other resources:
Featured Image: Monster Zstudio/Shutterstock
