It’s APEC week here in the Philippines, and traffic is at its worst. That’s why we went out of town for a while and avoided the busy streets of Manila. Tonight, I’m in the City of Vigan. Home of the guilty pleasure Bagnet and Vigan longganisa.
I know the city’s specialty, but I don’t know what restaurant serves it best. What do I do? You got that right, I search Google. Gone are the days where “word of mouth” was really word of mouth. Now it is word of mouth through Facebook, blogs, and Google.
So I thought I’d share with you some of the stuff we do to improve the search engine rankings of our clients who own a restaurant.
1. Create A Google My Business Account
Google My Business was created by Google for people to have an easier time locating businesses. One of the benefits you get when you create an account is that your restaurant’s details will appear on the right-hand side of a desktop search result for your business. Google maps will also show all your necessary information such as your address and contact number.
2. Create A Google Alert
When you create a Google Alert for your restaurant name, you will receive an email every time Google sees a page with your restaurant’s name on it.
What does this mean to you?
You can recover unlinked mentions. There might be some people who blogged about your restaurant but didn’t realize that you have a website they can link to or someone who simply forgot to link to your website. When you’ve set upped a Google Alert for your restaurant name, you can recover these links by emailing them and asking for a link. Simple. Cunning. Effective.
3. Start A Blog
A blog is a great way for you to talk to your customers, announce discounts, and set events. A blog could also make them feel closer and connected to you and your business because you can talk in a more personal way.
On the SEO side of things – A blog can help you get better rankings because you can easily publish new content – and Google loves sites that are often updated. With a blog on your restaurant website, you can update your site regularly.
4. Create A Facebook Page
Having a Facebook page is as common as being able to breathe. Almost everyone is on Facebook. When you create a Facebook Page for your business, you could easily share your website and blog posts to get shares and likes.
Social shares as a ranking factor is a controversial issue. There are lots of studies that prove that there is a positive correlation between social shares and rankings, but Google did not confirm it. Nevertheless, most content that gets shared is quality content, and quality content is what you should be posting. So even if social shares are not ranking factors, it could only do you good because you will be producing quality content.
5. Implement Structured Data
By having a structured data for your address and contact information, your search result would look better. A person who searches for your restaurant could easily see your address and contact information under your search result.
Structured data is not limited to your address and contact information. Your page title, description, and other details should also be structured. By doing this, it would be easier for Google to determine what your page is about, helping you rank higher in search results.
6. Encourage Online Reviews
Encouraging online reviews are good for your business because other people would get an idea on how other people liked or disliked your business.
That’s why Google is displaying restaurant reviews on their search result as well. Reviews is a local SEO ranking factor. So if you have extra desserts, offer them for free to your customers in exchange for a review.
P.S. – This post is NOT sponsored by Gordon Ramsay. Though, it would be awesome if it was!
P.P.S. – Check out SEO Philippines. Maybe we can help you rank your restaurant’s website. (Shoutout to my bud, Dirk, at Serpshake SEO. If you’re in Singapore and need SEO, hit them up!)
