7 SEO Tips for Restaurants

With Google claiming 65% of the search engine market and with many potential customers searching for their next bite to eat online, it is

important that your restaurant website is ranked highly using SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and above your competitors. Here are some

top tips:

1.) Update your website with fresh content. Updated, original and relevant content will help boost your Google ranking. Ideas include new

blog posts, reviews and images.

2.) Use photos and videos. Fresh content does not only mean long passages of text. Add photos and video content to provide Google with

interesting and updated information. Also, use titles for these graphics that are useful for Google's algorithm (for example,

"gourmet_burgers_foodtruck_durham.jpg" not "photo1.jpg.")

3.) Input carefully researched keywords. Ensure your content includes references to the area from which you aim to attract customers, the

theme of the restaurant and other keywords of relevance that you would use to search for a restaurant.

4.) Use short and descriptive SEO Titles. Google uses your web site title to display in the search results, so aim to include relevant words

and include the restaurant location, the menu theme (such as gourmet burgers) and the type of restaurant (for example, foodtruck).

5.) Use relevant Meta descriptions. A Meta description is the sentence underneath the title, as displayed on the Google search results. As

with the title, ensure that the content is relevant to your restaurant and how public would search for what you offer.

6.) Internal and external links. Linking your internal pages with each other, as often as possible and creating links to other websites and

external sources will boost your SEO ranking.

7.) Enable social media sharing. It is now easier than ever to connect your website to your Twitter, Facebook and other social media

platforms. Not only does this provide the customer with other ways to learn about your restaurant and keep in touch, but Google uses this

information as part of the search engine rankings.

Above all else, write for your reader. It is important to think about SEO when creating your website content, but if it is not relevant to a

human visitor or is full of irrelevant keywords and hyperlinks, people will not stay long enough to read what your restaurant actually has to

offer.