13 Quick Ways to Boost Your Restaurant’s Online Visibility

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There is no denying that the food industry is saturated. Hence, it would make sense to establish your restaurant’s online visibility if you want to gain a competitive edge.

If you open a restaurant and feel like you want to take it easy for the next couple of weeks, then think again. 

Even if you’re in the restaurant industry for some time now, there are still a couple of tips and tricks that you can use to attract more people. The thing is, most people usually have a favorite restaurant, while others come to a new place every so often to try out something interesting. 

You have to quadruple your efforts so that you can quickly turn it into a successful venture. And most of that requires putting in the work needed to gain an online presence for your restaurant.

The Importance of Online Visibility for Restaurant Business

In the food and beverage industry, change is always afloat. So, if you want to stay on top of the pack, you need to study the industry’s latest trends and then adapt the best practices. 

It’s also predicted that there will be 3.8 billion smartphone users worldwide by the end of 2021

Regardless of what device they are using, customers prefer to get things done without hassle. This explains why they prefer to check the internet for the best places to eat, menu, price range, reviews, and more.

In this post, we will walk you through 13 helpful strategies that can increase the restaurant’s visibility online:

1. Be Visible on Social Media

Being in the restaurant industry, one of the most powerful tools you can use in your arsenal is social media. That’s because it is now the most common place where people hang out. 

Your restaurant should also be one of the first things that come into people’s minds, especially if they’re searching for great places to eat. 

Establishing a substantial presence on social media allows you to engage with your customers, as well as attract new ones. Apart from that, you get to promote your business for free. 

That’s why social media should be a vital aspect of your overall marketing strategy.

2. Claim Your Google My Business Listing

Nowadays, Google has been a go-to guide that helps people find the best restaurants or hotspots in the area. To attract potential customers, you need to make your presence felt, and one of the best ways to do that is to claim your Google My Business Listing. 

This is a great way to grab your prospective customers’ attention when they’re choosing a restaurant. That’s why it’s vital to create a Google My Business page for your restaurant to reach more locals.

Doing so allows your business to appear on Google Maps and search results. It also lets you expand your market reach, which you will need to build a base of loyal customers. 

3. Register Your Restaurant on Online Food Delivery Portals

The demand for ordering food online has been gaining momentum over the last couple of years.

Websites like UberEats, Swiggy, and Zomato are excellent examples of food delivery portals. They have been fulfilling consumer demand by listing cloud kitchens on their website and app.

As a result, customers can place their orders online in just a couple of clicks. Partnering with these online food delivery portals helps you set up a customer-friendly online ordering system. 

As a result, this will skyrocket your chances of boosting sales and increasing your profit margin.

4. Run Time-Limited Promotions

Running limited time promotions is another great marketing strategy that you can use. In this day and age where immediacy is essential, more and more people feel the urge to take advantage of a particular promotion before it ends.

You can come up with limited-time promotions that will be evenly distributed throughout the year. For instance, you can offer free drinks or 20% on your anniversary month.

You might also want to focus on months when customers tend to spend more. This usually revolves around special occasions like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Christmas.

For example, you can opt to offer a 20% discount to customers who will make Valentine’s Day reservations within a certain period. Another example would be giving free drinks or side dishes to couples who will dine in on Valentine’s Day. 

Running these kinds of promotions help boost your restaurant’s popularity in the long run.

5. Have an Awesome Website

A carefully crafted site serves as a fantastic home base for your restaurant. So, think of the first impression other people would like to have when they visit your site. 

Ideally, your site should be clean, modern, and should function well. It should also put out essential information about your business, and in one way or another, reflect the identity of your restaurant. 

This might come off as a bit obvious, but you also need to update essential details like menus, operating hours, and other empty pages or dead links. 

Ensure that you use high-quality photos and videos to entice your customers to visit your restaurant.

6. Invest in SEO

The number one method that customers often use to look for restaurants near them is Google. Chances are, if you’re not ranking on local search results, then you might have a hard time getting customers. 

SEO is one of the best ways to build your restaurant’s online presence. This includes having a search engine-friendly website and getting listed on Google My Business.

Doing so ensures your restaurant will pop up whenever someone in your area searches for the right place to eat out. 

So, ensure that your website is optimized for search engines. It would help if you also considered optimizing your site for “near me searches” in your area, which is becoming quite popular with Google. 

If you are not tech-savvy enough to do SEO, consider hiring a digital marketing or SEO agency. That way, you can focus on running your restaurant instead. Just keep in mind that you won’t see results overnight, so it would be best to be patient.

7. Encourage Customer Reviews

After you’ve established an online presence, you need to keep growing it through various online review platforms.

One of the first steps you need to take is, encourage people to leave a review of your business through Yelp or Google in exchange for a free coupon. 

Then, depending on which niche or market you’re in, you might also tap into other third-party review sites, like TripAdvisor. 

Finally, another strategy that you need to do is responding to customer reviews and queries (even the negative ones) with a more positive message from your brand. 

8. Build Local Business Partnerships

Local organizations and businesses in your area are a gold mine for smaller restaurants. 

Most businesses forge catering deals with the restaurant to order food for business meetings and events. This could be an excellent market to expand to.

To make that happen, consider offering deals to organizations and businesses near your area. While it is less likely that you will gain 100% conversion, at least you encourage them to check out your restaurant.

This can result in acquiring qualified leads. And with proper nurture, you can turn them into regular clients.

9. Create an Engaging Content

Once you catch your target customers’ attention, the next step would be engaging with them. And you can do it by producing unique and high-quality content regularly. 

It can be as simple as announcing a new item in your menu or showcasing how your team is working on a new recipe. The key here is that you should always give your customers a reason to find out more about your business. 

That way, they have a reason to click-through while keeping them engaged. Mind you, excellent and resonating content can compel your audience to share your message to their connections. 

Ideally, your content should be relevant to your audience in a way that will add value to their lives. For instance, you might want to publish a new menu item that you came up with. What you can do is feature the best local ingredients, along with a special promotion on your end. 

This is a fantastic way to offer your audience value through various online channels. 

10. Create a Loyalty Program

Another strategy that you can use to keep loyal customers to keep coming back is to make them feel valued. Thus, you might probably need a loyalty program. 

At this point, you might have to work with a restaurant marketing agency or a POS provider, but it’s all worth the investment. If you can’t afford to come up with a mobile app yet, then coming with a primary loyalty card might work as well. 

11. Add Your Restaurant Menu

Figuring out what to eat might be a little bit tricky for your customers. When you have your restaurant menu published online, it will be relatively easy for them to pick a cuisine that interests them. 

These online menus are accessible and are often appreciated by customers. More so, if they rely on online research when trying to gather information about your restaurant. 

Putting your restaurant menu online increases the likelihood of acquiring prospective customers.

12. Take Impressive Photos

Often, people find it challenging to look for a restaurant that satisfies their taste buds. That’s why you need to look for creative ways to capture your audience’s attention. 

Posting appetizing images that are high-quality is a great way to attract customers. A picture says a thousand words, too! So, it’s high time that you invest in a great camera and hire a professional photographer as well. 

13. Host Special Events

Why not host a big event? Days such as New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, and 4th of July are just some events where people will always be looking for places to dine and eat. These are fantastic opportunities to feature your in-house specials. 

You don’t need to wait for that big occasion to host a special event, either. Why not opt for weekly wine tastings, local dinner parties, or cooking lessons? 

Hosting these events is always a fantastic way to show people what you have to offer in your restaurant and then make them visit you again.

Conclusion

Building your restaurant’s online visibility can be challenging. That’s because it requires effort and hard work.

Nonetheless, your online presence can help people know that your business exists. This can also come in handy in attracting customers to your restaurant.