In 2021, there’s no excuse not to have a website for your restaurant. But just because you have a website doesn’t mean you’re doing everything you can to build your customer base. When it comes to SEO for restaurants, you can’t afford to ignore these restaurant website tips that can make it easier for customers to find you.
Find & Utilize the Right Keywords
One of the most important restaurant website tips is to find and use the right keywords for organic search. While you’ll likely want to use keyword planning tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush, you’ll also want to thoughtfully consider the different types of customers who might search for your restaurant. Different aspects of your restaurant will appeal to different customers, so plan accordingly. While young 20-somethings might do a search for breweries that broadcast local sporting events, parents of toddlers might prefer to know that your patio is family-friendly.
Optimize for Local SEO
When it comes to SEO for restaurants, you can’t neglect local SEO optimizations. You should be adding your restaurant website to all directories, restaurant review sites, and social media platforms. This includes sites like Google My Business, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Facebook, and Instagram. Not only will having consistent information among these platforms help you grow your audience but encouraging reviews on sites that allow them can help you rank higher in local search results.
Include Your Menu on Your Website
One of the first things potential diners do is check a restaurant’s menu. That’s why including your menu on your website is one of the most important restaurant website tips. We recommend including the menu on the actual webpage, rather than just including a PDF. Not only can this annoy patrons who don’t want to download files to their phones, but it can decrease your rankings because PDFs aren’t readable by search engine crawlers. You might even consider altering some of the names or the descriptions of the food. A sandwich named after a celebrity, for example, won’t help your search rankings if it isn’t clear that the item is actually a spicy chicken sandwich.
Make Sure Your Website is Mobile-Friendly
Especially when it comes to searching for restaurants online, more and more users are coming to your website from their cell phone. That’s why no list of restaurant website tips would be complete without suggesting you make your website mobile-friendly. In fact, Google even ranks mobile-friendly websites higher, making it even more important. If you’re not sure how your restaurant website fares, you can use Google’s MobileFriendly Test tool to find out how responsive your website is for mobile users.
Need more restaurant website tips? McDonald Wholesale has you covered. Not only are we a locally-owned and operated foodservice distributor, but we also offer restaurant marketing services and technology solutions. Contact us today to become a customer for life. In the meantime, check out our foodservice blog, where we cover everything from our guide to no-contact curbside pickup and delivery to unique restaurant promotion ideas for every season.