Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, can be difficult to understand and even harder to implement. As a restaurant owner you can often be too busy stacking plates to worry about figuring out how to stack keywords. Despite this, it’s an ingredient that your restaurant cannot afford to exclude from the pot of a successful digital marketing strategy. Most restaurants are focused on creating great food but great food goes to waste if there are no customers to enjoy it.
1. We Live in a Google Culture
Google has become the first thing people turn to when they want information. Information on where to go, what to do, and most importantly, where to eat. As a result, it is critical that your restaurant is doing everything it can to rank as high as possible on the search results page.
2. Your Customers Are Searching Locally
Customers want to eat at places that are nearby for convenience, and to save time, effort and money. A good SEO strategy will also incorporate local SEO so that your customers can easily find you if they search locally.
3. SEO Increases Customer Engagement
Gone are the days of typing in a search term and getting a basic list of websites with no interactivity. Now Google can display things like address, company info and restaurant rating right from the search engine results page (SERP). An SEO strategy will incorporate this into your website so that when customers search for your restaurant they’ll be able to see all the details they are looking for.
4. SEO Builds Brand Awareness
By ranking higher on the SERP you increase exposure and recognition of your restaurant. Most people generally do not bother  scrolling past the first few results on Google and even fewer go past the first page. If your restaurant is not on the first page then those customers will never become aware of your restaurant.
5. The Importance of Google My Business
A well optimised Google My Business page won’t only help your website show up higher on search results, it can provide customers with all the information they need to show up at your door the same day. All of this is seen from the search results page, bringing customers to you without them even clicking on your website.
6. Customers Are Now Mobile
With many people choosing to browse the web and search online using their phones it is paramount your website is optimised for mobile. Good SEO services will incorporate mobile optimisation and ensure your website runs smoothly on a mobile phone and computer. A website optimised for mobile will also show up higher on search results.
7. Word of Mouth is Now Online
Word of mouth has always been a good way of spreading brand awareness but the way it takes place has changed. People spread information online, this could be in the form of a link to your website. SEO can build links to your website which ultimately improve Google’s ranking of your website.
8. SEO Gives You More Food Delivery Orders
Nowadays when people look to get food delivered the first place they look is online. If your business isn’t showing up high on Google search results then your potential customers are going to choose a restaurant that is.
9. It’s the Most Cost-Effective Marketing Strategy
Unlike paid search ads, SEO is essentially free or ‘organic’ and provides long term results. Your customers will click on your website because it shows up first not because you are paying Google for it to show up first. Therefore once a robust SEO strategy is set up you can continue to profit off of it long after it was implemented. SEO provides long term, sustainable results.
10. Your Competitors Are Doing It
If you’re not taking advantage of all the potential benefits of SEO you can be sure someone else is. If your competitors are performing SEO then they are going to show up higher than your business in search results, and customers are going to click on their website and not yours. You have a massive advantage over your competitors by having an SEO strategy, and with very little investment.
11. You Can Engage People With Your Online Menu
Your menu will be the area on your website that your customers are most interested in. By changing the schema markup using SEO you can display a link to your menu on the side of the search results page. By making it easier for customers to access the areas of your website they want to, you increase the chances of them clicking and engaging with your content.
12. SEO Improves Your Bottom Line
A website that has been well optimised for search engines attracts more customers, and also attracts customers that are more likely to become a lead or sale. SEO services bring profit to your website and once it’s completed it keeps on giving long into the future.
13. Social Media and SEO Go Hand in Hand
Social Media increases your brand awareness so customers search for your brand in Google. While SEO leads customers to your website from the first page of Google.
14. SEO Improves Your Brand’s Reputation
SEO doesn’t just improve your ranking on search results, it’s an inclusive strategy that improves your customer’s online experience overall. The more professional your website the higher regard customers will have for your brand. A clunky and sloppy website reflects badly on your brand and sets the tone for your restaurant.
15. You Can Promote Other Services
SEO optimises landing pages for each of your services so they all show up in Google. As a result, you are able to promote other services your restaurant may offer using SEO.
With all these potential benefits it’s clear that SEO is a key ingredient in your restaurant’s recipe for marketing success. OMDIGI Group can provide you with a quality supply of SEO that will rocket your restaurant to the top of search results. To learn more, get in touch with OMDIGI today!
