How Blogs, Menus, and Social Content Help Restaurants Stand Out Online

Restaurant marketing increasingly depends on search engine optimization. When local customers are hungry, they run a quick search on their phone or computer to find the kind of food they’re in the mood for, or maybe even something new. If your website shows up at the top of search engine result pages (SERPs), then customers are more likely to click on it and browse information about your restaurant.

Helping customers find your website is the first step. But what do they find when they get there? Can they easily find photos of menu items? Or do you have the dreaded, blurry snapshot of an old print menu uploaded to your site? 

Luckily, quality content marketing addresses two problems at once. Optimized content improves your ranking in SERPs and makes it more likely that customers will discover you just from browsing the platforms they already spend time on, especially social media. Second, tailored, visual content communicates exactly what diners can expect when they eat with you — and might even convince them to try a new restaurant serving something a little outside their norm. 

The Best Content Marketing Strategy for Restaurants

The research is clear — customers are using the internet to find restaurants. Eighty-one percent of consumers use a mobile app to search for restaurants, while 92% use a web browser. If you want to break through the dizzying array of choices that customers have, then you need unique content tailored to your target audience. 

We’ll cover some of the most effective content strategies and how you can implement them to meet your goals. 

The Basics You Need in the Restaurant Business

Whatever marketing tactics you choose, you need to make sure that the basics on your website are rock-solid. 

Does your website have a visually appealing, easy-to-navigate homepage? Can customers quickly and easily find the basics about your restaurant, including address, hours, and contact information? Standardizing these details also helps search engines index your site more accurately, leading to more organic leads.

A mobile-friendly menu is crucial for restaurants. Do you include one that’s optimized for quick viewing? Research indicates that you have about 15 seconds to capture a visitor’s attention, and bulky visuals that load slowly can send them away. Menus also need to be easy to update to match what you’re actually serving — there’s nothing worse than seeing a fall menu online in April!

Content Marketing for Restaurants

The first step to using content marketing effectively in the restaurant industry is to clearly define goals. 

New restaurant owners might be focused on building name recognition, while longstanding restaurateurs might be more interested in improving their SEO rankings or attracting more positive reviews. 

While content marketing for your restaurant can serve multiple goals at once, it’s best to choose one or two to focus on at first.  

Blog Writing for Restaurants

Blogging might not seem like the most intuitive approach for marketing, but including a blog on your website can dramatically increase your search engine rankings. This makes it much easier for new customers to find you online and builds a substantial library of links back to your site as people share your blogs over time. 

For blogging to be effective, you need to post content regularly. Blogs should include a mixture of relevant content and news unique to your restaurant. For example, you can create a series of blogs using keyword research tools to identify trending topics relevant to your niche, like “traditional dishes for Chinese New Year” if you run a Chinese restaurant. Then, blogs containing news about your restaurant could include upcoming special dishes or community events that can be shared with local news outlets to generate excitement and awareness. 

Email Marketing for Restaurants

Email marketing still delivers one of the highest ROIs in content marketing and should have a place in your overall marketing strategy. 

Email marketing is a great place to provide coupons to your customers, encouraging them to return to your restaurant or order online. In fact, 61% of customers reported using a coupon emailed to them by a company. 

However, if an email marketing strategy for your restaurant is going to be effective, it needs to be consistent and targeted. Customers respond better to emails that provide content they are specifically interested in. The best way to do this is by segmenting your email list. You can write custom emails based on location, demographics, and previous purchasing behavior. Our team can handle ongoing email creation for you, letting you get back to running your business. 

E-Commerce Product Pages for Restaurants

Meal kits have exploded in popularity in recent years, as customers look for a midway point between eating out and preparing food at home. Online ordering is also at an all-time high, as third-party apps and web-hosting ordering make it easier than ever for busy customers to enjoy your food. 

Our digital marketing team can set up a customized e-commerce website and social media pages to expand your restaurant into the meal kit field. We can create tailored product pages for your offerings, or even set up a template that allows you to expand your listings as you grow. 

SEO Content Writing Services for Restaurants

If you want customers to choose your restaurant over their old standby or a fast-food chain, then they need to be able to find your website! Our full-service digital marketing agency can create content tailored to your specific kind of cuisine, geographic location, and unique offerings, along with a content calendar to keep posting organized and consistent. Our writers are 100% U.S.-based and have a deep familiarity with the restaurant industry, so you always know that you are receiving original, thoughtful content. 

To achieve the highest search engine rankings possible for your restaurant, you need each piece of content to be fully optimized for search. This includes quality keyword research, but it also means generating fresh content ideas, writing optimized meta descriptions, titles, and tags, and adding high-quality images to each page. It also requires technical updates to make sure that hidden bugs aren’t derailing your restaurant marketing strategies! 

If you’re not sure where to get started with content that ranks, request a free comprehensive SEO analysis of your website today and see what you can do to rank higher. 

Content Optimization for Restaurants

Maybe your website already contains a lot of valuable content that resonates with your current audience. If you want to expand your reach and encourage different demographics to visit your restaurant, then a content optimization audit might be the right next step for you.

This process simply analyzes your content across your site, including blog content, social media presence, and landing pages, to ensure that each page is performing optimally. Sometimes, just a few small tweaks to key pages can be a powerful tool to attract new customers through social media and organic search. 

Social Media Content Creation for Restaurants

This is one of the most familiar types of content strategy for most people. Social media platforms can be ideal promotion tools for restaurants, especially since many are focused on visuals, which is perfect for marketing food. Video content can be a great way to give potential customers a feel for your location and encourage them to stop by for a bite.

Inviting diners to tag your account in their own posts allows you to share user-generated content on your restaurant’s profile, further boosting your online reputation. You can take it one step further by working with an influencer to increase social media engagement. 

Using social media for business isn’t always as intuitive as it seems. Different demographics favor different social media channels and kinds of content. Our experienced team can help you turn your social media accounts into customer-generated marketing tools that showcase the very best of your restaurant. 

FAQs: Attract New Customers With Content Marketing for Restaurants

Our content experts spill the secrets on what kind of content marketing campaigns are best to promote your restaurant. Whether you are just getting started or are looking to grow a multi-site operation, a strategic content marketing plan can help you book more tables, bring in online orders, and attract in-person customers to your restaurant. 

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about restaurant content marketing. 

What type of content works best for restaurants to attract more customers?

High-quality food photography and videography incorporated into your blogs, email campaigns, and social content is the best way to attract more customers to your restaurant. You can build on this strategy by adding behind-the-scenes features, lifestyle shots of events, and influencer reviews. 

How does blog writing help a restaurant get more visibility online?

Keyword-optimized blog posts help your restaurant website rank more highly in search results for relevant search terms. This makes it more likely that customers interested in the kind of cuisine or dining experience you provide will find and visit your restaurant. 

Do restaurants really need email marketing to bring back customers?

Customers are highly motivated to open emails that contain coupons or other rewards linked to a customer loyalty program. This can be a highly effective way to remind customers that they have an incentive to come back to your restaurant. 

How can SEO-optimized product pages or menu descriptions increase online orders?

Optimized product pages and menu descriptions help search engines index your pages more accurately and match them to relevant searches.

For example, a customer searching for “Thai mango sticky rice takeout near me” will be more likely to place an online order with your restaurant if your content is optimized for the right geographic locations and search terms. 

What’s the difference between content marketing and social media marketing for restaurants?

Social media marketing is a subset of content marketing that focuses on creating content relevant to your target audience’s interests for social platforms.

For example, social media posts showing the organic, fresh ingredients used in a farm-to-table restaurant will be aligned more closely with health-conscious social media users. You can continue to build your reputation among this group of people through other content marketing strategies, like blog posts about the farms that grow your ingredients or email marketing tactics telling your founder’s stories and offering loyalty discounts for repeat customers.

 

Ready to bring more customers to your restaurant? Request a free consultation today to learn how we can design a custom-quoted content marketing plan that fits your budget and business goals!