While it takes months (and a lot of hassle) to rank against high-intent queries on Google, you can get by in the beginning by acquiring the traffic coming through the local search.
Local SEO is often undermined. But those who are aware of its potential (and have first-hand experience of working on local SEO) take it as seriously as the general SEO strategy.
Particularly for restaurants that operate in a certain vicinity, and their target audience lurks in the nearby areas, local search has a tremendous potential
If you get a consultation from any digital marketing agency, local SEO would be their first and initial priority. Do you have a restaurant, are you curious to know how to go about it?
If that’s the case, hold on tight. And read this blog till the end. We are going to spill the beans here. As an SEO agency in Dubai, we know what works in the local SEO and how it beefs up digital visibility.
6 Local SEO Tips for Restaurants
1.Create a Google My Business (GMB) Listing
First thing first, if you want to dominate the local search, you must create a Google My Business listing.
This listing plays a huge role in your local visibility as it contains all the details, such as when your restaurant opens, what are the working hours, how people rate it, and so forth.
According to Moz’s annual study, GMB is the #1 ranking factor when it comes to local SEO. It shows your physical location, the images build trust, and reviews reflect the quality of your service and food.
Setting up a GMB listing is not rocket science. Just sign up for a GMB account with your restaurant’s email id and fill in every detail with accuracy. Don’t forget to add descriptions and images, use keywords in both to optimize them for higher local ranking.
Note down the following tips to create a highly optimized GMB profile for your restaurant:
- Enter complete data about your business
- Sprinkle keywords here and there (without enforcing them, they should look natural)
- Add accurate business hours, update them when they change
- Add photos of your restaurant and happy customers (with their consent)
- Manage and respond to customer reviews
- Use local posts to engage with people and let the algorithm know that you are active.
2.Be Very Specific with the On-Page SEO
In a survey, 57% of marketing executives say on-page content development was the most effective SEO tactic.
When you get specific in terms of the location and service, you ultimately optimize your site to be ranked against high-intent queries.
People nowadays have little time to go to the second page or ask the top-ranked pages if they operate in a particular area or not. So if your on-page is optimized for local searches, you become their first choice and reap great rewards.
Add your location and create title tags that contain the area name along with your main keyword. The title should be between 50-60 characters long; make the keywords sound natural.
The heading should tell what the page is about, if possible include keywords in it too.
Also, create content for a highly-specific audience (more on that later! Likewise, include the target location with relevant keywords in the snippet of text that goes underneath the search result on Google.
The alt tags you include with the images must include the target location.
3.Prepare Content to Answer Local Queries
You will be amazed to learn about the potential of local search. Just prepare content for a specific audience, the people who live in your nearby areas, and see the results.
It starts with keyword research. Find out what phrases and keywords people in your area are using to order food or to find out a particular recipe. Content marketing is a must for restaurants that are eager to boost their digital visibility.
Do some research to find out who are the people who live nearby your restaurant, or who are your target audience. Their class, age, profession, the kind of food they like to eat, etc.
Maybe your restaurant is surrounded by commercial buildings, or maybe you get most of the orders from residential societies near to your place. The more specific you will get in terms of content, the more specific your content will be.
4.Create Local Backlinks
Statistics tell us 91% of all pages never get any organic traffic from Google for not having backlinks. Backlinks are important for all businesses.
Even if you are focusing on local SEO, relevant backlinks will pump your authority and push you to the top of search results against local queries.
So, how do you acquire more local backlinks? The strategy is pretty simple: create useful content for the local audience.
You can also exchange links with other local services, for instance, a nearby ice cream shop can give a backlink to your website in exchange for a backlink.
Likewise, local food bloggers and Vloggers might involuntarily refer to your website on their blog.
If they don’t, invite them over to your place, offer a free meal, and they will be compelled to reciprocate by giving you a backlink. (Yeah, this strategy is kind of similar to influencer marketing).
5.Reach Out to Influencers
In 2021, the IM’s market soared to $13.8 billion. It works like a magic wand for some. A famous actor, athlete, or activist vouches for your product/service and their followers flock to your website. The same goes for the restaurant.
In fact, for the food industry, influencer marketing creates trust and credibility among people. Reach out to local influencers and ask them to mention your restaurant and praise your chefs on their website, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
These referrals will buy you external traffic from social media. Make sure if they are creating a video to talk about your restaurant, it should be shot right inside the restaurant.
Or they can post a photo of themselves enjoying your restaurant’s specialty or a dessert.
If you have no idea how to find influencers for digital marketing, or how to crack a deal with someone in a popular industry, let a digital marketing agency in Dubai carry out IM campaigns for your business.
6.Create Location Pages
If you want to target specific locations, why not create pages for each? This will make your website stand out on Google against queries with little competition but higher chances of conversion.
If you are covering six different towns in Dubai, create a page for each. Optimize them for a particular keyword that’s relevant to that location.
Each page should have unique content because displaying similar content on each would lead to duplication on Google and may have a negative affect on your page ranking.
Final Words
Sounds easy? Unfortunately, the reality is it isn’t. You can’t manage it alone. However, the perks of local SEO are you can expect long-term and fast results. The competition is normally low, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to spend time and hire dedicated resources.
But why give your precious time to local SEO when you can simply hire an SEO agency in Dubai to optimize your website? Outsource digital marketing to Digital Express, let us boost your online presence while you focus on the bottom line!
