Victoria is well known for being a tempting destination for foodies. There are more restaurants per capita in the Greater Victoria area than anywhere else in Canada, and they have no trouble keeping the local and visiting tastebuds in good spirits.
For restauranteurs operating amongst the city’s generous mix of flavours, this can be both a good and bad situation. It’s good for those who keep their doors open despite operating in a possibly oversaturated market. Still, it can be bad for those new and struggling to be seen.
Under these circumstances, Victoria’s eateries need to enlist effective marketing strategies, such as restaurant SEO. Digital and relevant marketing efforts can help local entrepreneurs avoid becoming one of the 60% of food service businesses that fail within their first year of operation. A locally-focused SEO strategy help restaurants on Vancouver Island stay competitive and increase profitability.
Let’s look at the digital resources restaurant owners need to maximize earnings with their restaurant SEO strategy.
A Good Website
In this day and age, all businesses need a website. It’s just that simple and is just as applicable to the foodservice industry as any other. Restaurants, cafes, diners, food trucks – all types of eateries – should have a website.
Why? Because websites reach people where they spend most of their time – online. Websites are fundamental for an eatery to properly operate and grow.
Restaurant Goers Love Websites
When making purchasing decisions, including where to eat, people look to Google, Facebook, and other media platforms for help when making those decisions.
In 2019, a survey found that before visiting a new restaurant, 77% of people check out its website. Additionally, over 60% of those same people choose to eat elsewhere if they find the website unappealing.
Signs Of a Poor Quality Website
Factors that are detrimental to a website’s quality include:
- Slow page speed
- Poor UX on mobile
- Out of date hours and menus.
Good Local Restaurant SEO
Once a restaurant has a good website design up and running, the next step is to create a plan that drives traffic to the website. Unfortunately, a shimmering, well-optimized website will not generate traffic by itself. It needs a supportive strategy, such as digital marketing, to get potential customers to check it out.
When a restaurant’s marketing strategy includes digital opportunities, such as local SEO, the website will become a potent tool contributing to an establishment’s continued success.
This is where a local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy can be extremely beneficial.
Benefits of Local SEO
In digital marketing, local SEO strategies effectively allow a restaurant’s website to get noticed by potential customers within the establishment’s geographic location. The benefits of a targeted, regional SEO strategy include:
- Increased foot traffic
- Increased sales
- Brand development and management
- Increased online visibility
Good Reviews
The power of a good review for a restaurant is as meaningful today as ever. However, today’s reviews are readily available online – not just in the Michelin guide book or lifestyle pages of the Times Colonist. It’s very easy for anyone to share their dining experience using any public review platform, such as Facebook, TripAdvisor or Google My Business.
Restaurant Review Sites
The top 5 restaurant review sites for 2021 include:
- Google My Business
- Yelp
- OpenTable
- TripAdvisor
Google My Business
Google My Business is the platform where most people find and read reviews about a business or eatery they may want to patronize. For customers to easily find and rate your restaurant in Google’s search engine, it is critical to have a Google My Business profile. If you’re unsure how to optimize your Google My Business profile, read these tips.
Ready to Get a Good Start?
Now that you’ve seen why having a robust website and local SEO strategy is vital for your restaurant’s success, are you ready to amplify your eatery to the next level? Alter-Ego Marketing Group is a Vancouver Island web development company helping local businesses build strong digital foundations since 2008. For more information on we can help your business achieve the next level of success, reach out to our team.
