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Best Ideas On How To Do THIS...

by BrendanRa
9 replies
So I own a restaurant in the Albany, NY area. It has been around for 23 years now and has seen its fair share of success. The last few years have been slower (I'd like to blame the economy) and this winter in particular has just sucked.

We are a take out/dine in restaurant specializing in Mediterranean cuisine but also have a NY style deli type set up where you can get soups, sandwiches, wraps, specialty sandwiches, deli meats, etc etc.

A lot of our business is catering (been much slower this year) and we also do cooking classes which are very popular in the area.

We are relatively widely known, I just can't figure out where the daily traffic went.

I did a simple local search on google using keywords (catering, mediterranean, greek, restaurant, cooking classes). I find that with catering, mediterranean, and cooking classes we are on the top of the first page of google. However, we are not with the word restaurant (a BIG one if you ask me).

I guess I'm just throwing this out there to see if anyone has any good ideas as to getting us on the top of google for all our related keywords. I suppose article marketing but it's sort of a weird way to promote a specific restaurant? Maybe not.

Ideas!!?!?!
#ideas
  • Profile picture of the author JanG
    Are there any Google Places listings for yourcity restaurant? I would definitely try to go down the Google Places route: claim your listing, optimize your Google Places page, add pictures and videos, get tons of citations, etc.

    Try press releases, as well, that looks a bit more professional than article marketing. Is your website optimized for the restaurant keyword?
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  • Profile picture of the author moykan
    Agree with JanG, you will need for sure a Google Places account.
    Then I suggest to create a fan page on Facebook with some nice keyword, same for twitter... and spend some time to invite friends.

    A question... in your homepage there is the word "resturant" in title and description?
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarah Harvey
    Article Marketing can definitely be a help actually.

    Do you know anyone that can write a bit on what your restaurant offers?

    Or... even better...what about starting a youtube channel if someone can offer recipes or tips on running a restaurant etc? Be creative and think outside of the box.

    You can run a competition or you can use Groupon to get more customers to your place.

    Perhaps focus on some social media sites and get your restaurant listed everywhere.

    All this takes time, so you can outsource it or get someone to dedicate their time (part-time) to doing this online for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Amanda Craven
    Don't forget about videos - they can rank quicker and higher than articles or sites and, given that your business lends itself to great visuals, could entice in those extra customers. You could also use this as an opportunity to rebrand - why not throw themed evenings that relate to your cookery courses? Why not conduct some market research among those who take your courses to find out what you could do to make your restaurant more attractive to customers?

    You could also throw in some press releases (great for SEO if used correctly) both on and offline to trumpet your themed evenings or whatever to the world. And while we're at it, how about a Facebook fan page giving away some of your favorite recipes? Or a giveaway report on your website doing the same? Come at this from lots of angles - not just rankings - and do it strategically, mapping out a marketing plan before you begin.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chri5123
    Yes, what I would do is set up a Wordpress blog on your site and start updating frequently on stuff like sandwiches of the week etc...

    Put special offers on there as well and provide content while adding your keywords in there.

    For instance

    "We make the best sandwiches in Albany, NY!"

    Next up add Twitter if you havent already to your new Wordpress site and tweet a lot.

    Also create a Facebook page for your business and put that on your blog as well so they are all interconnecting.

    Get a Google places account as well.

    Then update and ping your blog with good informative content EVERY DAY for your main keywords and you will climb the listings in no time.

    Either that or PPC is your best bet.

    Chris
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    • Profile picture of the author Devid Farah
      Article marketing isn't weird at all for promoting your business but you simply have to do that discreetly while pushing the values your restaurant offers above others.

      You don't necessarily have to mention the name of your business in the main article more than once but all the content should always be well optimized.

      Another thing you had done wrong is to leave out the word, restaurant, that has been the main keyword for your business.

      If your business was doing so well few years ago when there were no internet connectivity or popularity, your traffic has now gone to your competitors who had taken the right steps and met the prospective clients and customers in front of their desktops inside their houses.

      You should sit up and start doing the right thing now.
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      • Profile picture of the author Buford Mobley
        You could look into mobile marketing. You could collect your customers mobile numbers. On slow nights, text them a couple hours before dinner time with a special on your most popular dish.If you're consistent, your business could increase 25 to 50%. How many of your customers have mobile phones? How many would come to get a deal on your best dish?
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        • Profile picture of the author kevlah
          Was going to suggest a google places listing like most others but I tried a few search terms myself and it looks like you already have that area sewn up pretty well (BFS Restaurant? I am placing my assumptions on that). You are ranking very well for various search terms on your listing at my end (in the UK using google.co.uk) especially for 'mediterranean' and 'greek' + various KW's.

          Alas 'mediterranean' is a pretty sucky keyword, doesn't get any searches according to googles keyword tool and is a little ambigious (and it is also really hard to spell :p). To a Englishman like me the first thought with the word 'mediterranean' is more Italian or Spanish than it is Greek. If you have any hints of Italiano on your menu then I'd exploit that in your listing as it gets a good search tally

          You've already got a pretty solid map listing so without bending truths in your listing it seems a little tricky for you to get more organic traffic from that.

          Your site itself (assuming I have the right one!) is ok but arriving at the homepage I have no idea what kind of food you do. Lots of navigation menus for restaurant, catering, classes, etc, but it is not obvious at all that you specialize in Greek, Med, etc, cuisine. I suppose if you cater to a wide range of markets that is understandable but to a random google visitor to your site it is not obvious straight away what you are offering. Your homepage should quickly define within a glance what your place is about and at the moment it doesn't do that it is more of a navigational hub with no clear message

          I would do some KW research and you may well be able to dig up some better phrases to base your listing and home page around which can bring you some better traffic. Also agree with the post above me, I reckon restaurants can do very well from that sorta stuff.

          Good luck, I am a hummus addict btw!
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  • Profile picture of the author InternetSuccess001
    actually, you should probably check out mobile marketing.

    More and more of the younger generation are using mobile apps to figure out where the good restaurants are. There are actually software applications that rate how good the food is, how attractive it is, and so forth. You should probably look into that.

    Alternatively, it could just be your local demographics are changing. If you've been doing business for 23 years, perhaps the people that once frequented your restaurant are now having babies, or conversely if they were small families, maybe they're retiring right now and their tastes have changed.so, you should look at what the successful restaurants in your area are doing, i.e., the ones that have long lineups.

    That will help give you an insight as to how to drum up business for your restaurant.
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