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How To Rank Your Restaurant In Google Maps10/30/2017
How To Rank Your Restaurant In Google Maps
Have you ever wondered why some restaurants show up in the three maps results for Google searches and maybe yours does not? Ranking your restaurant in that three pack is a sure way to generate a lot more customers for your business. There is a secret recipe to rank higher in the maps. 1. Claim and Optimize Your Google Business PageThe Google Maps engine is based of the Google My Business (GMB) directory/pages. Make sure to claim or create your listing and your listing is complete and accurate, including:
Here is a quick video on how to claim your Google Business page: 2. Properly Categorize Your BusinessWhen you first create a Google Maps listing, you have the option of adding a primary ibusiness category, or “keyword” to describe your business. What many business owners don’t know is that you can additional categories. You should make use of all five of these. Your primary category should be the main classification for your place (ex: bar, restaurant), while the remaining five categories should incorporate local SEO keywords that act as additional descriptors (ex: sports bar, italian restaurant, brunch restaurant, event venue).
3. Add Your GMB Name, Address, Phone Number to Your WebsiteGoogle needs to match the name, address and phone number (NAP) in your Google Business page to the NAP on your website. Most restaurant miss this key ingredient. Some just add the NAP to the contact page of the website. We recommend adding it there AND in the footer of your website, so it displays on every page. Just remember matching is exact match. There is a difference between using the word Street and abbreviating ST. I would literally copy and paste the address from GMB and directly add that to your site, rather than retyping. Most web designers care less about optimizing your website for successful seo and maps ranking, so don’t think they did this for you already.
4. CitationsWhat are citations? They are your Name, Address, Phone Number (NAP) listed on a national or local business directory. Google searches these directories and matches your address in their listings to your GMB page and your website. To rank your restaurant in google maps, you need citations. This builds authority and shows that your restaurant is probably the best choice to show first for a restaurant in the area your are located. Citation directories include Yellow Pages, City Search and dozens more.
5. ReviewsWe believe and have tested with results, reviews matter. Make sure you stay on top of reputation management and respond with public comments to both positive and negative reviews to your page. Also encourage customers to leave you a google review.
6. Other Secret IngredientsWe gave you the basics above, but if you want a few secret recipe ingredients to ensure Google Maps domination, sign up for our marketing course and you will learn. Not only do we teach you how to set everything up with step by step videos, we also give you the list of citation websites to add you business info to. Over 100 citation directories hand delivered in a spreadsheet. Sign up for the marketing course here The post How To Rank Your Restaurant In Google Maps appeared first on Restaurant Clicks. http://restaurantclicks.com/rank-restaurant-google-maps/via Blogger How To Rank Your Restaurant In Google Maps
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2018 Digital Marketing To Do List for Restaurants
A new year is approaching and the world around us changes every day when it comes to keeping up with marketing trends and technology for your restaurant business. In this post we break down the top items you’ll need to focus on right now to improve your top line revenue this coming year.
1. Goals – Have a Purpose
This is the #1 area where most businesses fail in their marketing efforts. It’s like driving your car with no destination in mind. It’s sounds silly, but a majority of businesses are not planning properly and setting goals, then tracking their progress towards the goals. I’m not just talking about top line revenue goals like, “We need to gross $3 million this year.” Yes, that’s a goal and it’s a great start, but how are you going to get there? Especially if you only did $2 million in 2016? So where can you improve? Can we set specific goals to grow the business? Examples are:
2. Tracking and Return on Investment (ROI)
What is a lead worth to your business? What is the life time value of your customers? You learned to set your goals above. Now let’s run programs to meet those goals and track which pieces of the programs are getting the best results, for a profit. If you can see through analytics that spending $30 on a pay per click ad with Google Adwords generated a $2,000 catering event for your restaurant, how much would you continue to spend on that ad? The answer is “All of it until you are sold out!” Because it’s working, you can see it in the tracking, so scale it up. All digital marketing has the ability to be tracked down to the goal you want to achieve. We all have those moments when we fell for the salesman/woman and bought the ad we maybe shouldn’t have. Maybe it was $500, or $1000 or $5000. Only to think later, “Did I get any increase in business from that ad.” The sad thing is most likely NO. So let’s stop wasting money on things we can’t track for ROI. Old school ad formats are dying for a reason. They can’t be tracked and linked to your goals (above). Newspaper = dead. Which nets you the most leads or sales? Paid Search/Adwords? Facebook posts? A Facebook ad? Google searches (SEO)? Instagram posts? Do you even include a trackable link in your social media posts or ads? Did you know you can? Setting up the tracking is actually pretty easy once you learn the tricks. Then it is staying disciplined to always make sure your team is following through. You can see exactly what platforms, ads, websites are driving traffic to your business. DYI with Google Analytics and this Campaign URL builder tool.
3. Mobile first!
Google and all your customers think and act on mobile first. The majority of your customers are on mobile devices all day versus desktops. Google knows this and split their index into mobile and desktop search results. They are putting priority on mobile first. If your website is not mobile friendly, you are going to plummet in search results on mobile phones in 2017. Get a mobile responsive WordPress website designed. Is your website mobile friendly? Test it with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Testing Tool
4.Hire a Photographer
This year you need quality photos of your food and drinks and interior. If you want to make a difference on social media and digital marketing, you need great pics! Spend a few bucks and hire a pro. Your iphone with the flash on will not cut it. These photos are a representation of your brand, so make it count.
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5. Outsource Some of The Work
These tips sound simple but there is one HUGE problem. Your time! It would be crazy to try and take on all the heavy lifting yourself. You can’t be an expert in everything, so be an expert in running your business. Outsource the rest. Most restaurants outsource linens, food delivery, liquor inventory management, overnight cleaning. So why not outsource some or all of your marketing to experts? There are new marketing methods, platforms and tricks coming out every day. Are you on top of the latest? Do you have time? It might be best to shop around to some agencies who know what they are doing. Most can do this for less than the price of an entry level marketing hire and net you 10 times the results. Just make sure they are focused on results for your specific goals. You want to hold everyone accountable to meet your marketing plan. Remember the agency needs to show ROI too! It takes some time to get up and running. There is a lot of up front work to just set the systems in place before they start generating sales. Know the investment is worth it and give it time to work. Next StepsTake action and have a plan.
The post 2018 Digital Marketing To Do List for Restaurants appeared first on Restaurant Clicks. http://restaurantclicks.com/2018-digital-marketing-list-restaurants/via Blogger 2018 Digital Marketing To Do List for Restaurants
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Youre Posting on Social Media All Wrong10/23/2017
You’re Posting on Social Media All Wrong
When it comes to social media marketing for restaurants, how can you tell if you are doing it right or not? We analyzed dozens of restaurants to see why some are killing it with social media and others are struggling. All the data points to a few key differences in how they organize the process plus the content. It is actually a lot easier than you might think. We want to show you an example of a promo we ran with two restaurant / bars in Philadelphia area. We set up a promotion to give away a vintage Philadelphia Eagles stadium T-Shirt. We used the same copy and images and the same call to action. Each place claimed to be amazing at social media and we put it to the test. The promotion was run through a Facebook post to each of their pages with no more than a $10 boost. We wanted this to be mostly organic and see the results. The results had such a huge difference, we were shocked and had to dig deeper. Here are the two promotions side by side. Steam Pub had over 700+ reactions, shares and comments. Flying Fish Crafthouse had only 7! Not only that but, Steam had over 16,000 people in organic reach! How is Steam crushing it on social media and Flying Fish was not?This really got our attention. It was such a big difference and we wanted to investigate why. So we interviewed the people handling the social media at each place. Here is what we learned. Flying Fish Crafthouse mostly had their day time bartender handling all their social media posting while she was on shift and not busy. They post maybe once per day, usually every other day. Steam’s social media is handled by one of the owners and he posts an amazing 10-15 times per day! Yes, that says 10-15 posts PER DAY. How is this possible? Who has time to post that much and especially a bar owner who is also managing the floor five nights a week and doesn’t wake up until 2pm every day? No restaurants are doing this and we can see it every day how most are missing the mark completely with social media postings. We interviewed Paul (Tubby) from Steam and learned his secrets. One of which he only spends two hours each week to posts over 100 times! The info Paul gave us was so good, we added it to our restaurant marketing course videos with a step by step guide from Paul himself on the way he dominates social media marketing. Sign up for the marketing course here and start dominating your competition. http://restaurantclicks.com/restaurant-marketing-plan/
The post You’re Posting on Social Media All Wrong appeared first on Restaurant Clicks. http://restaurantclicks.com/posting-social-media-wrong/via Blogger You’re Posting on Social Media All Wrong
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How and Why to Claim Your Restaurant’s Google My Business Page
Have you claimed your Google My Business page? What the heck is a Google My Business page? Do you want to rank your restaurant in the Google Maps listings? Of course you do! Your business is local and people are searching for restaurants in a specific area. The first thing they see after the ads is the maps results. One of the most important steps in ranking on the Google Maps listings is claiming your page. So how do you claim your restaurant’s page in Google My Business? It is very easy and we’ll show you how in this video. The toughest part is getting that post card Google sends you to verify you are the real owner. Having owned restaurants before, we know the mail can be an issue getting into the right hands.
The post How and Why to Claim Your Restaurant’s Google My Business Page appeared first on Restaurant Clicks. http://restaurantclicks.com/claim-restaurants-google-business-page/via Blogger How and Why to Claim Your Restaurant’s Google My Business Page
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The Best Restaurant Logo Designs & Where to Get Them
A restaurant’s logo is the face of the brand and organization. It represents the concept, culture and vision of the restaurant to the world. A well designed restaurant logo will stand out from the crowd and be remembered by all. This one design will attached to all your restaurant’s marketing collateral, signage, menus and digital properties. Your staff might wear the logo on their uniforms every shift as they service your guests. Whether you are opening a new restaurant or looking to re-brand, start with a logo that represents your brand and vision properly. So where do you go or turn to for a restaurant logo design? There are a few options and we have tried all of them. Hire a ProfessionalA seasoned graphic designer is the way to go for logo design. If you are choosing a designer, do your homework and ask to see their portfolio. The best designers will want to ask you questions and learn about your concept before they design the logo. Currently we are recommending the designers at Kill or Create to our clients and their design needs. They always seem to impress and our clients are happy. Here are some examples of their previous or sample restaurant logo designs.
Pay for a Contest99 Designs might be a great approach to graphic design and logos. Their system is pretty cool. You define the project and your design needs. Then you launch a contest with a paid prize package. Your request is sent to countless designers and some choose to compete for your design and the prize money. After about a week you have designs submitted and give feedback to eventually pick a winner and award the prize money.
Go CheapIf you have a super tight budget and want something quick and cheap, try using Fiverr. You can get a logo designed for literally 5 bucks. Sometimes you get what you pay for, and sometimes you actually get a get design. It’s a risk, but for five dollars the loss might not be so bad. The post The Best Restaurant Logo Designs & Where to Get Them appeared first on Restaurant Clicks. http://restaurantclicks.com/restaurant-logo-designs/via Blogger The Best Restaurant Logo Designs & Where to Get Them
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4 Steps to Increase Private Dining & Event Leads
In over ten years helping restaurants grow their revenues, we are convinced that private dining and events are the best way to achieve the goal. In this post we suggest the four main areas we have found to best accomplish an increase in private party leads.
1. SEO – Search Engine Optimization
The best way to generate private dining and event leads is optimizing for people searching Google. Every hour and every day people are searching Google for a place to host their next event. Whether it is a bridal shower, birthday, business dinner or funeral luncheon, they start with Google search. Your webpage which captures leads for event request needs to be optimized for those keywords and your geography. If you are in Omaha Nebraska, then your page should be optimized for “private dining omaha NB”. Use our free SEO score tool to scan your private dining/events page for your target keyword and geography. SCAN NOW
2. Google Adwords – PPC
Google Adwords or PPC (Pay Per Click) is a fast way to grab traffic to your website for a cost. SEO takes a little while to kick in, Adwords and PPC is immediate. Target keywords and phrase, then send the clicks to your lead capture page. Sounds easy, right? You can, however, waste some money on these ads if you don’t know what you are doing. If done properly, they can yield many leads for a decent cost per lead. We highly recommend adwords, but either learn how to do it right or hire a certified adwords administrator. Want $100 in free Google Adwords? We are an official Google Partner, contact us to see if you qualify for $100 in free clicks.
3. Landing Page Design & Optimization
Look at these two screen shots. Which one do you think captures more private event leads? It is obvious, but most restaurants pay little attention to the design and appeal of their landing pages. It is so important to optimize conversions when people land on your pages. especially if you are paying for ads to direct them to your website. No one wants to see a boring page. In the examples below, the first page was boring and didn’t convert. The re-design, converts very well and looks so much better. Photos are a big component to a successful lead capture page. make sure yours looks great!
4. Tracking & Analytics
After all the work above, you want to make sure you track the results. Installing Google Analytics to your website is easy. Once installed, set up goal tracking. This will record each time your event/dining request form is filled out. Most importantly, it will tell you where they came from. Was it SEO, or Adwords or Facebook or the email blast that helped generate the lead. See, data like this helps you make smarter marketing decisions and spend your money wisely.
Conclusion
Follow the steps above and you will see significant increases in your private party leads. You will need to decide on one of two paths. Do it yourself or have it done for you. We offer both options here at Restaurant Clicks. JOIN OUR MARKETING PLAN MEMBERSHIP CONTACT US TO DO IT FOR YOU
The post 4 Steps to Increase Private Dining & Event Leads appeared first on Restaurant Clicks. http://restaurantclicks.com/4-steps-increase-private-dining-event-leads/via Blogger 4 Steps to Increase Private Dining & Event Leads
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Google Analytics for Restaurant Marketing
What is the big deal with Google Analytics? Do restaurants need to bother with all the data and headaches? Of course you do! Analytics and data make us smarter marketers and enable restaurants to spend their hard earned money wisely. The key benefits of using Google Analytics for a restaurant are:
In this quick video, I walk through some analytics data for our friends at Steam Pub. The ah ha moment is figuring out cost per lead on baby showers is $15, birthdays are $35 and rehearsal dinners are less than $4! That is the best use of analytics for restaurant marketing.
The post Google Analytics for Restaurant Marketing appeared first on Restaurant Clicks. http://restaurantclicks.com/google-analytics-restaurant-marketing/via Blogger Google Analytics for Restaurant Marketing |