Promoting your website is something that should always be on the back of your mind. Why? Although business may be booming at the moment, you can never be sure when a new restaurant might pop up out of the blue or food trends change and your reliable amount of footfall could begin to dwindle. So, don’t wait for business to get scarce before starting to promote your website, get going straight away!
Without a doubt, the best way for you to promote your website is to do so online. The world we live in is now centered on instant information and the vast majority of people in this day and age pick up a cell phone instead of picking up the yellow pages or a brochure in order to find local restaurants. So the best way for you to promote your restaurant is definitely by getting online.
Have a look at the following tips and pointers that will give you some ideas on how to promote your restaurant online.
Facebook advertising
One of the best ways to increase your Facebook fan page is by advertising for them. It is surprisingly cheap to advertise on Facebook and the best part about it is that you can streamline the results as to who will get to see your advertisements. If you know the general demographic of the customers you usually see at your restaurant, whether they be families, younger people or older ones, you can use Facebook’s advertising filter to make sure your adverts only reach the audience you think they will be most useful for.
Another way to boost traffic to your restaurant’s website is via Facebook likes. Post an attractive and inviting picture of your restaurant on your restaurant’s fan page and start liking pages of other related businesses and restaurants. After a while, your restaurant will appear amongst those that potential clients have already liked and they may feel inclined to like your page if they have already visited or intend to visit your restaurant. The more likes the merrier as that will mean the word is spreading about your business.
Twitter’s advanced search
Using Twitter is also a great way for you to get the word out about your restaurant. Although it may not be quite as popular as Facebook, Twitter still has 261 million members, so if you were wondering whether it is a worthwhile platform to use, I am sure those numbers will help you see that it truly is.
Twitter’s advanced search is made up of various filters that will help you to target the users and potential customers that you are trying to find. Here are a few steps that will help you to do so:
- Set the filter location to a 15 mile radius from your restaurant. It is unusual that someone will drive further than that to get to a restaurant that they have never been to, unless it has been recommended to them, in which case the hard work has already been done for you! Setting the radius to 15 miles means that locals that may have already heard of or seen your restaurant when passing will see information about your account. Then simply follow the users that appear from the filter and they might follow you back.
- Use the “any of these words” filter to find customers that are looking for the kind of food that you provide at your restaurant. If you have a Italian restaurant, add the words “pasta, Italian” and “pizza” to the search. Doing so will make user accounts appear of people that have recently tweeted using these words, then simply follow them and they might follow you back.
Use Your Blog
Looking for a good restaurant to eat at has become more of a passive action nowadays. Gone are the days of walking up and down the high street to see what tickles your fancy, more and more people are doing their looking online and then going directly to the restaurant that caught their eye.
That is why setting up a blog for your restaurant is such a good idea. You can use the blog to include contact information, opening times, a link to the official restaurant web page and it is also a great space to relate a story about the inspiration behind the dishes on your menu. Try contacting other bloggers to see if they will do a link interchange with you, you include a link to their blog in one of your posts and vice versa to attract new customers.
Google My Business
You will be surprised at just how many social network pages are available for you to promote your business. But one of the best social platforms for your restaurant would definitely be a Google My Business page. Why? If you optimize your page well then your business will show up at the top of the list in a local Google restaurant search.
When you sign up for a Google My Business account, it will direct you to provide the following information:
- Opening and closing hours
- Location
- Contact information
- The restaurant’s menu
- A link to the restaurant’s website
The more information you fill out the better as this will lead to your web page ranking higher on search results. Don’t forget to include photos not just of your business and the attractive decor, but also of tasty meals on the menu, that will entice customers to walk through your doors.
Use Pinterest with Photos
Another great way to promote your business is by creating a Pinterest account to share photos of your restaurant.
Pinterest is a social network that revolves around sharing photos with short captions of information and links. Creating an account is free, but when you sign up Pinterest will ask you whether you would like to set up a personal or a business account. By setting up a business account you will be able to create boards that are specific to your restaurant and it will be easier for you to get into contact with users that live in the area around your restaurant. Not only that, but you will be able to interact with these potential customers and they will be able to see photos of your business, like and share them with friends.
So there you have it. Some awesome tips on how to get some new followers on social media. Put these tips into practice and watch your footfall increase.
