Integrating SEO, Local & PPCs for Restaurant Internet Marketing

July 9, 2009

Hanan Lifshitz’s recent post over at the Search Engine Land blog addresses what we at TwoTables Internet Marketing believe to be the crux of successful Internet marketing for restaurants:  an integrated approach to search engine optimization, local search and paid search advertising to bring optimum presence for a restaurant in search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN.

To someone who has experience with search engines and marketing websites for optimum placement in them, this statement is self-evident, yet to those who spend their time on activities other than Internet marketing , these phrases and labels can be as confusing as reading a foreign language for the first time.   What then, to the average Joe, does “an integrated approach to search engine optimization, local search and paid search advertising” mean?   In a nutshell, it means that a marketing plan’s objective is to have the website listed among the top results wherever potential customers may view them online.  For example, let’s say you are visiting Vail, Colorado with your family this summer and while putting together your itinerary, you do a bit of research using Google.  The graphic below shows the results returned from a search in Google for “Vail restaurant” (I added the various highlights to better illustrate the three elements at hand.)

The yellow-highlighted section at the top encompasses the return from Google’s Local Business results.  You may see this referred to by search engine marketers as the Google 10-pack because for most searches that have a geographic element to them (in this case, Vail), Google will display a map and a list of the 10 websites that best fit the searcher’s intent.  Other search engines such as Yahoo and MSN’s recent rollout, Bing, include local listings in their search results.  The strongest benefit to attaining placement in the 10-pack is the immediate visibility of the restaurant’s name, web address and phone number to the searcher.  Ensuring that the restaurant’s physical address, web address, phone number and name are accurate and consistent across internet yellow pages, universal business listing and in the local portals for the various search engines can go a long way in improving local rankings.

The green-highlighted area to the right of the graphic illustrates the paid search advertising section.  The companies shown in this example have bid for placement of their advertisement on this page and pay only if the searcher clicks on their ad to view their website.  The benefits to utilizing a well-managed pay-per-click advertising are many, including:

• complete control over messaging (as long as the message meets editorial standards and text limitations set forth by the search portal)
• immediate placement on the first page of search results for targeted keyword phrases
• a platform to test the effectiveness of multiple messages
• reliable budget control

The final, pink-highlighted section illustrates the top three websites in the organic search results.  Websites are listed here in order of relevancy, as determined by the algorithm of the search engine being used, in this case, Google.   As Matt mentioned in his post a while back, the most compelling benefit to having a top ranking in the organic returns is the ability to utilize a well-crafted meta title and description to entice viewers to click through to the website.  Most search engines will display around 60 characters of the meta title and approximately 160 characters of the meta description, providing ample space with which to create a persuasive message to potential patrons.  Applying proven search engine optimization techniques to a restaurant’s website and developing relevant links that support the optimization effort will lead to higher placement in the organic results.

The bottom line?  Integrating exposure for a restaurant in all of the various elements of search results in the most effective way to maximize the restaurant’s Internet market reach.

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