Whether you refer to it as digital marketing, internet marketing or online marketing, it now plays a major role in the success of your restaurant. The main reason for this is how internet usage has significantly risen in the last decade which is why it is so important for your brand to create an ‘online presence’. Take a minute, let that sink in.

So, what is this online presence and how can you be good at it?

In the simplest of terms, online presence is how an individual might be able to find or come across your restaurant with an internet search. However, in this day and age, just being available via a specific web search is not the most optimal online presence. The truth is, even though it’s great to get good pictures, videos and blogs of your restaurant, without a proper strategy, this could yield little to no return.

Having a great online presence on the other hand refers to having a clear target market so that you are aware how to reach and appeal to them and having an effective social media strategy to get high quality leads which can potentially turn into sales, just to name a few aspects. This does require some time and effort, however the results will be worth the focus paid to the strategies you use.

Here are 5 digital marketing strategies your restaurant could use to boost your online presence:

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

To start off, you need to make sure to verify ownership of your restaurant on Google and Facebook business profiles and ensure that all contact details are consistent and available. Another technique is to request your customers to leave your restaurant a review. Reviews will help you prove that you are running a legitimate business. A great way to encourage more customer reviews is to provide a reward to customers who leave a good review. Another super SEO technique would be to use keywords. It can be broad keywords such as “Restaurant in California” which will of course include a lot of completion because well, California is just huge. Or you can use more specified or niche keywords such as “Taco restaurant in Los Angeles” which will bring less competition in the search results. The main use of SEO is to increase the most relevant traffic to your restaurants website or blog when a potential customer makes a relevant web search.

2. Enhance your website

When was the last time you visited your website? Did you find your website attractive and appealing? If the answer is no, then your website might need some work. Here are a few ways to make sure you have a stellar website. Make your website mobile friendly. Studies have shown that more customers prefer to order food at the convenience of their mobile phone which is a key reason make mobile access to your website extremely easy. Have a clear call-to-action. Be it you want your customer to order online, make a reservation or even give your restaurant a call, make these buttons prominent to your customers. Make online ordering an option. Providing customers with a method to remotely place their orders is an important technique to drive sales due to the unmatched level it convenience it offers to a busy customer.

3. Consider paid search advertising

Simply speaking, this is a digital marketing strategy where search engines such as Google let advertisers display ads on search engine result pages. This technique works on a model known as pay-per click which means you don’t pay the search engine until someone clicks your advert. Using paid search advertising is a good form of digital marketing since the search engine will display your advert on the search results of user looking for similar food or restaurants to yours.

4. Social media and Paid promotions

Putting up your restaurant on major social media platforms such an Instagram and Facebook are very crucial in today’s digital age. Doing this brings you a method to continuously engage with customers, find out their interests and provide them with special offers and promotions all in the light of driving more sales. Having an attractive and consistent social media platform is good way to increase awareness to hungry diners as well. You can also consider paid promotions for your posts or page on social media so that it will appear on more and more customer feeds and thereby increase traffic to your page.