Using Local Search to Gain More Customers

Let us assume that you have a restaurant and you have been operating in your area for a couple of years.  You already have your regulars who come into your restaurant and enjoy your food every so often.

But times are rough and you want new customers.  How do you go about doing that?

There are the tried, tested and traditional ways of getting posters up, distributing fliers, and advertising in the local paper.  However, if these are all you do, you are really not maximizing all the resources available to you.

Enter local search marketing. You just need to create or claim your business on Google Local Business or Google Places, put up all the information you can have and voila, you’re all set to go.

Why Local Search Works

1. Local search allows you to get seen on the first pages of related searches on Google search. For a keyword such as “restaurants in (your area)”  there is sure to be a higher level of competition, making it very difficult to optimize to show your restaurant on the first page.   Local search profiles are much easier to create and optimize. Plus unlike in traditional search where you have to fight with travel sites, personal blogs and other different sites, you are only up in competition with other restaurants in your area with local search.

2. Local search is much easier to implement than PPC ads. While you can certainly pay your way to get top level listing on any related Google search, having a local search profile works two ways.  One is that you’re still on the first page of a Google search without paying anything, and two, you save time from having to monitor your expenditures and bids on a full-blown PPC campaign.

3. Local search is a great way to get known. People who are not your customers would have no idea you exist.  Most people discover new restaurants online by searching for generic terms “restaurants”, “bakeries”, “deli” or “diner” in your area, not by specific restaurant names.  In effect, you get found with the best in your industry.

4. Let other people do the convincing for you. The beauty of local search is that it pulls information from other sites, so that you have a link to all the reviews that has been made about your restaurant.  In effect, you have lots of people doing the recommending for you.  Saying that you have the best food in the world would be considered blatant (and suspiciously arrogant) marketing, but having other people say it is a great recommendation for you!