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If you haven’t noticed most people find your website or blog through Google. Yes, it may be through Yahoo! But until somebody comes up with something better Google is king.
The reason why restaurants or any other small or medium sized business need to take notice of blogs is that very probably a blog will come higher up in search results than you. This is unless the Google search is for your website name alone. In reality, it may be for something like “Melbourne Italian restaurant”. Moan about it all you want. But unless you think you can topple Google, you can’t stop bloggers.
Plus is a country where media ownership is concentrated into a few powerful hands and you are lucky to find two daily papers in a city, blogs offer a tiny little bit of diversity. For instance, in The Age gossip columnist and reviewer John Lethlean writes three columns a week, plus two in the Melbourne Magazine and at least one (two this month) in Gourmet Traveller monthly. That’s seven columns in one week sometimes and, yes, I’m jealous of the money and exposure. John’s a nice guy and I’m not after his job (there are many in line before me). But sometimes it is nice to hear from someone with a different point of view. And this is a function of the lack of local media diversity.
Blogs also offer a marketing oportunity if approached in the correct way.
I was interviewed on blogging for the new restaurant industry website and job directory I Eat I Drink I Work by journalist David Sutherland. He gives a very fair account of the current debate, some may say stand-off, between bloggers and chefs and restaurateurs. I was also invited to speak to a small group for Restaurant and Catering Victoria on the same topic the other week. I had a few technology problems but hope I got the same message across.
And at Talk Business sessions at Restaurant08 I’ve been given another opportunity to pontificate in two sessions - one on reviewing and another on the web (with someone with Google who will put my small pot of knowledge to shame).
So here we go my:
1. Blogs are here to stay and somebody will one day blog about you. Because blogs are automatically Search Engine Optimised it is likely that a blogs story about you will rank higher in a Google search than you will. Don’t believe me? Google Collingwood tapas or Gordon Ramsay Melbourne or Bistro Guillaume or Giuseppe, Arnaldo. You’ll find me. Or another blogger up there with The Age and News Ltd.
2. 70% of people don’t get past the first four results of a Google search. Even fewer get to the bottom of page one or to page two and beyond. You need to be Search Engine Optimised, which means using certain words and techniques which are actually quite simple. Somebody out there wants to charge you thousands for SEO. Your own blog does it for nothing but a little effort.
3. Blogs are Search Engine Optimised because:
- They are content rich. For example I now have over 650 stories each seen as a single page by Google which helps take me up the search rankings. You only need to post a couple of times a month if that. It is the constant renewing of words on a site and growth of content that partly helps increase rank in search.
- Blogs get lots of links which looks good to Google.
- Blogs get lots of comments which looks good to Google.
- Stories published within blogs can be tagged - just words that are associated with a story. For example, tapas, Collingwood, restaurant, Gertrude Street. These are exactly the kind of words people use in Google to find a restaurant.
- Feeds, often known as RSS or Atom feeds. These are a stripped down version of a webpage that tell search engines and readers when a webpage has been updated. It is that funny orange symbol at the top right of this page. Online services such as Google Reader allow you to subscribe to RSS feeds and will tell you when a webpage is updated. All blogs have this technology built in.
4. The software behind blogs is incredibly powerful and is the same or better than that used to drive most expensive websites. It is often free (Wordpress, Blogger) or reasonably cheap (Moveable Type, Typepad) or Open Source (Wordpress) which means there are loads of neat bits that can simply be plugged into it. It doesn’t take too much to learn how to use this. If you have a teenager to help, all the better.
5. Blog RSS feed statistics can be read through the free service Feedburner. This service also allows you to make your feed into a simple newsletter and manage its subscribers online. This is FREE. Many small businesses I know pay a subscription for newsletters based on the numbers of subscribers. This is a really good cheap way to communicate with customers. Many web design companies will charge a fee for each newsletter sent out.
6. Google Analytics is one of the most powerful statistics packages you can get. It is FREE. many small businesses are charged money by web development companies for statistics. You don’t need to pay just cut and paste a bit of code into a template or use an easy to plugin piece of software. If you choose to buy online advertising you can monitor traffic through Google Analytics.
7. You do need some background software with your webhost that many local web hosts charge extra money for locally. Therefore I would go with a host such as Bluehost which has it all installed. In fact, you can install Wordpress which is what many leading bloggers use in literally the click of one button. it is as simple as sending an email. Bluehost also has a service whichwill submit you to search engines for free.
8. Designs simply have to be uploaded to a folder on the web server and can be swapped in one click. Many many designs are free. And a tailored design can costs from under $100 to about $1,000.
9. Don’t think of a blog as a blog. It is a website in a particular format. You can use a blog to drive a website and have your blog whereever you want on the site. The most effective place to put a blog is on the front page.
10. But what content do you use? Think of a blog as a newsletter. Anything that is new. The new seasonal produce, the new menu, the new staff member, a new wine on the wine list. Even your football tipping. These are all stories that will engage people and be attractive to Google. It is simple to set-up Feedburner to send out a newsletter too - for FREE.
11. Linking is easy. Link to other blogs and they will find you. Importantly you should comment to - be social. When you comment you leave your web address and some other information. This links back to your site so people can find out who you are. try it now and people will click to your site.
12. I would suggest registering a blog with the site Technorati which is a search engine for blogs and monitors links. Again, it is free and simple.
13. Some of these things sound complicated but they are not. They just take a bit of time and very little money. If there is demand, I’m happy to post about how to se up a Wordpress website or blog.
FOOD FASCIST
- Nice to see that the Gourmet Traveller blogs finally have RSS feeds. This should help build regular traffic every time it updates. Will comments come soon.
- It’s a shame that I Eat I Drink I Work doesn’t appear to have an RSS feed yet.
- More main media food blogs required. SBS launches one next month. My latest effort Food and Wine Daily is in development here which so far has cost less than $100 (although I have a couple of small creases to iron out).
Popularity: 41% [?]
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Great article Ed, and so true. I have received a lot of hits for Bistro Giullaume and GAS, yet when you search for the restaurants website it is often a lot more difficult to locate. Blogging is easy and inexpenisve and I’ve noticed that being clever with words, subscribing to directories and regularly posting has had a big effect on increasing my traffic recently. Most of my hits come through google from people searching for restaurants by name or type. The fact that my blog is automatically optimised means more and more of these people are being drawn towards my content.
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Ed, this is a great perspective and I have actually forwarded it to someone that is yet to be convinced when the information comes from my mouth!
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:46 pm
People are always asking me what a blog is, I guess it is just the circles I run in, most even do the screw-up-the-face “food blog?” look. I guess I know where to send them next time they’re asking.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Thanks for mentioning the site I’ve launched (I eat I drink I work) and the article we commissioned from David Sutherland. I was happy his perspective added some clarity to the arguments out there. I personally think this discussion will be forgotten in time simply because good writing is good writing, how it is delivered where on the web or in print, will make no difference. With regard to RSS feeds we will get one thing right a time, RSS Feed will be there soon.
Regards
Cameron Russell
http://www.ieatidrinkiwork.com.au
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:38 pm
I agree with everything you’ve written Ed. I too find most of my site visits are from Google hits for recipes and restaurant reviews. Some are from people who directly come to the website.
It really is harder to find the actual restaurant website. Since its so rarely updated and not linked to much, it is real hard to find. I was searching for a restaurant website recently and the first two Google pages were restaurant review sites and blogs. Finally I managed to track down the restaurant site by using more and more specific terms.
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Jon, I’m just learning what the story is, partly from some of the reserach I did for the Out of The Frying Pan event from Kalyn at Kalyn’s Kitchen who I must give credit to. SEO is still a mystery here.
Grocer, as you know what its all about you must capitalise on it for your business before somebody biggger does.
Jess, it’s adifficult thing to communicate isn’t it and I keep refining it and even now have more things to add or different ways of saying it. It’s not just the scoial media movemet but the technology. just as the church and then moguls owned information before technology came along and made it free - much like desk top publishing did to Hot Metal. The only trouble is the freedom of info. on the web has demystified many professions and now it is the people who write the code hold the mystery themselves. that’s aprt from the new visionaries, google being one, who are democratising publishing and social functions by making them easy enough for anybody to create their own sites.
Cameron, you are right it will eventually be forgotten just like we forot how many bad newsletters were spawned by desk top publsihing. i like what yoiu are doing. You could have created that front end content with what i’m talking about and had RSS and comments from day one.
Thahn,when i was publsihing my magazine four years ago I physically delivered it and had a sophisticated and expensive website. I discovered that people in hospitality didn’t really have access to computers at work so many have ignored what is happening. The next phase which may engage them more is about to happen with the Internet connectivity of phones through 3G and WiFi. I’d imagine not too long after the iphone arrives restaurants may take a bit more notcie of online maps and local search espcially. Blogs, of course work well in this medium although can do with some adaptation. But the thing is because they aren’t into it they get sucked into paying quite a lot of money for SEO.
April 4th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Great post Ed - the topic is very now! I’ll be linking back to it. Hopefully some of our clients will catch on.
April 4th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Great post — I had never realized why blogs show up so highly on search engine results. Also, great suggestions on technocrati and Google Analytics.
April 4th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Great use of content rich keywords as well Ed - Especially in the 3rd paragraph
April 4th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Brilliant post Ed. Anyone who is contemplating setting up a restaurant or has just has, should print it out, put in a folder and mark the folder “Our Internet Strategy “. If you don’t have a strategy you are alreadly falling behind your competition.
It is always sad to see a new restaurant open and the only thought they have given to advertising is the local paper and a listing in the phone book. A blog can be set easliy and cheaply and can become a dynamic, vital medium. If your restaurant is funky and fashionable make your blog represent that. Friendly and family orientated put photos of your kids on the blog
A free idea for you restauranteurs. Go to Google Maps and find the link that says “list your business” and submit your business. Last time I looked it was free. I have Google Maps on my 3G phone and use it often to find restaurants and bars if I am in an unfamiliar area.
Ed. I can endorse what you said about Google Analytics from personal experience. It is a complete must have. It will tell you the real story about what is happening with your website - and it is free and easy to use
SEO is really not that hard and it is very easy to acquaint yourself with the basics. Two websites I can recommend are http://www.ihelpyou.com which has a extremely helpful community approach, and http://www.webmasterworld.com where most of the leading names of the professional SEO industry post.
Again, well done and timely Ed
April 4th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Concur completely Ed, great post. I’m still looking at migrating the trad website to a blog, I need to allocate some time.
Can happily vouch for the value of Google Analytics (it emails me every Monday!), adding your business to Google Maps and indulging in some shameless online self promotion, which, as you mentioned, blogs are very handy for. The key thing that restaurants, especially those on a tight budget, need to remember is ‘keep it simple’. All you basically need is a web presence that provides the basic details, nothing too flash or complicated. 70% of my traffic is main page only, which means they get the info they need then bugger off, perfect! We don’t (really) make money from people browsing through our site but we do if they get the details they require quickly and easily.
You can expand the site/blog as you go and as time allows, a bit like the physical side of things I guess, you set up the business, get the doors open and the punters in then keep reinvesting by doing the things you couldn’t do at the start because your budget was too tight, enhancing the environment and infrastructure. FOr me it was the same principle with the website, except online the currency is time not dollars. There’s is absolute value in expanding you’re online presence though, and not just by enhancing your google rank, but by adding relevant content, you’re deepening the relationship between your business, the people that work in it and your potential customers, making a connection, stimulating their appreciation for what you’re trying to do, showing them that it’s a labour of love (hopefully)and not just a financial transaction, getting feedback etc…and that, folks, is where the blog format is a perfect fit.
April 5th, 2008 at 10:08 am
A further thought on Google Analytics. It does supply you with so much information it is very easy to get confused by or over involved with the numbers. Work out the metrics that make sense to you and your website and stick to those.
If you want to start investigating the keywords for your website or blog try the Google Keyword Tool at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal . It is free and is quite revealing as to how people do search for what you are selling.
April 5th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
It’s great to see blogs and food blogging is gaining momentum in Australia and sure, we may not be professionally trained food critics but people that eat at restaurants are normal, everyday people and everyone’s entitled to state whether they liked a restaurant or not.
April 7th, 2008 at 5:13 am
Well its the same kind of SEO for all sites I guess. I must be terrible as my listings in google have missing descriptions
April 7th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Steve, thnaks. I think its important to spread the word (good luck with he van)
Warren, Good links bt I’m trying to keep it simple and I wonder if maps are there yet in Australia. No doubt when we get decent free wifi and wifi enabled devices like the iphone arrive it will. I hadn’t seen the google link before and looking at it SEO becomes tougher the more keyword competition.
Goldie, exactly.
Scott, try one of the Wordpress SEO plugins which may help.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
If they still don’t believe you, you could tell them about the local landscaper whole business I slagged off for (a) horrible gardens (b) having “doggy style” written on his truck (c) buying porn from the service station WITH LOOSE CHANGE! (as witnessed by a friend who also complained about the truck.) I regularly get searchers using his business name.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Hey Zoe, Lol! I guess that’s why I still get the Anth*ny B**rd**n is G*y stuff although the Russian Mafia has dropped off.
April 8th, 2008 at 10:29 am
GOOGLE maps is up and running in Australia.
I have done one for my parents’ yet to be launched B&B and they have already had an attempted reservation!
April 8th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Grocer, I didn’t mean that Google maps were’t here yet but I’m not sure how much they are being used compared to the conventional search. How’s the eye?
April 8th, 2008 at 11:18 am
my misinterpretation.
Google search tends to bring up the map as the first result on many occasions tho’.
April 8th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Yes Google’s search algorhythms would give very high rating to its own information resulting in first ranking in a correasponding relevent term.
April 9th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I’ll drink a toast to that.
Blogger, thy day shall come…
Sid
April 10th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Wholeheartedly agree.
I know of 2 restaurants that don’t even have a presence on basic sites as community.com.au. And if you Google them, my blog gets top billing.
And neither of the reviews are particularly encouraging of further patronage.
Similarly, my most popular post is hit via Google searches for “Hot Italian Lover” or “Sexy hot Italian” and links you to a post about my new Eurolec oven!
April 10th, 2008 at 9:21 am
PG, praise the longtail.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Great post Ed. As a new blogger (sorry, website designer) I never realised there was such an ‘us and them’ mentality between bloggers and chefs/restaurants. Free publicity, hello? Many thanks for the tips, too.