Hospitality hasn’t been the quickest industry to integrate search marketing as a core business strategy. Yet, it was SEO that saved so many during lockdowns and the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic – especially for food businesses like restaurants, takeaways, cafes, etc.
As the sector gears up for another challenging year in 2023, food and hospitality brands need to make full use of SEO to maximise visibility for people who are still spending their money on what many will consider “non-essentials”.
Navigating a tricky 2023 for hospitality
With the cost of living crisis mounting rcs data and the IMF calculating the UK will be the only major economy to shrink in 2023, the country is bracing for another challenging year. As priorities change for people in the UK, the hospitality industry suffers as many cut back on non-essential spending.
However, as we saw during the pandemic, British consumer spending is surprisingly resilient to economic strain. Eating out is valued at almost £92bn and the takeaway delivery market is expected to reach £14.6bn by 2025, up from £13.3bn in 2022.
Times are certainly challenging but the opportunities are still out there for hospitality brands. The key is making full use of search data to understand consumer spending – as it changes – and building an online presence that captures attention at every stage of the funnel.
Local search strategy
Local search is the most important in on-line registration in malaysia channel for food businesses closing the gap between interest and purchases, and we’re talking about three key components in this article:
- Google Business Profile
- “Near me” searches
- Positive reviews
If you haven’t set up your Google Business profile yet, this online tutorial will guide you through each step. It’s also important to keep your information up-to-date and we’ve got an article that explains how to update your information in Google Business Profile.
That should cover the basics of Google Business Profile optimisation but we’ll talk about adding more flavour to your profile a little later.
Prioritise ‘near me’ searches
Insights from our Restaurants & taiwan lists Takeaways SEO Report highlight the importance of “near me” searches for hospitality brands. Eight of the top 10 queries for this category include the phrase “near me”:
First of all, this shows how important “near me” searches are for connecting food and hospitality businesses with people. If you don’t have a local search presence that’s optimised for “near me” searches, you’re missing out on the biggest opportunities on your doorstep.
Secondly, “near me” searches indicate urgency in the user’s query. These aren’t people looking for the best restaurants for their trip to London next week; these are hungry folk who want feeding now or people who need to make bookings for something important (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.).
In other words, if you win the “near me” battle, you’re first in line to win the customer.