Andrea AbbondanzaEveryone uses a search engine to find information, answers, and solutions to their queries. With just a few keywords, people can access a vast repository of knowledge on the internet.
As a restaurant owner, you won’t miss this opportunity, right? Like imagine people searching for a specific local keyword, and it leads them to your restaurant.
This is why conducting local keyword research for restaurants must be done. Read on to get valuable insights into ways to boost your restaurant’s online visibility.
What Is Local SEO Keyword Research?
Local SEO keyword research refers to the process of identifying and analyzing relevant keywords and search terms that people commonly use in a specific geographic location.
It involves understanding the language and search behavior of users in a particular area to optimize online content and improve the visibility of local businesses in search engine results.
In the context of a restaurant, local keyword research for restaurants becomes particularly crucial. By finding the right restaurant keywords, restaurant owners and marketers can gain valuable insights into their local target customers’ search preferences.
Local Keyword Research Tools
By targeting local keywords, businesses can attract relevant traffic and increase their visibility in search engine results. This guide will delve more into local keyword research for restaurants.
Let’s go!
Free Local SEO Keyword Research Tools
Google Keyword Planner
When you want to find the right words for your online content, Google Keyword Planner is an important tool.
It’s free to use and helps you discover words that are relevant to what you’re writing about. You can also see how many people search for those words and how much competition there is.
With all this helpful information, you can learn a lot about the popular words people use when they search for things in your area.
Google Trends
Google Trends is a helpful tool provided by Google. It lets you investigate specific keywords’ popularity over time, giving you information about trends that change with the seasons and how people search.
By understanding these patterns, you can improve your content to match what your local audience is interested in and prefers. This way, you can target the keywords that are most relevant and appealing to them.
Google Search
Although Google Search isn’t explicitly designed for keyword research, it can still be beneficial for finding local keyword opportunities.
All you need to do is type in words related to your local business, and Google will show you suggestions and related search terms. These suggestions give you essential information about the most popular keywords that people search for in your local area.
So, it can be a great tool to discover the keywords commonly used in local searches for your local business.
Wordstream Free Keyword Tool
Wordstream’s Free Keyword Tool is a powerful resource for local keyword research. It helps generate many keyword suggestions by entering a seed keyword or your website’s URL.
With its user-friendly interface and comprehensive results, this tool can help you uncover hidden gem keywords that can drive targeted traffic to your website.
Answer the Public
Want to try a different way? Use Answer the Public. It is a special tool that uniquely helps with keyword research.
It shows you the common questions that people ask about a specific keyword. You just need to enter the keyword; the tool will make a nice picture of the questions people ask.
This is helpful when you’re making content because it helps you know what your local audience wants to know and what they’re worried about.
Paid Keyword Research Tools
Ahref
Ahrefs is a powerful SEO tool that can do a lot of things. It helps you find the right words to use on your website. You can see how well these words are doing and check how many people visit your website because of them.
Ahrefs is great if you want to conduct local keyword research that people use. It’s also helpful for businesses that want to know what their competitors are doing with their words.
So if you want to find the best words for your local business, Ahrefs is a tool you should try.
SEMrush
SEMrush is another popular and feature-rich SEO tool that offers robust keyword research functionality.
Its Keyword Magic Tool provides an extensive keyword database, allowing you to identify local keyword opportunities and assess their potential.
With SEMrush, you can uncover valuable insights into search volume, keyword difficulty, and competitor rankings, enabling you to make data-driven decisions for your local SEO strategy for restaurants.
SpyFU
SpyFU is a tool that helps you understand what your competition is doing. It shows you lots of information about the words they use to attract website visitors.
You can see which words they focus on and how well they’re doing with them. SpyFU is helpful if you want to find good words for your local business to bring in customers.
It also helps you know what your competition is up to, so you can improve your website.
How to Do Local Keyword Research
To harness the power of local keyword research effectively, it’s essential to follow a systematic approach. Here are some key steps to guide you in conducting successful local keyword research:
Find Restaurant-Related Local Keywords
If you own a restaurant or a food-related business, targeting location-specific keywords can significantly enhance your online visibility.
Start by brainstorming keywords that describe your cuisine, ambiance, or unique selling points. Once you have a list, you can refine it by incorporating location-specific terms such as the city, neighborhood, or nearby landmarks.
List Out Your Area/Service Areas
For businesses with multiple service areas, it’s crucial to identify keywords that resonate with each specific location.
Try to list the places you work in, like cities or towns, and combine them with words that relate to your industry. This way, your content will be customized for the people in each local area.
Doing this improves the chances of your website appearing in search results specific to those places.
Check Competitors’ Rankings
By studying how well your competitors are doing in search results, you can learn which words bring people to their websites.
Find out who your main competitors are in your local area and use SEO tools to check where they show up in search rankings.
When you know the words they’re focusing on, you can find areas where you have a chance to do even better in search results.
Find Questions Related to Your Products/Services
Discovering common questions about your products or services can help you create informative and engaging content that caters to your target customer’s needs.
To find out what questions people often ask, you can use tools like Answer the Public or keyword research tools with question features. These tools help you identify the common questions that people have.
Incorporate these questions as subheadings or topics within your content to address user queries effectively.
How to Use Your Local Keyword Research
Now that you have conducted comprehensive local keyword research, it’s time to put that valuable data to use. Here are some practical strategies to leverage your local keywords effectively:
Website Content
Optimize your website content by incorporating the researched keywords naturally. Create location-specific landing pages or blog posts that target relevant local keywords.
By offering valuable and localized information, you can enhance your search engine visibility and attract visitors who are actively seeking your products or services within specific regions.
Paid Ads
You can think about running ads that you pay for on platforms like Google Ads or social media.
When you’ve done your research on local words, you can make ads that show up when people search or browse on those platforms in the places you want to reach. If you use local words in your ads, you can get the most out of your advertising money.
Listings and Social Media Sites
Ensure your business is listed on popular local directories and review sites like Google Business Profile, Yelp, or TripAdvisor. You can also adjust the listing to your region; if you’re in Australia, make sure to get your restaurant listed on restaurant review sites in Australia.
Optimize these listings by incorporating your researched keywords naturally within the business description, categories, and customer reviews.
Furthermore, maintain an active social media presence, strategically using your local keywords in your posts and profiles to increase visibility and engagement.
How to Handle Multiple Locations
If your business operates in multiple locations, creating a consistent yet localized online presence is essential. Develop separate landing pages or sections on your website for each location, incorporating location-specific keywords.
Optimize your content, meta tags, and headings to reflect the unique characteristics and offerings of each area. This approach helps search engines understand the relevance of your business in different locations, boosting your overall visibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to track your website’s rankings?
To track your website’s rankings effectively, you can utilize various SEO tools such as Google Search Console, Ahrefs, or SEMrush. These tools provide comprehensive insights into your website’s performance, keyword rankings, and organic search traffic.
How to measure local keyword success?
Measuring the success of your local keywords involves monitoring various key performance indicators (KPIs). These include organic search traffic, keyword rankings, click-through rates (CTRs), conversions, and overall website visibility in local search results.
Once you have the results, take a look at these measurements over time to see how your local keyword plan is affecting things. This will help you figure out where you can make improvements and get even better results.
Why Is Local SEO Important?
Local SEO plays a vital role in connecting businesses with their target audience within specific geographic locations. By optimizing your online presence for local keywords, you can increase your visibility in local search results, attract relevant traffic, and drive qualified leads to your business.
Conclusion
Conducting a thorough local keyword research for restaurants is a crucial part of a winning SEO plan.
If you want your local restaurant to gain more customers, especially within the local area, understanding the specific words and phrases used by people in your community when searching for places to eat is essential.
Don’t forget to regularly review and update your keyword strategy to stay ahead in the ever-changing realm of local SEO for restaurants.
So, need help regarding local SEO keyword research? Our team, Seo for Restaurants, is more than ready to help you!
