8 Simple SEO Strategies to Improve Your Food Business's Online Presence

Nowadays, consumers are comfortable buying their groceries online. That's because it is convenient, and some deals can help them save money on food shopping.

 

On the other hand, this means that your food business must have an established online presence.

 

But having an online presence is more than just having a website. Aside from having great ecommerce development solutions, you should also know the fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization. That way, you would know how to make the most of your online food business.

 

What is SEO?

Before we start, let's first define what Search Engine Optimization is.

 

SEO is ensuring that your website ranks for the right keywords. In the case of your food business, imagine that you sell Indian food. When someone types in "Indian food delivery near me" on Google, your food business's website should be one of the search results.

 

But how can you make that happen? Follow these eight SEO strategies:

 

Create a keyword plan

Keyword planning is laying out the search terms that you're targeting to rank for. These can be single words, like "wings," but may also include two, three, or more words, such as the "best-fried chicken in Ohio."

 

From there, you can utilize a keyword planning tool to help you develop other keywords that you've laid out.

 

This tool will allow you to find and analyze keywords that are worth targeting. These are keywords with high search volume, less competition, and definite intent.

 

Implement the basic SEO best practices

Once you have your list of keywords to target, what you should do next is to implement SEO best practices. Doing so ensures that your food business remains visible and relevant online.

 

Title SEO and Meta Description

Every page and blog article on your site should come with an SEO title along with a meta description. Usually, a page's title and meta description will appear on the search results.

 

That's why it's crucial that you're clear and concise about it and that these should contain the specific keyword you're trying to target.

 

If not, then Google might rewrite these for you, but the results aren't guaranteed.

 

Schema Markup

This is a code that's placed on your site, helping search engines provide more informational results. Usually, a schema will tell the search engine what the data means.

 

In turn, this will provide users with much better and more accurate information in the rich snippets, which are often shown under the page title.

 

Dominate in local search

It is common for food businesses to cater to local customers. As such, it makes sense to strive to dominate the local search. This means ensuring that your website ranks for "near me" keywords.

 

One of the fastest ways to do that is to claim as many local listings as you can. You can start by signing up for a Google My Business account. Next is to ensure that your business's name and address are consistent across different local listings.

 

Produce relevant content

Excellent content marketing gives you stellar results. It provides you with three times as many leads as compared to conventional marketing strategies.

 

Not to mention, it will cost less than traditional marketing while driving more conversions as compared to companies that don't use it.

 

So, how can you create valuable content for customers in the top and middle of the funnel?

 

Here are a couple of ways:

 

  • Utilize search trends and keyword data to help you understand what your audience wants to know.
  • Work on the content format, either in the form of a blog post or a guide.
  • Know how often you'll produce content. Will you be publishing two or three blogs every month?
  • Know who will be brainstorming the content topics. You should also create, edit, and publish content.

 

Do external link building

While your blog posts and information on your website are essential, you need to take it a step further by linking your content to other websites.

 

Great content will include facts, references, and relevant statistics sources. As such, you should link to them as a way of acknowledging that you got the info from these external websites.

 

Moreover, linking to other websites adds depth and will enhance your site's legitimacy as well. Google will even take notice of it when ranking your site for SEO.

 

Incorporate social media

There are many social media channels out there. Thus, you shouldn't spread yourself too thin by trying to keep a presence on all of those platforms.

 

If you can, try out different channels first. That way, you'll know which one works best for your food business.

 

Meanwhile, your basis of whether a platform is bringing you ROI would be the engagement and conversions you drive.

 

Make sure that you're consistent in publishing organic posts. If your customers fail to hear from you in weeks or months, you won't stay on top of their minds.

 

Make sure that the photos that you use in your posts are appealing and high-quality. A blurry or dark image won't look as attractive to your followers.

 

Engage with third-party review sites

Once you've established an online presence, the next thing that you need to do is to engage with your followers through third-party review sites.

 

You can encourage customers to leave reviews on your food business on Google or Yelp in exchange for a coupon, discount, or free item.

 

Make sure that you respond to these reviews, especially the negative ones. Make sure that you keep the review positive and strive to solve their issue or make amends. Be polite as well.

 

Track website performance

Finally, you need to set up Google Analytics to track the number of visitors you're getting on your site.

 

It would help if you also track the keyword position that your site is currently ranking.

 

Final Thoughts

We now live in a digital and hyper-connected age. Hence, it would be best for businesses to adapt to this change and innovate. And you can do that by establishing your food business's online presence.

 

Luckily, you can make that happen by following the SEO tips listed above. These are not only applicable to food businesses but also to other types of business websites such as clothing websites, furniture ecommerce websites, and many more.