Increasing traffic to your website starts with an understanding of keyword selection. To launch your food business website into the high ranks of the search engine results pages (we call them SERPs in the biz), you need to choose your keywords wisely and incorporate them into your web content, including blog post titles, image tags, and sales copy.
Short Tail Versus Long Tail
Keywords are based on the product or service you offer; however, as a restaurant or food business, you cannot try to rank for “steak” just because it’s your most popular menu item. “Steak” is considered a short-tail keyword, and it has two strikes against it for ranking purposes:
- It’s far too competitive. You would be going up against purely informational websites with strong search engine positions.
- “Steak” isn’t a well-targeted keyword. People who use that term aren’t looking for restaurants. They’re probably searching for recipes or images.
A long-tail keyword would be something like “steak enchiladas in Denver.” The specificity of the phrase will make it easier to rank for, and it’s more relevant to your business. Think about what will bring you sales, not basic information.
Where to Find Long-Tail Keyword Ideas
The long-tail keyword possibilities are endless. You could likely come up with a good list on your own (that’s what Google wants you to do), but there are a few good–and free–keyword research tools, too. Here are our favorites.
Once you have a list of long-tail keywords for your food website, assign one focus keyword phrase to every web page and blog post. Don’t expect an immediate rise in website traffic, but over time, these keywords will make a difference.