So you’ve designed a nice website for a restaurant. Is it time to open the flood gates, sit back and relax, and watch as web traffic starts pouring in like a tsunami? On the contrary, if all you have done is created your website and done nothing to promote it, then waiting for your website to start fielding web traffic is more like watching paint dry.
In a situation like this, you need to do something to maximize your restaurant website’s exposure. Sure, you could come up with a campaign to build back links to your free website, or you could launch an expensive pay-per-click advertising campaign. But when it comes to the restaurant business, there is a much better, much simpler, and quite frankly, a much more high-impact way to maximize your website’s visibility with minimal effort. And if you follow this one simple tip, you can be sure get a massive influx of relevant, targeted traffic to your restaurant website very quickly:
You need to get your restaurant website listed in the top restaurant website directories. Yes, there are many websites out there that are dedicated to hosting directories of restaurants. Hungry customers eager to make breakfast, lunch, or dinner plans can visit and peruse these directories in search of a restaurant that satisfies the cravings of their respective palates. They can read reviews, read the menus, get a feel for the atmosphere, require attire (if any), the price range, and the location. By reading this information, they can make an informed decision as to which restaurant to dine at.
So it goes without saying that how well you manage the publicity of your free website and exposure on various restaurant directory websites should be a critical component of every restaurant’s public relations and marketing campaign.
Having said that, let’s take a look at a listing of 3 of the top directories on the Internet where you can get your restaurant website listed, in order to gain maximum exposure and visibility to your potential customer base:
#1: Dine.com
Dine.com is entire a member-driven restaurant review website. As of this writing, the site boasts a database of over 187,000 restaurant listings across the United States and Canada, and over 295,000 reviews, all of which were written by members. Membership is free. What is unique about Dine.com is that members can become affiliates who can earn commissions for referring other people to join the website for free as well. Also, as an affiliate, if you happen to be the webmaster of another website, Dine.com allows you to co-brand your website, so that your logo appears on their web page.
#2: Restaurant.com
Restaurant.com is an online portal for restaurant owners across the United States to showcase and promote their restaurants. It is not a review site per se. There is no option to write restaurant reviews on this website. It is a venue for restaurant owners to advertise themselves, through inclusion in the website’s searchable database. What is unique about the digital portfolio of restaurants included in Restaurant.com’s database is that you can view each participating restaurant’s menu directly online, if available. And if the restaurant takes reservations, you can place reservations directly online. Restaurant.com offers visitors an incentive for using their website. Every participating restaurant offers discounted gift certificates for you to purchase and use when you dine there.
#3: Zagat.com
Zagat.com is one of the most popular restaurant review websites on the Internet today. In addition to offering a searchable database of restaurants across the United States, it offers its own proprietary rating system, known popularly as the “Zagat Rating”. In addition to reviews, the website maintains “top lists” for a variety of different categories. To add value to the website, Zagat.com also features articles on a variety of different topics of interest relating to the restaurant industry and the culinary arts. Interviews with chefs, analysis of various surveys, airline meals, you name it, this website covers it. Featuring free forums for discussion, and free downloadable apps for iPhones and Android phones round out the rich set of features this restaurant portal offers. Unlike other websites, Zagat charges a membership fee in order to be able to read and post reviews, so it is not a free website.
One thing that each of the above three restaurant directories do is allow restaurant owners to include links to their own websites. So if you have a restaurant website, traditional back linking or pay-per-click advertising is perhaps will not yield the best return on investment of your time and effort. The best way to gain exposure for your free website is to get it listed in as many of the top restaurant directories as you can.
