We all have our own vices. Among mine is a love of the baked disk-shaped flatbread, typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese (usually mozzarella), and various toppings: pizza.
According to a 2006 report, there were 69,386 pizzerias in the US. No wonder why it’s so hard to figure out which one to order when I’ve got the late-night pizza munchies. In fact, pizzerias comprise nearly 8% of all restaurants in America. These statistics really got me thinking. With so many pizza restaurants around, how do they all differ, especially on the Web?
I work in Plainsboro, NJ, a sleepy little town tucked among the few remaining sprawling farms that fights hard to preserve what remains of its original rural character. Just a few miles from Princeton University, Plainsboro’s claim to national fame these days is probably its unmistakable connection to the hit FOX TV medical series, “House.” Plainsboro is the setting for the Princeton-Plainsboro Medical Center where Dr. Gregory “House” combines modern medicine with playful sarcasm. In keeping with the program’s “cart before the horse approaches medical treatment” is that the city of Plainsboro is just, now, building what will soon be the real Princeton-Plainsboro Medical Center, just outside its small center.
Finding the Best Pizza in Dr. House’s Town: Fact Over Fiction
If you want a pizza place in Plainsboro, a Google search will provide you with over thirty pages of pizza place listings representing nearby pizzerias. Google’s Top Local Spot has been won by a strip center pizzeria conveniently located near the center of town. Ironically, on that first page of results, which features this number one result, as its first listing, you’ll find a partial review from a client who “definitely wouldn’t label it best in the area.”
Kind of an oxymoron, right? It’s not the best pizzeria in Plainsboro, but it still ranks #1 on Google for a restaurant of this type in the local area. It really is all about search engine optimization (SEO) and getting to the top. Obviously someone associated with the local leader understands what needs to be done to successfully optimize your website and market your business on the web. Hats off to them for accomplishing what is, for many, a very difficult task.
Let’s take a few steps back from Google’s number one local ranking. His website is the top destination for those who Google pizza restaurants in the Plainsboro area. My personal opinion of your website is that it is fine. Does the job. Its design and navigation are nothing out of the ordinary. But obviously your webmaster has done an excellent job of creating a great list of meta tags and phrases that have caught search engine attention. He or she also named each web page in such a way that Google will index it correctly.
Plainsboro’s “Google Top Dog” pizzeria is in a tough region when it comes to great pizza. NJ.com recently proclaimed nearby Trenton, NJ the best city in the state for pizza lovers. In fact, there are three family-owned restaurants in Trenton that are almost universally recognized as the best in the South Jersey region, if not the entire state of New Jersey. They are also lucky to be indexed, very highly, by Google, geolocally. The question for our purposes is; How Much Do Good Reviews Really Influence Google Rankings?
While two locations of one of these pizzerias hold BOTH the Top Spot and Google’s number two local search positions for pizzerias in Trenton, an unrelated pizzeria has been eclipsed by another family business for the number three search result in the first results page This other pizza restaurant has received rave reviews from its patrons, but has not earned top ratings from most of the state’s leading restaurant critics. Obviously, this is yet another case where a business has made all the right SEO moves to get a local top five ranking, appearing on the first page of Google results.
By the way, the Trenton location for a national pizza chain, trails one of Google’s number five location pizzerias on the first page for Plainsboro area pizzerias. It’s very interesting and very refreshing to see that family businesses can often hold their own against the powerful national chains in search engine optimization.
GEO-Local Search
Unless it’s a national franchise location, people will likely just Google your pizzeria using some very basic search terms, such as “Plainsboro AND Trenton pizzeria.” To be most successful, you need to share with your future clientele, as well as with search engines, some context about what your restaurant is, where it is located, and what it serves. You only have 65 characters to do this.
You must think as if you are playing a word game. Instead of using “Natale’s Pizza” as the page title, why not use “Natale’s Pizza – Quality Plainsboro Food Since 1985”? It’s only 54 characters with spaces. You still have about 11 characters left to play with. This strategy allows you to merge your branding effort with your website design. It is very easy to index in search engines.
In general, it’s always a good idea to optimize your website, even if your competition is getting more and more formidable in that regard. Why not use Google’s free keyword tool to help find the best keywords and phrases to achieve your SEO goals?
Content and HTML Rival Flash and.pdf
None of the locally top-ranked pizzerias in the Plainsboro area have succumbed to the temptation of using flash technology on their websites. Along with flash, there is also a trend to scan menus and upload them to restaurant websites as .pdf files.
Flash sure is pretty cool, especially when used as the introduction to commercial websites that thrive on successfully stimulating the senses through almost magical animation. What restaurant wouldn’t want to use the best technology available to show their customers what great-tasting food really looks like? Unfortunately, Flash isn’t always the best option when it comes to search engine optimization. While flash websites are much better indexed by today’s search engines, text content is always the best option. And, as for the menus? HTML trumps.pdf for search engine indexing, always.
microformats
So that search engines can easily find you and map you accurately, these days, hCard is a newer format that Google and Yahoo are currently using to identify physical addresses along with any other information they might find. It’s a fairly simple technology to implement and whoever is helping you build your website should already be familiar with or able to research your application. Instead of “103 Main Street, Plainsboro, NJ”, it shares with Google and Yahoo the exact syntax of the address, city, state, and any other information you want to provide. Even with hCard helping to locate your business in search engines, it is still recommended that you submit your website directly to Google and Yahoo local business listings. That way, you know that the information provided is correct.
restaurant reviews
Similarly, hReviews also provides useful context to search engines to help them identify the physical location of your restaurant. This app allows Google, Yahoo, and other engines to add restaurant reviews, if they are included on your website. Most search engines cannot distinguish a positive review from a negative one or determine if the restaurant is ranked on a scale graduated from 1 to 10. hReviews allow information to be shared in a consistent way between data platforms and what is more Importantly, they provide a voice for your existing customers to talk to new customers. This can be a good thing for your business by word of mouth.
Don’t forget to check out a popular site like Yelp and respond to those who are looking for great places to share a delicious pizza. Why not treat them to a free salad with their tomato pie? It’s a great marketing tip that not only helps you get new customers through an enticing free offer, but also creates another quality backlink for search engines to consider for ranking.
social media
Don’t forget that having a well-executed business website, by itself, will not be a panacea for your pizzeria. There is much more to do to maximize your web marketing results. It just so happens that social media and search engine optimization work quite well together. Much of what you post on social media can generate credible backlinks and strengthen your SEO ranking. You need to make Social Networks work for you.
Set up a Twitter account for your pizzeria and announce your restaurant’s latest special offers. Tie your special offers to the calendar and the clock to create a sense of urgency for your customers. “For the next hour, house salads are free with the purchase of a large pizza with two or more specialty toppings.” And while you’re at it, ask people to sign up for your restaurant’s weekly email newsletter to receive the latest announcements and timely discounts.
Don’t forget about blogging. By starting your own blog, you will keep your website fresh and interesting for search engines to re-index again and again. They love websites that are regularly updated with fresh, new content. Whether or not you have your own blog, be sure to make yourself known to other key bloggers in the industry. They can recommend your restaurant to their readers and even include your guest blog posts from time to time. Commenting on other people’s blog posts is also a great way for business owners to get to know each other better among their peers and future customers. Of course, sign your comments with your name, the name of your company and the address of your website.
Just think about it. When someone is desperate for a good late night pizza, how close to the top of the search engine results do you want your pizzeria to appear?