In today’s digital world every business needs to have an online presence so customers can find them and begin their purchase journey. But just having a website doesn’t cut it anymore. Even for catering companies, a focus on Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, can help boost online traffic and ensure your business is being found by those who are searching for your services. SEO can seem daunting, but in this guide covering catering website SEO for beginners you will find easy-to-action suggestions to help improve your online performance.
SEO is the process of improving your website to increase its visibility for relevant online searches. Search engines work via bots that crawl websites, gathering information and putting it all into indexes. Then these indexes are analyzed by algorithms that determine the order specific webpages should show up in search results. There are many factors that contribute to how webpages get ranked in search results, such as quality of content, keyword matches, crawlability and mobile-friendliness.
If this all sounds confusing, don’t fret. There are simple tools and strategies that can help everyone and every caterer ensure their website and business can be found by those searching!
Not everyone needs to be an SEO expert to ensure your website has the basics covered to perform well in online traffic and searches. Follow these tips to ensure you’re on the right track.
Creating too many pages and having a confusing menu can frustrate your online visitors and potentially inhibit them from interacting with your business. Spend some time researching catering companies you admire and make note of how they have structured their menu and pages. As a rule of thumb make sure you have the following website sections:
In 2020, our customers saw 57% of online orders come through mobile devices. When building your website, keep in mind that many customers use their mobile devices to research and complete purchases, so you’ll want to confirm that the hosting platform you use is mobile-friendly and has fast loading speeds.
When your goal is to make it easy for would-be customers to find your business online, having up-to-date business listings on other websites can help achieve that. Most of these directory websites are free to register an account and claim your business. A solid list to start with includes:
Basic information about your business such as location, hours of operations and contact details are all you need to get started. But if you want to take it a step further you can also include your menu, online ordering information, photos and videos of your business, as well as run advertisements (for a fee)! These free services are no-brainers for the modern caterer.
A simple way to get your website to show up in more searches is to publish content in the form of informational pages or blog posts that include keywords and phrases your target audience would use to find your business. There are many statistics proving why basic SEO is a must for all businesses, but even just knowing 53.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search should be enough to prove incorporating SEO into your business plan is worth it.
A simple online search into “catering keywords” and reading other blogs focused on catering can help you develop a list of words and phrases to include on your website, along with blog article ideas for you to build on about your own catering operations. Need more guidance? Check out Hubspot’s article on SEO writing tips for beginners.
When other business priorities take precedence, you can always hire external help! Whether you want to invest in working with a digital marketing agency who help manage your website, SEO, social media and other advertising or if you want to develop a simple relationship with an SEO-focused freelancer, there are so many resources available to catering businesses to take advantage of.
Working with a digital marketing agency will be more pricey, but depending on the size of your business and your goals, it could pay off by helping grow your business making their fees more than worth it. If you choose to go the freelance route, you can research individuals, their portfolios and negotiate on work terms through websites such as Upwork or Freelancer.
There are many facets to running a successful catering business in the modern, digital era. Deciding who to partner with and what software to use can influence your success. At FoodStorm we have over 15 years of research and development experience, ensuring we have the most comprehensive catering management software on the market backed by stellar customer support.
Contact us today to find out how FoodStorm can elevate your catering business.
