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Aimee Laurence, the SEO manager at ukwritings.com, writes on marketing and the food industry. She also works with foodservice operators on expanding their customer base. |
Consumers today have so many choices when deciding where to get food, and the food truck industry in particular is getting very popular. This popularity means that while your food truck has a greater chance of being a successful option, it also faces pressure to stand out for the competition and market itself. Internet search engine optimization is necessary to stay relevant to potential customers, so here are five useful tips to increase your food truck’s SEO friendliness.
1. Be mobile-friendly
It’s no longer possible today for a business to not have a mobile-friendly site. The majority of people are browsing online on mobile devices instead of desktops, and that gap will only get greater with time. In order for your food truck to be found by potential clients while they’re on the go, have a website that renders on small screens and has a good user experience. It must load quickly and present information easily.
In terms of SEO, it’s also important to know that mobile friendliness will also improve your rank in online searches, because Google gives preferential treatment to websites that are optimized for mobile. In addition to this, Google is also now doing mobile-first indexing, which means the mobile website’s performance is more important for search result ranking than desktop website performance. If your website isn’t mobile friendly, it’s time to update it, or use Google’s free mobile-friendly test to find out if it meets the right standards.
2. Use keywords
Researching and finding the right keywords are the best way to ensure your SEO strategy is successful. You have to think about the words that clients would use when they search for your type of food, and consult the related search items that come up at the bottom of the search result page. You can also use a keyword tool like Google AdWords Keywords Planner or Moz Keyword Explorer — they are free options to help you in your keyword strategy.
Once you’ve identified the right keywords, you also need to include them wherever you can: in the text content on your site, in your title tags, meta descriptions, and the headers of your website. If you have images, your file names should include those keywords. For example, you should have photos of different menu items on your site, so when you upload them, create file names with the keywords and a description of what’s in them. This means that search engines will find them and publish them as top results in related searches.
3. Provide HTML menu instead of PDF
A huge majority of people will want to look up the menu online. If your menu is an HTML page instead of a PDF, it will greatly benefit your site. It looks more professional for one, but will also keep them on your website longer instead of going to a PDF reader.
4. Monitor your reviews
Reviews are really important for your business, so you should be keeping an eye on the reviews your food truck is getting. Customers will trust businesses with positive reviews much more than those without, but more than that, reviews will help you rank higher in an online search. It’s considered one of the top eight factors in search rankings.
You should also remind customers that you appreciate honest reviews of your business on Facebook, Google My Business or Yelp. You should make sure the review site in question allows businesses to ask their customers for reviews by looking at their terms of service.
5. Be socially engaged
Social signals are also another top SEO factor, so you should be engaged on social platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Being social and engaged on social media also makes fans more likely to share your content. That will in turn bring more traffic to your website than just relying on word of mouth. If you’re social media savvy you can really benefit from these platforms to expand your audience.
When you use SEO according to best practices, you’re setting yourself up for success. If you’re unfamiliar with SEO and you’re wary of breaking their rules, consult an SEO expert to help your site rank higher. It’s an important investment that will really help your food truck business in the long run.