By Brad Pierce, President Restaurant Equipment World

via The Schechter Report

Having a blog for your restaurant or foodservice is perhaps one of the easiest online marketing techniques, yet many operators miss this important step in their quest to drive customers and traffic to their sites. The most common reason cited by operators I’ve spoken with is that they just don’t feel like they’re tech-savvy enough to handle the task of getting a blog set up. Have no fear, it’s actually quick and easy to get started, which I’ll explain below. Another common reason I hear from operators is that they are already using FaceBook to post updates, so they see no need for their own blog.

While FaceBook is great and a useful online marketing platform, it’s important to remember that with FaceBook content, you’re helping to build their site, not yours. It’s like the difference between renting a house versus buying one. Ultimately, you want to be the one to control your content and hold ownership of your message. This allows you to market your content on whatever platform is the latest and greatest social media site without being locked into just one. The reason for this is you never know when the next social media site will become a hit, much like what happened when FaceBook took over market share from MySpace. Simply stated, the best practice in online blogging is to develop your own content on your own site, then to tell the world about it on sites like Twitter and FaceBook to drive traffic back to your site.

The most common blogging platform is called WordPress (http://www.wordpress.com). This software is 100% open source and will never cost you a dime as it’s built and maintained by hundreds of volunteers. There are literally millions of online sites that use WordPress, so if questions do arise there is a vast pool of resources available to help you quickly. Installation of the WordPress software is fast. So fast, in fact, they call it the “Famous 5-Minute Install.” The stand alone version of WordPress for your own server can be downloaded by visiting http://wordpress.org/download/. If you prefer not to deal with security updates or don’t have your own domain, you can also choose to have WordPress host your blog on its servers. A hosted WordPress installation can be installed by visiting https://en.wordpress.com/signup/, which only takes a few seconds.

Whichever method you choose, you should plan on investing more time to customize your theme (colors, background, images and the like), but even this process is typically quick and straightforward. Additionally, there is a number of optional add-ons which can be installed to handle functions such as automatic spam detection. These don’t need to be added initially but, as your blog comes to life, you may find that daily management of your blog is more easily done by incorporating these types of tools. As a side note, these add-ons are typically open-source and 100% free, as well.

I hope that you’ll spend a few minutes today and invest in your operation by setting up your own blog. In a future entry, I’ll explore the next steps in blogging focusing on content and strategies for building a successful discussion platform. Happy Blogging!

Google Place Search Emphasizes Local SEO

by Laurie Sullivan, of Online Media Daily

Google began rolling out Place Search to combine local and organic listings on Google.com when searchers look for information around location. It aggregates results based on places, so searchers can compare information, but there are a few things SEO experts will want to pay close attention to when optimizing Web sites for local search.

When Google’s search engine believes the searcher wants information about a location, it returns local businesses high in the search engine results page. The new results in Place Search supports longer descriptions and reviews. Scroll down the page and the map follows along in the browser window.

Google Place Search will lead to more SEO work for companies that focus on small business optimization. Andrew Shotland, founder of Local SEO Guide, says the tool favors small businesses in Google’s search results. “It intensifies the competition for local rankings,” he says. “Previously, if you couldn’t rank in Google’s Seven Pack for the local set of results, when it detected a relevant local query, you could always rank in the Web results around the map. If you weren’t good at map SEO, you could get by with Web SEO.”

The new change allows map listings to dominate the page, pushing non-local organic listings down or off the page. Businesses that ranked well in organic search results and had a map listing will now see the two merge. That merge reduces the number of Web results on the page by one, explains Shotland. He also says it means Web sites that don’t have a physical location in the city get pushed off the page.

Sites that have customer reviews have an exaggerated prominence in the search results, Shotland says.

David Harry, community manager at the SEO Training Dojo, says the ability to rank high in the search engine results pages for local search will require SEO professionals to consider domain extensions such as .com .ca .co.uk; and information on the site that might appear on the contact page and in the footer. He says to make sure it’s accurate for each location if the business has more than one, and to update local directories to make sure the business is listed on Web sites such as local directories and Google Maps.

For the better part of a year, Google has been asking local companies from restaurants to lawyer offices to “claim their business” listing by adding information about their Web site, telephone number and local address. IT generates a listing for the location in Google Maps, allowing searchers to find the business, get information and leave a review.

The tool will compete for space with listings on Yelp, Citysearch and other local directories. And now with Marissa Mayer behind the helm supporting local as the vice president of geographic and local services at Google, we will likely see much more innovation focused on local in the near future.

Not Twitter for Business.  Twitter for My Business.

A Little Advice on Being Yourself in a Social Media World

I’ll be the first to admit that I really don’t have this whole “Twitter” thing all figured out.  At least not yet.  I can’t begin to tell you about how many countless hours I have spent online or in the marketing section of Barnes & Noble pouring over everything Twitter.  Twitter, Twitter, Twitter.  I even dream about ways in which I can reach out and increase my following.  Pathetic right?  I know.  Trust me- I know.

That little blue bird has become somewhat of an obsession and I often feel like I’m carrying the whale all by myself.  (Please get that reference)  This whole Twitter phenomena is scary and confusing, and for a while, I would have much rather pretend it didn’t exist than try to immerse myself in it.  But to do so would have been social media suicide.  The business world would pass me by as I lay hiding under the covers in my racecar bed.  (Its more of a towncar bed- I have a California king.)  So I did what anyone looking to increase their company’s exposure would do- I jumped out of bed, changed out of my Jammies, and confronted Twitter head on.

Sign Up Now?
Yeah, I’m doing this.

Full Name, User Name, Password, and E-mail?
I know that stuff- this is easy!

Type the Above Words?
Ok, I can’t really read that, this may be harder than I thought.

Create My Account.
Boom. I’m on Twitter.

“So now what?  Oh look, I’m following Shaq!”  And that’s where the success of my well thought out Twitter marketing campaign ended.  Maybe in between jumping out of bed and changing out of my Jammies, I should of thought about how I was going to use Twitter.  So again, I did what anyone looking to increasing their company’s exposure would do- I spammed Shaq.  Someone with as many followers as him will surely listen to my cause.  And maybe he’ll even call me on my birthday like he does with some of his other Tweeps.  Genius.

@Therealshaq:  COME CHECK OUT MY SALES AND BUY FROM ME!!  (URL deleted for blog purposes)

Surprisingly, he didn’t respond.  He didn’t even #, RT, or @ me.  This was a disaster.  I guess he was right; don’t tell grandma.  Or anyone else for that matter.  It was like this with everyone I tweeted and still is in some instances.  No one would respond to me.  I was forced to stand idly by as the Twittering world moved on and conducted business as usual.  I was totally uncool- it was High School all over again.  My acne cleared up and my voice no longer cracked, so what was I doing wrong?  Why wouldn’t anyone notice me?   For me, Twitter quickly became the Sadie Hawkins of the business world.  I had been wall-flowered.

I had to rethink my Twitter strategy; I needed a game plan.  What was everyone else doing that I wasn’t?  And that’s when it hit me.  Some of these so-called experts on Twitter were wrong.  Twitter shouldn’t be a place for you to tout your newest deals or sales- it shouldn’t even be a means to add a “face” to your company’s name.  Twitter should be a tool for self-expression, a tool that just happens to express you through your company’s name.  No game plan needed.  Just be cool.

So I did what anyone looking to increase their company’s exposure would do- I started posting jokes and responding to other people’s tweets with smart remarks.  Then I started to branch out and find my own interests on Twitter adhering to some rules I made up just now for this article.

1.) Be yourself-
#MusicMondays?  I listen to old school Hip-Hop on the way to work so I tweet that, not whatever artist or song is trending.  NWA, Bone Thugs, KRS 1?  Yeah, they’re there on any given Monday.

2.) Make your Twitter about you, not your products-
I follow @Boyintheballoon because its funny and I constantly check @RealTracyMorgan and @DanielTosh for the same reason.  The people you follow shouldn’t always be what are strategically beneficial for your business but should make your Twitter experience enjoyable for you.  After all, you’re the one that has to be glued to the computer all day.

3.) Don’t take yourself too seriously-
Yes you’re using Twitter as a tool for your business, but don’t become a tool.  Its okay to poke fun at the things you post, or write something a little embarrassing.  I do it all the time and it’s mostly unwittingly.  Call yourself out- its funny.

Here’s a perfect example:
#theresway2many Great deals on our site! Hows that for a shameless hashtag plug?

Twitter isn’t something that you just start doing.  Its something that you react to, and as a reward for doing so, it grows.  Getting on your soapbox and screaming about your product isn’t going to get you noticed.  Just be cool and your following will grow organically.  Offer a joke or a cute remark to something that someone has posted.  Tweet the things that you’re into because someone else might be into that too.  Include some aspects of your business or website but be up front and genuine about it.  Tweeps will start to notice that you offer much more than a product.  You offer yourself as an individual, not as a company.  Isn’t that what Social Media is really about?