Amplify Your Website

The Ten Minute Guide to Getting Found on the Internet for Restaurants and Hotels

Remember that adage about the fallen tree in the woods?

The same

principle applies

to your website!

If no one can find your website, does it even exist? If your goal is to get more

customers from your website, the answer is no. Your website might as

well not exist if no one can find it.

Want to get found?Use keywords.

There are numerous factors that go into deciding which pages make it to the top of Google...

...keywords are the only factor you have full control over.

keyword [ ki w d]:ˈ ːˌ ɜː Any significant word or phrase, especially a word used to describe the contents of a document

Google sends bots around the web to categorize the content of the Internet. The bots use keywords to determine what your website is about so that when someone searches on Google, the search engine is able to instantly know which pages on the Internet are about a particular topic.

It is your job to consider which keywords best describe what your site

is about.

For most restaurants and hotels the keywords you're trying to rank for should

be something like this...

What you are + where you're located

French food BostonSoHo Italian restaurant

Park Slope bed and breakfastBanquet hall southern Vermont

Your potential customersabove yourself

Most websites are narcissistic. They only want to reflect back on themselves by making their keywords about their name. Chances are, that's not what a customer will search for on Google.

Choose Your Keywords With Your Sales Funnel in Mind

Blake's Restaurant Hours

Blake's Restaurant

Blake's Restaurant Menu

People searching for keyword terms on Google with your restaurant or hotel

name in the keyword already know about your business. They are already in

the sales funnel because they've heard about you and were interested

enough to search for you or perhaps they are even returning customers.

To get new customers you need to feed the top of the funnel with keywords

that will attract people who have never heard of your restaurant or hotel

before.

Restaurants in Manhattan Lower Eastside steakhouses

Romantic restaurant New York City

I have my keywords in mind. Now what?

Use your chosen keywords on your site. Each page on your site should be optimized for a particular keyword or keyphrase.

Use Keywords in Your Title

Use keywords in youralt img tags for all

your website images.

Use keywords in your text (but not too much, that's called keyword stuffing)

Use keywords in your headers

Places to use your keyword or phrase:

-In Your Title -In Your Header (H1, H2 tags)

-In Your URL (www.keyword.com)-In your alt img tags (that's the text that appears when

you hover over an image on a website)-In the text of the page

Remember though, Google is smart!

Stop right there if you think you can trick Google

Chances are, you can't and you

will get your site de-indexed if:You stuff your site unnaturally

with keywordsYou hide keywords with text that

blends in with the backgroundYou create pages just for the

search engines that you don't

intend your website visitors to

see

Play nice with Google and

Google will play nice with you. It's

that simple.

Follow these rules and soon enough your website will be amplified. Being

findable on Google means your website will be able to reach more

potential customers.

Slide CreditsSlide 2- http://www.flickr.com/photos/markhillarySlide 6- http://www.flickr.com/photos/scobleizerSlide 8- http://www.flickr.com/photos/avoiretc

Slide 9- http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakecaptiveSlide 12-http://www.flickr.com/photos/78428166@N00Slide 20- http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenflames09Slide 21- http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterkaminski

Slide 22- http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarlatti2004_imagesSlide 23- http://www.flickr.com/photos/katielips

All pictures used under Creative Commons Attribution License