Roughly 80 percent of the meals Americans are eating are prepared at home. Although fast foods are still a hot favorite for many, increasing food costs and the need to lead healthier lifestyles are forcing an increasing number of Americans to eat homemade meals.
What does this mean for grocery shops around the country? Rising demand for groceries.
If you’ve jumped in on this market and started a grocery business, you’ve made a smart move. However, with groceries stores popping up every corner and online groceries taking over, success isn’t guaranteed. You need a smart digital marketing strategy that’s centered on SEO to stay ahead of the pack.
Read on to learn the different ways to use SEO in your digital marketing efforts.
1. Optimize Your Grocery Store Website for Search
Does your grocery store have a website?
If not, you’re leaving a lot of money on the table. You don’t need to be selling online to have a grocery store website. When consumers aren’t shopping for groceries directly from online stores, they’re looking up the nearest stores in their localities. From there, they’ll know which store to visit or give a call.
Without a website, it’s difficult to be found online. And if you already have a website, that’s a good start, but unless it is properly optimized for search, your store still won’t be visible online.
Building your website with local SEO in mind gives your store a good chance of showing up on the first page of search engine results.
2. Blogging
You’re probably wondering why your grocery store needs a blog. After all, you’re in the business of selling food items, not creating content.
Well, blogging can actually elevate your sales. You see, people are looking online for food recipes, cooking methods, and other relevant content. Your grocery store can provide this content to them.
Blogging is an effective lead generation and conversion strategy. Someone reading a food recipe on your blog will probably want to buy the grocery items needed to make that meal. Where else will they turn to when they want to make a purchase other than your grocery store?
The key to effective blogging is creating high-quality content that’s also highly relevant to your audience. What’s more, blogging is good for your website’s ranking. Companies that blog constantly receive better website rankings than those that don’t.
3. Google My Business
Google is the most widely-used search engine, so it makes sense to give it more focus.
One of Google’s best SEO tools is Google My Business. This tool enables you to create a verified profile of your grocery store. When it’s properly optimized, customers who’re looking for grocery stores in your area will be able to see your store on Google Maps. They’ll even get directions to your store, alongside a contact number and operating hours.
If this sounds difficult to execute, you can hire a digital marketing agency to do it. This agency, for example, has a team that specializes in online grocery store marketing.
Grow Your Grocery Store With SEO
The grocery store industry is thriving. However, only grocery businesses with a good digital marketing strategy will take the most advantage of this growth. There are many digital marketing methods you can and should deploy, but SEO should take center stage.
Keep tabs on our blog for more marketing advice.
