An accomplished restaurateur has way more in common with a successful blogger than you would think- Yes, even with your day job as a content marketer. What’s more, you could also “Takeaway” (bad pun intended) from his/her brilliant moves at the restaurant to catapult your own blogging practice into a delectable success!
Smacking your lips in anticipation already?
Read on to know how YOU can cook up a storm on the web!
- Taste Before You Serve.
Yes, even the most experienced master chefs in fine-dining restaurants taste their preparations before sending it to the patron’s table. This includes their time-honored specialties.
Your Takeaway:
As a blogger, you should exercise the same humility and caution by proofreading and editing your piece before posting it for accuracy, grammar, tone, structure, relevance, engagement, and so on and so forth.
No matter how familiar you are with the subject matter. Even better, get other folks whose judgment you trust to have a “taste” of your writing before you hit publish!
2. Location is Everything.
Even if a restaurant serves the world’s best and most unusual food, if it is tucked away in some dark alleyway of Nowheresville, exactly nobody is going to find it. Or at least it’s going to take a really long time before someone even learns of its existence.
The same way, even if you’re the proud and talented creator of the most amazing blog on the planet, it is absolutely mandatory to promote it in places where your target audience hangs out, such as various social media, relevant online forums, complementary blogs, etc to get traction.
It could otherwise take forever for your blog posts to get “discovered”.
3. Give Complementary Recommendations.
“Will you take sauce with that? Do you want cream in your coffee? There’s a great burger and fries combo offer!” How many times have you fallen for these irresistible combinations recommended to you by the restaurant staff? And didn’t they enhance your culinary experience multifold?
Your Takeaway
Let links such as related blog posts on your site (internal links), other online presence such as syndicated articles, social media content, etc be the succulent maple syrup to the crispy waffles that is your blog.
Apart from several SEO benefits, they also increase context, relevance, usefulness, and engagement of your original post- thereby fostering even greater user delight.
4. Stay Fresh and Wholesome. Always.
Fresh and wholesome ingredients are the cornerstones of a meal well prepared. A wholesome fare satiates you without letting you feel bloated or worse causing you a stomach upset.
Moreover, the superior quality lets the restaurant build a long-term relation with you as opposed to providing momentary pleasure that just turns into a nightmare of a bellyache- triggered by stale/poor quality ingredients.
Your Takeaway
Your blog’s content needs to be unique (in terms of ideas and not just words)- not the same old ubiquitous stuff just rehashed and dished out cold. Offer rich and refreshing insights that enable new and positive thoughts and actions for the reader.
Content that helps them to get even better at something they already love and are passionate about. If you don’t have anything (new) to say, don’t say anything at all. For Old Wisdom in a New Blog is worse than Old Wine in a New Bottle. Much worse.
5. Keep Them Coming Back for More.
Right from reserving your preferred table when you make a booking to recommending dishes that they know you’d love based on your previous orders, besides having your favourite waiter/waitress recommend the aforementioned orders- your go-to restaurant keeps you coming back again and again with its impeccable personalised and detail-oriented customer service.
Your Takeaway
Take a delish morsel (or 3) out of their dish by doing the same with the visitors to your blog. Notice what kind of content on your blog gets maximum traction (shares, likes, comments, page views, etc) from your visitors to craft your content strategy accordingly.
Use web analytics to get actionable insights on what works and what doesn’t in your current pieces so you can customise for the future. Enable RSS feeds, so they have the option to subscribe to your blog.
Offer links to your social media pages on your blog so they can also be alerted to your next masterpiece through the links you share on those platforms. The options are endless. Just like the number of blogs in the World Wide Web. Ensuring that they keep coming back to yours takes the same level of customer delight that your beloved restaurant offers to you!
6. Add some Sugar & Spice.
Bland food or content isn’t palatable to anyone!
Sugar and spice. And everything nice. That’s what gourmet meals are made of. And er little girls we’re told 😉
Your Takeaway
Seriously though, great blog posts also comprise indelible (albeit inedible) sugar and spice- wit, wordplay, banter, et all. Even the slightest hint of sarcasm (if you can get away with it.)
Bring the same chutzpah into your words as your eating joint does to your table with its sometimes-weird yet always-awesome combinations. Break a few rules (but not all). Experiment. Take strategically calculated risks.
All these bold, game-changing moves that make your meals more palatable and interesting will also have the same effect on your blog, enhancing its taste, stickiness, and recall value.
7. Don’t Forget Fried Chicken.
Yep. That’s right. Fried Chicken. The universal and perennial favorite poultry everyone hates to love (but loves anyway because it is fingerlickin’ goooood!). With or without Caesar Salad. Tandoori fried or Oven Fried.
Every restaurant worth its salt (or batter)- be it a fast food outlet or a Michelin Star- does not NOT have a fried chicken variation. Of course, they customize it, personalize it, give it their own unique pizzazz, but the essence remains the same- that they ALWAYS have it on their menu. (Unless it’s a vegetarian/vegan outlet, of course.)
Your Takeaway
Always have your own digital version of fried chicken/ cottage-cheese/ Potatoes- basically universal favourites. Make it your own of course by adding your twist. How to know what your target audience likes to digest?
Check Google Keyword Planner tool to know what they’re searching for by making note of the high volume keywords. Take focus group surveys. See what’s trending on social media as hot topics among them. You get the gist. Now get to it. Chop. Chop.
At the same time…
8. Keep those dishes that a select few are passionate about.
Yes, you know the restaurant you frequent because they do a certain dish that other restaurants either don’t have on the menu or just haven’t mastered to perfection?
Your Takeaway
Digitally, these would be the blog posts that cover your long-tail keywords comprehensively and effectively. If you’ve nailed those keywords, you’ve found yourself some super loyal followers who will keep coming back to you because you’re giving them something very few (if any) other resources are.
Once you’ve converted them, they’ll also be coming to you for the high-volume search queries in your niche. And before you know it, you’ll be ranking for both- bringing in even more fans. With even more fanfare.
9. Respect The Courses.
Be it a 3-course quickie or a languid, elaborate 7-course meal, Your dining experience is typically sequenced into portions- debuting with bubblies (better known as aperitifs and digestifs in fancy-speak) that go with your appetizers and entrees such as soup, salad, then making your progress to the real deal- the mains that form the major part of your meal and of course ending it on a sweet and high note with desserts and coffee/ tea so you’re a 100% satisfaction.
This allows you to savour each aspect of your meal to the utmost fulfillment while letting you pace yourself as you await the next course whilst it gets hot and ready.
It even stimulates conversation- the bubbly and the appetisers acts as the ice-breakers that elevate your mood and also whet your appetite; the entrée and mains form the major part of the meal that satiate your body and soul, and the desserts/ coffee/mint that spark more conversation and prepare you for what’s in store for the rest of the night- depending on what your plans are. (Tea/coffee if the night is still young, desserts/mints if there’s romance in store, maybe some more wine if you just want to cuddle up (with someone or solo) in bed… you get the gist.)
Your Takeaway
Structure, structure, and structure your post. Starting with a catchy title that induces clicks is crucial- for only 20% of the titles that get read are clicked on. What should follow- a compelling introduction that whets your reader’s appetite for what is the main content of your post.
Then of course the body or metaphorically the main course that lives up to the title and the intro and all the anticipation that has been built up and the conclusion that ends with your intended call to action- be it like, share, comment, subscribe, etc.
10. Be a Gracious Host
A good restaurant keeps checking in on its patrons, even once the dishes are served. “How is the food, Sir?” “Are you comfortable, Ma’am?” “Is the heating, OK?” and if you’re lucky, “The chef sent some complimentary desserts, your way.” And so on and so forth. Don’t you love the special care and attention that you get? How important your feedback is to them? Just how much your opinion matters to them?
Your Takeaway
Don’t forget your audience once the sun sets on your post. Make them feel special even after-Respond to their comments, clear any doubts or questions they may have pertaining to your post, be receptive to their feedback, tell them how cherished and valued their opinions are…
Making your comments section interactive, hospitable, and engaging will not only gladly bring them back but also get you major SEO brownie points from your favourite search engines.
Armed with all these juicy nuggets, make the world (of blogging) your oyster (which is also a gourmet delicacy, by the way J)
Did we miss a spot? Would you like to share anything? We’d love to know your thoughts and comments or even answer any questions you may have 🙂
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