The “Specials” Post: Blogging your Menu

If you are hoping to increase your restaurant’s positioning on the web, then you better have a “blog” section on your business’s website.  Your blog helps tell your restaurant’s story, gives you a non-formal outlet to talk about the business however you like, and creates a space to generate content and boost your sites SEO ratings.

But even if you are using your blog for all of these uses, you may be missing out on one of the most powerful things that your blog can do for your restaurant: blogging your menu!  By using your blog section to highlight menu items, alert customers of new specials, and focus reader’s attention on your latest and greatest dishes, you can expect some great boosts in business.  Here are 5 “best practices” for blogging your menu, and creating some top notch “specials” posts.

  1. Use Pictures!

Any time you are talking about food on your restaurant’s site, you should be giving your potential customers some eye candy to get their mouths watering.  When you are highlighting new, limited run, and “specials” dishes, pictures are especially important.  Your regulars will want to see what you new offerings look like before putting in an order.

  1. Use Smart Copy

Don’t just list your special dish’s name and throw up a picture.  Get creative with your descriptions, and use your blog to show off some smart advertising for your food.  Remember, you aren’t constrained by a menu’s small text space on your blog, and can write more extensively about what makes dishes amazing.  Think about how an expert server would present a special to a diner in person, and adopt some of those techniques.

  1. List Ingredients

Make sure to include mentions of ingredients used in your new dishes, and get in depth about the flavor profiles these ingredients will evoke.  Again, you can get more wordy in your blog than in your menu.  Instead of “bacon,” try “smoke cured, extra peppered, lean bacon.”  Whatever ingredients you use, highlight them in your “specials” blog posts!

  1. Make “Specials” Regular

If you have different specials every week, or on a rotating basis, make sure that your blog posts reflect your new special offering’s frequency.  In general, regular blog posts will always  have more readers, but this is extra true for your “specials” posts.  Keeping readers updated regularly about your special menu offerings will create loyal readers, inform loyal diners, and see your profits soar!

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