In discussions with restaurant owners we quite often get asked why they should list their restaurants on online restaurant guides (ORGs). The easy and obvious answer is that online restaurant guides such as Zagat.com, RestaurantRow.com, Urbanspoon.com, Chow.com, Metromix.com, CitySearch.com, etc., increase the online exposure of those restaurants listed in the guide.

In looking a bit closer and asking users how they search for restaurants, the value becomes more evident. If one searched on Google for "Anthony's Fish Grotto San Diego" the web site comes up at the top of the page. However, when doing a general search for "fish restaurants san diego" many restaurants that serve fish in San Diego come up. The point here is that if someone knows the restaurant and wants to find out the hours it is open they will find the website with ease. However, if someone is searching for a particular cuisine the results they will get are many. They will have to click on each web site and figure out how to navigate each site to find what they are looking for.

The time and effort to accomplish this is precisely why many people choose to use an online guide for their searching needs. Once someone gets comfortable with how to navigate an online guide they can search far more quickly and find the information they need. In addition, online guides are attracting people by giving them the ability to write reviews and easily see reviews written by other people as well as other features individual restaurants cannot offer through their own web site.

To clarify this point, our company, VR National, conducted a survey in October of 2009 and discovered that of the people that search for restaurants online regularly, approximately 80% said they use online guides. Now that everything is going mobile, online guides have a chance of gaining even more traction with people searching for restaurants. With new 3G and even 4G data transfer capabilities, mobile phones are beginning to dominate the technology landscape. People are using their mobile phones for email, texting, navigation, and searching the web. So it makes sense that they want to also use their mobile phone to search for restaurants.

Further, online guides such as Zagat, Urbanspoon, Where The Locals Eat, and others are developing mobile phone apps with built in GPS which comes in handy for those that travel. Other phone application developers, such as FlynnCity.com, are developing independent applications specifically for restaurants. Someone on business in Chicago that is not that familiar with the city can open up FlynnCity and instantly discover restaurants within blocks of his/her current location. And, a user can choose restaurants on her mobile app and be alerted of drink specials or other items of interest at her favorite restaurants and clubs.

There is one additional bit of information we found in conducting our survey that is key to capturing business from online restaurant searchers. The overwhelming majority of people that either use a general search engine or online guide to search for restaurants stated that they want to see images of the inside of the restaurant. Specifically, half said they wanted to see virtual tours that allow them to see the ambience and atmosphere of the entire restaurant online within a few seconds. Some even told us that if they couldn't see images showing the inside of the restaurant they would continue to keep looking.

So what should restaurant owners do to capture as much of this business as they can?

1) Pick the top online guides and make sure your restaurant information is complete and accurate including images/virtual tours, menus, pricing, etc.

2) Display the logos for those guides in your restaurant and on your website with links to your restaurant's page on the guide.

3) Search out mobile phone application developers that are targeting restaurants. A restaurant can usually sign up to be placed on these apps for free. Some of these apps are more than just restaurant listing guides. Some give the restaurateur the capability of communicating with past and prospective customers through alerts to their mobile phone.

4) Get virtual tours of your restaurant filmed along with some high quality photos of entrees and unique characteristics of the inside of the restaurant.

The trend is clear. The smart restaurant owner will embrace the change and develop excellent relationships with every major national and regional ORG and make sure they are featured on that guide if possible, have menus, photos, virtual tours and every other tool available from that guide including a link to make a reservation online.

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Dale Guiducci is the Director of Business Development at VR National. VR National is the top restaurant virtual tour company in the country and is partnered with Zagat, Google, Urbanspoon, RestaurantRow and FlynnCity. Dale can be reached at 888-807-9962 x802.