Project Description
Multi-location SEO strategy and capture of ‘urban food’ intentions
Le Petit Dep is a recognized restaurant chain, deployed in several sectors with a high density of competition and distinct search intentions: Old Montreal, Plateau-Mont-Royal, Quebec City, and other comparable areas. In this type of network, the difficulty is not to be visible “in general”, but to be visible “in the right place”, “at the right time”, and on the right words: restaurant, bar, café, but also the queries that change according to the schedule, the season and the profile of the visitors.
Local SEO: position each address
The objective of the mandate was therefore clear: to structure a local referencing capable of bringing up each location on its specific queries (e.g. evening outings, aperitifs, neighborhood destinations), without creating internal duplication or diluting the authority of the site. This is exactly the playground of local SEO when approached as a local linking, content, and signals strategy, not just as a Google listing.
Solid semantic foundation: intentions, local variations, and “evening” queries
We started with a mapping of intentions by neighborhood and by use, in order to identify what people actually type when they search for a similar address. In a restaurant-bar-café world, nuances make the difference: the formulations “aperitif”, “open late”, “evening”, “near to”, “best spot”, “atmosphere”, “terrace” or “cocktails” vary a lot depending on the area and the period.
This phase is based on a keyword study designed to avoid two classic pitfalls: targeting only generic terms that are too competitive, or producing local pages that are almost identical. Instead, we prioritized the combinations of queries + location + moment of consumption, with a conversion logic.
On-site optimization: differentiated local pages, more “real” and more useful content
Each address was treated as a standalone SEO entity, with voluntary editorial differentiation. The goal was not to copy a structure, but to anchor each page in its reality: neighborhood habits, tourist flow, context of going out, and type of experience sought (routine coffee, evening destination, end-of-day bar).
The work included optimizing metadata, consolidating key sections and aligning content with identified intents, in a performance-oriented content optimization logic: being useful, being specific, and giving engines clear signals on topic and location.
Menus: switching from PDF to indexable HTML to capture the long “evening” tail
A decisive lever was to transform some menus initially offered in PDF into structured HTML versions. PDFs remain practical, but often limit fine indexing: categories, dishes, drinks, and especially queries associated with evening outings (e.g. cocktails, “evening menu”, “to share”, “afterwork”).
By making this content readable and structured on the page, we mechanically increase the site’s ability to position itself on a very profitable long tail, while strengthening the overall architecture. This type of intervention is part of a coherent SEO strategy : exploiting existing assets, rather than producing content “for the sake of producing”.
Seasonality: local destinations, urban tourism and peak demand
The referencing of a multi-address brand is strongly impacted by the season: tourist periods, local events, weather, week vs. weekend, and “day/evening” dynamics. The editorial strategy was therefore designed as an evolving system, capable of accompanying natural variations in demand.
We worked on the “local destinations” and “consumption moments” axes to strengthen the relevance of the pages, while feeding a coherent editorial ecosystem, supported by a content marketing approach that aims for sustainable visibility, not the one-off shot.
Internal linking: distributing authority between addresses, intents, and content
The internal link was designed as a structuring lever, not as a simple addition of links. The goal: to guide engines and users between local pages, “evening” sections, menu-related content and higher-value pages. When the mesh is clean, it reinforces the thematic understanding of the site and improves the circulation of authority between pages.
This approach is part of a logic of continuous SEO diagnosis: we observe, we adjust, then we reinforce what really transforms into visibility and qualified visits.
Offsite SEO: Local Citations, Media Articles, and Editorial Credibility
In addition, a targeted offsite strategy was deployed to solidify trust around the brand and its locations: local citations, relevant mentions and editorial placements. In competitive urban markets, these external signals can flip a page from “visible” to “dominant.”
The reinforcement was based on a qualitative approach to netlinking, oriented towards credibility and thematic coherence, with publications that support notoriety rather than links without context. When relevant, the strategy also relies on the ecosystem of publications and better-targeted editorial relays.
Impact: SEO growth that follows the reality on the ground
The whole system aims at a simple result: to bring up each address of the Petit Dep on the local searches that correspond to it, and to capture high-value intentions (particularly related to the “evening”), without cannibalization between locations. By combining semantic differentiation, HTML menus, seasonality management, internal linking, and offsite signals, a solid foundation for sustainable organic growth is obtained.
This is typically the kind of project where method matters as much as copywriting: a well-aligned SEO and GEO strategy, useful and indexable content, and an authority built credibly over time.
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