Your website serves as a virtual home for your business, and contact information, menus, and social links serve as its foundation. These are all necessary details for any restaurant website you build.

Think about your site as your home: there are really only a few rooms that give you the chance to express yourself. There are a few luxuries you can add to this home, such as online ordering, gift cards, and a restaurant-loyalty program, all of which enhance the website experience; however, you only have few pages to really make your website stand out, reveal the culture of your restaurant, and feature exciting happenings.

You may need to renovate and build a new addition, and in comes your new blog.

There aren’t many restaurants venturing into this space. Managing a restaurant blog is a time commitment; it requires a creative mind, and it means you’ll have to constantly update your website. However, the positives outweigh the negatives. Even if you’re only blogging once a month, that one post is building your brand, speaking directly to your customers, and keeping your restaurant on guests’ minds.

Many restaurant owners don’t know how to get started with blogging. To help inspire you on this new venture, check out these examples of restaurants who blog with finesse. (Click on the images to enlarge.)

Tip #1: Share your journey to success

Blogging is, at its most basic, storytelling. Luckily as a restaurant, you have many stories to tell. From your lightbulb moment to open your own place, to your expeditions researching menu items, to your observations of the changing food industry – there are so many tidbits about your journey worth sharing.

Washington Street Eats from Providence, Rhode Island, uses their blog to share their history, new and old flavors at their restaurant, and to even feature their partners. They make it clear they would be nowhere without their customers, and invite them to join the journey and share their own stories in the comments.

Tip #2: Announce big changes to your restaurant

Many restaurant websites have a press page where they share newspaper and magazine mentions or awards they’ve won. Small changes are not always press-worthy, but they are worthy of your own blog. Publish your own press release about new menu items, new locations, or new employees. Make your blog an official news source for your restaurant.

Amato’s, an Italian eatery in New England, announced the opening of new stores on their blog, with addresses, phone numbers, and links to each restaurants’ take-out menus.

Tip #3: Hold fun contests to engage your readers

If your blog is already well established, it could be a great place to hold contests. Give away a gift certificate to a random commenter, or ask readers to share their honest experiences at your restaurant in exchange for a 10% discount on their favorite item.

Pizza Express celebrated their anniversary with a photo contest, asking readers to post photos of their favorite Pizza Express experiences on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram with the hashtag #PizzaExpressMoments. All details, including when the contest is running, how to enter, and prize details, were explained in a thorough blog post, which also makes it easier to share on social media.

Tip #4: Write serial blog posts

Serial blog posts are a great way to maximize your time when blogging. Instead of struggling to write about different topics every time, you can take one idea and expand it into several blog posts over time.

Diesel Cafe, a local coffee shop in Somerville, has a Brew Blog with a series called “Brewing with Brendan.” Every month, Brendan shares musings on the coffee-drinking experience, highlights of different coffee blends, and even tips and recipes for home brewing. These serial blog posts allow Brendan to follow a simple template, but also deliver on readers’ expectations for the theme of the blog.

Tip #5: Showcase your upcoming events

Your blog can also serve as a calendar for upcoming events. Write captivating copy, persuading readers to visit your restaurant for an upcoming wine tasting or flamenco-dancing event.

Lakewood Brewing Company, one of the largest brewers in North Texas, shares new beers on their blog as well as parties and other events held at the brewery. In this blog post, they shared party details such as beers on tap, live entertainment and performances, and fun merchandise that would be available like commemorative glassware and screen-printed shirts.

Tip #6: Reflect on the restaurant experience

What do people expect from restaurants? What’s something great about your restaurant’s guest experience that customers might not see somewhere else? What can detract from a great restaurant experience, and what can add to it? These kinds of thought-leadership posts are a great way to break up promotional content.

Megalo’s in Kingston, Ontario, has been quite successful at this kind of content. Their most recent post is about why lighting matters in a restaurant, and how it can add to or detract from its ambience. After telling a few stories about how lighting impacted her experience at restaurants and dinner parties, author Carlyn transitions neatly into a description of the favorable atmosphere at Megalo’s.

Tip #7: Feature your specials

Your specials are special for a reason, right? Why not flaunt them on the blog? Explain what makes your latest summer salad so tasty, or why you chose to feature new ingredients in that pasta dish everyone loves. You’re essentially upselling items on the blog, hopefully attracting customers to your establishment to try that delicious dish they read about online.

Upper Crust Pizzeria, with several locations in Massachusetts, Virginia, and California, uses their blog to feature pizzas of the month, including appetizing pictures and tasty descriptions. Rather than overloading the reader with too much writing, these blog posts urge customers to try it for themselves “by the pie or by the slice all month long!”

Tip #8: Publish select recipes

It might seem frightening to share your best recipes online, especially if competitors are peeking at your blog. Give your chef reign over the blog; he or she can decide which recipes are secret and which can be shared, and can use the space to share recipes not on the menu.

Craigie on Main in Cambridge not only shares recipes, but also short chef techniques such as how to butcher a local bluefish. Chef Tony Maws also talks about the decision to serve kosher food at Passover, making the blog well-rounded with recipes, how-tos, and thought-leadership posts.

Tip #9: Reveal updates to your menu

As mentioned earlier, your blog can be used as an announcement platform, especially when revealing new menu items.

Boston’s own Mei Mei posts exciting updates to their restaurant decor, food truck schedules, and menu changes. As a restaurant devoted to local and sustainable food, they share tidbits about pasture-raised meat and organic items with a special focus on their healthy food.

Tip #10: Include lifestyle tips inspired by your food

Finally, who said a restaurant blog has to be all about food? The most successful blogs on the Internet include how-to advice readers can apply to their own lives. Your restaurant blog can expand its topics to include lifestyle tips inspired by your food.

Costa Vida, a fresh Mexican grill with multiple locations, includes “active lifestyle tips inspired by the carefree pace of the Coast.” Recent posts include “Why Avocados Are Great for Your Skin,” “Benefits of Eating a Large Lunch,” and “Busting Gluten-Free Myths.” They’re really establishing themselves as a leader in the food industry, with informative posts on the nature of eating and living on the coast.

With a restaurant blog, your virtual haven will be that much more inviting, enticing website visitors to be a guest in your home and fall in love with your food. Blogging is one of the many ways restaurant marketing can help you reach, find, and secure new customers.

What’s holding you back from blogging as a restaurant? How is your blog adding value to your restaurant website?