White Castle views search engines as another way to deliver brand messages. Jamie Richardson, director of marketing for White Castle, says search has been invaluable in promoting limited-time offers and executing its online strategy. That strategy includes TrueCastleStories.com and the House of Crave, an online retail store.

“In today’s economy, you’re really competing not just for visits, but share of mind—in terms of being in people’s thoughts,” Richardson says.

Sometimes, brands need to counter the public’s thoughts, and search engines can help. When Taco Bell was first connected to the E. coli breakout, the brand bought every imaginable keyword to counter negative publicity, Gray says. “That was smart because basically they controlled the message, and their most-effective means of reaching people were search engines.”

Think search-engine marketing is just for the big boys? Think again. Local operators don’t even need a web site.

Sebastian says all Google needs is an operator’s address, phone number, and menu.

“Both Google and Microsoft let you buy at the zip code– or town-level,” Lee says. “You could actually buy either a map listing or a search-engine listing for somebody who’s in your area” for about 35 cents a local click.

Lee says another method to reach the local audience is City Search.

“If your city is covered by City Search, see whether your restaurant has a listing,” Lee says. “You may consider buying an enhanced listing because people do use City Search when they’re looking for a restaurant.”

There’s also local online dining guides, which Lee says are typically well ranked by search engines.

TwinCitiesDiningGuide.com receives 300,000 unique visitors a month. “It’s ranked higher than most restaurant sites,” Byrd says. He admits the majority of the site’s listings are full-service restaurants and says quick-service restaurants “are not really destination kind of restaurants. But buying a listing in a dining guide makes more sense than using the Yellow Pages.”

Lee recommends not eliminating other marketing initiatives. Search marketing should complement other strategies, he says. And single-unit operators “should not really be concerned with search-engine marketing,” Lee says. “But then again, if they consider themselves a little geeky—they like using the internet—it’s probably not a bad idea for them to buy a few ads.”