Cliff View Golf Course, Inn & Brewhouse wins at SEO with help of Popmenu Boost

Client Spotlight:
Cliff View

It’s a feel-good scene straight out of a movie: Dad and son work together to turn their Covington, Va. family farm into a successful golf course. For Matt Sponaugle, that was his reality when he opened up Cliff View Golf Course & Inn with his father in 1996. In 2020, “Brewhouse” was added to the name when they opened their signature restaurant.

As the business grew, Matt hired Jen Mann to serve as general manager and event specialist. Jen saw an opportunity to expand their marketing capabilities, especially given the addition of the restaurant. A chance meeting with Popmenu made it clear they were not realizing their full marketing potential. While they had built an aesthetically pleasing website, it was static, cumbersome, and lacked functionality that would draw customers to the site–and ultimately to their establishment. After learning about Popmenu’s technology, solutions, and customer service, they eagerly signed on the dotted line.

"The key selling factor [to working with Popmenu] was that not only could we be involved in the development of our website, but we would have direct control and editability of our product. And we never had that with our original website. So that kind of access is really what sold us on Popmenu."

Working closely with their dedicated Popmenu Boost consultant, Hailey, Cliff View built a comprehensive website and marketing strategy that drove guests to their business and captured their contact information in the process. They worked together to craft messaging and campaigns that catered specifically to all of Cliff View’s potential patrons, from golf lovers to event planners and brides-to-be.

“We would come to our Popmenu rep Hailey with an idea, and she would never say ‘No.’ Instead she’d say, ‘Let's see what we can do and how we can make this work for you.’ To me that was very refreshing. It wasn't, ‘No, we just do restaurants.’ It was, ‘We accept the challenge and let's work collaboratively to build this out, to be what you need it to be’.”
Jen Mann
General Manager of Cliff View
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The secret sauce: SEO

There’s no point in having a beautiful website if no one is visiting it. So Hailey worked with Jen to optimize their website for search–which helps Cliff View attract more people who are likely to visit their establishment. Popmenu’s platform is built to optimize websites for search engines, and prioritizes location-specific content that’s easily identified by guests and search engine crawlers, thus improving the rankings for Cliff View’s golf, lodging, and restaurant offerings. Cliff View’s website has built such a strong SEO presence that over half of its traffic comes from search.

“From welcoming new guests to celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, the Popmenu platform provides the ability to target specific audiences, send out customized messages, and reward those guests for their loyalty. Doing this not only increases our revenue stream but also allows us to build that special customer relationship that’s so important to small businesses like ours.”
Jen Mann
General Manager of Cliff View

The devil is in the data

The platform captures data–such as click through and conversion rate–and displays it in a digestible way, enabling the team to easily assess the success of a campaign. They don’t have to sort through complicated reports just to understand what’s happening on their own site. They can then work with Hailey to determine what worked and what needs some work, and can adjust campaigns on the fly.

The data also helps to craft the right message to send to the right customers at the right time. A guest may have loved their experience when visiting Cliff View, but that doesn’t mean it will always be on their radar. The Popmenu platform enables Cliff View to target these customers with specific messages aimed at their interests–whether they’re a golfer, a restaurant patron, or an overnight guest. By doing so, Cliff View is now top of mind when that guest is deciding where to take a swing, eat a meal, or enjoy a night away.

“If you truly want to change the level of your business, you need to make an investment in Popmenu; we would not have nearly the same success we have if it wasn’t for this partnership. It truly has been a game changer.”
Matt Sponaugle
Owner of Cliff View

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Nevada brewery saves time, grows direct online ordering, and unifies multi-location operations with Popmenu and Genius.

Founded in 1993, Great Basin Brewing Company is Nevada’s oldest and most award-winning brewery, touted for its craft beer and its creative, ale-infused food unique closed-loop system (utilizing spent grain from the brewing process to feed local cattle that produce beef used back at its restaurants). When owner and director of operations Nick Meyer took over the business--and the brewery grew to four locations--he wanted to maintain consistent marketing across all locations without sacrificing their high standards. He searched for technology that would save time, increase revenue, keep up with evolving menus, and grow their online presence. He found Popmenu.

Popmenu + Genius: one menu, one ordering flow, fewer manual updates

What initially drew Nick, along with marketing director Brennan Best, to Popmenu was its seamless integration with Great Basin’s POS system Genius. Prior to Popmenu, any menu or website changes were manual and time-consuming: menus changing two to four times a year and updates across locations via various technologies, all online orders were routed through third parties, cutting into the restaurants’ profits. After choosing Popmenu, the team has saved significant time: instantaneous website changes across all channels, online orders go directly from the Popmenu platform into the Genius POS, and guests’ orders are fulfilled with less room for error.
Laptop screen shows Google search results for 'best lobster roll in Nashville' with top places listed including The Hampton Social, Krustaceans Seafood, and The Optimist, and a popup highlighting lobster roll recommendations.
In the months following the launch, Great Basin has seen an average month-over-month 11% increase in online ordering gross payment value (GPV), which is the total amount processed during transactions. During that period, they’ve also gained more than 1,000 new guest contacts (a 9% increase)—and those new followers have driven almost 75% of their orders. With Popmenu, Great Basin is capturing guest information so they can stay top of mind and continue to build a loyal customer base.

“The ability [as a result of the Popmenu integration] for our customers to order directly from our website, and for that to be less expensive for them without the additional markups for third-party delivery, has been a gamechanger for us and has really improved the experience for our guests.”

-Brennan Best
Marketing Director of Great Basin Brewing Company

Stronger communications or better SEOhappier guests

For Great Basin, technology isn’t just about efficiency–it’s about staying connected with their guests and their community. So when they had to navigate between several scattered and disparate communications tools, they weren’t able to get their message across in the meaningful, consistent way that aligns with their values.

The Popmenu platform has enabled Great Basin to unify their messaging, while still allowing each location to have its own unique voice. Within the platform, they’ve been able to customize the look and feel of each location’s landing page to convey the fact that each restaurant has a different personality.

“It's always been important for us to listen to our community, while also conveying our brand’s narrative to our community as well. The Popmenu platform has been super helpful because not only does it allow us to receive feedback from our guests, but it also enables us to respond directly to those guests.”

-Brennan Best
Marketing Director of Great Basin Brewing Company

The brewery’s SEO has also improved since integrating with Popmenu, as their website’s event inquiry page for guests looking to host onsite parties has seen a surge in traffic. Soon after Great Basin made the switch to Popmenu, location managers were trying to understand why they were seeing unprecedented levels of interest in events. As a result, they are currently booked with private parties through mid-2026.

“Popmenu’s built-in marketing tools have replaced several standalone systems, saving costs and creating consistent messaging. We were able to cut a few hundred dollars a month by consolidating tools, and now our messaging – emails, events, promotions – all run through one seamless system.”

-Nick Meyer
Director of Operations and Owner of Great Basin Brewing Company

Smooth and supported implementation

As any restaurant team can attest to, rolling out new technology across multiple locations can be daunting and challenging. But Nick, Brennan, and the entire Great Basin staff credit both Popmenu’s onboarding process and its client service reps for a smooth transition. Even launching the integration during one of Great Basin’s busiest seasons didn’t slow things down.

“We had everything running in about a week across four locations – it was one of the easiest integrations we’ve done. We even went live right before summer events, and it didn’t faze the team at all. Once everything was set, we were off and running.”

-Nick Meyer
Director of Operations and Owner of Great Basin Brewing Company

For more tips, follow Popmenu.

Want a closer look at how automation can bring in more orders while saving you time and money? Book a 20-minute, no-pressure demo with Popmenu.

We’ve got your back. Every. Day.

For more tips, follow Popmenu.

Want a closer look at how automation can bring in more orders while saving you time and money? Book a 20-minute, no-pressure demo with Popmenu.

We’ve got your back. Every. Day.