Why would a Chinese restaurant need a blog?

Today, with almost seven million people in the  greater Boston area, the Globe circulates less than 200,000 newspapers per day, and steadily declining. Vanguard local radio stations are folding after three or four decades of popular programming, and most teenagers have no idea what an FM signal band is.

A business that approaches its advertizing budget with a 1994 mentality is going to waste time and money.

So let’s say you’re in town for a business conference, stuck in your motel, craving some Kung Pao.  Or you’re at home with whiny kids and you can’t contemplate dinner.  Or you’re on the highway with your iPhone, in a town you’ve never been in before.

You’re not going to check the paper.   You’re going to Google.  And what pops up at the end of that search will determine where you spend your Kung Pao-seeking dollars.

If you get a static website with an outdated picture and some basic html graphics, you might pick that restaurant.

But if you get a website with great pictures of food, and a current menu, and a recent blog post from the chef about the lobster special, you’ll be intrigued.  And if there’s a Facebook fan page with a hundred fans, you’re going to know someone thinks this Kung Pao is worth pulling off the highway for.   And if you go, and you love it, you’ll leave a comment on the blog telling them so, and if you’re local, you might subscribe to the Twitter feed so you’ll know when they’re offering a two-for-one dinner special.

You’re the Chinese restaurant — where do you put your advertizing dollars?