Did you know that 64% of US diners Google restaurants before visiting them?
Or that 8 in 10 consumers search online for local business information at least once a week?
Or what about the fact that 62% of people would avoid a business whose online information was wrong?
That’s because having your restaurant show up online (and show up correctly) is more important to consumers now than ever… which is where local SEO comes into play.
In this blog, we’ll guide you through local SEO for restaurants, from what it is and how it benefits restaurants to why optimizing your Google Business Profile is good for search engine visibility.
There’s also a free template at the end to help you stay on top of responding to your restaurant’s Google reviews — both the good ones and the not-so-good ones.
Let’s get into it.
What is local SEO for restaurants?
At its core, local SEO involves optimizing your restaurant’s online presence to attract more local customers. Leveraging local SEO can help push your restaurant front and center in search engines — A.K.A., when people search “restaurants near me,” yours pops up first.
Local SEO can offer your restaurant a ton of other benefits on top of visibility, too.
- Higher Conversion Rates — Local searches are often made with “high intent” keywords. That means the people searching these keywords have a strong intention of making a purchase and are more likely to follow through with it than other casual browsers.
- Competitive Advantage — Local SEO is an important tool, but the reality is that only 6 in 10 small businesses have any kind of local SEO presence. So, putting effort into your restaurant’s local SEO gives you the competitive advantage you need to stand out.
- Cost-Effective Marketing — Unlike other more “traditional” marketing efforts (like ads), local SEO is a relatively inexpensive strategy, especially long-term. Besides regular updates and monitoring, there’s no recurring cost for local SEO besides your time.
So, if your restaurant is interested in getting noticed (as any restaurant would be), local SEO is a great avenue to start exploring… but where’s the best place to start?
That one’s easy — your Google Business Profile.
What’s a Google Business Profile (and why does it matter)?
A Google Business Profile is a free, Google-powered tool that helps your restaurant reach more customers using different aspects of local SEO.
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Your Google Business Profile shows prospective customers everything they need to know about dining at your restaurant, from store hours and delivery options to contact info and reviews. You can also add photos of your top-selling dishes, facilitate online orders for pickup and delivery, and accept (or waitlist) reservations.
A Google Business Profile is a super handy tool for restaurants looking to improve their online presence because, when it’s optimized, it can:
- Boost your credibility by showing real photos and reviews
- Improve your local SEO by getting on the first few search pages
- Build trust by collecting customer reviews (and responding to them)
- Help your restaurant rank higher and/or appear in Google’s top three map results (A.K.A. the “Local Pack”)
…plus it’s completely free and super easy to set up (which tools of this caliber never are).
Let’s get your restaurant’s Google Business Profile set up then, shall we?
6 steps to setting up your restaurant’s Google Business Profile
Setting up your restaurant’s Google Business Profile is definitely not rocket science.
Just follow the six steps below, check everything off, and get ready to start boosting your local SEO (without actually having to do anything else).
Step 1 — Sign up for your Google Business Profile
- Claim your restaurant’s business profile
- Request ownership of your restaurant’s business profile on Google Maps
- Verify your business, either by video, phone, email, live call, or mail
Step 2 — Add your restaurant’s core business info
- Add your restaurant’s business address
- Pick a service area for your restaurant (if applicable)
- Add your restaurant’s phone number and other contact info
- Add your restaurant’s social media links and website
- Set your restaurant’s business hours (and don’t forget about holidays!)
Step 3 — Update your restaurant’s attributes and details
- Update your restaurant’s attributes to highlight key features (i.e. wifi, outdoor seating)
- Upload photos and/or videos of your restaurant following Google’s best practices
- Add a menu to your restaurant’s Google Business Profile using the menu editor feature
- Upload photos and/or videos of your menu items following Google’s guidelines
Step 4 — Set up ordering, delivery, and reservations
- Turn on “Food Ordering” to accept online orders
- Set up direct and/or third-party online ordering options
- Manage your online ordering preferences for pickup and delivery
- Set up bookings/reservations through Google or a third-party app
Step 5 — Set up engagement processes
- Explore Google’s post options to highlight restaurant offers, events, and news
- Google posts can easily be repurposed into email marketing content, too!
- Set up a process to streamline your responses to positive customer reviews
- Set up a process for replying to negative customer feedback (that follows best practices)
Step 6 — Schedule regular updates and monitoring
- Monitor your restaurant’s Google Business Profile with the “Performance” feature
- Track Google Business Profile metrics like searches, views, calls, bookings, and more
- Update your Google Business Profile’s info to improve your local SEO rankings
- Make your Google review process easier by generating a QR code or link for reviews
3 Google Business Profile Tips from Rook Coffee’s Director of Brand Strategy
Once your restaurant’s Google Business Profile is set up and boosting your local SEO rankings in the background, you can start doing a few other things to optimize your local SEO reach.
And, if you ask Marc Hindman – the Director of Brand Strategy at Rook Coffee – these three tips are the most important.
1 — Make sure your GBP’s information is always up-to-date
According to a BrightLocal survey, customers named Google as their most trusted platform for looking up local businesses.
So, if you let your restaurant’s Google Business Profile stay outdated or incorrect, it not only hinders customer trust in the platform but it can hurt your business too. Like we said earlier, 62% of consumers would avoid businesses with incorrect information online… and that’s too high a percentage for any restaurant to risk.
What’s the best way to make sure your Google Business Profile stays up-to-date, then?
Easy — schedule regular checks and updates, the same way you would your website or social media.
2 — Aim for a 100% response rate to all reviews (good and bad)
Seeing a negative Google review of your restaurant is never fun, especially since 54% of consumers consider online reviews “the most important criteria” for purchasing decisions.
Fortunately, even bad reviews have a silver lining, because the way you respond to them on your Google Business Profile can actually be good for business!
One study reported that, when making purchasing decisions, 75% of consumers factor in responses to positive reviews, with 85% saying the same for negative reviews. And, when a business responds to all reviews, 89% of people are more likely to support them than if they didn’t respond at all.
3 — Incorporate Google reviews into your restaurant’s website
You know your restaurant is great. Your staff knows it’s great. And your regulars know it, too.
But what about people who are deciding whether or not to give your place a shot? That’s where showcasing customer testimonials and reviews comes into play.
BrightLocal found that 4 in 10 people “trust customer reviews as much as personal recommendations,” making Google reviews a great trust-boosting feature for your restaurant’s website (especially the most recent ones).
Plus, reviews improve your restaurant’s SEO, bolster your brand’s credibility through social proof, and show your customers you care — which definitely isn’t bad for business.
Craver’s Review Response Template
The first step to making the most of your restaurant’s Google reviews is answering each and every single one of them…
Which gets a whole lot easier with Craver’s free Review Response Template.
Our Review Response Template makes responding to Google Business Profile reviews fast and pain-free, with pre-written, customizable responses for every kind of review — good, average, and bad.
All you have to do is copy the response you like, tweak the customizable fields to match up the details, paste the response to the Google Business Profile review, and voilà!
You stay on top of reviews.
Your customer gets a timely response.
And the engagement boosts your local SEO.
Win-win-win.
