Your food is good and the regulars love you, but new customers walk past to the place down the street. Often the reason is simple: when someone nearby searches "tacos near me" or "brunch in Denver", that other place shows up on Google Maps and you do not. Restaurant SEO is mostly about fixing that, and much of it you can do yourself.
How people choose a restaurant on Google
Most restaurant searches are quick and local. Someone is hungry, opens Google Maps, looks at the first few results, checks photos, the rating and the menu, and decides. That means three things matter most:
- Showing up in the map results for the right searches
- Looking appealing in the few seconds people spend comparing
- Making it easy to call, book, order or get directions
Step 1: get your Google Business Profile right
- Choose the most specific primary category. "Thai restaurant" or "Pizza restaurant" usually fits better than plain "Restaurant". Add secondary categories only if they are true, such as "Takeout restaurant" or "Bar".
- Keep hours exact, including holiday and special hours. Few things lose a diner faster than arriving at a closed door.
- Fill in attributes. Outdoor seating, vegetarian options, wheelchair access, delivery, takeout, good for kids. People filter by these.
- Write a plain description of your food, style and neighborhood.
- Add your menu to the profile, and a link to the menu on your website.
- Add ordering and reservation links. If you take online orders or bookings, make sure the links on your profile go to the right place. Where possible, include a link to order directly from you, not only through delivery apps.
Our Google Business Profile checklist covers every setting in more detail.
Step 2: build a real menu page
Many restaurants put their menu online only as a PDF or a photo. Google can struggle to read those well, and they are awkward on a phone. A better approach:
- Put the menu on a normal web page as text, with dish names, short descriptions and prices.
- Use the words people search for. If you serve birria tacos, gluten free pasta or vegan options, say so clearly.
- Keep it up to date. Old prices and dishes you no longer serve cause bad reviews.
- Make it fast and easy to read on mobile. Most people will look at it standing on the street.
The rest of your website should show your address, phone, hours and a map clearly on every page, with a tap-to-call number and a clear link to order or book.
Step 3: photos that make people hungry
For restaurants, photos often decide the visit. Upload your own regularly:
- Your most popular dishes, in good natural light
- The inside, so people can picture the atmosphere
- The outside and entrance, so people recognize it when they arrive
- The team, the kitchen, the bar
Customers will add their own photos too. That is fine, but make sure the best images of your place are ones you chose. Adding new photos and posts each week also shows that the business is active. See what to post on your Google Business Profile every week for ideas.
Step 4: reviews, and replying to them
Reviews affect both where you appear on the map and whether people choose you. A few rules of thumb:
- Ask happy guests, for example with a small QR code card on the table or the receipt.
- Never offer discounts or free items in exchange for reviews. This goes against Google's rules and can get reviews removed.
- Reply to reviews, good and bad. A calm, polite reply to a complaint often reassures future diners more than the complaint worries them.
- Use feedback. If several reviews mention slow service on weekends, that is worth fixing before it becomes your reputation.
Our guide on how to get more Google reviews includes wording you can use.
Step 5: local listings and citations
Citations are mentions of your restaurant's name, address and phone on other sites. Make sure your details are correct and identical on the ones diners actually use:
- Yelp and Tripadvisor
- Apple Maps (through Apple Business Connect) and Bing Places
- Reservation sites you use, such as OpenTable or Resy
- Delivery apps you are on
- Facebook and Instagram profiles
- Local food blogs, city guides and chamber of commerce listings
An old phone number or address on any of these confuses customers and search engines alike.
Common restaurant SEO mistakes
- Menu only as a PDF or image
- Wrong or missing holiday hours
- Using a generic category when a specific one exists
- Ordering link that only goes to a third-party app with high fees
- No replies to reviews, especially the negative ones
- A website that is slow or hard to use on a phone
Want help with it?
Restaurant owners rarely have spare hours. If you would rather hand this over, our affordable SEO plans are $180, $420 and $900 a month with no contract, and include Google Business Profile work, local listings and website fixes. Start with a free audit and we will show you where you stand on the map before you spend anything. If your diners discover you more by scrolling than searching, our Instagram weekly plan is a good next read.