• Restaurant Marketing

Boost Your Restaurant’s Visibility: Latest Updates On Google Business Profile Optimization

by: Allen Graves
6 min read

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Your potential customers are searching for restaurants online right now. In fact, countless thousands of hungry diners turn to search engines every day to find their next meal.

Will they find your restaurant? More importantly, will they choose it over your competitors?

Diners are researching restaurants online before dining out, and anywhere from 64% to 90%+ are likely to choose a restaurant based on what they find in search results.

By improving your search engine rankings and securing coveted rich snippet placements, you can attract more diners, increase brand awareness, and drive significantly more revenue growth.

This guide will equip you with the knowledge and strategies to enhance your restaurant’s search engine optimization (SEO) and drive more customers through your doors using the power of Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business).

Crowded restaurant

Maximize Success with your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile serves as your restaurant’s digital storefront on Google Search and Maps, making it a crucial tool for attracting diners.

When diners search for restaurants in your area, your profile determines whether they see your business, what information they find, and ultimately whether they choose your restaurant over competitors.

When potential patrons search for restaurants in your area, a well-optimized profile significantly influences whether they discover your establishment and choose it over competitors.

Creating and updating a Google Business Profile page is relatively simple. If you haven’t started, you can learn about it here.

In addition to the basic information, visual content plays a vital role in attracting guests. Regular photo updates showcase your restaurant’s atmosphere and offerings. Include high-quality images of your exterior, your interior dining spaces, popular dishes, and special events.

Short videos can provide virtual tours and capture the energy of your establishment. Keep your menu information current, including prices and dietary options to help diners make informed decisions.

More and more, Google is using data from Business Profiles to create rich snippets in their search results. In fact, just last month they announced the ability to feature your latest offers and events in the search results.

Google Business Profile Strategy

A quote from the Google Newsletter, “Discover fresh new ways to attract customers and boost your visibility on Google. Our updated “Nearby Offers and Events” carousel now prominently features exciting updates from local restaurants like yours on both desktop and mobile searches.”

Google provides information on getting started here.

Connect Your Social Media Accounts

In the same article, Google also suggests connecting your social media accounts to your Business Profile.

To enhance your events, deals, and offers posts on your Google Business Profile from platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and more, link your social media profiles.”

Connecting your social media accounts to your Google Business Profile (GBP) can significantly enhance your online visibility and improve your search engine rankings. Here’s how:

  • Increased Visibility: When you connect your social media accounts, Google can display links to your social media profiles directly on your GBP listing. This allows potential customers to easily navigate to your social media pages, where they can learn more about your restaurant, see customer photos and videos, and engage with your brand.
  • Enhanced Brand Credibility: Connecting your social media accounts demonstrates a strong online presence and builds trust with potential patrons. It shows that you are actively engaged on social media and that you value customer interaction.
  • Improved Search Engine Rankings: Google considers social media signals as a ranking factor. By connecting your accounts, you provide Google with additional information about your business, which can improve your GBP’s ranking in local search results.
  • Rich Snippets & Featured Snippets: Connecting your social media accounts can increase the likelihood of your GBP appearing in rich snippets and featured snippets in search results. Rich snippets display key information directly in the search results, such as your address, phone number, hours, and customer reviews. Featured snippets often appear at the very top of search results and provide a concise answer to a user’s query.

Google Rich Snippet

So, by connecting your social media accounts to your GBP, you can create a powerful synergy that enhances your online visibility, improves your search engine rankings, and ultimately drives more guests to your restaurant.

Showcase Your Menu on GBP

Google goes on to say, “Whether you provide services, sell products, or both, it’s important to show all your offerings on your Business Profile.

For restaurants, this obviously equates to the menu (and any other product offerings). Make sure to include descriptions, images, and prices.

This will serve as a digital showcase of your menu and offerings, directly influencing how diners discover your restaurant through Google Search and Maps. Each menu item you add strengthens your restaurant’s visibility and helps capture the attention of potential customers searching for specific dishes or cuisine types.

Beyond standard menu items, highlight any additional offerings that set your restaurant apart. This might include catering services, meal kits, specialty food products, cooking classes, or branded merchandise.

Each product category you add creates new opportunities for your restaurant to appear in relevant searches.

Keep your product listings current by regularly updating seasonal specials, daily features, and limited-time offerings. This dynamic content not only improves your search visibility but also gives repeat customers reasons to check your profile frequently for new items.

Remember that your product listings don’t exist in isolation – they work together with your overall Business Profile to create a comprehensive digital presence that helps convert online searches into seated diners and loyal customers.

restaurateurs updating their Business Profile page

Keyword Domination: The Foundation of SEO Success

Keyword research is the cornerstone of any successful SEO strategy. Begin by identifying the specific terms your target audience uses when searching for restaurants like yours.

Don’t limit yourself to broad terms like “Italian food near me.” Dive deeper. Consider phrases like “romantic Italian dinner,” “best pizza in [neighborhood],” or “gluten-free pasta options.”

These more specific, long-tail keywords attract highly targeted traffic that is more likely to convert into paying customers. By aligning your content with guest intent, you attract diners actively seeking your offerings.

Once you’ve identified your key terms, strategically weave them into your website content, online menu descriptions, blog posts, social media, and your Business Profile. Remember to use keywords naturally and avoid “keyword stuffing” as this can negatively impact your search engine rankings.

Conclusion: Transform Your Digital Presence, Transform Your Business

Your Google Business Profile represents more than just another digital marketing task – it’s a powerful tool that connects your restaurant with diners actively searching for their next meal. In today’s digital-first dining landscape, a well-optimized profile often makes the difference between a full house and empty tables.

The strategies outlined in this guide require consistent effort, but the rewards far outweigh the investment. Each photo you upload, review you respond to, and menu item you add builds your restaurant’s digital foundation.

While your competitors might focus on short-term advertising wins, your optimized Business Profile works continuously to attract and engage potential customers.

Consider this: Every day, diners in your area search Google for restaurants like yours. They’re looking for your signature dishes, reading about your atmosphere, and deciding where to spend their dining dollars.

An optimized Google Business Profile ensures you’re not just part of that conversation – you’re leading it.

Start implementing these optimization strategies today. Begin with the basics: verify your information, add high-quality photos, and update your menu. Then gradually incorporate more advanced features like product listings and event updates.

Remember that consistent, incremental improvements yield long-lasting results.

Your restaurant’s story deserves to be told well, and your Google Business Profile is often where that story begins. Make it count.

Discover Bloom Intelligence

Bloom Intelligence is an AI-powered restaurant marketing platform. It includes a powerful customer data platform, automated guest data collection, one-click segmentation, marketing automation via email and SMS, reputation management, and reporting tools.

It also provides a tool for Business Listings Management.

Data is collected from sources like WiFi logins, online reservation systems, online ordering platforms, POS systems, website forms, social media, and more. This makes it simple to analyze and segment your guest personas for your restaurant’s digital marketing and operations decisions.

Bloom makes guest data collection effortless, which allows you to quickly execute the strategies listed above, saving you time, increasing customer lifetime values, attracting new guests, improving your reputation, and boosting your bottom line.

Call us or schedule a free demo online and Bloom will show you how our restaurant marketing platform can help you save time and increase your customer lifetime values by automatically building first-party customer databases, unlocking important guest insights to trigger automated marketing at the right time and place, discover true guest sentiment, save at-risk guests, increase your current guests’ frequency, and find new guests.

Click Here to Schedule a Free Online Demo, or call 727-877-8181 to see how we can help you save time and drive tangible results for your restaurants.

Restaurant Marketing FAQs

What is Restaurant Marketing?

Restaurant marketing is the process of getting people to visit your restaurants. Restaurant marketing creates loyalty, provides data to research, analytics, and allows restaurants to gain a better understanding of their ideal customer profile. It utilizes all customer channels: guest WiFi, website, social, rating sites, mobile apps, email, text, and advertising.

Learn More About Restaurant Marketing Here

What is WiFi Marketing?

WiFi marketing is a marketing technique that uses guest WiFi to collect & clean customer data such as names, emails, phone numbers, customer behavior, and demographics. This data is used to personalize marketing campaigns to increase customer loyalty, build online reviews, and save at-risk customers. The performance of every campaign can be tracked down to the tangible ROI of a customer walking back in your door.

Learn More About WiFi Marketing Here

What is Restaurant Reputation Management?

Restaurant reputation management is the process for restaurants to manage customer feedback and creating systems to improve customer experiences, passively build positive online reviews, and save at-risk customers. It is a very important aspect of running a successful restaurant business.

Learn More About Restaurant Reputation Management Here

How Does Bloom Identify and Bring Back Lost Customers?

Bloom Intelligence uses machine learning to identify at-risk customers. When one is recognized, the system will send them a message with an incentive to get them to return and re-establish their visit pattern. Bloom users are seeing up to 37% of churning customers return.

Learn More About Saving At-Risk Customers Here

SAVE TIME, INCREASE CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUES, CREATE NEW CUSTOMERS

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