Local SEO for Restaurants
The restaurant industry is one of the most competitive in local SEO. Here's the complete strategy to appear at the top of results and fill your tables.
Google Business Profile: Restaurant-Specific Features
- Menu: add your menu directly in GBP (dishes, prices, descriptions). It appears in your listing and can influence searches by cuisine type.
- Reservations: integrate a booking button via OpenTable, Resy or your own system.
- Attributes: outdoor seating, wifi, parking, wheelchair accessible, delivery, takeaway — each targeted attribute increases your chances on filtered searches.
- Popular times: visible on the listing, helps customers choose quieter slots.
Essential Review Platforms
- Google: absolute priority, direct impact on the local pack
- TripAdvisor: significant weight for "best restaurant [city]" queries
- OpenTable / Resy: booking integration that Google sometimes pulls into results
- Facebook: important for local community and events
Photos: The Restaurant's Main Weapon
- Hero dish photos (high resolution, good lighting, clean background)
- Interior and exterior atmosphere (terrace, dining room decor)
- Team in action (open kitchen, floor service)
- Seasonal updates (new menus, events)
Aim for a minimum of 50 photos. Listings with 100+ photos receive 520% more calls.
Website Content: Targeting Restaurant Queries
- Home page optimised for "[cuisine] restaurant [city]"
- HTML menu page (not just a PDF — Google doesn't read PDFs reliably)
- Events page to rank for "birthday restaurant [city]", "private dining [city]"
- Blog or news section for seasonal menu updates and events
Schema.org for Restaurants
Use the Restaurant type (a subtype of LocalBusiness) and add properties servesCuisine, hasMenu, acceptsReservations, priceRange. These feed rich snippets and can appear directly in search results.