Restaurant SEO: How to Show Up on Google Maps

How Google picks the map results

Google explains the three factors in its Business Profile help. Relevance is how well a profile matches what someone searched for. Distance is how far the business is from the person searching. Prominence is how well known the business is, based on things like how many websites link to it and how many reviews it has. Google adds that more reviews and positive ratings can help a business's local ranking.

Distance: the one you can't change

You can't move closer to every guest, and the searcher's location changes with every search. What you can do is make sure your address is complete and correct, so Google measures from the right spot. Then put your effort into relevance and prominence, the two you control.

See what guests see

Search the way a guest would, on your phone, from a few blocks away: a dish you serve plus "near me", your cuisine plus your neighborhood, and your own name. Because distance depends on where the searcher stands, results change from street to street, so check from a few spots and don't read too much into one search.

Note which restaurants show above you and compare their profiles with yours: the categories, the photos, the hours, how many reviews they have and whether they reply. The gaps tell you where to start.

Relevance: tell Google exactly what you are

Start with categories. Google's guidelines say to use as few categories as possible, to pick the most specific ones, and to choose categories that complete the sentence "this business is a", not "this business has a". A taqueria is a Mexican restaurant; the patio it has is not a category. Don't add categories only as keywords.

Then give Google words to match. Put your full menu on your website as text, and describe what you serve in plain language: the dishes you're known for, whether you do breakfast or late nights, and whether you offer dine-in, pickup or delivery. Google may transcribe menu data from your website into your profile, so a current text menu helps twice.

Write it for guests, not for search engines. Repeating the same phrase over and over is keyword stuffing, which Google's spam policies prohibit.

Prominence: be the place people talk about

Reviews are the part you can work on every day. Ask real guests for a review, and ask at the moment they're happiest: when the bag is handed over or the check is paid. A card with a QR code that opens your Google profile turns the ask into one step. Reply to reviews, good and bad. Google lists responding to reviews among its tips for local ranking.

Never pay for reviews or trade a discount for one. Google's policy for Maps bans incentives in exchange for reviews, and says fake engagement will be removed.

Links count too. Google says prominence draws on how many websites link to your business, so each link from a local news story, a neighborhood guide or an event listing adds to it.

Fill in the whole profile

• Verify the business. Google lists verification first among its tips.
• Keep the address, hours and special hours complete and correct, including holidays.
• Choose your categories and add attributes, such as parking or Wi-Fi.
• Add photos and videos, and keep adding new ones.
• Add your menu, with Google's menu editor or a menu link to your site. Changes can take 24 to 48 hours to show.
• Add your own ordering link under Food ordering and set it as preferred for pickup and delivery. Our guide to getting more direct orders walks through it.

What your website adds

Your website backs up the profile. Google's guidelines ask for a website that represents your individual location. Use the same name, address and hours on the site as on the profile. Make the site fast and complete on a phone, since Google indexes the mobile version, and add Restaurant structured data with your menu address, hours and cuisine. Our restaurant website checklist covers all 12 items.

What not to do

• Adding keywords, a slogan or your city to your business name. Google's guidelines rule out marketing taglines and location details in the name.
• Using categories as keywords.
• Buying reviews, or offering anything in exchange for one.
• Hiding text on your website or stuffing it with keywords. Google's spam policies name both.

Breaking these rules can cost you more than a ranking. Google removes fake engagement, and its policy allows it to suspend accounts that violate it.

A 15-minute weekly routine

• Reply to every new review.
• Check your hours for the coming week, and set special hours for any holiday.
• Add two or three new photos of dishes that are on the menu now.
• Make sure the menu and prices on your site and on your profile match.
• Open your ordering link from the profile and check that it still goes to your own menu.

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