How to Use Google My Business to Drive Traffic to Your Restaurant Website

Local search optimization is the most important aspect for locally-operated businesses, especially restaurants. In fact, driving a local audience to a restaurant is the most important objective that every restaurant owner should focus on as a priority.

As more than 46% of all Google searches are based on a location, it is becoming more essential to optimize your restaurant’s marketing strategy for locals. It will further help you drive sales and reservations at a significant rate.

To do so, your Google My Business profile is the best tool you can ever use. According to every restaurant marketing agency, it offers all the vital details about your business to prospective visitors online.

In this blog, you’ll learn about how to use your Google My Business listings to drive traffic to your restaurant.

Google My Business: Driving Foot Traffic to Your Restaurant Made Easier

Searches that are local or location-based happen in two different ways:

1. When a potential customer directly enters the location into the search parameters, such as an Indian restaurant in Mississauga.

2. When a potential guest is near your restaurant and Google returns search results as per the GPS coordinates of the guest’s device.

In any of these cases, these searches are extremely important to both online and foot traffic. Additionally, research has found that approximately 78% of mobile local searches lead to an offline purchase.

Also Read: 10 Proven SEO Strategies for Your Restaurant Business

When Does the Location of Your Restaurant Get Important?

Whenever a person tries to find a product or service close to their location or proximity, that specific time is when the location of a business becomes important. For restaurants and other location-specific businesses, region-based searches are extremely essential.

In a local search, you are not trying to rise above global or nationwide competitors in the SERPs. Instead, you compete with a local pool that is significantly smaller. The rate of conversion of your website viewers into customers increases.

Most importantly, in the culinary industry, 46% of consumers love to buy from brands that have a local presence. Furthermore, in 2022, 87% of users used Google to analyze regional businesses.

Such types of searches are happening on Google on different browsers or the Google Maps application on Android or iOS. Results for such searches are then pulled from your Google My Business profiles.

How to Optimize Google Business Profile to Drive Traffic to Your Restaurant?

Here’s how you can optimize your restaurant’s Google My Business profile to drive more traffic and reservations:

Add a Description of Your Restaurant:

Google gives you 750 characters to describe your business in a concise manner. Emphasize the unique selling points of your restaurant and convey the items in your main menu in this place.

Instead of focusing on sales or discounts, add information that will help readers find out more about your restaurant. Add words and phrases that people use to describe your restaurant if they are capable of doing so.

Make sure to use terms, for example, “Indian Restaurant,” or “Indian cuisine” if you serve Indian delicacies. Your restaurant has the potential to show up on the top of local search results if people search for similar terms in such an exact manner.

Here’s how to do so:

1. Go to your GMB Dashboard.
   
2. Click on the info tab.
   
3. Click on the “Add Business Description” button.
   
4. Enter your business description.
   
5. Click on the “Save” button to save the description.

Choose Business Characteristics Resonating With Your Target Audience:

Customers can rapidly learn about your restaurant through attributes of your Google My Business profile. You can control its subjective qualities that are determined by the feedback left by customers who have dined at your restaurant.

What you need to do is to include all the essential and applicable objective business attributes that are relevant to your business. Giving as much info as possible can potentially influence the dining choices of the users.

The steps to add such info are simple. You just need to:

1. Go to your Google Business Profile’s dashboard.
2. Click on the “Info” tab.
3. Click on the tab that shows “Add Attributes.”
   
4. Choose the attributes applicable to your business.
   
5. If you’re unsure about the right attributes to choose, use the search bar to search for specific attributes.
   
6. Click on the “Save” button to store the data.

Utilize the “Reserve Now” Button to Its Fullest:

Google offers an effective service called “Reserve With Google.” This service is specifically for restaurants. It helps customers book tables directly from Google Search, allowing restaurants to cash in on its potential effectively.

By adding a reservation link to your GMB profile, users can effortlessly reserve a table with just a click of a button. This potentially drives more reservations and income to a restaurant.

Here are the steps for the same:

1. Sign up for a Google Business Profile.
   
2. Get your business verified.
   
3. Add your restaurant business to Google Maps.
   
4. Set up an online booking and reservation system for your restaurant.
   
5. Activate the Google Reserve Button.

Also Read: Improve Your Bottom Line with Successful Facebook Marketing Strategies

Add High-Resolution Visual Media:

High-resolution photos and videos add more value to your restaurant’s Google business profile. It helps customers to know what they can expect from your restaurant. Profiles that have photos with them are known to generate 42% more requests for directions on Google Maps.

You can add these pictures and videos by just clicking the “+” icon placed under Home. You should also stick with the requirements suggested by Google:

Additionally, you need to add the accurate business hours and manage reviews towards your restaurant and its quality of service. Furthermore, you also need to interact with your audiences in real time to keep the engagement flowing.

To Summarize

Google My Business profile can do wonders to any restaurant if optimized in the right manner. All you need to do is to follow the abovementioned steps, which will help you drive more sales and foot traffic to your restaurant.