Running a restaurant is tough. Between juggling the kitchen, managing staff, and keeping customers happy, you barely have time to breathe, let alone worry about something technical like SEO for restaurants.
But here’s the harsh truth: if you’re not online, you’re missing out on a huge chunk of potential customers because Yellow Pages aren’t going to work anymore.
People are searching for restaurants online more than ever. In fact, 89% of dining research is done via mobile now[1], and 62% use Google for that[2].
Whether they’re looking for a quick bite, a fancy dinner, or something in between, Google has become their go-to. If your restaurant isn’t showing up in those search results, you’re losing out to your competitors.
Let’s change that.
In this blog, we’re spilling the beans on everything from grabbing that local market share to nailing your Google My Business profile to getting more eyeballs for your food business. Plus, we’ll show you how real restaurants have seen real results with these expert tips when combined with our highly effective SEO strategy for restaurants.
Top 12 SEO for Restaurants Tips That Just Work!
1. Always Start With Local SEO
Okay, so you want more people to find your restaurant, right?
Local SEO is like putting a big, shiny sign on your door that says, “Hey, I’m here!”. When people search for “best pizza near me,” you want YOUR place to pop up. It’s like free advertising, but better.
If you’re a taco joint in Austin, Texas, making sure people find you when they search “late-night tacos Austin” is key.
You do this by creating content around the local keywords for all the cities, zip codes, and places you have your restaurant in.
- Just head over to the SEMrush ‘Keyword Research’ tab (screenshot below).
- Set the country you have your restaurants in.
- Then, select a city-specific location for the keywords you want to rank for.
Let’s take the short-tailed ‘best pizza’ keyword and see if we can find some local + long-tailed keywords for this.
See the results? We actually have some local keywords, and it seems like the trend is to append the suffix “in [some city]” after the keyword “best pizza.”
Continue like that, and you will have your local keywords list ready. Here’s an example of one such list we curated for our client, Yhangry, showing the increase in monthly volume we achieved.
Pro-Tip: Consider your audience demographics (age, gender, income, and eating habits) to match each age group with the right menu. If you’re running a family-friendly restaurant, you might want to offer kid-friendly options like chicken nuggets, macaroni, and cheese for younger children, while also providing healthier and more sophisticated dishes for adults, such as grilled salmon or vegetarian pasta. Of course, you would have to do your local keyword research for better targeting. This will include keywords like “family-friendly restaurants,” “restaurants with gluten-free kids’ meals,” “healthy family meals,” and more.
And if you ever feel overwhelmed, it’s best to hire a local SEO expert to create this highly converting list for you.
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2. Create Your Google My Business Profile
Now that you are done creating the content around the local keywords, it’s time to tell Google what your restaurant is about. This is where you create your Google My Business (GMB) profile.
Think of your GMB profile as your restaurant’s online resume. It’s where you tell people:
- Who you are?
- Where to find you?
- And what you’re all about.
The more complete your profile, the better your chances of showing up in those coveted Google Maps results.
Consider how Pizza Hut shows up in the ‘Places’ section.
It also has a Google Maps Section along with a complete restaurant profile on the right side, thanks to LocalBusiness Schema (more on this later).
So, use this checklist when filling out your GMB profile:
- Restaurant name
- Location(s)
- Opening hours
- Menu
- Ratings
- Photos
Pro-Tip: Add a bunch of real drool-worthy pics of your food range and people having fun at lunch in your GMB profile. Google recommends using square images (720×720) with sizes under 5 MB.
3. Discover Customer Keywords to Create Organic Content
Keywords are like magic words that help people find you online, and we have already talked about the local ones.
The only difference is that this time you need every long-tail keyword that your restaurant is about. However, the process of keyword research is similar.
Once you are done with that, use them in your website, blog posts, social media, and even your menu descriptions. But don’t stuff them in like crazy – it’s about sounding natural.
Say, instead of saying “delicious pizza,” try “mouthwatering Neapolitan pizza.” It’s more specific, and people are more likely to search for it.
And if you find that a lot of people are searching for “gluten-free pizza near me,” make sure to highlight your gluten-free options in your menu.
Just think of these search queries as all the food items range and names you could find on similar menu cards as yours.
4. Next, Optimize Your Webpages for On-page, Off-page, & Technical SEO
Your website is like your restaurant’s menu. It’s got to look good and be easy to navigate. But it’s also got to be what Google’s hungry for. That means using the right words (keywords), that people are linking to you, and your website loads really fast.
Say, you’re a burger joint. Using words like “juicy burgers,” “hand-cut fries,” and “local craft beer” on your website will help Google understand what you’re all about.
But going headfirst into creating content without knowing how difficult it could be to rank in the SERPs would be a losing battle. This is where you will need the routine SEO, too.
In a nutshell, you will need to execute On-page, Off-page, and Technical SEO. And here is a table on what goes under each one of them and what you need to fix.
| On-page SEO | Off-page SEO | Technical SEO |
| Keyword Research | Backlinks | XML Sitemap |
| Content Creation | Guest Posting | Robots.txt |
| Header Tags (H1, H2, etc.) | Influencer Outreach | URL Structure |
| Meta Descriptions | Social Media Engagement, Shares, Likes & Comments | Page Speed, Mobile-friendliness, Server Response Time |
| Internal Linking | Broken Link Building | Indexation, Duplicate Content, Canonical Tags |
| URL Structure | Local Business Listings | Internal Linking Structure |
| Image Optimization | Online Directories | Toxic Backlinks |
Pro-Tip: Can’t figure out what each of these are? No worries. Skim these guides on Technical SEO, On-page SEO or What is Off-page SEO, and you will be golden. If you still find it overwhelming or don’t have time for this, just drop us a call, and you will get your free SEO audit in no time. We will point out exactly what’s working and what’s not and how we can help you correct it.
Don’t feel like reading anything. We totally get it — how about something to watch instead of these long guides on SEO fundamentals? Here is the only SEO Accelerator Bootcamp you will need right from industry experts!
5. Focus on Providing a Great User Experience
Nobody likes a slow, confusing website, especially when they expect a quick order and delivery. Make sure your website layout is easy on the eyes and zippy fast (better keep page load time under 2s[3]). People should be able to find what they want without pulling their hair out.
Take Côte, one of the best french dinings in London, as an example (screenshot below).
It has,
- A clean and clear navigation pane at the top with a good contrast (11.37) of the text with background.
- Answers the users’ search intent right where they expect it to be.
- The bottom pane serves best for quick reservations for business meetups, high-profile clients, and big-shots who are always on the go. See how subtly they deliver this impression with a high-quality, real-time image that follows.
Pro-Tip: When setting up your website, consider the look and feel of it and whether it matches your brand voice — say, a family-friendly dining would best go with a photo of a cozy atmosphere of both adults and children enjoying lunch. On the contrary, a photo of a high-profile customer with exquisite cutlery on the side would give an expression of high prices and ‘elite-only’ dining.
And don’t forget about those folks using their phones — your site needs to look good on small screens too. See how Broadway Pizza does that (screenshot below) – talk about a quick conversion.
Pro-Tip: Use website pop-ups with promos like the one below – on average, they convert one in every 10 site visitors, according to Optimonk!
Also, keep these optimal screen sizes in mind when setting an image resolution and UI of your website:
- Desktop: 1024×768 (16:9 as most common and 4:3 for older versions)
- Mobile: 320×480 (4:3)
- Tablet: 768×1024 (both 4:3 and 16:9 works)
6. Use Meta to Promote Your Restaurant
Social media is like your restaurant’s digital dining room – it’s where you hang out with your customers but online. The more engaged you are, the more people will want to check you out in person.
But it’s not just about posting pics of food. You need to reply to and keep up with your followers, run contests, and maybe even do some paid ad campaigns like Facebook Ads. You may even consider SEO marketing for restaurants if your budget allows.
Again, take Côte, the French dining outlet in London. Just recently, it ran this ‘What the French is a Taco?’ free giveaway and shared the reels on both Facebook…
…and Instagram, too!
But see, they don’t just stick to the above two to promote their business, they even have a LinkedIn business page to appear authentic and muster a fan following.
Who knows if a B2B business would suddenly want French cuisine at an official dinner? Côte makes sure to be around when this happens, as LinkedIn is the go-to for B2B businesses and executives. Even Google considers social shares and social backlinks when assigning an ‘authority’ to a business website.
Pro-Tip: Use Ahrefs ‘Domain Rating’ checker to see how reputed your brand is. Unlike MOZ’s Domain Authority (DA) which considers Google’s ranking factors, Ahrefs Domain Rating (DR) takes into account social sharing, social backlinks, and brand awareness to calculate a score. Having both DA and DR above 30 is a great start when doing SEO for restaurants. If you are a new business, then consider some paid campaigns like Google Ads to grab customers and get the business running. Don’t know what you should be doing? This guide on SEO vs. Google Ads can help you through.
7. Implement LocalBusiness Schema
Okay, this one might sound techy, but it’s actually pretty simple and highly essential when doing SEO for restaurants.
Schema markup is like giving Google a cheat sheet about your restaurant. It helps search engines understand what you do and show your info in a fancy way in search results.
So when you add a schema markup, Google might show your restaurant’s hours, address, and phone number right there in the search results without people even clicking on your website.
Consider Rafters Restaurant, which shows up in the Google like this:
8. Get on Online Food-Related Directories and Restaurant Guides
Think of online directories as the Yellow Pages, but way cooler — and there are hundreds of them. Getting listed on places like Yelp, Tripadvisor, and Food Associations is a must. It’s like having a free billboard for your restaurant.
See this:
Not only does it help people find you, but it also builds trust. Plus, it’s a great place to collect those precious customer reviews, network with industry experts, and get the word about your restaurant out. So, don’t wait, get listed, or get this FMI subscription!
Plus, look for similar food guides like the Gourmet Guide below and see if you can run a promotion together.
9. Add High-Quality Food and Restaurant Images… Everywhere!
Look, let’s face it: people eat with their eyes first. If your food photos are mouth-watering, people are going to want to try it (see the post below and tell us if you can resist!). It’s like having a free taste test before they even walk in the door.
So, don’t be shy about showing off your culinary creations. From your website to your social media, make sure those pictures are popping!
You can add them as a slider behind your hero section on your website, like Grazie:
And inside your GMB profile, like Turtle Bays:
Or in the form of reels on Instagram.
Or promos for special events on Facebook:
Or as food-related TikToks:
And if its too much time taking, even random posts on Pinterest can help.
10. Ask the Public to Rate and Review Your Dine-in and Takeaway
Reviews are like word-of-mouth, but online. They’re super important because people trust what other people say. Plus, Google loves them. The more good reviews you have, the higher you’ll show up in search results. So, don’t be shy about asking your happy customers to leave a review.
For starters, put a cute little sign (like the one below) on your tables asking folks to review you on Google. You can even offer a small discount for leaving this review. But do tell them to be honest with you; to point out exactly what they liked and what could use some help.
11. Network and Connect With Food Connoisseurs and Gourmets
Building relationships with food influencers, bloggers, and critics like Andy Hayler can be worthwhile. They can help spread the word about your restaurant to their followers and bring you some much-needed customer volume.
Take the ‘Eater London’ as an example which publishes weekly food and restaurant reviews and has 18.1M monthly hits[4].
So network and reach out to such media outlets in your restaurant’s proximity or see if some travel writers happen to visit your city. Invite them to try your new menu items and offer them a complimentary meal in exchange for a review.
If this ever feels hopeless, just Google some food ezines (like Time Out and Hot Dinners) and ask them to review your restaurant. You may have to pay an upfront fee, but it’s always worth it.
12. Launch An App for Digital Menu Ordering
Finally, we are at the last expert SEO tip for restaurants. This one might seem a stretch for some restaurants, but if you can pull it off, it’s a game-changer. An app can help you streamline orders, collect customer data, offer loyalty programs, and yes, it converts 3 times better than your website!
With the level of personalization that food apps offer, you can see why Pizza Hut, Texas Chicken, and any app would convert better on mobile.
Okay, we’ve covered a lot of SEO ground.
It might seem overwhelming, but trust us, it’s worth it. But we have to get real: running a restaurant is tough. You’re juggling a million things at once. That’s why we want to show you how other restaurants, just like yours, have used this SEO for restaurant tips to see real results.
Let’s talk about some success stories of our clients and how we put these insights into action.
Case Study 1: Yhangry — Needing SEO for Restaurants and Private Chef Services
Yhangry, a London-based platform connecting food lovers with private chefs, was facing a major hurdle. Despite offering a unique service and a roster of talented chefs, it was finding it difficult to attract both chefs and customers to their platform.
We dove head first with a comprehensive SEO Audit which is a freebie for first-time meetups.
Wait, you want yours now? Just give us a call!
Once done, we had our SEO framework ready for Yhangry.
Our SEO Solution for Yhangry?
- Developed a targeted keyword strategy using terms like “private chef,” “hire a chef,” and “private chef London.”
- Created 300 quality content pages, including blog posts and landing pages (e.g., “How Much Does a Private Chef Cost?”).
- Optimized the website for local searches (like ‘Bradford, Birmingham, and Sheffield catering’ and ‘private chefs near me’) to attract customers in local areas.
- Improved website speed, mobile-friendliness, and overall user experience.
What We Achieved?
Our SEO efforts delivered impressive results:
- Traffic boost by 189% in just 6 months
- First-page keyword rankings increased by 233%.
- Significant boost in overall online visibility and brand awareness with position 1 for the keyword: ‘Hire a Private Chef’.
There, you have Yhangry’s success story, which is a prime example of how SEO for restaurants can propel a marketplace platform to new heights. Even Yhangry’s Co-founder, Heinin Zhang, took to YouTube to share her experience with NUOPTIMA.
But what if an already established business suddenly loses organic traffic? Is it possible to make a quick recovery?
Here’s what we did for them – The Happiest Hour – which almost lost its monthly visitors after a website rebuild.
Case Study 2: The Happiest Hour — Needing an SEO Revamp to Rebound After a Website Rebuild
The Happiest Hour, a platform connecting users with pub events and specials across Australia, faced challenges after a website rebuild.
They experienced:
- Loss of traffic and keyword rankings due to a website rebuild.
- Technical SEO issues like redirects and sitemap problems.
- Weak user experience impacting engagement and conversions.
Now, here’s how we helped them bounce back.
Our SEO Solution for The Happiest Hour?
- Addressed site redirect issues, cleaned up the sitemap, and improved the overall website structure for better crawling and indexing by search engines.
- The homepage layout was redesigned to prioritize key features like “Trivia Nights” and “Events.” We also improved navigation by making venue cards clickable.
- Developed a content strategy specifically targeting the “Specials” page. This involved creating a clean URL structure based on cities, specials types, and weekdays.
- Optimized page meta titles, meta descriptions, and H1 tags for better click-through rates (CTR).
- Reduced 404 errors with appropriate 301 redirects to minimize user frustration and prevent ranking losses.
What We Achieved?
The Happiest Hour has seen significant improvements in both user experience and SEO performance since partnering with NUOPTIMA.
We have extracted the key results for you:
- Increased conversions by 3.4x in 121 days
- Organic traffic growth by 78.54%
- Top-ranking keywords Increased by 169%
- The total number of organic keywords grew by over 5,000
See? SEO for Restaurants Works for Any Food-Focused Business
Yhangry and The Happiest Hour are examples of how effective SEO can boost a food business. Both faced unique challenges, from platform competition to website overhauls, which we successfully addressed.
But let’s be honest: SEO tips and tricks are commonplace. Everyone knows the importance of keywords, content creation, local SEO, and technical optimization. What truly sets you apart is the execution. It’s about turning those tips into tangible results.
Our SEO Strategies Have Delivered Real-World Impact
If you are one of those fed up with all talk and no show, consider us.
We are not the UK’s top marketing agency for nothing — it took work with over 50+ CMOs, $55.3M of Media Spend, and production of 820k words/ month to get there.
What’s more, 92% of our clients have successfully fundraised $542M after working with us, and we are always counting.
Our team of experts doesn’t just know the theory – we’ve proven our ability to deliver SEO services that drive conversions. We’re not afraid to roll up our sleeves and get our hands into the nitty-gritty details of your business.
Whether you’re a bustling restaurant, a niche food marketplace, or a thriving pub chain, we can help you make your mark online.
Ready to Make Your Restaurant Stand Out Digitally?
Let’s talk.
Our initial 30-minute consultation is always free, so why wait?
Let’s cook up something amazing together.
FAQ
Absolutely. SEO is like free advertising for your restaurant. It helps people find you online when they’re hungry, and it can boost your business without breaking the bank.
Start by creating a Google My Business profile and ensure consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) everywhere online. Then, research and target keywords relevant to your location and services offered and create content around it. Finally, get some high-quality links from local websites, online food directories and magazines like Tripadvisor and Eater.
Of course, it does because your menu isn’t just a list of food; it’s a digital storefront. A well-organized menu with clear descriptions and relevant keywords can boost your restaurant’s search rankings and make it easier for customers to find what they crave. Google takes this into consideration when giving your website a page rank in the SERPs.
It’s tough, more like opening a restaurant on a deserted island. You might have the best food in the world, but if no one knows you’re there, you won’t have any customers. Consider SEO as your lifeline to hungry customers searching online.
