Right now, someone a few streets away is typing "restaurants near me" into their phone. They're hungry and they'll decide in the next few minutes. If your restaurant doesn't show up, they'll eat at the place that did.
Helping your restaurant appear in those searches is called local SEO. It sounds technical, but most of it is simple, free and within your reach this week.
Why local search matters so much
Someone searching "pizza open now" or "best brunch in [your area]" isn't browsing. They're about to spend money, and soon. Appearing at that moment puts you in front of a customer at the exact point of decision, without paying for each click.
Google decides which restaurants to show using three broad ideas: how relevant you are to the search, how close you are, and how well known and well rated you are. You can't move your restaurant closer, but you can work on the other two.
The foundation: your Google Business Profile
That card with your photos, address, hours and reviews is your Google Business Profile. It's free, and it's what appears on the map and in local results. To make it work:
- Fill in everything. Name, address, phone, opening hours (including holidays), services like takeaway and delivery.
- Choose the right categories. Your main category should describe what you are: "Italian restaurant", not just "Restaurant".
- Add good photos, often. Your dishes, your dining room, your front door. Real photos help people decide.
- Keep it accurate. Wrong hours lead to disappointed customers at a closed door, and bad reviews.
- Add your order link. Point it to your own ordering site.
Reviews: the fuel of local SEO
Reviews matter twice. They help Google trust you, and they help people choose you. A steady flow of recent, honest reviews is worth more than a burst of them once a year.
- Ask at the right moment. Just after a good meal or a delivered order, when the experience is fresh.
- Reply to every review. Thank people for good ones. Answer bad ones calmly and offer to put things right.
- Never buy or fake reviews. It breaks Google's rules and can get your profile penalised.
Your own website counts too
Google also looks at your website. A site of your own, with your restaurant's name, address, menu and dish descriptions written as text, gives Google more reasons to show you for the right searches.
If your only online presence is a page inside a delivery app, you're helping that app's visibility more than your own. Your own site puts you on the map in your own right, and the customers it brings order with you.
Keep your details consistent
Your name, address and phone number should be written the same way everywhere: your Google profile, your site, your social media and any directories. Small differences can confuse search engines and customers alike.
A worked example
Say you run a small ramen bar. Your Google profile lists you as "Restaurant", with last year's hours and twelve reviews, the newest from months ago.
This week, you change the category to "Ramen restaurant", fix the hours, upload ten fresh photos and add your ordering link. You start asking customers for a review after each order and reply to every one. None of this costs money, and over the following weeks it gives Google more reasons to show you when someone nearby searches for ramen.
Try the test today
On your phone, search "restaurants near me" and "[your type of food] + your area". Do you appear? Where? Then open your own profile and check every detail.
GetFoodies helps on the parts that matter most: your own ordering site for Google to point to, dish reviews that help your site get found, and Google review requests after each order. With Get Social, you also get help with your Google profile: order links to your site and review replies written by GetChef, approved by you. If you'd like to start, create your free site.