Looking to boost your online presence and reach the right customers with local SEO for restaurants? This guide is for you! 

If you’re a local restaurant owner struggling to attract customers through online searches, buckle up for the best local SEO strategies that will get you found and selected easily. 

👋 In this guide, we’ll provide practical restaurant SEO tips and techniques that connect you directly with local customers right where you are.

We’ll cover the following:

• What is local SEO?
• Why is local SEO important for your restaurant?
• 8 ways to improve local SEO for restaurants.

By following our guide through to the end, you’ll increase the chances of your restaurant appearing at the top of search results of nearby customers. 

Let’s start this journey by understanding what local SEO is.

What is local SEO?

Generally, local SEO is a mixture of search engine optimization techniques and practices that help restaurants target more customers near their business location. 

This can be specific geographical areas like a city, town, village, or neighborhood where your restaurant operates. With local SEO, the end goal is to target local customers who reside in these areas instead of far-away customers.

What local SEO includes

Local SEO encompasses the following key techniques:

• Google Business Profile optimization: this includes providing accurate business information such as your restaurant’s name, address, phone number (NAP), business hours, and more on Google My Business listing. It’s completely free.
• Local business citations: ensures consistent and accurate business information across other business listing sites like Foursquare, online directories, citation sites, and social media platforms.
• On-page SEO optimization: this involves simple keyword research and optimizing your website’s title tags, image alt texts, meta descriptions, and headers with local keywords like city names, business types, street names, etc.
• Online reviews: involves encouraging and managing customer reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and TripAdvisor.
• Creating localized content: relevant to the local community, such as blog posts, articles, or event announcements.
• Acquiring and building local backlinks: from directory listings, popular local websites, community organizations, etc.
• Using schema markup: to help search engines understand your website content and use that information to enhance your search listings.
• And much more.

Essentially, local SEO aims to strengthen your online presence for local search queries by making yourself relevant for people looking for a food business that serves their area.

If this is what you want for your store, we’re here to help. We’ll begin by taking a quick look at why local SEO is important and then provide detailed techniques on how you can improve and reap all the benefits and much more.

Why is local SEO important for your restaurant?

As a restaurant owner, improving your local SEO is essential for the following reasons:

It increases your online visibility in local searches

Local SEO is an indispensable tool for small restaurants that want to appear more often in search results when potential customers look for dining options nearby.

By optimizing your Google Business Profile, targeting local keywords, creating location-specific content, managing customer reviews, and more, you can enhance your online visibility and attract more local customers to your business. This will translate to more sales and eventually boost your bottom line.

It boosts foot traffic

As your restaurant begins to appear more frequently in local search rankings, more people will start visiting your establishment regularly. 

📈 A study indicates that 76% of customers who search for a restaurant on their mobile are most likely to visit the same restaurant within a day and probably dine with you.

This direct correlation becomes even more pronounced when the restaurant is located close to where your customers live. For instance, if you and your customers are both in the same city, town, neighborhood, or area.

It encourages online reviews

Encouraging and responding to online reviews is essential to local SEO strategies. By connecting to local review sites, you can encourage customers who dine with you to leave a good review for your business.

📈 These customer reviews act as social proof that can influence the dining decisions of 98% of potential customers who read online reviews about local businesses.

Popular search engines like Google also use online reviews to reward websites with good rankings.

Builds trust and credibility

Having a strong online presence, providing accurate business information to local business directories, and positive reviews can enhance your restaurant’s reputation and credibility in the eyes of potential customers. Customers only want to dine with restaurants they can trust. 

Search engines, like Google, appreciate it if you provide consistent, accurate information about your business. They’ll use business info to verify your business credibility and legitimacy, then reward you with high rankings and a strong online presence.

Local SEO is a cost-effective way of marketing

Local SEO offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional paid advertisements by efficiently targeting customers who are actively searching for local dining options. 

Unlike traditional advertising, which often involves significant upfront costs and may reach a broad, less targeted audience, local SEO focuses on reaching customers who are already interested in finding a restaurant nearby. 

This targeted approach minimizes wasted resources and maximizes the impact of marketing efforts. If you’re a small restaurant business with a limited budget, you can leverage this to serve your food to local customers.

There are numerous benefits of local SEO. To maximize these benefits and profit, we have 8 techniques that need refining for the best outcome possible.

8 ways to improve local SEO for restaurants

Now that we know what local SEO is and its benefits let’s jump straight into local SEO strategies that will get you noticed more often and be selected.

Local SEO Technique #1: Optimize your Google My Business profile

As a restaurant owner, by claiming and verifying a Google My Business listing, you put your business on a customer’s radar in this manner.

When a customer searches for a restaurant nearby, they will find listings of nearby restaurants (including yours) displayed next to Google Maps in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for local results. 

The results are displayed based on the proximity of a customer to your place. For instance, instead of showing an Italian restaurant far away from town, Google will suggest the kind of nearby restaurants they’d like to dine in.

To claim your listing on Google My Business, visit the Google Business website and follow their instructions to create and verify your profile. 

Make sure you provide accurate and up-to-date information about your business. Especially your restaurant name, address, phone number (NAP), hours of operation, business category, etc. Google normally verifies NAP details to confirm the credibility of your business before they can show it to your customers.

Specific tips to make your business profile stand out

Here are some practical tips if you want to achieve better visibility and attract more potential customers:

• Complete every section of your profile: these include the home, info, posts, reviews, messaging, photos, insights, website, services, and products sections.
• Add high-quality photos showcasing your dishes and menu: 80% of local diners prefer seeing the menu before choosing a restaurant.
• Utilize Google posts: to share updates, promotions, and special offers with your customers.
• Select applicable attributes: such as dine-in, takeout, delivery, local pickup, etc., so customers can easily identify the services you offer.
• Include relevant keywords in your business description without overstuffing.

Why it’s important to update your profile regularly

To keep your listing fresh and engaging, it’s a good idea to update it regularly with high-quality images. This can help to attract interested customers and turn them into new customers. 

📈 According to a study, 60% of customers are more likely to connect with local businesses that share images of their menus, food items, and other offerings.

Since we’re adding a link to your website on your profile, let us optimize it to enhance your customer’s experience with your business on Google.

Local SEO Technique #2: Optimize your website

📈 More than 70% of customers prefer to check out a restaurant’s menu on their mobile devices before they can order.

By making your restaurant website mobile-friendly, you cater to the needs of these customers and make it easier for them to discover your restaurant, browse your menu items, and place an order. 

Don’t forget to incorporate location-specific keywords like street or city names into your page titles, headings, website content, meta descriptions, etc. Doing this will confirm to a customer they’re in the right place and improve your SEO.

💡 Tip: If you want to learn more about on-page SEO optimization, we’ve already got a guide to help you do just that!

Pay close attention to your restaurant menu

Most importantly, if you want to run a successful restaurant website, ensure it loads as fast as possible when customers visit you.

Customers should be able to see your menu and interact with it instantly, without any delay. If everything is fast, your customers can decide on what to order and pay up!

As a restaurant owner, you can accept online orders in a matter of minutes with the help of Orderable.

Use Orderable to enhance your user experience on your restaurant website

Orderable is a robust WooCommerce plugin that enables restaurants to install an efficient online ordering system directly on their restaurant website.

Once the ordering system is set up on your website, you can easily begin taking orders and fulfilling them. For your customers, they will have an easy time ordering food directly from your site.

They can browse the menu, customize their orders, pick their delivery time, and pay all in one place, which is super convenient for customers. 

How Orderable enables you to enhance your customer’s ordering experience

With Orderable, you can enhance your customer’s ordering experience and guide them to confirm their orders using the following key features:

• Mobile-friendly ordering: Orderable provides responsive menu layouts that ensure a seamless ordering experience on all devices, including smartphones and tablets.
• Fully customizable and user-friendly menu layouts: For an even easier and faster menu ordering and navigation, this plugin lets you customize your menu with clear, high-quality images, and detailed item descriptions. 
• Add nutritional information & product labels to your menu: this info and labels can help your customers know exactly what’s in their food before they can order and make the right decision that won’t harm them. Make this even easier with dietary and promotional product labels.
• Enable table ordering option: If your restaurant offers dine-in options, you can allow customers to order directly from their table with this feature.
• Delivery and pickup timeslots: this exceptional feature in Orderable allows customers to choose their preferred method and specify delivery times or pickup locations that are convenient for them.
• Do regular menu updates and specials: If your online menu includes information about daily specials or promotions, regularly updating this content can keep your website fresh and engaging. This will signal relevance to search engines.
• Multiple payment options: Any secure payment gateway for WooCommerce will work with Orderable. This lets you provide customers with a safe and convenient way to pay for their orders online.
• Update your customers through WhatsApp & SMS notifications: this way, customers can track the status of their orders in real-time and know when their order is on the way.

There’s a lot more you can do with the Orderable plugin. This is just the tip of the iceberg. If a customer is impressed by your ordering experience, Orderable enables you to collect tips during checkout from happy customers. 

Local SEO Technique #3: Manage your online reviews

📈According to a study, 98 of customers read online reviews about local businesses. Another 85% of customers are looking for a high star rating.

Simply put, as a restaurant owner, you need positive reviews, and you want them from review sites that can help you build a good online reputation. Generally, online reviews don’t only act as social proofs, but search engines also use them to rank your site. 

Therefore, if you want to improve your local SEO strategy and create a positive online reputation, you can encourage your customers to leave a review in the following ways:

• List your restaurant on review sites: such as Yelp. TripAdvisor, Google, reviews, or other review sites.
• Politely ask your satisfied customers to leave a good review: This can be done through personalized follow-up emails or in-person requests.
• Make it easy for customers to leave reviews: on Google, Yelp, and other popular platforms.
• Offer an incentive: Consider providing discounts or freebies in exchange for leaving a review can also be effective.

Respond to customer reviews

Similarly, it’s vital to respond to your customer reviews promptly, whether they’re positive or negative. Remember to:

• Be professional and courteous: Maintain a polite and understanding tone in all your responses.
• Say thank you: to express gratitude for customers who leave positive reviews and let them know their feedback is appreciated.
• Address concerns and offer solutions: If a customer has raised an issue, acknowledge their concerns and provide a helpful solution.
• Use relevant keywords naturally within your responses: to bolster your local SEO efforts.

By doing this, you show customers you’re committed to their satisfaction. This can help you build trust and improve your local SEO.

Focus mostly on positive reviews since they can boost your business’s visibility and attract more customers. Negative reviews only work to tarnish your reputation and push potential customers away. 

Add customer reviews to your restaurant website

To make the most out of your customers’ reviews, we recommend adding them to your restaurant website for an added bonus.

If using WordPress, we recommend doing this with WP Business Reviews. This plugin automatically collates reviews from platforms like Google Reviews, Facebook, Yelp, Zomato, and more.

It then automatically pulls in new reviews as they happen and allows you to display them on your restaurant website with ease.

Local SEO Technique #4: Get listed on local directories and citations

📈According to research, 94 percent of customers have turned to a business directory at least once in the last year to learn more about a new restaurant. 

So, apart from Google Business Profile, target popular directories like Yelp, GrubHub, TripAdvisor, Foursquare, Yellow Pages, etc., and get your restaurant listed. These directories are usually centralized hubs for local businesses that make it easier for customers to discover and connect with restaurants in their area.

If you want to find more local restaurant directories, use Google to search for one. Then, follow their instructions keenly and your business details.

Note: A local citation will be any mention of your restaurant name, address, and phone number (NAP) on local directory platforms or apps. Its primary goal is to help search engines like Googe verify the existence, legitimacy, and trustworthiness of your restaurant. 

If everything checks out, Google will automatically know your business exists, is legitimate, and that what you say about your business is true. The reward is improved local search rankings.

Local SEO Technique #5: Do content marketing with a local focus

Since you’re running a local restaurant, it’s good to start a blog post that covers local topics.

Let’s assume you have a small bakery in Maplewood. You can start a blog and share stories that address relevant local topics or events, such as Maplewood’s community events, like the annual Maplewood Harvest Festival or the weekly farmers’ market.

Or, you can write posts about Maplewood’s food culture, like their love for maple syrup or the origins of famous local pastries.

By consistently creating high-quality content about local topics, participating in local events, and sponsoring community initiatives, you position yourself as an authority in your community. 

So, when someone in Maplewood searches for ‘bakery near me’ or ‘best pastries in Maplewood,’ your website is more likely to appear higher in local search results. This is because search engines value authoritative websites and are more likely to rank them higher in search results.

Local SEO Technique #6: Engage local customers on social media platforms

Another way to engage and connect with local communities is via social media platforms like X, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

As a restaurant owner, you can improve your local SEO using social media in the following ways:

• Create geo-tagged posts: to indicate the location of your restaurant and gain local followers.
  • For example, “Enjoying a delicious brunch at Tasty Bites in Sunnyvale, CA! ☕☕#SunnyvaleEats #TastyBites”
• Blog content is easy to share on social media: Over time, more shares mean more visibility for your brand, which draws more traffic.
• Engage with local influencers or food bloggers: who have a following in your area.
• Engage with local community forums and social media groups: this can offer an opportunity to establish yourself as a reliable source.
• Highlight customer testimonials on your social media platforms: they make great user-generated content and often encourage others to leave their thoughts.
• Encourage local customers to tag you as they post about their dining experiences with your restaurants.

If you make it your goal to grow your business using active social media profiles, post constantly, and interact with your followers, this can improve your local SEO.

Note: Ensure that your restaurant’s NAP details are consistent across all social media platforms because search engines prioritize accurate and consistent business information.

Local SEO Technique #7: Link building through local partnerships

We’ve already been building backlinks with the techniques within this article, but in order to get the best results, we need a few more (high-quality ones).

Aside from linking to local review sites, directories, etc., you can build effective backlinks for your restaurant by:

• Building real connections with local food bloggers.
• Get local newspapers or publications to write about your restaurant.
• Targeting your competitors’ backlinks: using SEO tools like Ubersuggest.
• Request to have your website added to local business roundups. These types of posts tend to be published and then not updated for years.
• Hold special events and promotions to get PR links: For example, start an event where local influencers and food bloggers are invited for an exclusive tasting menu, and encourage coverage and PR links through social media and blog posts.

Essentially, link building for local SEO is simply the process of acquiring backlinks from reputable local partnerships, collaborations, and sponsorships.

The goal is to boost your local search visibility and draw more organic traffic from local customers who are more likely to purchase from you.

Local SEO Technique #8: Optimize for voice search

Currently, an increasing number of people are using voice-activated devices to search for nearby restaurants.

📈 As many as 58% of US customers use their smartphones to find information about local restaurants. 

Optimizing your site content for voice search devices can help you tap into this market. To do this, focus on conversational keywords and natural language. Try to anticipate the questions people may ask when looking for local services or products. 

For example, instead of targeting “restaurants in New York City,” optimize for “where can I find the best restaurants near me?” This approach can help your business rank higher in voice search results.

Improve local SEO for restaurants today

Optimizing your local SEO strategies offers you an opportunity to target and sell more of your food to many local customers and tourists in your region.

By following this guide, you’ll get practical local SEO tips you can use to continuously improve on and solidify your online presence, dominate local search results, and acquire more customers.

Achieving all of this will, of course, require more effort on your part. With the Orderable plugin, you’ll get all the help you need. This plugin helps you enhance your local SEO by installing an efficient ordering system that streamlines the ordering experience for your customers.

Get Orderable today and improve your overall local SEO marketing strategy.