SEO Plan for Restaurant: How to Significantly Improve Search Ranking

Did you know that the top three organic results on a Google search capture 61% of clicks and that only 10% of people advance to the second page of results? What does this mean for your restaurant?

Practically, if you don’t rank on the first page of Google, you don’t have enough visibility to attract new customers. No matter how good your food is, if you aren’t one of the first results, people won’t be able to find your business.

If you want to increase search ranking, you need to ace restaurant SEO. In this article, you will find a great SEO plan for your restaurant that you must follow if you want to make it big in the food industry:

Easy-to-follow SEO plan for your restaurant

Do you want to be one of the first options a potential customer sees when they search for “your type of cuisine + your location”? Or for “your star dish + your location”? Then implement this SEO plan for your restaurant:

Read more: Key Benefits of SEO for Restaurant Websites

Step 1: Get a SEO-optimized website

The main objective of SEO is to get your website to the highest position to allow customers to learn more about your business, book a table, and order your food online.

Therefore, you need a restaurant website that is:

• Responsive: that loads without problem and immediately adapts to any type of device, be it mobile or desktop;
• Full or relevant keywords: naturally inserted in titles, content, and the image alt for pictures; Ideally, keywords should also be optimized for the local market as most of your customers live in your immediate area;
• Providing a great user experience: by leading the visitor to important information such as the menu, contact info, and address;
• Ornated with quality images: that attract customers and are also optimized to load fast;
• Built for online ordering: with a responsive menu that instantly opens and leads clients to the checkout screen in no time. Avoid PDF menus that take forever to load and must be downloaded because they will deter customers.

Building an SEO-optimized website usually involves either hiring a team of professionals or learning coding and SEO skills. But what if there was a faster way that requires minimum effort on your part while still achieving the same results?

You can generate your sales and SEO-optimized website in no more than 10 minutes by following these simple steps:

• Create an account on GloriaFood and fill in your restaurant’s basic information;
• Make an irresistible menu while being guided by the helpful wizard;
• Generate your restaurant’s website.

That's it. After you receive the customized website, you can use it as it is or play around and customize it to your liking. The SEO optimization is included, so you can sit back, relax, and enjoy rising to the top.

If you prefer video instructions, check out this in-depth tutorial:

Read more: How to Get an Optimized Website That Delivers a Top-notch Restaurant User Experience

Step 2: Improve your Google Business Profile

When you search for a restaurant on Google or Google Maps, you usually see the Google Business Profile for various food businesses. The ones who show up on top are the ones with an owner who invested time in improving their GBP.

To ace this step of the SEO plan for your restaurant, you must:

• Add exact information: ensure all the info you add to your profile is correct and matches the data on other platforms. Furthermore, make it a habit to update the working hours whenever you change them, especially for special events such as holidays, when you may be closed. You don't want people showing up at your place only to be disappointed that there is no one working;
• Use high-quality photos: consider hiring a professional photographer or learning more about restaurant food photography to create a database of mouth-watering photographs potential customers won't be able to resist. Moreover, add photos of the décor, atmosphere, and storefront to showcase your establishment;
• Link to your menu/website: take advantage of the opportunity and get people who found your GBP to place an order by making your website only one click away;
• Include detailed attributes: for example, mention what type of services you provide like dine-in, takeaway, or online ordering. You can also add if you cater to specific diets;
• Get more positive reviews: encourage customers to leave good reviews that will persuade other people to give your restaurant a try.

Read more: How to Optimize Google My Business (Google Business Profile) for Your Restaurant: Must-Know Tips

Step 3: Get listed on review platforms

When Google decides where to rank your website, it corroborates the information found on all platforms that your restaurant is mentioned. What's more, you can increase positions if you get links from domains with a high authority.

An easy way to do so is to make review platforms an important plan of your SEO plan for the restaurant. Similar to your GBP, your accounts on all the review sites active in your area must include:

• NAP information: name, address, phone/contact number that is the same across all the internet;
• Link to your website: to get interested people a step closer to ordering your food;
• Photos: try to show people having fun at your business to attract even more customers;
• Positive reviews: if you are at the start, you can offer people a small incentive such as a discount in exchange for a good review.

Read more: The 10 Best Restaurant Review Sites You Must Get On in 2024

Step 4: Get quality backlinks

As we have previously mentioned, backlinks are a ranking factor for Google. Here is what you can do to get quality ones that help your business:

• Get mentioned in local directories: where there are lists of businesses in your area. Always try to have your full NAP mentioned, along with a link to your website;
• Become friendly with local media: you can participate or even organize community events where you invite the local media in the hopes of getting a mention;
• Invite food bloggers to visit your place: mention your benefits and persuade them to discover what your restaurant has to offer.

Read more: Off-Page SEO for Restaurants: How to Boost Your Online Visibility

Step 5: Use social media to drive traffic to your website

Social media is a must for every restaurant because it has countless benefits, including driving traffic to your website. It also has the advantage of being free so it doesn’t eat into your marketing budget.

There are two main ways you can get people to visit your restaurant’s website:

• Add a link in your bio: this is possible on all platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. On Facebook, you can even customize the Start Order button with a link to your menu to make ordering directly from social media possible;
• Mention the website in the captions: Facebook is the only platform that allows links in the captions and comments. On the other platforms, they are not clickable, so it is best to encourage followers to go to your bio and click on the website link if they want to order or make a reservation.

Read more: How to Write the Best Restaurant Captions for Instagram + Examples

Final words

Don’t waste any more time, if you want to see your business on the first page of Google, start implementing this SEO plan for your restaurant. The steps are simple and don’t require a big investment to see results.