Putting a Local Eatery on the Map: A Restaurant SEO & GMB Strategy
Client: A single-location, independent sit-down restaurant.
Challenges We Faced
The client had great food but an empty dining room, as they had no online visibility:
Low GMB Rankings
They were invisible on Google Maps for “restaurant near me” or “best [food type] in [city].”
PDF Menu
Their menu was a non-crawlable, hard-to-read PDF, which is terrible for Mobile-Optimized content and SEO.
Poor GMB Photos
Their GMB profile had 3 low-quality, user-submitted photos that didn’t represent their brand.
No Online Reservations
The site had no reservation system, forcing users to call (which most did not).
No “Dish” Rankings
They were not ranking for dish-specific keywords (e.g., “best pasta in [city]”).
Get More Diners
“Want your restaurant to be the top result on Google Maps? Our Restaurant & Food Service SEO will attract hungry local customers.”
Our Approach – How We Solved These Challenges
Google Business Profile Optimization
This was our key focus as the best seo company small business for restaurants. We did a complete GMB overhaul, uploading 20+ high-quality food/ambiance photos and building out the GMB Menu and Q&A features.
On-Page SEO
We converted their PDF menu into a Mobile-Optimized, crawlable HTML menu page. This page was optimized for their top dishes.
UI/UX Analysis
We integrated a “Book a Reservation” (via OpenTable) widget and a “sticky” “Click-to-Call” button on their mobile site.
Local Keyword Research
We targeted “restaurant in [neighborhood]” and dish-specific keywords (e.g., “best carbonara [city]”) to attract “foodie” searchers.
Results
| Metric | Before | After | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| GMB “Get Directions” Clicks (Foot Traffic) | 150/mo | 900/mo | +500% |
| Online Reservations (from SEO) | 0/mo (no system) | 120/mo | N/A |
| GMB “Menu Views” (from HTML menu) | 50/mo | 1,500/mo | +2900% |
Free Restaurant SEO Analysis
“Not getting enough online reservations or calls? Book a Free Small Business SEO Analysis and let us build your strategy!”
Advice for Marketers & Brand Owners
- Your GMB Profile is your #1 lead-gen tool. For a local contractor, it is the most critical piece of your small business seo marketing strategy.
- Create a separate page for every service. A “Drain Cleaning” page will always outrank a generic “Services” page for that query.
- Actively ask for reviews. A steady stream of 5-star reviews is the fastest way to build trust and dominate the Map Pack.
- Mobile speed is critical. Emergency searches happen on a phone. If your site is slow, you’ve lost the job.
Extra Factors That Made It Work
- The HTML menu conversion was a massive win, as they started ranking for specific dishes.
- The new, high-quality photos on GMB (part of our Google Business Profile Optimization) dramatically improved user trust.
- The UI/UX change to include a reservation widget removed all friction from the booking process.
