How to Use Google Business Profile to Promote a Restaurant

How Google decides what to show

Google says local results depend mainly on three things:

• Relevance: how well your profile matches what someone searched for. Complete details help here.
• Distance: how far you are from the person searching, which you can’t change.
• Prominence: how well known you are. Google looks at things like links to your business and your reviews.

Google also says plainly that there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Be cautious of anyone who promises you the top spot.

Step 1: Claim and verify your profile

Add or claim your business, then verify it so Google knows you’re the owner. This matters: your photos won’t show on Google until your profile is verified.

Step 2: Get the basics exactly right

Wrong details cost you customers, so check these first. To edit them, go to business.google.com and select Edit profile. On your phone, open the Google Maps app, tap Business, then Edit profile.

• Name, address and phone number.
• Your business category.
• Opening hours, plus separate hours for takeout or delivery if they differ.
• Special hours for holidays, so no one arrives at a locked door.
• Attributes, such as outdoor seating or vegetarian options, where they’re offered for your business.
• Your social media links.

Step 3: Add your menu

People look for food and prices before they choose. Add a link to a menu you can keep up to date, and use Google’s editor as well if you’d like dishes on your profile. Here are the exact steps for adding a menu.

Step 4: Add photos people want to look at

Show your food, your room from the inside, and the outside, so people recognise it when they arrive. Google’s requirements:

• JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB.
• At least 250 × 250 pixels, and Google recommends 720 × 720.
• In focus and well lit, without heavy filters or alterations.

To add them from a computer, search for your business’s name and city on Google Search or Maps, click Photos, then Add photos. They can take 24 to 48 hours to appear.

Step 5: Post news and offers

1. 1Step 1: Go to your Business Profile and select Posts, then Add post.
2. 2Step 2: Choose Update, Offer or Event.
3. 3Step 3: Add your details, with a photo and a button if you’d like. You can also schedule it or set it to repeat.
4. 4Step 4: Select Post.

Good things to post: a new dish, a festival menu, live music, a lunch offer, or a change to your hours. Google reviews each post, and only posts marked Live show on Search and Maps. Posts older than six months are archived unless you set a date range.

Step 6: Ask for reviews and reply to them

Reviews are something Google looks at, and customers read them closely. Ask your guests in person, or put your review link on your bill.

Google’s advice on replying:

• Keep replies short, polite and conversational. Avoid generic thank-yous and advertising.
• For a bad review, apologise when it’s right, never share private details, and offer to talk privately for anything complicated.
• Reply promptly.

Don’t buy reviews or offer anything in exchange for one. Google strictly prohibits offering free or discounted goods for reviews, or for changing or removing them.

Step 7: Check what’s working

Your profile’s performance page can show things like searches, menu clicks and bookings. Look at it once a month. If you run an offer post, see what changes in the weeks after.

You can also make booking easier. Google’s restaurant guide covers Reserve with Google and Order with Google, depending on your provider and country.

A simple monthly routine

• Check your hours, and add any upcoming holidays.
• Add a few new photos.
• Publish one or two posts.
• Reply to every new review.
• Open your menu link from Google on your phone to check that it’s still right.