How to Increase Your Restaurant Rating on Google

In today’s email:

• Ratings Week: How using a Google Business Profile can bring in the big bucks

You want more customers right?

Of course you do.

And you want those customers to come by all the time right?

Obviously.

And you probably want to spend as little money as possible to do it, no doubt.

Let me show you one way to do just that.

Get onto Google and search ‘Italian restaurant near me.’ What do you see first?

Often there’s an ad. But below that, a map shows up with the addresses and ratings of businesses that match what you wrote.

Boom.

That alone is the power of a well thought-out Google Business Profile- the ability to show up right when people are searching for what you sell.

It’s one of the easiest and low maintenance ways to get eyes on your brand and asses in your dining room chairs.

• It creates organic web traffic

• Establishes credibility and authority

• Builds trust with locals by providing accurate information.

If you want more customers, keep reading.

This is a guide on how to set up your Google Business Profile for better results.

I write from my experience working with restaurants, but this applies to any business that serves customers from a physical location.

Claim your business

For the best results you need to first have a Google account and claim your business to set up a Google Business Profile account. You’ll need to add your

• Business name

• Business address

• It may ask you to drop a location marker at the address to confirm.

• Contact details

It will ask if you want to appear on Google Maps. If you say no…well, I can’t help you, and thank you for reading this far.

If you say yes though, let it know that you serve customers at that location.

Choose a business category

For this you’ll need to be specific. Don’t just put in restaurant or bar.

‘French restaurant.’ ‘Cocktail bar.’

Keep in mind the different ways that people can search for you.

Add your website and contact number.

The goal is to have everything a potential customer may need to find you, visit you, and purchase from you in one convenient location.

After you’re set up you will verify your contact info. Once you do you’ll add more info the customer may need like your

• Opening hours

• Reservation System

• Website

• Menu

• Online ordering options

• Directions

• FAQ- gluten free, dog friendly, etc.

Description

Being short and to the point is your friend here.

Google allows you to use 750 characters, BUT it only displays the first 250 before you click on it. That’s shorter than a tweet. Make sure you get everything the customer needs in those 250 characters.

• Chain eatery with French fare & espresso (40 characters)

• Chic spot for Spanish food & cocktails (38 characters)

• Dine-in - Takeout - Delivery (28 characters)

• Mediterranean fare & hookah bar (31 characters)

Make sure everything matches what you have on your website. If it doesn’t you’ll lose a potential customer’s trust rather quickly.

Photos

You’ve already paid for high quality photos of your menu items for your website and social media accounts. Here’s another place to put them to good use.

Most of the time your customers will upload their own photos. But those won’t always be taken with the best lighting or angles. This won’t make the food look appealing.

Having your professional photos on your listing will help convince a potential customer to walk in the door.

You can include your business exterior to help customers spot it on the road.

There’s also the restaurant interior so you can show how clean your venue is. Any features that customers may be interested in should be shown as well.

If you host live music or events you can show those to your customers. And don’t forget showing happy customers in a full restaurant.

Customers will be more inclined to visit if they see others enjoying it first.

Build credibility and trust

Just because they’ve clicked on your listing, doesn’t mean you’ve gotten the sale. They need more info before confirming their choice. Enter: customer reviews.

96% of everyone who clicks on your listing is going to look at your reviews.

They’re looking to see if the food is good and worth the price.

They’re looking to see how many customers left unhappy.

They’re looking to see how you handled the bad reviews or responded to the good ones.

96%

Build trust with locals

Imagine this: you search a business to check if it’s open today and see that it is. So you get ready and you head out. But when you get there the CLOSED sign is up.

Are you angry or disappointed?

Probably a mix of both. Well that’s your customers when you mess with their expectations. Now you’ve lost their trust.

The next time they want what you offer, they’ll remember that you ‘lied’ to them, so they’ll go on to the next business on the list.

Make sure your info is always updated.

Reviews

Visitors are going to leave some good reviews and some bad ones. So many others will see these reviews and how you handle them.

Always be grateful for the good reviews and reply in kind.

For the bad reviews you'll need to reply to as well. Don’t leave them hanging. Acknowledge the issue, try to fix it, and apologise. Remember everyone is watching.

Customers may also use the review function to ask a question. And since it’s wise to reply to customers on the same channel they’re using, you should reply right there to their question.

Others might have the same question. Now they’ll have the answer.

Gain customer insights

As customers start interacting and clicking on the options you’ve provided you can see what’s working. You can also see what needs to be changed.

You can see who’s searching directly for you and who is coming across your listing from other searches.

Google updates search metrics monthly, so you can see if you’re showing up when your customers search for your keywords. If you’re not you should add more keywords to your website and content.

Make sure (cuisine type) restaurant is written on a few of your web pages

Make sure your city and neighbourhood names appear in your copy- if your business is in a building complex, add that too. Customers are searching for ‘X restaurants in Y Town Centre.’

Make sure popular dish names are on your website like paella or vegan pizza.

You can see how your listing is doing on the map.

How often are they clicking on the direction requests? If customers check for directions multiple times, then you know you need to clarify that and make it easier.

When you look into your direction requests, Google shows a heat map of where most of those requests are coming from. You have some options with such info:

• You can create more content focused on these neighbourhoods

• This info can help you target ads to those locations

• Or if the timing is right you can consider opening another location in that area

Are they calling your store more? If they’re always calling to make reservations you should consider using reservation software to free up your staff.

If they’re calling to ask the same questions you should have a FAQ page on your website.

Another advantage is seeing what other searches you’re showing up for that you aren’t already using. You can add these to your website. It could be a search about tomato sauces or a particular cocktail.

This is beautiful.

You can feature what they write in their search.

Conclusion

This will be one of the most low maintenance ways to increase your marketing while spending next to nothing. All you have to do after it’s set up is:

• Update photos when needed.

• Make sure your hours are adjusted whenever something comes up

• Reply to every review and message

We should talk about what content to write for a restaurant next. No?