How to Add a Restaurant to Google Maps

The success of any restaurant is governed by its visibility and discoverability. If customers cannot locate you online, they might probably never get to know you or reach your location. So, a restaurateur must ensure that his business secures the first few places when hungry customers are searching for places to dine-in or order food. This is possible by creating a Google My Business Page and eventually adding the restaurant business to Google. This must be a restaurant owner’s first step towards capturing potential customers at the local level.

Google My Business allows restaurants to create local listings in Google Maps so that local customers can locate the restaurant easily. Business can be brought online with a stunning restaurant website, but it needs to be enhanced by making sure that Google lists it amongst the top 10 search results.

65% of people use their smartphones to look for restaurants within a walking or driving distance (‘restaurants near me’ searchers)

66% of people make use of online maps to guide them to the restaurant location

51% of people use the Internet to get the contact number

90% of prospects searching the Internet for great food using hand-held devices convert easily into customers

Thus, any restaurant that is present on the Google My Business listing through its own Google Business Page can reap the multiple benefits of being easily visible and discoverable.

With Google allowing restaurants to upload their menu, customers get an opportunity to look at the restaurant’s culinary offerings even before they make a visit. The menu that can be edited will be displayed during mobile searches too.

The best way to rank higher on Google search results is to be consistent with NAP (Name, Address, Phone). Being consistent with vital information across various online properties (official website, Facebook, Instagram, Yelp, etc.) will increase the trustworthiness that search engines have on the brand. Google only ranks businesses that it finds authentic and trustworthy. So, staying consistent and identical is important.

1. Go to the Google My Business website. Log in using the restaurant’s account.

2. Click on the ‘Info’ tab available on the left side of the page. This will open a panel consisting of fields that you can edit.

3. Using the ‘Menu’ URL, you can link the restaurant’s menu to the website. This is highly recommended as it serves as an inbound marketing tool – driving organic and new customers to the business.

4. Add in all the menu items on your GMB page.

• By clicking on the ‘Menu’ icon in the same panel where you added your menu URL
• By clicking on the ‘Menu’ tab available on the left-side of the page

5. Once you have accessed the menu page, you can use the ‘ADD MENU SECTIONS’ option to categorize your menu items into various sections like starters, entrees, appetizers, main course, combos, desserts, etc. One can add in as many sections as one wishes to.

6. Once you have completed entering the sections of the menu, add in individual recipes under each section. Here, you can include the name of the recipe, a brief description and also enticing photos to attract customers.

Follow these 3 rules of thumb when you select a category:

When you are very specific about who you are and what you offer, there will be fewer businesses competing against you for customers.

If there are several categories, each individual category gets weaker and the chances of customers finding you efficiently is reduced.

While adding a new restaurant to Google My Business, a restaurateur must always describe his core business and not the services he offers or the amenities available. For example, if the restaurant has a bar, it must not be added as a category as it does not describe the business, but only elaborates on the amenities.

Restaurateurs must set their open hours precisely. Waitlist hours must be set to open and integrated with Google Maps. Only during the hours preset by the restaurant owner, diners will be shown the available option and they will be able to join the list. This can be done under the ‘Settings’ or ‘Business Info’ or ‘Opening Hours’ option.

A restaurant may not appear as a search result in Google or Google My Business if there is no location authority. Location authority includes Geo Location, maintaining consistency in NAP, branding, internal and external links, ratings, rankings and so on. 16% of how Google measures your authenticity depends on the domain authority. Since that is a large proportion, one must use it well to benefit the business.

Embedding a Google Map on the restaurant website is yet another way to rank better on Google Maps. This is done by most restaurants on the ‘Contact Us’ page. By doing so, you are telling search engines like Google that your restaurant is located at the place mentioned in the listing. So, ensure to use the same address on Google Maps business listing.

• Search for the restaurant’s name in Google Maps
• Click ‘SHARE’ on the listing
• Select ‘EMBED A MAP’ tab
• Copy the link and paste it on the restaurant’s contact page

Irrelevant content or images can anger customers to a great extent, making them bid adieu to the brand forever. So, restaurants must post only things extremely relevant to their business like images of their restaurant’s interior, exterior, food, kitchen and other amenities. Adding more than one photo also provides a greater advantage over the competitors.

Only when the restaurant owner has verified that he is the rightful owner, the business will begin to appear on Google Maps. Most restaurant owners verify their business by mail. Once this verification process is done, the restaurant’s business listing will begin to appear on Google Maps which implies that your restaurant will get reviews, people will get directed to your location, restaurateurs will be able to create promotional posts and also track analytics (be informed about the search volume and number of times internet users requested directions to the restaurant).

Click-through rate means how frequently your restaurant is compared to other profiles in the map listing.

Maximizing the click-through rate is necessary for two reasons:

• When customers click your restaurant’s profile at a much higher rate than that of your competitor’s for a specific search, Google understands that your restaurant profile is the most fitting result for that search and will start giving your profile greater prominence.
• When click-through rates are maximized, a restaurant can enjoy more visitors from the same amount of traffic.

• A restaurant must provide links to its menu, table reservations and online food ordering platform on the Google My Business (GMB) listing. Such vital information will show up distinctly when people make online searches, making it easy for them to reach you.

• A restaurant must collect as many online reviews as possible. Customer feedback is shown on the Google listing. With many positive reviews, more people can be persuaded to click on your restaurant’s name.

Online reviews can make or break the business. What people write about the restaurant is beyond the control of the owner. People looking for dining options read all kinds of reviews. Restaurants with many positive reviews secure better ranks in Google search results. So, restaurants can create a landing page on the website that also has a direct link to Google Maps listing. Regular patrons can be requested to leave a quick review so that your Google Maps ranking is improved and you stand out against competitors.

• Encourage customers to review your restaurant – With a greater number of reviews, the restaurant gets a greater opportunity to appear in Google Maps. A greater number of positive reviews tells Google that your restaurant is a popular brand that is patronized by a large group of people.

• Include the restaurant name in local directories – Submitting the name of the restaurant in popular local directories like Yelp, Local.com, iBegin, etc. will generate more backlinks and citations, thereby, increasing a restaurant’s chances of getting featured in Google Maps.

• Make use of data aggregators – Restaurant owners can submit restaurant information to data aggregators to get more links and citations.