Google Profile for restaurants: more guests via Maps

How the Google Profile brings guests: keep opening hours, photos and reviews correct so your restaurant is found in search and on Maps.

What the Google Profile actually does

Anyone looking for a restaurant starts on their smartphone – in Google Search and on Google Maps. If you do not appear there, you are practically invisible online, however good the kitchen is. The starting point is Google's free Business Profile: it appears in Search and on Maps and brings guests to your door.

Google names three factors that determine whether a business appears in local search results:

• Relevance: How well does your profile match the search? Incomplete information makes it harder to match the right terms.
• Distance: How far is the business from the guest searching? If the guest shares no location, Google uses what it knows about their location.
• Prominence: How often is your business mentioned? Google counts, among other things, the number of websites referring to your business and the reviews you receive.

Tip: A better ranking cannot be bought from Google. You improve your visibility solely through complete, correct information and good reviews.

Keeping opening hours up to date

Wrong opening hours disappoint guests fastest: the table is booked, the door stays shut. Google advises keeping opening hours, including special hours, up to date and confirming public-holiday details – even where they do not differ from the regular hours.

• Special opening hours for public holidays, special events and other exceptions – including closures of up to six consecutive days.
• Confirm public holidays actively, so guests can see the information is checked and current.
• The maximum period for special opening hours is 24 hours.

In Switzerland, only 1 August is federal; the cantons determine all other public holidays. New Year's Day, Ascension Day and Christmas Day are the only holidays all cantons recognise as such. Keep a separate list for every canton you operate in.

Tip: Enter public holidays directly in the special opening hours instead of only mentioning them on your website. The profile is often where guests look first.

Photos that catch the eye

A profile without pictures looks unfinished. Google sets clear requirements: JPG or PNG, 10 KB to 5 MB in size, a recommended resolution of 720 × 720 pixels and a minimum of 250 × 250 pixels. Videos may last 30 seconds at most, be up to 75 MB in size and must be 720p or higher. With ten or more locations you can upload photos in bulk.

Which images are worth adding:

• Cover photo and logo – so your business is immediately recognisable in the list of results.
• Exterior view – Google explicitly recommends this photo so guests find you faster when nearby.
• Rooms, team, dishes and today's menu – what guests want to see before they call.

Tip: Sharp and well lit is better than heavily filtered. Google requires a realistic representation – otherwise its content policies apply.

Reviews: invite them and reply to them

Reviews feed into the prominence factor and help you show up in local search results. To invite reviews, Google recommends a direct review link or a QR code guests can scan. Reply to every review: replies are checked by Google first, which usually takes up to 10 minutes but can take 30 days in individual cases, then appear publicly, without your name.

Rules for replies:

• Friendly and brief – long answers overwhelm customers.
• No incentives: free or discounted products in return for a review, editing reviews and removing negative reviews count as fake engagement and are strictly prohibited.
• Accept the negative: a mix of positive and negative feedback often appears more trustworthy than five stars alone.
• Never share private data and never attack anyone personally. If a review breaches the content policies, report it rather than arguing publicly.

How satisfied Swiss guests are shows in the GastroSuisse study: they rate gastronomy with 70.6 out of 100 points (Tourism Monitor Switzerland 2017). Friendly staff and an appealing ambience influence ratings positively.

Staying clean: rules for contributions

Google Maps is open to contributions from everyone. Contributions must reflect genuine experiences; fake content, copied photos and reviews unrelated to the place breach the content policies. Google generally removes the whole contribution if any part of it breaches the policies. This applies to your own profile too: a wrong assignment, a photo that does not belong to you or bought reviews can jeopardise how your profile shows up in search.

From profile to order

The Business Profile is the digital door of your business: posts keep guests up to date, photos and replies build trust, and the profile can guide guests to an order or a reservation. The profile itself is free. Website, menu and reservation logic complement it – with the same details.

How ClickandFood helps you win more guests

ClickandFood takes your guests from the profile to the order:

• Three ways to order: guests order via your website, via Facebook or via the app.
• Free entry: entry is free of charge (freemium).
• 5–8 % per order flows into advertising on Google and social media.
• Hardware and installation on site – delivered and put into operation for you.
• Table reservation is included.
• ClickandFood provides cashback for guests.

The Google Profile becomes your entry point into search – and ClickandFood turns those searches into guests who order.