There are a lot of ways to improve your restaurant’s findability on Google. A quick win is to reclaim your Google search results from consumer platforms. Four ways to reclaim your Google search results, so you won’t have to lose any more money on your online reservations.
There are a lot of ways to improve your restaurant’s findability on Google. A quick win is to reclaim your Google search results from consumer platforms. Four ways to reclaim your Google search results, so you won’t have to lose any more money on your online reservations.
Google search
For example we search on Google for 'Reserve The Moose Amsterdam'. See the results below:
In this image you see that Restaurant The Moose only appears in fourth (!) place if you search for 'Reserve Restaurant The Moose'. Time to fix this.
1. Google ads
Some consumer platforms place Google Ads using your name. By doing this, they basically hijack your website’s traffic. The solution is not to start advertising yourself. Competing with your own Google Ads will cost you tons of money and won’t stop consumer platforms from what they are doing. Instead, just give your consumer platform account manager a call and ask them to stop advertising in your name. Simple, yet very effective.
2. Google search results
Chances are that guests who Google your restaurant’s name may not see your own website ranking very high in their search results, but a consumer platform. Luckily there is a way to outsmart those platforms. First, ask your web developer to build a dedicated reservations page. Don’t worry - they will know what you mean. Then, the trick is to add content to this page that your guests find relevant. This is basically anything on the topic of reserving a table at your restaurant. Like opening hours, guest reviews, and a text explaining your group booking policy. Google loves content that is relevant for your guests.
3. Your Reserve a table button
The big blue Google button right next to the search results is your best friend. We highly recommend you use this button, as Google did a great job on making it super easy for guests to reserve a table using their Google profile. Make sure your blue Google button is connected to your own reservation system. If you have a reservation system like Formitable, this will prevent you from paying a commission per cover.
4. Reservations link
Last but certainly not least: the reservations link in your Google My Business profile. You may want to check the link that is shown here. If you work with a consumer platform, it may show a link to that platform instead of a link to your own website. Unfortunately you can’t delete their link from your profile. What you can do is add your own website to your profile. Just log in to your Google My Business account, go to the Info section and then hit Website to add your link before theirs.
Have a look at your own Google search results. To check your situation, turn off your ad blocker and search for your restaurant’s name plus ‘reserve’ in the Google search field. Still see ways to improve? Start with these 4 tips.