The Google Machine | The Search Continues

The internet is good for a lot of things, including providing information about various topics. I learned recently that pistachios are produced and consumed largely by the U.S., Iran, and Turkey. (This was because I saw a reel on Instagram talking about pistachio paste from Italy and it led me down a very informative rabbit hole.) The same can be said for diners using the internet to find new restaurants through Google searches. The simple fact is that Google is how a lot of people find where to eat because it’s the best collective resource. Unless they know definitively what they are craving for food, they will use Google to find something new. This is probably the tenth time I’ve mentioned this fact and will not be the last, but that just goes to show how important it is and how much it matters that your business is found.

You may be thinking “I run a small business, why should I care about how my business appears on Google?” Because you are a small business is why! To better understand, here’s a perfect example: consumers use Google to find new restaurants 40% of the time, with “food near me” as a search trend skyrocketing year over year. You are a restaurant, which means that you will populate that search. Why should someone choose your restaurant to be a patron over another option? It comes down to your Google business account! An extension of that example: 92% of online consumers will read reviews before making a decision about where they want to eat, with 88% treating the online reviews as a personal recommendation. If you’re Google business account is not up to date with correct hours, an accurate menu, or the correct address, you just lost out. Out of ten people, nine look online and eight will let the reviews influence their decision. You want to be a choice people make because they are helpless not to and not just because you’re what’s available.

We’ve talked about people using Google to find new places to eat, now let’s talk about the influential aspects that a Google business account should consider. We already know that people will trust reviews to help make their decision, but a good review can be as much influence as a bad one. Think about the last time you checked out a restaurant and what you looked at. What did you look for? What did you avoid? Odds are good people are using both good and bad reviews to guide their final choice, with good reviews holding just as much weight as bad. That’s not to say that bad reviews don’t matter, they absolutely do, but in this instance we’re going to focus on good reviews. (We’ll cover bad reviews and how you can respond to them later.) Consumers will use good reviews as personal recommendations and that will draw them in to a location. It comes down to the fact that 88% of users use this as a basis for their decision-making, whether intentional or subconscious. If you heard someone raving about a restaurant and that they served a tremendous smoked haddock, wouldn’t you want to try it for yourself to see what all the fuss was about? Online reviews are no different and carry just as much influence.

How do you think your potential patrons find you, your website? Maybe social media? For some of them, that may be true. For the rest, they find you on Google. On average, your Google business profile gets seven times the traffic and views than anything else. Think about Google as your first line of offense, the service that gets people in the door. Get that Google account up to date, make sure all the information is there that people use to better understand a restaurant, and make sure you’ve got great photos of your amazing food. It can seem a bit overwhelming, but I promise it will be a good change. The little things make a big difference!

I hope you understand why I’m so passionate about this topic. I’ve said it in multiple blog posts because it is a HUGE factor for an online presence. Make yours the best it can be! Reach out to us if you need help with your Google account, and whether it be making sure everything is accurate or if you need some help with how to take good photos, we can do it all.

All statistics were taken from https://www.restroworks.com/blog/google-restaurant-search-statistics/