When someone wants a coffee, lunch, dinner, a hotel room or somewhere to hold a function, there’s a good chance they will search Google before deciding where to go.
They might search:
“Cafe near me”
“Best restaurant in Logan”
“Hotel near Brisbane airport”
“Pub with meals near me”
“Breakfast near me”
“Function venue Brisbane”
If your business doesn’t appear when customers are searching, you’re potentially losing sales before they’ve even seen your menu.
The good news is that you don’t need to become an SEO expert to improve your visibility.
There are several practical things you can do yourself.
Start With Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile is one of the most important online assets for a local hospitality business.
It helps your business appear in Google Search and Google Maps.
For many customers, your Google listing is effectively their first impression of your business.
They may see:
- Your business name
- Photos
- Reviews
- Opening hours
- Address
- Phone number
- Website
- Menu information
- Services
- Customer questions
- Other business information
Before they ever visit your website, they may have already decided whether you’re worth considering.
Claim and Verify Your Business
If you haven’t already claimed your Google Business Profile, start there.
Make sure you have control of the listing and that the information is accurate.
You don’t want an old employee, previous owner or someone outside the business controlling one of your most important local marketing assets.
Get Your Business Name Right
Your business name should accurately reflect your actual trading name.
Don’t try to stuff keywords into your business name.
For example, if your business is called:
The Corner Kitchen
don’t change the public business name to:
The Corner Kitchen Best Cafe Breakfast Lunch Coffee Brisbane
That’s not how you should approach local search.
Use your real business name and make the rest of your profile do the work.
Choose the Right Category
Your primary Google Business Profile category matters.
A cafe, restaurant, pub and hotel are different businesses.
Choose the category that best represents what your business actually is.
You can also use relevant secondary categories where appropriate.
Don’t select every category you can think of.
The goal is accuracy.
Get Your Opening Hours Right
This sounds incredibly basic.
It is also one of the easiest things to get wrong.
Check:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Then check your special hours.
Make sure public holidays and other unusual trading days are updated where appropriate.
Imagine a customer searches for somewhere to eat, sees that you’re open and drives across town – only to find the doors locked.
You’ve just lost that customer.
Keep Your Address Accurate
Make sure your address is consistent across your:
- Google profile
- Website
- Social media
- Directories
- Booking platforms
- Other important online listings
Inconsistent information can create confusion for customers and make your online presence less trustworthy.
Add Your Phone Number
Customers still call hospitality businesses.
Make sure your phone number is:
Correct
Current
Answered when possible
If you don’t answer during trading hours, consider whether there is a better way for customers to contact you.
Add Your Website
Your Google listing should lead customers somewhere useful.
Your website should make it easy to find:
- Menu
- Opening hours
- Location
- Contact details
- Booking information
- Accommodation information
- Functions
- Special offers where appropriate
Don’t make customers hunt for basic information.
Add Your Menu
If your business has a menu, make it easy for potential customers to see what you offer.
A customer searching:
“Lunch near me”
may be comparing several businesses.
If they can immediately see your food, prices and style of offering, they can make a decision.
If your menu is difficult to find, they may simply move onto the next business.
Don’t Upload an Outdated Menu
This is an important one.
If your Google listing or website shows a menu from two years ago, customers may arrive expecting products or prices that no longer exist.
Review your online menu whenever you make significant changes.
Use Good Photos
Photos matter enormously in hospitality.
Customers want to see what they’re buying.
Add photographs of:
- Your venue
- Food
- Drinks
- Coffee
- Accommodation
- Outdoor areas
- Function spaces
- Staff
- Signature products
The photos should represent the actual experience.
You don’t need every image to look like a professional advertising campaign.
But they should be:
Clear
Well lit
Current
Relevant
Show the Product
One of the biggest mistakes hospitality businesses make is uploading endless photos of empty rooms.
Show customers what they’re actually coming for.
For a cafe:
Coffee
Breakfast
Lunch
Cabinet food
Desserts
For a restaurant:
Signature dishes
Drinks
Dining environment
For a hotel:
Rooms
Bathrooms
Common areas
Breakfast
Facilities
Give customers enough information to imagine themselves buying from you.
Keep Your Photos Current
If you’ve renovated the venue, update your photographs.
If the menu has changed, update your food photography.
If your rooms have been refurbished, show them.
Old photographs can create the wrong expectation.
Ask for Google Reviews
Reviews are extremely important for hospitality businesses.
People want to know what other customers think.
A strong review profile can help potential customers feel more comfortable choosing you.
But don’t simply ask:
“Can you leave us a five-star review?”
Instead ask for an honest review of their experience.
Make Asking for Reviews Part of the Process
Don’t leave reviews to chance.
Build them into your customer journey.
For example:
After a successful visit, you might have staff say:
“We’re glad you enjoyed everything. If you have a minute, we’d really appreciate an honest Google review.”
You can also use appropriate follow-up communication where you have permission to contact customers.
Make the process easy.
Don’t Buy Reviews
Fake reviews aren’t a sustainable marketing strategy.
You want genuine customers talking about genuine experiences.
A hundred real reviews from customers who actually visited your business are far more valuable than trying to manufacture a perfect rating.
Respond to Your Reviews
When customers leave reviews, respond where appropriate.
Thank people for positive feedback.
If someone has had a poor experience, respond professionally.
Don’t get into an argument.
Don’t insult the customer.
Don’t write a defensive essay.
A simple response can demonstrate that you take feedback seriously.
Don’t Panic About One Bad Review
Almost every established hospitality business will eventually receive a negative review.
One bad review doesn’t necessarily destroy your reputation.
Look at the overall pattern.
If you have:
350 reviews
and one person gives you one star, that’s very different from:
25 reviews
with 10 complaints about slow service.
The important information is often in the patterns.
Look for Repeated Complaints
Reviews can give you free market research.
If customers repeatedly mention:
Slow coffee
then investigate the coffee service.
If they repeatedly mention:
Great staff
that’s something to protect.
If customers consistently mention:
Small portions
you may need to examine your pricing and value proposition.
Don’t just read reviews for the rating.
Read them for information.
Use the Words Customers Actually Search
This is where SEO becomes useful.
Don’t write your website for Google.
Write it for customers.
But use the language customers actually use.
For example, a business might call something:
“Morning Dining Experience”
while customers search:
“Breakfast cafe near me”
The second phrase is much more useful from a search perspective because it reflects customer behaviour.
Think about what your customers actually type into Google.
Build Pages Around Important Services
If you offer several distinct services, don’t necessarily put everything onto one giant page.
For example, a hotel might have separate pages for:
Accommodation
Functions
Restaurant
Conference facilities
Weddings
A restaurant might have:
Menu
Functions
Private dining
Catering
The more clearly your website explains what you offer, the easier it is for customers to find the relevant information.
Write Useful Blog Content
This is where your hospitality blog can help.
Instead of writing generic articles purely to fill a website, answer questions your customers actually ask.
For example:
How to Choose a Function Venue for a Corporate Event
What to Look for When Booking a Hotel for a Business Trip
Best Foods for a Large Group Breakfast
How to Plan a Restaurant Function
Useful content can help your business appear for searches beyond your business name.
Don’t Write Blogs Just for Keywords
A blog full of awkward sentences like:
“Best cafe Brisbane cafe breakfast Brisbane cafe coffee Brisbane”
isn’t good marketing.
Write useful content for humans.
Answer genuine questions.
Use relevant phrases naturally.
Think About Local Search
Local search is particularly important for hospitality.
Customers aren’t usually looking for:
“Best restaurant in Australia.”
They’re often looking for something much more specific.
For example:
“Best restaurant in Logan”
“Cafe in Eight Mile Plains”
“Hotel near Brisbane Airport”
“Function venue in South Brisbane”
“Pub meals near me”
Your website should make it clear where you operate.
Don’t Try to Rank Everywhere
A small local cafe doesn’t need to rank for:
“Best cafe in Australia.”
That’s not realistic or particularly useful.
Focus on the areas and customers that actually matter to your business.
A cafe might care far more about:
“Cafe in [local suburb]”
than someone searching from 500 kilometres away.
Make Your Website Mobile Friendly
A huge number of customers will find hospitality businesses while using their phone.
They may be standing on the street.
They may be sitting in their car.
They may be searching while deciding where to eat.
Your website needs to work properly on mobile.
Customers should be able to quickly find:
Where are you?
Are you open?
What do you sell?
How much does it cost?
Can I book?
How do I contact you?
Make Booking Easy
If customers need to call three different numbers, send an email and wait for a response just to book a table, you’re creating unnecessary friction.
If online booking is appropriate for your business, make the process simple.
For hotels and function venues, this is even more important.
The customer is often comparing several options.
Make it easy to choose you.
Make Your Call to Action Obvious
Every important website page should give the customer a logical next step.
For example:
Book a Table
View Menu
Call Us
Book a Room
Enquire About Functions
Order Online
Don’t make customers figure out what they’re supposed to do next.
Don’t Hide Your Prices
Customers often want to know whether your business is within their budget.
You don’t necessarily need to publish every price on every page.
But wherever practical, give customers enough information to understand your offering.
A hotel that hides all accommodation pricing may lose customers who simply want to compare options.
A restaurant without a visible menu may lose customers who want to check prices before visiting.
Keep Your Information Consistent
Check that your business information matches across the internet.
Look at:
- Website
- Booking platforms
- Directory listings
- Industry websites
Pay particular attention to:
Name
Address
Phone
Website
Opening hours
Small inconsistencies can create confusion.
Use Google Search Console
If you want to go a little deeper into SEO, Google Search Console can provide useful information about how your website appears in search.
It can help you understand things such as:
- Search queries
- Website impressions
- Clicks
- Pages appearing in search
- Search performance
You don’t need to become an SEO specialist.
But the information can help you understand what potential customers are actually searching for.
Look at Your Website Analytics
Your website should answer a commercial question:
Is it helping generate business?
Look at things such as:
- Website visits
- Menu page views
- Booking enquiries
- Contact form submissions
- Phone clicks
- Directions
- Online bookings
- Accommodation enquiries
A website receiving thousands of visitors isn’t necessarily successful if nobody buys anything.
Connect Google Activity With Sales
This is the part many businesses miss.
Don’t stop at:
“Our Google listing got 10,000 views.”
Ask:
Did those people become customers?
Track what you can.
For example:
Google search → website → booking
or:
Google Maps → phone call → reservation
The more you understand that customer journey, the better you can invest your marketing budget.
Don’t Ignore Your Website
Your Google Business Profile is important.
But it shouldn’t replace your website.
Your Google listing gets people interested.
Your website should give them the information they need to take action.
Think of them as working together.
Use Your Best Products in Your Marketing
If you have a product that customers love, show it.
Your best-selling or signature products should appear prominently across your online presence.
For example:
Your signature burger
Your famous cake
Your best-selling cocktail
Your hotel breakfast
Your premium room
Give potential customers a reason to want to visit.
Update Your Online Presence When the Business Changes
If you:
- Change your menu
- Change your opening hours
- Renovate
- Add a new service
- Remove a major product
- Change your booking system
- Start offering functions
- Add accommodation
- Change your trading days
update your online information.
Don’t let your website describe the business you used to operate.
Don’t Obsess Over Rankings
Everyone wants to be number one on Google.
But ranking isn’t the ultimate goal.
The goal is:
More relevant customers.
A business appearing first for a search that never generates customers isn’t necessarily winning.
A business appearing prominently for highly relevant local searches can be much more valuable.
Focus on Commercial Searches
Think about the searches that indicate someone might actually buy.
For example:
“What is a cappuccino?”
has little commercial value for a cafe.
“Best cafe near me”
has much more.
A hotel might focus on:
“Hotel near [location]”
rather than spending all its time trying to rank for generic travel information.
Think commercially.
A Simple Google Checklist
If you want to improve your hospitality business’s Google presence, start here:
Google Business Profile
- Correct business name
- Correct category
- Correct address
- Correct phone number
- Correct opening hours
- Special hours updated
- Website connected
- Menu available
- Current photos
- Relevant services
- Reviews monitored
- Reviews responded to
Website
- Mobile friendly
- Fast enough
- Easy navigation
- Current menu
- Current prices where appropriate
- Clear location
- Clear opening hours
- Booking information
- Contact information
- Strong calls to action
Customer Reviews
- Ask genuine customers for reviews
- Make the process easy
- Respond professionally
- Look for repeated feedback
- Fix recurring problems
Content
- Use customer language
- Mention relevant locations
- Answer genuine customer questions
- Create useful pages
- Keep information current
Do These Things Before Spending More on Advertising
Before putting another dollar into Google Ads or social media advertising, make sure your basic online presence is working.
There’s little point paying to send customers to:
An outdated website
A broken booking link
An incorrect Google listing
An old menu
A phone number nobody answers
A page with no clear next step
Fix the foundations first.
Then increase the traffic.
The Hospitality Takeaway
Google isn’t just a technology platform.
For a hospitality business, it’s part of your shopfront.
A potential customer can discover you, look at your photos, read your reviews, check your opening hours, view your menu and decide whether to visit – all before speaking to anyone in your business.
So make that experience work for you.
Start with the basics:
Keep your Google Business Profile accurate.
Use good, current photos.
Collect genuine customer reviews.
Keep your website up to date.
Make menus and booking information easy to find.
Use the language your customers actually search for.
Create useful local content.
Make it easy for people to contact or book with you.
And most importantly, don’t measure success by Google traffic alone.
Measure what matters:
Are more of the right customers finding you, contacting you, booking with you and spending money with you?
That’s what good hospitality marketing is ultimately supposed to achieve.
Don’t just try to be visible on Google.
Make it easy for the right customer to find you and choose you.
