A restaurant website needs five things so people can book a table or place an order, and your Google Business Profile should show the same details.
- A text menu on a web page, not a PDF or photo
- Your hours, including holiday hours
- Your address with a directions link
- A reservation or online ordering link
- A phone number you can tap to call
Each item saves a diner a step on a small screen, so put them where a thumb finds them fast, near the top of the home page.
Put Your Menu in Text on the Page
Your menu should be words on a web page that anyone can read, copy and search, because a PDF menu on a phone often means pinching, zooming and scrolling to read small print. Nielsen Norman Group, a user experience research firm, points to that problem in its writing on PDFs. Its advice is direct.
"Do not use PDFs to present digital content that could and should otherwise be a web page."
In one study the group describes, a cafeteria menu housed in a PDF on an intranet took almost 3 minutes to download. One observation proves little by itself, but it's a fair warning about slow files, and page speed deserves its own check. These page speed scores are a good place to look.
A photo of your menu has a different problem. The W3C guidance on images of text puts it plainly: "Use text instead of pictures of text." The reason follows in one line. "People cannot alter how text looks in images." Someone who needs larger letters or stronger contrast can change real text on a page. A photo stays as it is. (WCAG, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, is the W3C's set of guidelines for accessible web pages.)
Text also helps Google, and Google's help page on the menu editor says this.
"Google may transcribe menu data from your business website so that it appears accurately on your Business Profile."
Notice the word may. A clear text menu on your website is the cleanest source you can offer.
If your menu is hard to read on a phone, other parts of your website may need work too. This guide on why small businesses should fix the mobile website first covers the bigger picture.
Show Your Hours, Holiday Hours and Address
Post your regular hours as text on every page, such as in the footer, and add holiday hours well before each holiday. Google's help page on special hours offers a tip worth following.
"It's a good idea to confirm your hours for official holidays, even if they're the same as your regular hours."
Do the same on your website, so a diner sees one answer in both places instead of having to sort out mixed details.
Write your full street address as text. Then add a directions link made with a Google Maps URL. Google's documentation on Maps URLs explains that these links can open directions. It also says: "You don't need a Google API key to use Maps URLs." If the Maps app isn't on the diner's phone, the link opens Google Maps in a browser.
Make Booking, Ordering and Calling One Tap
Your reservation or online ordering link should be a clear button near the top of the page, where a diner can spot it fast. A National Restaurant Association report on restaurant technology looked at responses from more than 1,000 adult consumers.
"Among off-premises customers, 84% said they'd place orders using a restaurant's website and 71% said they'd likely place their orders through a third-party delivery service."
Diners are open to both paths, so give ordering a clear spot on your own website next to any delivery app links you use.
Your phone number should be a tap-to-call link. (A tel: link is a bit of code that lets a visitor tap a number to call it.) MDN Web Docs, a reference for web developers, describes what happens next: "Cellular devices autodial the number." Show the number as plain text as well, so people can read it at a glance.
Google Search Central lists recommended details for restaurants in structured data. (Structured data is code that labels facts on a page, such as hours or a phone number, so Google can understand them.) The list includes your menu, the full web address of that menu, opening hours, the cuisine you serve and your telephone number. For the phone number, Google adds this: "Be sure to include the country code and area code in the phone number."
Match Your Website to Your Google Business Profile
Diners can find your restaurant on Google Search and Maps as well as on your website. When the menu, hours or links differ, people have to guess which one is right. Keep all three the same in both places.
Your profile has a field for the web address of your menu. Point it at the text menu on your website. Google says menu changes can take 24 to 48 hours to show on Maps and Search, so update early.
Google's help page on local business links explains that a profile can hold links for reservations and food orders. It also notes this:
"Links to certain services can automatically appear on your Business Profile on Google Search and Maps. These links are provided and updated by third-party partners or through automated data from Google."
A link you didn't add can appear, so check your profile often and set the one you want as "Business preferred" when there's more than one.
Your profile matters for local search, too. Read more about how your Google Business Profile affects local search ranking.
Quick Answers for Restaurant Owners
Can I keep my PDF menu? You can offer it as a download for guests who like to print. Keep the text menu on the web page as the main version.
How many ordering links can my profile show? Google allows up to 10 links per category, such as reservations or food orders.
Will Google copy my text menu for sure? Google says it may transcribe menu data from your website. It doesn't promise to. A text menu and a menu link in your profile are the parts you control.
One rule ties all of this together. Every detail a diner needs should be real text, one tap away and the same on your website and your Google profile.
See how our team designs websites for restaurants.
Frequently asked questions
Should a restaurant menu be a PDF or a web page? A restaurant menu should be text on a web page. The guide says a PDF or photo is harder to read on a phone and text gives Google a cleaner source.
What details should a restaurant website show up top? Show a text menu, hours, holiday hours, address, a reservation or ordering link, and a tap-to-call phone number. The guide says these should be easy to find near the top of the home page.
Can Google copy menu details from my website? Google says it may transcribe menu data from your business website so it appears on your Business Profile. The guide says a clear text menu is the cleanest source you can offer.
