Restaurant SEO for restaurants, cafés and hospitality venues

Google's suggestions show three kinds of search. People search in Romanian, usually without diacritics:

• now and nearby: “restaurant langa mine deschis acum”, “restaurant cluj centru” (city center)
• quality: “restaurant langa mine cel mai bine evaluate”, “restaurant cluj napoca cel mai bine evaluate”
• type and facilities: “restaurant cluj traditional”, “restaurant cluj italian”, “restaurant cluj cu loc de joaca” (with a play area)

Almost always, the first answer is a map with three venues, ordered by how well they match, how close they are and how well known they are. “Open now” depends on the hours in your profile: if they are wrong, or holiday hours are missing, you lose exactly the customer who is ready to come. “Best rated” depends on reviews. “Italian” or “play area” depend on category, attributes, menu and photos.

The website matters most for searches for a specific dish and for private events, where people read and compare before deciding. That is why the menu, with prices and written as text, should be one click from the home page.

In the SEO Foundation:

• the venue's Google profile with the right category, exact hours (including holidays), real attributes such as a terrace, play area or vegetarian options, and recent photos of the venue
• the menu entered as text in the profile's menu editor, in sections, with descriptions and prices, not just as a photo or PDF
• profile links for menu, booking and ordering; the direct ordering link sits next to the delivery platforms, so you don't depend on them alone
• the menu on your website as text, so it can be found in searches for dishes
• Restaurant structured data with cuisine, menu and hours
• Search Console and a sitemap, plus the searches worth tracking; the technical repairs are on us

In the Local package the profile changes with the venue: photos of new dishes, posts for the seasonal menu, the terrace opening or a live-music night, plus holiday hours set before Christmas and Easter.

In the Growth package we build separate pages for private events (christenings, birthdays, corporate events), because that is a different search and a different customer from someone who wants a table tonight. For public events with a date, such as a concert or a themed evening, we add event structured data.

A few things we see often and fix:

• A menu only as a photo or PDF. It is hard to read on a phone and doesn't use Google's menu editor, which shows sections, descriptions and prices. On your site, a text menu can be found in searches for dishes.
• Online ordering without allergens. EU Regulation 1169/2011 requires mandatory food information, including allergens, to be available before a distance sale is completed. Your site's ordering menu has to show them.
• A slogan or keywords in the Google profile name, such as “Restaurant Traditional Cluj Centru Ieftin” (cheap traditional restaurant, Cluj center). The name has to be your real one.
• Reviews for a free dessert, requested only from happy customers or written by staff. Google bans them; on top of that, since 2022 Law 363/2007 explicitly prohibits fake reviews.
• Photos that aren't of your venue. Besides the copyright issue, they set expectations you can't meet.
• “The best restaurant in Cluj” without proof. It can count as misleading advertising.
• Event structured data for a permanent offer or the daily menu. It is meant for real events with a date.

The Google profile and technical fixes take 2–4 weeks. Correct hours, the text menu and the booking and ordering links make a difference as soon as they show in your profile.

For restaurants, rankings usually climb in 3–6 months, and the most precise searches (a cuisine, a facility, a neighborhood) move before “restaurant cluj”, where competition is toughest. For terrace season or holiday menus we prepare posts and photos before the season starts.

Reviews grow at the pace of your customers, not ours, so we don't promise a number.