Google Search may look at menu items in your Google Business Profile and how busy your store is during peak periods as local ranking factors and signals.
This comes from a report by Claudia Tomina, who has documented tests on the subject and believes that Google uses these signals to rank businesses in local packs on Google Maps and Google Search.
Menu item. According to the report, adding a menu item can help restaurants rank that menu item higher on Google. So if you add “Caesar salad” to your menu items on your Google Business Profile, Google will rank your restaurant higher. [ceasar salad] search.
This graph shows that the local restaurant's ranking improved in Google searches. [best caesar salad near me]The change has seen it rise from 71st to 1st place.
I spoke with Tomina and she showed me a few other examples of this working.
Popular times. According to the report, establishments that are busy during Google's most popular times tend to rank higher than those that are not as busy.
- “My research has shown that if a business is busy at a certain time of day, it will rank higher than its competitors,” Tomina writes.
The graph below shows the local Google ranking report for a keyword. [caesar salad near me]Rankings improved during popular times throughout the day.
Why we care. If you're doing local SEO or running your own local business, why not try some of these methods to see if they help your rankings? You can easily add a menu to your Google Business Profile and see if it makes a difference in foot traffic and online orders. This can also help you get more traffic during peak periods, which can help your rankings.
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