You run a restaurant in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The food is good, the atmosphere works and guests leave satisfied. Yet tables sit empty midweek and you rely too heavily on walk-ins or TripAdvisor. The problem may be simple: you do not appear when someone searches "restaurant Las Palmas" on Google.
The three pillars of local SEO for restaurants
1. A complete, up-to-date Google Business Profile. Your listing needs the exact business name, address and phone number, opening hours including public holidays, high-quality photos of the venue and dishes, a menu published directly on Google (not only as a PDF image), correct categories and a link to your website or booking page.
2. Google reviews. Google's algorithm weighs both quantity and quality. A restaurant with 4.6 stars and 80 reviews outranks one with 4.8 stars and 10 reviews. Ask satisfied guests directly after their meal: "Did you enjoy it? Would you mind leaving us a Google review?" Make it easy with a direct link sent via WhatsApp.
3. A website optimised for local search. Include the city name in titles and body copy, publish the full menu as readable text (not only images), add Restaurant schema markup, show opening hours clearly and ensure fast mobile load times. More than 80% of restaurant searches happen on a phone.
The most common mistake: relying only on TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor has visibility, but Google handles over 90% of search queries. You cannot fully control your TripAdvisor ranking, but you can control Google. Invest where you have leverage. With an optimised profile and a steady flow of reviews, results are usually visible within 4-8 weeks.
At CanarySites we help restaurants in Gran Canaria improve their online visibility. Request a free SEO audit and find out where your biggest opportunities are.