The food service industry is in unknown territory amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and working hard to adapt daily operations to accommodate delivery customers. It’s not surprising that Google search terms related to food delivery, grocery delivery, and even alcohol delivery have increased exponentially since social distancing and shelter-at-home rules have rolled throughout the country.

Many restaurants are wondering how they can better optimize their Google My Business profiles and perform better in search during this tumultuous time. Fortunately, Google has recently released several updates to help restaurants weather the storm.

Google My Business Changes

Google My Business has made several changes to better accommodate local businesses coping with COVID-19, including allowing more optimizations for “drive-thru,” “takeout,” and “delivery” on profile pages.

Google is encouraging restaurants and other local businesses to do all the following:

Update Your Hours of Operation

It’s important for restaurants experiencing flex or reduced hours to update their hours of operation on not only their Google My Business page, but also on all their online profiles including Facebook, Yelp, and other search engines.

Update your restaurant’s COVID-19 hours of operations on Google My Business.

Pro Tip: If you are managing multiple locations, you can use the bulk upload feature to update store hours or use the Google My Business API. You can also use a local citation management platform (i.e. Yext, ReachLocal, Bright Local) to help manage your online data from one platform and have it syndicate to all online publishers.

Mark Your Business as “Temporarily Closed”

For any businesses temporarily closing, Google suggests marking your Google My Business profile during COVID-19 as “temporarily closed.” It’s important to note marking your business as temporarily closed will not affect your local search ranking.

Mark your restaurant as ‘temporarily closed’ for coronavirus on Google My Business.

To mark a business as temporarily closed:

Log in to Google My Business
Go to “Info” on dashboard
Mark as “Temporarily Closed.

How to list your restaurant as ‘temporarily closed’ due to COVID-19.

Add "Dine-in," "Takeout," "Delivery," and "Curbside pickup" Attributes

Google has added new attributes for “dine-in,” “takeout,” and “curbside pickup” for all restaurants. Now, when searchers look online for restaurants near them, there will be a prominent “X” or “✓” next to delivery and takeout options. Learn more about how to add/edit attributes here.

Mark your restaurant’s dine-in, takeout and delivery options on Google My Business.

Publish Your Limited Menu

In order to better serve delivery customers, many restaurants are paring back their menus and offering a limited delivery menu. Update your Google My Business profile to show your reduced menu items as well as highlight special offers.

Publish a COVID-19 Post

Google introduced a new COVID-19 post type for restaurants to better communicate information about closures, updated store hours, menu items, discounts, and safety precautions they’re taking such as tamper-proof packaging and labeling.

Post how your restaurant is dealing with coronavirus on Google My Business

To publish a Google My Business COVID-19 post:

Log in to your Google My Business account.
On your dashboard, go to “Posts.”
Select “COVID-19 Update.”
Create a post, promote an offer, or give an update related to COVID-19.
Google My Business COVID-19 post will show up in search results.

How to create a post in Google My Business

Start Taking Online Food Orders

If you don’t already have a website capable of processing online orders, Google now offers customized ordering sites through the.ordering.app. Now through July 1, 2020, the Ordering.app is waiving the 1.5% per order fee to help support restaurants during the coronavirus (COVID-19). To enable food ordering, follow these steps.

Accept online delivery orders or curbside pickup with The Ordering App on Google My Business

Connect with Customers Over Mobile

Download the Google My Business app on Android or iOS and enable messaging to offer customers additional support.

Pro tip: Write an automated message to let customers know your business status.

Automated message for restaurants during COVID-19 on Google My Business

Don’t Forget the Basics

Beyond optimizations you can take specific to COVID-19, it’s important to remember the basics.

Claim your Google My Business profile
Maintain accurate and consistent business data (name, address, phone number) across all online listings
Add professional business photos
Add links to your website, social profiles, and any third-party ordering platform
Choose the most specific and relevant primary business category
Monitor and respond to business reviews
Use a keyword-rich business description

Ensure you have these foundational pieces of your Google My Business profile set up in addition to the COVID-19-specific features.

Google My Business Action Items Recap

To better prepare for COVID-19, restaurants should implement the following on their Google My Business pages:

Update hours of operation
Mark as temporarily closed
Add "Dine-in," "Takeout," "Delivery," and "Curbside pickup" attributes
Publish limited menu
Publish COVID-19 post
Enable taking online orders
Download Google My Business app for customer messaging
Don’t forget the basics

Please take note that during this time, Google My Business has limited functionality due to COVID-19, so anticipate delays should you contact support.

About the Author:
Rachel Morgan is the Director of Marketing at Dot It Restaurant Fulfillment, a manufacturer and distributor of food safety essentials for takeout and delivery. Dot It is the official manufacturer of SecureIt™ tamper-proof labels. Follow Dot It online @DotItNation and at www.dotit.com.