--- title: "Google My Business Photos: What Helps a Restaurant Get Chosen" description: "Someone comparing two restaurants on their phone before deciding where to eat rarely reads much of anything: they look at the photos on the Google My Business listing and pick based on what they see there. I have walked several restaurant owners around the Greater Montréal area through cleaning up their listing, and the photo ... Read more" canonical: "https://socialinfluencebuilder.com/en/blog/google-my-business-photos-restaurant/" lastmod: "2018-11-14T18:32:00+00:00" lang: "en-CA" format: "markdown" --- HTML version: # Google My Business Photos: What Helps a Restaurant Get Chosen Someone comparing two restaurants on their phone before deciding where to eat rarely reads much of anything: they look at the photos on the Google My Business listing and pick based on what they see there. I have walked several restaurant owners around the Greater Montréal area through cleaning up their listing, and the photo section is almost always the part left untouched the longest, even though it directly affects who gets the call or the directions request. Here is the shot list I recommend to a restaurant, the order to add it in, and how to check afterward whether the photos are doing their job. ## Why do photos matter this much for a restaurant listing? Because the [Google My Business listing](/en/glossary/#google-business-profile) is often the first contact between your restaurant and someone who has never eaten there, before they even land on your website or read a review. On mobile, photos sit at the top of the listing, above reviews and above hours: that first impression forms in a few seconds. Someone weighing two nearby restaurants often picks whichever one has photos that make them hungrier, especially for a meal decision made quickly, between noon and dinner. ## Which storefront photo actually helps people find you? A daytime photo where the sign and the street number are readable from the sidewalk should be the first photo on the listing. That image serves one specific purpose: it confirms to someone following Google Maps directions that they have arrived at the right spot, which matters a lot on a commercial street where several storefronts look similar. Skip a nighttime shot with yellow lighting that makes the sign hard to read, or a photo where a parked car blocks half the entrance. If your restaurant's door is not obvious from the street, add a second photo showing the actual approach: it cuts down on calls from customers circling the wrong parking lot. ## Which dishes should get photographed first? The three or four dishes that sell the most and represent your kitchen best, shot in the natural light of your dining room rather than under a direct flash that flattens the colours. Someone flipping through photos before booking is asking one simple question: what does this place actually serve? Ten photos of the same plate do not help more than three well-chosen ones; what helps is covering the real range of your menu, a main, a starter, a dessert, instead of repeating the most photogenic plate from five angles. A dish photographed straight on the table, without an elaborate setup, usually works better than an overly styled shot that no longer resembles what arrives at the customer's table. ## Should the dining room and the atmosphere be shown too? Yes, because someone planning a group dinner or a special occasion wants to know what the space looks like before they walk in. A photo of the dining room taken from a corner, showing the lighting, the tables and the style of decor, answers a question the menu cannot: is this a casual spot, or somewhere for a dressier night out? For a restaurant with a patio, a photo of the open patio often changes the decision for someone looking for a summer spot. If your dining room is small or packed during rush hours, a photo taken at a quieter moment gives a truer sense of the space than the chaos of a Friday night service. ## Does the whole menu need to be photographed? A readable photo of the menu or the daily specials board, shot straight on with enough light to read the prices, helps someone who wants to confirm pricing or offerings before making the trip, especially if your website menu is not current. It is not as high a priority as the dish photos, but it cuts down on calls asking whether you still have the lunch table d'hôte. If your menu changes often, a general photo of the type of cuisine you serve works better than a dated menu photo that no longer matches current prices. ## How do you know if your photos are actually working? The listing dashboard has an insights tab where Google shows how many views your photos are getting, compared with the average for similar restaurants in your area. If your photos are pulling in noticeably fewer views than that average, it is usually a sign the main photo is not catching the eye in search results, or that the listing simply does not have enough photos to hold attention. That number does not say exactly how many bookings came from your photos, but it is the only direct signal Google gives on this, and I check it with every client at least once a month in the early stages. ## What mistakes come up most often? The three mistakes I see most when a restaurant finally cleans up its listing: a single storefront photo taken years earlier that no longer matches how the place looks now, dish photos pulled from a stock photo site instead of real plates served on site, and a listing where the newest photos are actually ones added by customers rather than by the restaurant itself. A photo that does not honestly represent what a customer will receive creates a letdown that shows up in reviews later, which costs more in the long run than a proper photo session up front. ## How often should new photos get added? Once a season works well for a restaurant that adjusts its menu seasonally, and at least twice a year for a more stable menu. In my experience, a listing that keeps getting fresh photos tends to stay more visible in search, and it gives returning customers a reason to check the listing again. Adding a photo here and there without retiring the old ones eventually mixes a renovated dining room with shots of the old decor, or a dish that has been dropped from the menu with the current lineup. I recommend removing outdated photos at the same time new ones go up rather than just stacking them over time: a listing with twenty consistent photos helps a customer more than one with a hundred where half no longer match reality. ## Who should take the photos, you or your staff? Whoever is available at a quiet moment between services, as long as they follow the shot list rather than snapping whatever is closest at hand. I do not tell clients to hire a professional photographer for this step; the gap between a phone photo taken with care in good light and a professional shoot is much smaller than the gap between any photo and no photo at all, or between a fresh photo and one nobody has touched in three years. Where a professional does help is a full rebrand or a new menu launch, when the restaurant wants a consistent set of hero images for its website and its social pages at the same time. For the ongoing listing upkeep in between those moments, a staff member with a phone and fifteen quiet minutes is enough. ## How do you run a photo session without a studio budget? A recent phone, natural daylight and a quiet hour between services are enough for most restaurants; it does not take a professional photographer or lighting gear. I recommend making a list before starting: storefront, three or four signature dishes, two angles of the dining room, a patio shot if you have one, and the menu or specials board. Taking all of these on the same day, in the same light, gives a more consistent listing than photos added piecemeal over months in different styles. That is the exact list I hand a client before reworking their listing through [our Google listing optimization service](/en/services/google-business-profile/): photos are often the most visible change, and the fastest one to make, on the whole Google My Business listing. *Drafted with AI assistance, checked and published by [Marven Salgado](/en/about/marven-salgado/).* ## Go further - **Service:** [Google Business Profile Optimization for Montreal Businesses](https://socialinfluencebuilder.com/en/services/google-business-profile/) - **Case study:** [Barranco Montréal](https://socialinfluencebuilder.com/en/barranco-montreal/) - **Glossary:** [Digital marketing glossary: Google Business Profile](https://socialinfluencebuilder.com/en/glossary/#google-business-profile)