This is how you get more out of your online menu

Start here: put the menu link in your Google profile

This is the move that gives the greatest effect, and almost no one does it. Google Business Profile is where most guests meet you first: if someone searches for your name, or for "Thai nearby", it is your profile with maps, photos and opening hours that appears. In the profile there is a separate field for menu link.

How to do it: log in to your company profile and select "Edit profile" → "Company information" → "Contact" → "Menu link". Paste in the address you have with us - mymenu.no/dittnav - and save. The profile must be verified, and the field is available for restaurants, cafes and bars.

Then you get a "Menu" button right in Google Maps and in the search result. The guest standing on the street looking for a place to eat sees your entire menu with two taps, without having to find your website first.

The effect is documented. Google states that companies with a complete profile receive around 70 per cent more visits to the premises, that they are 2.7 times as often perceived as trustworthy, and that customers are 50 per cent more inclined to shop. The menu link is one of the pieces of information that makes the profile complete.

Link, or Google's own menu editor?

Google also allows you to enter the entire menu manually in the profile. It sounds more thorough, but then you suddenly have two menus to keep the same - and one quickly becomes out of date when the prices change.

With a menu link, you only edit one place. If you change a price with us, it is correct in Google at the same moment, because Google points to your live page instead of a copy.

Share the one link where the guests are already

Your menu URL is the same no matter where you share it, and it's always up to date. Put it in your Instagram profile, on your Facebook page, in your Tripadvisor listing, in your email signature and on the delivery services you use.

It also helps with visibility: every proper link to the menu page tells Google that the page belongs to you and is worth displaying. The company profile is the one that counts the most.

Get the QR code out in the venue - and on the door

The QR code you received by email is ready to print. Most people put it on the tables, but the most valuable places are often the ones that are forgotten: on the door or in the window, where people stand and decide whether to enter, and on the takeaway bag, where it reminds the guest to order again.

A tip: write a short sentence next to the code, for example "Scan for menu in your language". People scan far more often when they know what to expect.

Pictures sell - especially on the dishes you make the most money from

Images are the most underrated sales tool in a digital menu. Figures from the delivery platforms point in the same direction: menus with pictures get significantly more orders than menus without, and dishes with both a picture and a good description do clearly the best.

You don't need a photographer. Start with the five to ten dishes you would most like to sell. Take the photos in daylight by the window, directly from above or at a 45 degree angle, and use the same plate and background throughout, so the menu is coherent. The rest of the dishes do well with text.

Keep the menu alive

A menu that matches results in fewer disappointed guests and better reviews. Mark the dishes as sold out when the kitchen runs out, update the prices as soon as they change, and add seasonal dishes while they are relevant. Everything is done in seconds from the mobile, and the change is immediately visible to the guests.

If you are going on holiday or are closed for a period of time, click on the closed banner. Then the guests will be notified immediately, instead of facing a locked door.

Fill in "About us" - this is where guests form an impression

Address, telephone, opening hours and map belong on the about page, together with pictures of the venue and preferably the story behind the place. The guest can start the directions in their own map, either Google Maps or Apple Maps, and call you directly from the page.

If you accept orders by phone, or through Wolt or Foodora, enter the number or link. Then the menu becomes not just something to read, but something to order from.

Let the languages ​​work for you

The menu is automatically displayed in the guest's own language – 23 languages ​​in total. It costs you nothing and requires no work, but for the tourist who does not read Norwegian, it is the difference between booking safely and moving on to the next place.

Feel free to mention it by the QR code and in the Google profile. "Menu in 23 languages" is a good reason to choose your place.

The checklist

Do these five things today, and the most important thing is in place: put the menu link in your Google profile, share the link in your Instagram profile, print out the QR code and hang it on the door, add pictures of the five dishes you want to sell the most, and fill in the about page with address, phone and opening hours.

All in all, it takes less than half an hour - and it is that half hour that allows the guests to actually find the menu you have just created.