Restaurants: How to Use Reviews and Keywords to Fill Your Place on Weekdays

Filling Your Restaurant on Weekdays: How to Use Reviews and Keywords to Boost Traffic

Filling a restaurant on weekdays is one of the biggest challenges for owners and managers in the hospitality industry. While weekends often fill automatically, weekdays tend to remain empty, leading to underutilized staff, wasted resources, and lower revenue.

However, there are two fundamental levers in digital marketing for restaurants that can make a real difference: online reviews and the strategic use of keywords. In this YellowRock blog article, you’ll learn step by step how to combine them to maximize visibility, improve reputation, and attract customers during weekdays, when you need them most.

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Table of Contents

1. Why weekdays are a challenge

2. The power of online reviews in hospitality

3. How to collect and manage quality reviews

4. Keyword research for restaurants

5. On-page optimization: integrating reviews and keywords

6. Local SEO and Google My Business

7. Content marketing strategies

8. Case studies: success examples

9. Measuring results and key KPIs

10. Conclusion and next steps

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1. Why weekdays are a challenge

Consumption patterns:
Most customers plan weekend outings or special celebrations, leaving Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with low reservations.

Intense competition:
Restaurants compete for the same office workers or takeout seekers, saturating the market.

High fixed costs:
Rent, staff, and supplies are constant expenses; without customers, profit margins shrink drastically.

Lack of visibility:
Many users don’t even know your restaurant offers weekday promotions or special menus.

Insight: To break this cycle, you need two key digital marketing elements: social proof through reviews and organic positioning through relevant keywords.

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2. The power of online reviews in hospitality

Online reviews act as an implicit agreement: potential diners trust the opinions of others more than your own advertising.

• Increase trust: A business with 4+ stars and dozens of reviews creates instant credibility.

• Boost conversion: YellowRock internal study shows a 0.5% increase in average rating can raise reservations by 10%.

• Competitive differentiation: In neighborhoods with multiple restaurants, those with featured reviews rank higher on search engines and platforms like TripAdvisor or Google.

Related keywords:

• “online reviews for restaurants”

• “restaurant review management”

• “social proof restaurants”

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3. How to collect and manage quality reviews

Make it easy for the customer:
Insert a direct link to Google My Business or Facebook at the end of the meal (on the receipt, table QR, or thank-you email).

Automate post-visit reminders:
Use email marketing tools to send personalized messages 24 hours after the visit, requesting feedback.

Ask in-person:
Train staff to politely ask for a review when collecting the tip — can generate 30% more reviews.

Manage responses proactively:
Respond to all reviews, positive and negative, showing care and solutions.
This improves your reputation and local SEO ranking.

SEO tip:
When responding to reviews, naturally include keywords like “weekday menu,” “restaurant promotion in Madrid,” “best grilled meat in [your area]” to strengthen search relevance.

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4. Keyword research for restaurants

The core of an SEO strategy is knowing what terms potential customers use when searching for weekday dining.

4.1 Recommended tools:

• Google Keyword Planner (free with Google Ads account)

• Ubersuggest or Ahrefs (paid, with competitor analysis)

• AnswerThePublic (questions & long-tail ideas)

4.2 Types of keywords:

• Generic: “restaurant near me,” “cheap restaurant”

• Mid-tail: “tapas restaurant Madrid center,” “daily menu restaurant Barcelona”

• Long-tail: “where to have an inexpensive weekday dinner in Madrid,” “best artisan pizza for takeaway Tuesday”

Strategy: Combine all types in your content plan. Long-tail keywords attract highly qualified traffic with lower competition.

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5. On-page optimization: integrating reviews and keywords

Once you have your keywords and reviews, make them work together:

5.1 Valuable web content

• Create landing pages for “Weekday Menu,” “Tuesday and Wednesday Reservations,” “June Promotions”

• Include snippets of positive reviews using Schema.org Review markup so search engines show stars in results

5.2 Optimized HTML tags

• Title: “Weekday Daily Menu at [Restaurant Name] | Online Reservations”

• Meta description: “Discover our weekday menu with homemade dishes and special prices. Book your table Monday–Thursday and enjoy exclusive offers!”

• Headings H1–H3: Use keywords in H1 (one per page) and multiple H2–H3 to structure content

5.3 Images and alt attributes

• File names with keywords:
  weekday-menu-restaurant.jpg
customer-reviews-restaurant-barcelona.jpg

• Alt text: “Oxtail dish in weekday menu at Madrid restaurant”

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6. Local SEO and Google My Business

To fill your restaurant with local weekday customers, local SEO is essential:

Google My Business profile (GMB):

• Verify address and phone numbers

• Update weekday hours (13:00–16:00)

• Publish offers and events Monday–Thursday

Accurate categorization:

• Secondary categories: “Daily menu,” “Monday–Thursday offer”

NAP consistency:

• Ensure Name, Address, Phone match across website, directories, and social media

Local content:

• Post about weekday events: “Wednesday tapas happy hour” or “Tuesday risotto special”

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7. Content marketing strategies

Content marketing helps attract organic traffic and reinforce keywords:

7.1 Blog

• Publish articles like:
  “5 reasons to visit our restaurant on Tuesday”
  “How to choose the best daily menu in [City]”

• Integrate keywords in titles, subtitles, and text (1–1.5% density)

7.2 Segmented newsletter

• Create lists for weekday clients vs. weekend clients

• Send exclusive Monday promotions and highlight top reviews from the past weekend

7.3 Social media

• Share stories showing live reviews

• Use local hashtags: #RestaurantMadrid, #WeekdayMenu, #RealReviews

• Collaborate with local micro-influencers to try weekday menu in exchange for reviews

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8. Case studies: success examples

YellowRock Café (Madrid)

• Initial situation: 25% occupancy on Monday–Tuesday

• Action: Created landing page “MenuTuesday” with featured reviews and Schema markup

• Results in 3 months:

  • +60% Tuesday reservations

  • 0.3% increase in average Google rating

La Terraza Azul (Barcelona)

• Problem: Quiet Wednesdays

• Strategy: Instagram campaign encouraging GMB reviews, SEO optimization for “Wednesday dinner Madrid”

• Impact: 75% occupancy on Wednesdays, +1,200 website visits

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9. Measuring results and key KPIs

This table gives a clear view of how actions — review management, keyword optimization, content campaigns — translate into real results.

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10. Conclusion and next steps

Filling your restaurant on weekdays is no longer an impossible dream. By combining online reviews and strategic keywords, you can:

• Boost reputation and build trust

• Increase organic traffic with local SEO and content marketing

• Convert online visits into real reservations

Next steps:

1. Audit your reviews: Check quantity and respond to all

2. Research keywords: Create a local and long-tail keyword list

3. Optimize your website and GMB: Apply Schema markup and update details

4. Create content: Blog, newsletters, social media with integrated reviews and keywords

5. Measure and adjust: Review KPIs weekly and adapt strategy

Ready to transform your weekday traffic? At YellowRock, we specialize in digital marketing for restaurants. Contact us and discover how we can help fill your restaurant every day of the week!