10 good resolutions for your restaurant in 2025

January 2025 is approaching (while your head is still in the festive spirit). What's the balance sheet at the end of the year? But above all, what resolutions? How to stand out from the 175,000 or so competing restaurants in France?

Restaurant owner: why make new resolutions for 2025?

With trends evolving rapidly in Paris and elsewhere, every autumn is a new challenge for restaurateurs! What are restaurant owners aiming for? To stand out from the crowd, to appear everywhere and make people want to visit, on all the relevant platforms, in order to convert many Internet users into customers before building loyalty. But to achieve this, it's essential to implement good practices, arm yourself with the right tools and develop good habits.

What are they? Here are the 10 resolutions every restaurateur should adopt to ensure a successful year.

1. Respond to all customer reviews and recontact dissatisfied customers.

The first thing to do is undoubtedly to respond to all Google reviews reviews left by your restaurant's customers. Although time-consuming, this task is nonetheless essential, for a number of reasons:

• First and foremost, this helps build loyalty among people who have left a positive positive review. By responding to this review, the link between the customer and the restaurateur is strengthened, and the chances of the customer returning to the establishment are increased.
• This also helps to convince unsatisfied customers and give the establishment that failed to win them over a second chance. Negative responses are the ones that restaurateurs need to take the most time with. They provide an opportunity to engage in dialogue and understand where improvements can be made - especially when these points recur from one customer to the next. When a customer is dissatisfied, don't hesitate to offer to repeat the experience and come and test the restaurant at a later date. To do this, it's important to understand whether the customer's dissatisfaction is due to an exceptional error (particularly busy service that day, error in the order, etc.) or whether, on the contrary, it's due to points that need to be improved quickly. In both cases, it's important to tell the customer that the error will be corrected the next time he or she visits.
• Finally, responding to customer reviews, whether good or bad, helps you to gain visibility on Google. The search engine takes into account not only the review responses, but also the keywords included in them. It is therefore important to identify the terms that define your establishment, and to include them in as many review responses as possible. TripAdvisor, La Fourchette and Yelp all take review responses into account in their overall rankings. So don't overlook them if you want to increase your visibility and optimize your SEO!

2. Be present in as many directories as possible.

To maximize your chances of converting large numbers of Internet users into customers, it's important to be present on all referencing platforms !

‍7 out of 10 French now choose their restaurant online. But to choose it, they have a number of tools at their disposal: La Fourchette, Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp, the Yellow Pages are all sites that customers visit to opt for their preferred establishment. Being present on all the channels used by potential customers maximizes your chances of selling out at lunch and dinner.

It's also important to think about international tourists, who don't use the same SEO platforms as other customers, but are a significant source of revenue for restaurateurs.

Think Yandex for the Russians, Dianping for the Chinese or Yelp for the Americans.

3. Update menus and schedules on all platforms.

But being present on these platforms isn't enough! For your presence to be useful, it's imperative that you regularly update the information they contain.

• A schedule change?
• A new map?
• Replaced a dish?
• An exceptional closure?

All these changes must be made on all the directories on which the restaurant is present.

Another advantage: these updates boost your local SEO by sending positive signals to Google.

4. Pay attention to the visuals used.

Back-to-school is the perfect time to look your best! On the Internet, your photos are your shop window! Make sure your visuals are attractive and, above all, representative of your dishes, decor and ambiance. Attractive visuals will convince Internet users who are looking for you on the web!

‍5. Share regularly on social media

‍Thesevisuals can be useful for animating your social media. Because if there's one good resolution to apply from September onwards, it's to be active on social media ! There are two advantages to being present on Instagram and Facebook: acquisition and loyalty, and constant publications on your networks will reinforce natural referencing for your brand. Finally, like Tripadvisor and other directories, Facebook and Instagram are very popular for finding good addresses! A real showcase for your restaurant, a good community management strategy will help you gain notoriety. Get started! To your hashtags!

6. Remember to check your direct messages via Instagram and Messenger.

And yes, Instagram and Facebook are used just as much as our age-old directories! We often forget that Instagram and Messenger are used by your customers to ask you questions and send you a booking request directly. To avoid any abandonment due to lack of response, find a slot in your day to check your messages and respond to any requests. If you're short of time, install a direct link to your reservation platform.

7. Share authentic story content

If you want to stand out from the crowd on social media, there's no magic bullet: you're going to have to start using stories! Today, 500 million users consume stories on Instagram every day. It's a niche not to be missed if you want to gain visibility. Authenticity is the name of the game with this format, so take advantage of it to share behind-the-scenes stories about your team, new menus and dishes of the day, all of which will strengthen the bonds with your community. Keeping your community informed on a daily basis will increase their loyalty. Last but not least, you'll be more visible on Instagram.

8. Optimize your sympathy capital: gather opinions!

You've done your job: your customer's belly is full and he's all smiles. Don't hesitate to ask him to leave you a review! He'll be delighted to share his successful experience. Reviews are essential for good visibility on the web, so don't be shy! Your restaurant's SEO will thank you.

9. On your social media, angle well for better targeting!

Technical mastery of Instagram or Facebook won't be enough to set you apart, if your publications are aimed at a target far removed from your usual clientele. If the tone isn't right, you run the risk of disappointing your regulars and potential customers. While a gourmet restaurant may be formal and formal in tone, a more casual brand may be lighter and more informal. Before visiting social media , ask yourself two questions: who is my target audience? And how should I address them?  

10. Be accompanied!

Are you motivated to put these good resolutions into practice, but lack the time and expertise? That's what we do at Malou! We help restaurateurs raise their profile, win over new customers and keep them. Contact us at contact@malou.io and we'll be delighted to help!