Restaurant and Cafe Owners: Get Bookings Without Paying Deliveroo 30%
Stop paying 30% to delivery platforms. Restaurants and cafes can own their bookings with smart website design, Google optimisation and local SEO.
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If you run a restaurant or cafe, you already know the feeling. That sinking moment when you check the month's takings and realise a third of your revenue went straight to Deliveroo, Just Eat or Uber Eats.
Thirty percent. Gone. Every single order.
You did the cooking. You paid for the ingredients. You hired the staff. You built the reputation. And someone else walked away with nearly a third of the money.
It doesn't have to be this way.
The Problem With Renting Your Customer Relationships
Here's the thing about delivery platforms. They're not your partners. They're landlords. You're renting space on their platform, and like any landlord, they can change the terms whenever they fancy.
They own the customer data. They control the pricing. They decide who sees your restaurant in the app. And if they want to promote your competitor over you tomorrow, there's not a thing you can do about it.
Sound familiar? It should. It's exactly the same problem every business faces with social media. You build an audience on Instagram, pour hours into content, and then the algorithm changes. Suddenly nobody sees your posts unless you pay for ads.
Rented land. All of it.
The difference? With a delivery platform, you're not just losing visibility. You're losing 30% of every transaction.
What You Actually Own
Let me tell you what you do own:
Your website. Your email list. Your Google Business Profile. Your reputation on Google Maps.
These are assets. Nobody can take them away. Nobody can charge you 30% to use them. And when someone finds you through Google and books direct, you keep every penny.
That's the game. Get found where people are already looking, make it dead easy to book or order, and cut out the expensive middleman.
Start With Google Business Profile
Before anyone touches your website, before they think about booking, they're googling you.
"Best Italian near me."
"Cafes open Sunday Manchester."
"Gluten free restaurant Leeds."
Where do they land? Your Google Business Profile. That little box on the right hand side of search results, complete with photos, reviews, opening times and, crucially, your menu.
Most restaurant owners set this up once, years ago, and never look at it again. That's leaving money on the table.
Here's what to do:
Keep your menu updated. Google lets you upload your full menu with prices. Do it. Keep it current. When someone searches for you at 7pm on a Tuesday wondering if you're open, they can see exactly what you serve without clicking through to your website.
Get reviews, respond to every one. Google loves fresh reviews. They push you higher in local search results. And when you respond, especially to the negative ones, you show potential customers you actually care.
Post updates. New dish? Seasonal menu? Event night? Post it directly on your Google Business Profile. It shows up in search and keeps your listing active in Google's eyes.
Use the booking button. If you have an online booking system (and you should), link it directly from your profile. Someone searching "Italian restaurant near me" can book a table without ever leaving Google. Friction removed.
One client, a small family-run Italian in the Midlands, hadn't touched their Google profile in three years. We updated the menu, added 50 photos, started posting weekly. Within two months, they were getting twice as many direct bookings through Google. No ads. Just showing up properly where people were already looking.
Your Website: Make Ordering and Booking Simple
Your website isn't a brochure. It's a conversion tool.
If someone lands on your homepage and can't book a table or place an order within three seconds, you've lost them. They'll go back to Deliveroo because it's easier.
Here's what your restaurant website needs:
An obvious booking button. Top right corner. Above the fold. Big, bold, unmissable. "Book a Table" or "Reserve Now." Not buried in a menu. Not hiding on a contact page.
Online ordering that you own. There are platforms that let you take orders through your own website without the 30% Deliveroo tax. Some charge a small monthly fee or a much lower percentage (5-10%). You keep the customer data, you control the experience, and the margins actually make sense.
Your menu, fully visible. Don't make people download a PDF. Don't hide it behind a "View Menu" link that opens a scanned image from 2019. Put your full menu on the website, properly formatted, easy to read on mobile, with prices.
Mobile-first design. Most people searching for restaurants are on their phones. If your website doesn't work perfectly on a phone, you're dead in the water.
Fast loading speed. Google punishes slow websites. People abandon slow websites. If it takes more than three seconds to load, you're losing bookings.
Local SEO: Show Up When People Search
This is where you win long-term. Not paid ads. Not Instagram reels. Just showing up when someone in your area searches for what you do.
If you run a brunch spot in Bristol, you want to appear when someone googles "best brunch Bristol" or "weekend breakfast near me." That's local SEO, and it's how you build a steady stream of customers who find you directly.
Here's how it works:
Target local keywords on your website. Don't just say "we serve great coffee." Say "independent coffee shop in Chorlton serving specialty beans and homemade pastries." That's the kind of specific, local language Google understands.
Create location pages if you have multiple sites. Each location gets its own page with its own address, menu, opening times and local content. Google treats them as separate entities and ranks them for local searches.
Get listed in local directories. Old school, but it works. TripAdvisor, Yelp, local food blogs, Chamber of Commerce listings. Every link back to your website from a local source tells Google you're legitimate and relevant.
Write content that answers questions. "What's the best pizza in Cambridge?" could be a blog post. "Where to eat vegan in Brighton" could be another. You're not trying to win a Pulitzer. You're trying to show up in search and prove you know your stuff.
This isn't quick. It takes a few months to build momentum. But once you start ranking for local searches, it keeps working. No ongoing ad spend. No 30% commission. Just people finding you because you show up in the right place.
Why Owning the Customer Relationship Changes Everything
When someone orders through Deliveroo, that's Deliveroo's customer. Not yours.
You don't get their email. You don't know if they've ordered from you five times or once. You can't send them a discount code for their birthday. You can't invite them to a tasting event.
Deliveroo owns the relationship. And if they decide to promote a competitor next week, your regular customer might never see you again.
When someone books through your website or calls you directly, that's your customer.
You can email them. You can build loyalty. You can offer them something special and keep them coming back. And you keep the full margin.
That difference compounds. A customer who orders direct once is far more likely to order direct again. Over a year, that's thousands of pounds you're no longer handing over to a platform.
The Reality Check
I won't pretend this is all instant. It's not.
Getting your Google profile humming, building a website that converts, ranking for local searches... it takes a bit of time. A few months, realistically, before you see serious traction.
But here's the other reality: every month you stay reliant on Deliveroo is another month you're paying 30%.
Even if you keep using delivery platforms for now, building your own presence means you're not completely at their mercy. You have options. You have control.
And if you want help with any of this, whether it's fixing your Google profile, building a website that actually gets bookings, or working out what local keywords to target, that's exactly what we do at Audio & Co. We've worked with restaurants, cafes, independents who were haemorrhaging margin and wanted their customers back.
You don't need to dance on TikTok. You don't need to go viral. You just need to show up where people are already searching, make it easy for them to book, and keep the relationship.
If any of this sounds familiar, or you just want to know where your website stands right now, grab a free instant SEO audit at audioandco.com/free-seo-audit. It takes 30 seconds, checks over 30 SEO factors, and you will get a full report you can act on straight away. No sales calls, no pressure. Just honest answers.
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