How to Get More Customers as a Cafe in Perth

Introduction

Most cafes in Perth still rely on foot traffic and word of mouth. A good flat white, a loyal regular, maybe a post on Instagram every other week. That approach worked a decade ago. It doesn't cut it anymore.

In 2026, 97% of consumers search online before choosing a local business. That includes your next customer — the one scrolling Google Maps at 7:15 am looking for "best cafe near me" before their morning commute through Subiaco. Or the office manager in the CBD searching for a reliable catering option for Friday's team lunch.

If your cafe doesn't show up in that search, you don't exist. Not to them.

The good news? Getting found online isn't complicated. It doesn't require a marketing degree or a $10,000 monthly ad budget. It requires the right steps, done in the right order, with consistency.

This guide walks you through exactly how to get more customers as a cafe in Perth — from claiming your Google listing to showing up in AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity. We've helped dozens of Perth hospitality businesses do this. Now we're handing you the playbook.

Let's get into it.

TL;DR

• This is a step-by-step guide to getting more customers as a cafe in Perth, written specifically for cafe owners and managers who want more walk-ins, more phone orders, and more catering enquiries.
• We cover Google Maps optimisation, local SEO, review generation, content marketing, AI search visibility, and tracking your results.
• The average cafe transaction sits between $10 and $30 per visit. Even a small uplift in new customers — say, five extra per day — can mean $1,000+ in additional weekly revenue.
• Every strategy here is either free or low-cost to implement yourself. And if you'd rather hand it off, we outline exactly when that makes sense too.

Step 1: Claim and Optimise Your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is the single most important free tool available to your cafe. When someone searches "cafe near me" or "breakfast in Fremantle," Google pulls results from GBP listings first — not websites. That map pack at the top of the search results? That's where you need to be.

Here's how to set yours up properly:

Claim your listing. Go to business.google.com and either claim your existing listing or create a new one. Google will verify your business via postcard, phone, or email. Do this today if you haven't already. It takes five minutes.

Complete every single field. Business name, address, phone number, hours of operation, website URL, business category (start with "Cafe," then add secondary categories like "Espresso bar," "Breakfast restaurant," or "Catering service"). Add your menu. Add your services. Leave nothing blank.

Upload high-quality photos. Listings with photos receive 42% more requests for directions and 35% more click-throughs to websites, according to Google's own data. Photograph your interior, your signature dishes, your coffee, your outdoor seating area, and your team. Aim for at least 15–20 photos to start, and add new ones monthly.

Write a compelling business description. You get 750 characters. Use them. Mention your suburb, your specialty, what makes you different. "Family-owned specialty coffee cafe in Mount Lawley serving single-origin espresso, house-baked pastries, and weekend brunch since 2018" tells Google and customers exactly who you are and where you are.

Post regularly. Google Business Profile has a "Posts" feature that most cafes ignore entirely. Use it weekly. Share specials, new menu items, events, or seasonal offerings. These posts show up directly in your listing and signal to Google that your business is active.

Set up messaging. Enable the messaging feature so potential customers can contact you directly through your listing. Respond quickly — Google tracks your response time and rewards fast replies with better visibility.

This single step, done well, will drive more phone calls and walk-ins than almost anything else on this list. We've seen Perth cafes double their monthly enquiries within 60 days just from GBP optimisation alone. If you want us to handle this for you, check out our local SEO services for Perth cafes.

Step 2: Get Your Website Ranking for Local Keywords

Your Google Business Profile gets you into the map pack. Your website gets you into the organic search results below it. Owning both positions means you're taking up serious real estate on page one — and your competitors aren't.

The keyword strategy for a Perth cafe is straightforward. You want to rank for terms like:

• "cafe in Perth"
• "best coffee [suburb]"
• "breakfast cafe [suburb]"
• "cafe catering Perth"
• "brunch spots near me"

Build suburb-specific pages. If you serve customers from Leederville, Northbridge, and Mount Lawley, create a dedicated page for each. Not thin, duplicated content — genuinely useful pages that mention local landmarks, parking options, nearby attractions, and what you offer in that area. A page titled "Best Breakfast Cafe in Leederville" with 500+ words of relevant content will outrank a generic homepage every time.

Nail the technical basics. Your site needs to load in under three seconds on mobile. It needs to be mobile-responsive (over 60% of local searches happen on phones). Every page needs a unique title tag and meta description that includes your target keyword and suburb.

Include clear calls to action. Every page should make it obvious what you want the visitor to do next: call you, view your menu, book a table, or enquire about catering. Put your phone number in the header. Make your "Order Now" or "Book a Table" button impossible to miss.

Add structured data markup. This is the behind-the-scenes code that tells Google your business type, location, hours, menu items, and price range. It helps you appear in rich results — those enhanced listings with star ratings, hours, and pricing that stand out from plain blue links. If you're not sure how to implement schema markup, a developer or SEO professional can do this in under an hour.

Don't neglect page speed and security. Install an SSL certificate (your URL should start with https://). Compress your images. Use a quality hosting provider based in Australia for faster load times for local visitors.

For a deeper breakdown of cafe-specific SEO strategy, read our full guide on SEO for cafes in Perth.

Step 3: Build a Review Generation System

Reviews are the digital version of word of mouth — except they scale. A cafe with 200 Google reviews and a 4.7-star average will attract more clicks, more trust, and more customers than a cafe with 12 reviews and a 4.9-star rating. Volume matters almost as much as quality.

Ask at the point of delight. The best time to ask for a review is when a customer is happiest: right after they've complimented the food, after a successful catering order, or when a regular tells you they love coming in. Train your staff to recognise these moments and respond with a simple ask.

Make it frictionless. Create a direct link to your Google review page (you can generate this from your GBP dashboard). Print it as a QR code on table cards, receipts, or your takeaway cups. The fewer taps between the ask and the review, the more reviews you'll get.

Use a simple template. When following up with catering clients or event bookings via email, include a line like: "If you enjoyed your experience, we'd really appreciate a quick Google review — it helps other locals find us. [Link]." That's it. No essay required.

Respond to every review. Every single one — positive and negative. Thank happy reviewers by name. Address complaints professionally and offer to make things right. Google's algorithm favours businesses that engage with their reviews, and future customers will judge you on how you handle criticism more than the criticism itself.

Set a target. Aim for 5–10 new reviews per month. At that pace, you'll build a substantial review profile within six months that becomes a genuine competitive advantage in your suburb.

Step 4: Create Content That Attracts Customers

Content marketing for a cafe sounds like overkill until you realise that a single blog post can drive traffic to your website for years. The investment is a few hours of writing. The return is compounding organic visibility.

Write about what your customers actually search for. Think beyond your menu. People search for "best brunch spots in Perth," "dog-friendly cafes near me," "cafes with parking in Subiaco," and "where to host a baby shower in Perth." If you can answer those queries — and your cafe fits the bill — you'll capture that traffic.

Create a local guide. "The Ultimate Guide to Breakfast in [Your Suburb]" positions you as the authority. Mention other local businesses (they may link back to you, which boosts your SEO). Highlight what makes your area great. Embed a map. This kind of content earns links, shares, and trust.

Build an FAQ page. Answer the 15–20 questions your staff hear most often. Do you offer gluten-free options? Can I bring my dog? Do you cater for offices? What are your parking options? Each answer is a potential search result. FAQ pages also feed directly into Google's "People Also Ask" feature and AI search responses.

Stay consistent. You don't need to publish daily. One well-written post per month will compound over time. After a year, you'll have 12 pieces of evergreen content working around the clock to bring new eyes to your business.

Step 5: Optimise for AI Search (GEO)

Generative Engine Optimisation — GEO — is the newest frontier. When someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overview "What's the best cafe in Perth for brunch?", the answer comes from indexed web content. If your cafe is mentioned across authoritative sources, you get recommended.

Get cited on third-party platforms. Directories like TripAdvisor, Zomato, Broadsheet, and local Perth food blogs feed AI models. Make sure your business is listed, up-to-date, and well-reviewed on all of them.

Publish authoritative content on your own site. AI models favour clear, factual, well-structured content. Your "About" page, your FAQ page, and your blog posts should clearly state what you do, where you are, and what makes you worth visiting.

Earn media mentions. A write-up in Perth Now, a feature on a local food Instagram account, or a mention in a "best cafes" listicle gives AI models more data points to reference when recommending businesses.

This is still early-stage, but the cafes that invest now will dominate AI-generated recommendations for years. We wrote a complete breakdown of this topic in our GEO guide for Perth cafes.

Step 6: Track Your Results

You can't improve what you don't measure. And you shouldn't spend money on marketing you can't attribute to actual results.

Track calls. Use a call tracking number on your website and GBP listing. Tools like CallRail or even Google's built-in call tracking will show you exactly how many calls your online presence generates each month.

Monitor form submissions and online orders. If you offer catering or event bookings through your website, tag those form submissions as conversions in Google Analytics. Know your numbers.

Watch your keyword rankings. Use a tool like Semrush, Ahrefs, or BrightLocal to track where you rank for your target keywords each month. "Cafe in Perth CBD" moved from position 14 to position 5? That's measurable progress that will translate to more traffic and more customers.

Review your GBP Insights. Google tells you how many people viewed your listing, called you, requested directions, and visited your website. Check this monthly. Look for trends.

Calculate your ROI. If your average transaction is $15 and you gained 100 new customers this month from organic search, that's $1,500 in revenue directly attributable to your online presence. Compare that against your marketing spend and you'll quickly see what's working.

When to Hire a Professional

Everything in this guide is doable yourself. But "doable" and "done" are different things. Most cafe owners we talk to know they should be doing this. They just don't have the time — not when they're managing staff rosters, suppliers, food costs, and the morning rush.

That's where we come in.

At MoneyNearMe, we specialise in local digital marketing for Perth businesses — including cafes, restaurants, and hospitality venues. Our packages range from $500 to $2,000 per month, depending on what you need. Some clients start with just GBP optimisation and review management. Others want the full stack: SEO, content, GEO, and ongoing reporting.

Here's our honest take: if you have the time and discipline, start with Steps 1 through 3 yourself. Those are the highest-impact actions, and they're free. If you're not seeing traction after 90 days — or if you'd rather spend your time running your cafe instead of running your marketing — get in touch with us. We'll audit your current presence for free and tell you exactly where the gaps are.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can cafes get more customers online? Optimise your Google Business Profile, build a website that ranks for local keywords, generate consistent reviews, and create content that answers what customers search for.

What's the fastest way to get more calls as a cafe? Claim and fully optimise your Google Business Profile. Most cafes see an increase in calls within 30–60 days of completing this step properly.

How much should I spend on marketing as a cafe? Allocate 3–5% of gross revenue. For a cafe doing $15,000/month, that's $450–$750 — enough for professional local SEO and content support.

Is Google Ads or SEO better for cafes? SEO delivers better long-term ROI. Google Ads can generate quick results but stops working the moment you stop paying. We recommend starting with SEO and layering in ads later.