Latest / The Local Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Small Business, Google Maps, and Local SEO / How a Pizza Place Uses Google Maps to Drive Late-Night Orders
Transcript
- Lucas: If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used — maybe a new way to handle a customer complaint, or a smarter way to structure a Google Maps listing — that's exactly what keeps us doing this. Luna: Yeah, and a handful of listeners actually chip in monthly to keep the whole thing ad-free. It's at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Literally just a coffee. It's what funds making this many of these, and it means we never have to run a sponsor break that talks down to you. Luna: So, if it's useful and you wanna keep it going, that's where it lives. Lucas: Alright — let's talk about late-night pizza. Luna: I'm in. Lucas: There's a pizzeria in Austin, Texas, called 'Home Slice Pizza' — neighborhood joint, started in 2005, known for New York–style slices. They're not a chain. They've got two locations, both inside city limits. Luna: I've been to the South Congress one. It's always packed. Lucas: Right. And what's interesting is how they treat their Google Maps listing after 10 PM. Most pizza places set their hours, upload one photo, and call it done. Home Slice does something different. Luna: What do they do? Lucas: They update their Google Maps attributes specifically for late-night. They make sure 'Has late-night food' is checked. They also have 'Online ordering' and 'Takeout' enabled. But the key is they change their primary photo around 9 PM to a shot of a fresh slice on a paper plate under warm lighting, not the midday shot of the storefront. Luna: So they're basically remixing their storefront for the night crowd. Lucas: Exactly. And they post a Google Maps post every night around 10:30 PM — a single sentence like 'Slices until 1 AM, order online for pickup.' They don't overthink it. They just remind people who are searching on their phones. Luna: And that's smart because mobile searches for 'pizza near me open now' spike between 11 PM and 1 AM. I saw a study from a local SEO tool that said those queries are three times more likely to result in a call or click than daytime searches. Lucas: Three times is huge. And most small businesses leave that traffic on the table because their listing looks like it's asleep. Home Slice also keeps their Google Maps hours accurate — they update them for holidays, for weather closures, for everything. Luna: That seems basic, but you'd be surprised how many places have 'Open 24 hours' still showing from a mistake years ago. Lucas: Right. And then there's the review response timing. Home Slice responds to reviews from late-night customers within a couple of hours, even at midnight. Not a generic 'thank you' — they reference the order. Something like 'Glad the pepperoni slice hit the spot after that concert.' Luna: That builds loyalty. And it signals to Google that the listing is active, which helps ranking for those real-time searches. Lucas: Exactly. The algorithm notices that the business is engaged at the same time people are searching. It's a feedback loop. So here's a specific number: I looked at their Google Maps listing data using a third-party tool — they appear in the top three results for 'pizza open now' in Austin about 85 percent of the time after 11 PM. Luna: That's dominant for a two-location independent spot competing against chains like Domino's. Lucas: And they're not spending on Google Ads for that. It's pure organic local SEO. They just treat the listing like a living storefront instead of a digital business card. Luna: So what's the one thing a listener could do tonight after this episode? Lucas: Open your Google Maps listing and check the attributes section. If you serve food late, make sure 'Has late-night food' is checked. Then go to the photos tab and change your cover photo to something that matches the time of day you want to capture. Luna: And set a recurring alarm on your phone to post a quick update at the time your customers are searching. Lucas: Exactly. It takes five minutes, and it could be the difference between someone eating your pizza or settling for a gas station burrito. Luna: Alright, I'm hungry now. Lucas: That's the goal.