Ultimate Guide For A Successful Restaurant Website
Do you know that 77% of diners will check the restaurant’s website before visiting? And, it is no surprise that the digital restaurant’s sales will witness explosive growth up to 30% by 2025. Without embracing digital, your business will be left behind the competitors.
Here are some essentials that should be included in a restaurant website to attract the customers and covert the sales :
Pick the layout that delivers the stunning first impression
The layout of a website plays an important role in positioning the brand in the customer’s mind when they first interact with the restaurant online. The design, which includes the layout, font, colors, etc, should represent the types of restaurant, and match the brand identity.
We can have a look at these two restaurants’ websites and tell the difference.
Both Roll’d and Coda serve Vietnamese foods. However, depending on their types of services, their website layout will be different.
The layout of Roll’d is bright, simple, and easy-to-navigate, which represents their take- away type of restaurant.
Meanwhile, the website of Coda mostly used the vintage theme with more sections such as Photo gallery or Booking. Such features tell the customers that, Coda serves Modern Asian fusion, especially French-Vietnamese and is a good choice for the dining experience.
Include these Content for your sites to ensure the best customer experience
1. About
If your restaurant has a good story to tell, customers would love to hear that. The brief history of the restaurant, or your source of inspiration for the theme of the business. These stories can create a “‘character” for your restaurant, bring your brand to life, and build a connection with customers.
2. Contact information
Don’t let your restaurant nowhere to be found on the map. The information such as Phone number, Store Locator, Email, Directions, should be visually presented in front of the customers’ eyes.
3. Menu
Needless to say, when people visit your restaurant, food is the key criteria in their search. You should ensure that the menu section is easy to find and readable. We highly recommend that it should be interactive and clickable. Or at least, avoid poor quality scanned copies of your paper menu.
4. Photo gallery
This photo gallery is the place to showcase your restaurant’s ambiance. You can post the pictures of your dining room, pub area, or the kitchen with the process of making foods. Customers are likely to engage with and choose the restaurant for their dining options when they can see the “real” photos of foods and decoration.
5. Specials and upcoming events
This is a great way to promote and attract more visitors to your restaurants. There are hundreds of opportunities or special days that business owners can take advantage of, such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and so on.
6. Integrate your website with your social media
In 2020, there were 18.00 million social media users in Australia. By linking your website to social media platforms, your restaurant website can promisingly reach a wider range of potential customers.
Clear CALL-TO-ACTION Button
After all, the ultimate purpose of creating a website for your restaurant is to convert sales. A strong and clear call-to-action can encourage customers to take your desired action. Those buttons enable website visitors to connect with and buy from your restaurant. It can be “Order now” or “Make a reservation”, depending on your business.
Grill’d website is prominently highlighted with the “Order Now” button after presenting the problems of customers in Melbourne, who are hungry but are not allowed to go outside for food after 9 pm.
Make it mobile-friendly
Nearly 40% of dining experiences now involve a smartphone or mobile device. It is totally understandable to say that, the website for a restaurant is as important as a fork and knife. By developing a mobile-friendly version, you can improve the customer experience and in turn the customer satisfaction with your restaurant.
Here are 2 versions of Computer- search and Mobile- search of the same restaurant website.
Invest in high- quality images, especially food photography
They don’t call it #foodporn for nothing. Invest in food photography will help your business stand out from the crowd. Nowadays, people want to see that egg yolk drip, that chocolate pancake stack, that maple syrup drizzle, and that coffee art pour. Food has become a work of art, with plating, colors, and textures being used like never before. A food photo that delivers the smell and taste will definitely win the customers’ hearts. Ideally, all of the photos that appeared on the website should be high- quality, artistic and reflect the restaurant’s theme.
Focus on SEO website
“The best place to hide a dead body is on the second page of Google”. To present your restaurant in front of the customers when they search for “restaurants near me”, an SEO- friendly website should be developed. Keep your eyes top to optimise the SEO strategy of your business and find new opportunities regularly.
Encourage the customers to leave the review
The reviews from other customers are considered as a reliable and trustworthy source than adverts from retailers. It is a powerful Word- of- mouth advertising method that grows the sales. The best practice is to incorporate some reviews of customers on the website to persuade the visitors about your service and food quality.
The bottom line
Having a website for the restaurant is no longer an option. It is mandatory for business owners. And the appearance of COVID-19 has accelerated the digitalisation of the dining experiences. It is now time for restaurants to build their presence on digital spaces, and attract the customers.
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