Ingredients for an effective restaurant website
Restauranteurs are phenomenal at creating the next best culinary menu and delivering lasting guest experiences. While all these are crucial to a restaurant’s business, the landscape has now become digital.
According to an online survey, almost 80 percent of diners visit a restaurant’s website before deciding to dine. Of all the online platforms, websites are the first place they check out. This is why along with perfecting digital ordering and delivery, restaurant owners also need to ensure their website is well-optimized and enables guests to find what they’re looking for.
Restaurant Website Guide: What to Include
Here are some features every stellar restaurant website has:
Key Information: Phone, Address, Timing
Restaurant websites need to ensure that their key information is readily available for the guests on the homepage. This includes the eatery’s:
- Address
- Phone number
- Reservation information
- Hours
P.S. Additionally, it’s necessary to regularly update Google My Business profile to ensure customers always get the most accurate information.
Online Menu
Before deciding where to grab a bite, diners prefer looking at a restaurant’s online menu. This is why the e-menus should be available on the website’s homepage.
Two tips to keep in mind:
- Don’t use PDF menus, instead, opt for responsive HTML menus. Here’s why PDF menus, although easier and cheaper, are not ideal:
- They are bad for a restaurant’s SEO
- They are not mobile-friendly
- They need to be downloaded
- Make the menus easy to find and share.
Online Ordering
A survey by Sense360 shows that 63 percent of consumers prefer ordering directly from restaurants rather than third-party apps. This shows that restaurants must invest in quality website technology to enable simple navigation, online ordering, and reservations.
Gift Cards and Merch
To drive easy revenue and make loyal customers, turn to gift cards and merchandise and promote them throughout the restaurant website.
Email Sign Ups
Email marketing can be used to build lasting customer relationships. This can be done by including sign-up prompts at all the customer touchpoints, e.g., when making a reservation, on the website’s homepage, on the comment card post-meal, and on social media channels.
Great Photography
According to a recent survey, 75 percent of online shoppers are influenced by product photography. Restaurants must invest in quality photography that shows their guests what they should expect from them.
ADA Accessibility
A restaurant’s website needs to be accessible to all potential guests. They should easily be able to view the menu, make reservations, order online, and more.
Restaurant owners are also subjected to frivolous lawsuits if their websites are not ADA-compliant. So, this functionality could save restaurant owners thousands of dollars and significant headaches.
Other Must-Haves
Additionally, a restaurant’s website must have the following features:
- A mobile-friendly interface
- An online event form for inquiries
- Search Engine Optimized
- Highlighted positive reviews
- Links to social media profiles
A restaurant’s brand identity is what keeps the guests coming. To form lasting connections with customers, a restaurant’s online presence should express who they are, what they deliver, and what their guests should expect of them.
Get a Thriving Online Presence with Custom Restaurant Technology Solutions in New York
At Primi Digital, we provide restauranteurs with tailored restaurant technology solutions including custom software solutions, website integrations, and website development.
Check out our standard and premium plans today, and let’s talk.