5 Ways to Make Your Restaurant’s Website 5-Star
For restaurants, a practical website is essential to bringing in business. Restaurant goers often find themselves in a predicament when looking for a place to eat on a whim which resorts to using their phones as a means to look up local eateries. It is essential that restaurant websites are mobile friendly as well as cleanly designed and direct with business details.
Here are 5 ways to make your restaurant website 5-star.
1.) Create/Invest in a Custom Website Page Template for Your Menus
PDF uploads are used everywhere, but that doesn’t mean they are right for posting menus on your restaurant’s website. In fact, if I’m being brutally honest, PDF uploads make you look lazy.
They can be hard to view, especially on mobile, where the user has to pinch and pull them around to scope out the offerings.
It’s an inconvenience that can be avoided. Instead, take the time to invest in creating/having a practitioner create a custom page template to serve up your best dishes with some class and convenience for your potential patrons.
This will take your website one step farther in terms of functionality for your end users. It will also put you one step ahead of your competition, who is most likely relying on PDF uploads. While users get frustrated with their websites, you’ll be winning those very same prospects over with a sleek and responsive menu.
2. Your Hours Should Be Front and Center
When a viewer goes to your website, they are looking for very specific details.
They want to hear about your story and what makes you different, but they also want to know when you’re open for business.
Don’t bury your hours inside of your website. Put them front and center so that users don’t have to dig.
You will also want to make sure your Google My Business listing address and hours are up to date.
The way Google My Business listings appear in search highlighted in red.
3. Make Your Website Mobile Friendly
Your website should have a responsive design.
Users shouldn’t have to struggle through your website when using their phones. As we stated previously, many patrons are going to walk through your door on a whim. You don’t want to turn them away by having a poorly design website.
Responsive-design is a fact of life nowadays—it must happen. If your website cannot be quickly accessed or usefully utilized on mobile, you may lose a patron.
4. Utilize Online Reservation Booking
Not everyone has the ability to quickly call a restaurant in order to make reservations. Sometimes it’s nearly impossible to get everything done during the day all the while calling somewhere to make a reservation for the weekend.
Websites like Open Table make life easier for patrons by giving them the opportunity to make a reservation at any hour of the day. It’s in your best interest to utilize online reservation booking. Put it in your navigation menu or at the bottom of pages. You want to score the lead and get them on the books.
5. Present a Compelling Case
“Why should I choose your restaurant?” Is on the mind of every prospective patron out there.
Entice potential customers with drool-worthy pictures of some of your best dishes and drinks. Convince them to stop in by using witty banter. Showcase your awards and media clippings. Talk about what it is that fuels your business.
No one wants to go to a restaurant that isn’t passionate about what it serves. You’re different than your competition. Go out there and make a compelling case that would make anyone want to try your delicious delicacies. Now is your chance to bring people in. Your website is a great platform to showcase your uniqueness and it would be a shame to waste that.
Make your website a 5-star platform by utilizing these easy fixes. Don’t waste money and time on something that won’t give you the results you deserve. Your business is as unique as the dishes you serve, so get out there and make it happen.