Often restaurateurs focus so much attention on the customer experience IN the restaurant they forget about the online customer experience. A good website is your online calling card and can do a lot to drum up business.
Website creation can be intimidating for the non-techies out there, but armed with some simple web Do’s and Don’ts you can create a website on any budget that focuses on providing customers with information they need to patronize your restaurant and avoids gimmicky distractions.
Do’s
Do create a realistic budget that will get you a website that is functional on a traditional computer or tablet AND a Smartphone. Restaurant websites in particular, get a lot of traffic from Smartphone chowhounds on the go. It is important to invest in a website design that will provide functionality on both home computers and Smartphones. If you are creating a website on a budget, consider outsourcing your web work using a site like Guru or Odesk. Often, creating a website using a pre-set theme on WordPress can be a budget friendly means. Creating a great website for under $1000 and even under $500 is entirely possible with a little ingenuity and the right outsourcing.
Do make sure there is full menu browsing capabilities and daily specials noted prominently. It is important to keep your website current, particularly your menu. Daily specials should be updated….well….daily. A competent web designer should be able to create a simple platform to update daily specials.
Do give adequate directions with Google maps embedded into your website. If you embed Google maps rather than simple have a picture of the map, the user can click on the map and get directions from their location to your restaurant.
Do have a call number for reservations and takeout orders prominently displayed on the website…and then answer the phone!
Do include a gallery of high quality images of your restaurant and food. Investing in some professional shots of your restaurant and food separates the men from the boys in this industry. If you are on a budget, try hiring an art student or a photography major at the nearest college to take the photos. You get photos on a budget and they get work for their portfolio.
Do include a feedback form on your website and provide customers with the option to be contacted. This can be a checkbox that reads, “Do you want a representative to contact you regarding your submission?”. The form should also include text areas for “Were you unhappy?” and “What can we do to earn your business again?”
Don’ts
Don’t install flash or streaming music on your website. Flash is not supported on a lot of tablets and Smartphones and streaming music is considered to be amateurish and offensive by website aficionados.
Don’t overuse stock photography. A few stock photos can be effective, but would-be patrons want to see where they will be dining and the food they will be eating.
Don’t try and get too fancy. The more complex the graphics, animation and visual effects, the more likely your website could be a source of frustration for the end user. Not all browsers are created equally and websites with complex elements are more likely to lack support by browsers and Smartphones.
Don’t make your customers search for online ordering options. Make sure your online ordering is prominently displayed and easy to navigate. The last thing you want is an abandoned online order because the end user was frustrated with a clunky system.
Don’t hide your navigation system on the website. Keep things clean and simple as shown here by conspicuously placing the titles for different landing pages of your website.
Lotsa Noodles does it right, click below to see it:
Don’t hide your coupons. If you are using coupons for your business, make them easily accessible and printable for the customer. Put them on your homepage or create a separate page for “Coupons and Deals.”
Overall, creating an effective website can be a fairly simple process and really help attract and retain more customers. It is important to focus on providing valuable information to customers and include necessary information. If you remember that the purpose of a website is to inform above all else, you can avoid cluttering your page with unnecessary information, photos, streaming music, flash and other distracting and costly elements.
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