Most restaurant websites fail to deliver the most basic information required by customers. Basic info such as phone number, hours, address, menu, specials are often neglected. Unfortunately many restaurant owners focus on design only, instead of the contents. In many cases, customers can’t even find the menu; even worse, some menus are heavy PDF files that take too long to load or the site is filled with so many graphics which makes the whole site slow. Instead of finding what they need on the website, customers end up seeing a ton of graphics and hear annoying background music. With any website, especially a restaurant website, the following points are important to keep in mind.
- Mobile Website – Nowadays, people access the web from many different devices, not just computers. Websites need be mobile-friendly, which allows smart phone & tablet users to view the site with ease. Site contents should not be heavy and deliver the most necessary & basic information commonly requested by users. Some site homepages are filled with flash animation, music, pictures and more. While this might be easily accessible from computers, but for a mobile device, this is total nightmare. Considering the increasing amount of handheld devices, mobile websites for restaurants are 100% necessary. Restaurant owners, if you don’t have a mobile website you should think about having a mobile website or at least make your existing site mobile friendly.
- Site Contents – The most common mistake found on restaurant websites is the absence of important information pertinent to restaurant customers. Restaurant customers visiting a restaurant’s websites are not there to see how nice the site looks, how many flashy graphics are displayed or what kind of annoying music is playing on the page. They want to see one of the following things, address, phone numbers, and business hours, menu and any specials if they exist. These things must be clearly visible on the homepage or within 1 click. Some pictures showing the design of the restaurants and/or foods are always nice additions, but not necessary.
- Menu – Some websites provide their menu in a PDF file. For a user on a mobile phone or tablet device this will take too long to load. Menus should be on the restaurant website and/or mobile website directly so it loads as fast as possible. The best way to display your menu would be to show it along with an online ordering system, this way your customers not only see what your restaurant is offering, but order directly order from it.
For the best example of restaurant websites, including a mobile website and online ordering system, you can click our demo page here and see the sample of restaurant websites we offer. Restaurant website, mobile website, online ordering system all in one. Low cost monthly fee, no contracts!