These days many people eat food from restaurants at least once a week. Realistically, you’re not going to be able to make your own food every day of the week and will have to either order online or eat outside. This is good news for restaurant owners because you can capitalise on this opportunity and drive more hungry customers to your restaurant. Since nowadays most people are ordering food online, you need to make sure your restaurant’s website is completely optimised and can be found by people nearby searching for food. If you’re not sure how you can optimise your restaurant’s website, I am here to help. In this article, I will reveal the secrets of website optimisation and how you can use these to make sure you don’t lose out on any potential traffic.
The design of your website
Today if you want to get information about a restaurant like their menu, opening hours and locations, you will likely look at their website. What you see when you open their site is important because first impressions are everything. A poorly designed website will send users right out the door they came from, looking for your competitors. A well-designed website should mirror your brand’s message and give customers a feel for what your business is about and what it stands for. When you’re coming up with your site’s design, try putting yourself in customers’ shoes and consider their journey. How hard is it to find your website? Is your menu easily accessible? How is your site’s experience like on a phone? The smoother this journey is, the more likely it is for them to place an order.
Important features of a successful restaurant website
- Mobile-friendly design (responsive)
- Clear calls to action
- Ability to place an order online
- Good pictures
- Social media links
- An easy to understand navigation
- Business information(address, working hours, etc.)
Ignoring Local SEO
Most people search for nearby restaurants when they’re looking for food, and this is where local SEO comes in to make sure your site shows up when people search for terms like “restaurants near me”. Local search engine optimisation is a set of methods and strategies that aims to improve a site’s ranking in local organic search results. I’m sure most of us have seen the box that appears above the organic results when we search for nearby restaurants. That box is called Google snack pack, and it contains the top 3 local businesses relevant to the search term. The snack pack includes information on their address, hours, proximity, ratings, and their location on Google Maps. As a restaurant owner, one of your goals is to get your site in this box.
Google My Business
Another way you could be losing out on traffic is not utilising Google My Business. This tool allows you to create a business profile on Google that gives information to searchers about your business. Getting your business a spot on GMB is one of the most important parts of your restaurant website’s SEO. Having an optimised GMB profile will help increase your rank and visibility in location-based search results. You can even create posts and add promotions to Google My Business. You must always check your profile to see what reviews you have received and if there are any negative ones, you can respond to them to try and find a solution. Discounts or coupons can also be offered in exchange for online reviews to improve your rating.
Not Using Google Analytics
If you have a restaurant site or an online portal that lets customers order, then you must use Google Analytics on your site. Google Analytics is a free web analytics tool that provides statistics and reports that can be used for SEO and marketing purposes. This tool helps you find your top sources of traffic, gauge how successful your marketing efforts have been, the number of purchases made, and how the users engage with your website. You will receive information like who is making orders on your site, what device they are using to order, and when they are more likely to order.
Social Media
Experts at Team-X, who are a reliable web design company from Melbourne, say one of the most prominent ways for any business to increase its legitimacy and credibility is to have a presence on social media platforms. Research has shown that over 80% of consumers trust recommendations from family and friends to make purchases, which means that if you have well established and active social media profiles, your chances of getting more orders increase. A 2019 survey in the US revealed that 36% of diners follow restaurants on social media, and 39% of that group were following restaurants to find out if they wanted to eat there. It’s wiser to focus on fewer social media platforms than trying to spend your time on many at the same time. Popular sites like Facebook and Instagram are good choices for starting out.
