Seven Must-Have Parts Of Every Restaurant Website - Forbes

Seven seconds.  That’s how long you get to make a good impression on your website visitors.  So you have to make it count to maximize your opportunity.  And if your restaurant performs like the ones in our internal studies, implementing these crucial parts could lead to over 17% more sales from online marketing. 

Want to learn the factors that I find lead to the best outcomes for restaurant websites? If so, let’s dive right in:

1. Anchor Statement

This one uses psychology to your advantage. Wouldn’t it be awesome to control how your potential customers feel about your restaurant when they’re deciding where to go? Well, using the anchoring effect, you can come pretty close. How can you use this to your advantage?

One idea is to place text that positions your brand in a positive light in quotes, like "Best Mexican Restaurant in Los Angeles," and your website visitors will likely use that first piece of information when deciding on your brand. 

It’s that simple. Seriously. Once you’ve anchored them to see your brand in a positive light though, you need to have a …

2. Call To Action

Now that you’ve anchored the user positively to your brand, it’s time to start giving them reminders and opportunities as they scroll your page to become your customer.

In the language of marketing, this is called a call to action. And it’s also super simple. The ones that work best for the restaurant industry, as proven repeatedly by brands like Domino’s, Google and OpenTable, are buttons that say either "Order Now," "Reserve Now," "Call Now" and "Get Directions."

Use the ones that are most aligned with your goals for your website and highlight them using a red box and capital letters (research shows that red box CTAs perform best for websites). 

Pro Tip: Put a call to action on the right side of your navigation bar. It’s a really effective way to drive more sales, and I've noticed a lot of top-grossing websites do it -- from Apple to Amazon to Facebook.

The best performing calls to action that are a must for any restaurant website are …

3. Call Buttons

So many great things can happen when a potential customer calls your business. Reservations made? Check. Orders placed? Check. Questions answered? Check.

So, is it possible to generate more calls using a simple button? Good news. It is! On mobile and most modern computers, you can set up your button to instantly call your restaurant when tapped. It doesn’t get much more convenient than that.

And the other critical call to action for any restaurant website is a …

4. Directions Button

Convenience and proximity play a huge role in whether interested locals choose your restaurant. So, if there were a way to quickly prove that your restaurant was both close and easy to get to, would that be of interest?

Drum roll, please … there is a way to do that! Simply slap a "Get Directions" button on your page and a "Directions" option on your navigation bar. From there, use that button to scroll the user down to this element, which should be on every restaurant homepage …

5. Google Map Embed

A simple section on your homepage which lets people see where your restaurant is and get instant directions to you. That would be useful, right? Well, it’s possible using a Google Maps embed. The best part? Google Maps is one of the top ranking factors of local search, so you're basically given a bonus of more clicks from interested locals if you embed this map on your website. 

So, not only do you improve your website experience, but you likely get more visitors as well. Awesome, right? And when making a buying decision, a component that plays a critical role in your potential customer’s thought process is an …

6. Easy-To-Use Menu

Your menu should be easy to use and mobile-friendly. The more time your website visitor has to spend figuring out how to view your menu, the higher the probability that they will go to your competitors' websites instead.

So put a menu button in your navbar and create a simple category-based interactive menu page that your potential customers can use to easily browse your restaurant website.

In addition to a menu, a leading factor that affects restaurant sales generated from websites is …

7. Social Proof

According to research, the category consumers are most likely to read reviews for are restaurants. The same study shows that nearly 70% of consumers are more likely to use a local business after reading positive reviews.

The question is: Do you want to be able to select the reviews that potential customers read about you? Well, you now can choose by displaying your best reviews on your website.

Use a strategic picture and the review in quotes for the best results. Strategic picture? What’s that? We’re visual animals. Our internal tests have conclusively demonstrated that showcasing reviews by good-looking people of both genders that represent your target demographic perform best.

Conclusion

Each of these factors can produce great revenue increases alone. But when combined, they are even more powerful because they ultimately create a better experience for the people who are interested in your restaurant.

So, if you’re ready to grow your revenue, add these simple parts to your website and get ready to measure your growth and be complimented by your new customers on how great your site is.

You’ve now got the blueprint for a successful restaurant website and the reasons why. They’re all very simple to build and can make a huge difference in your restaurant’s success. The question is: Do you care enough about your restaurant’s success to take action?

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2019/04/18/seven-must-have-parts-of-every-restaurant-website/ 2019-04-18 10:00:00Z