A mobile responsive website is an essential element to a restaurant, cafe or takeaway shop marketing mix. But there are a few essential elements that must be on the restaurant website to make your website really work for you.
There are a number of features that will be the deciding factor for patrons choosing a restaurant. And a number of these features need to be seen within the first glance of the restaurants website.
Obvious features such as the cuisine and the location need to show up in the SERP (search engine results page). For example, Chinese Restaurant | Birkdale. Which will encourage the perspective patron to click through into the website from the search results page, or even call the restaurant from the phone number in the meta description. But there are some other essential elements that need to included.
Phone Number
The phone number needs to be a click to call number, and it is highly recommended that you have Google Tracking code on the click to call number. This will assist you with making decisions regarding your digital marketing mix.
Location
Firstly the suburb needs to be in the Title Tag of the website so it is highlighted in the SERP results, and then also distinctly noticeable in the header of the website. Follow this up with the full address on the footer of each page. A Google embedded map will also assist the patron with getting directions to the restaurant.
Opening Hours
Opening Hours needs to be highlighted on the home page, and you will also need to amend this for holiday periods. Simple Java Script on the website can show if the restaurant is open, or when it is opening next.
Reviews
Highlighting your online reviews is essential. Digital reviews are generally user-generated content, and people tend to trust user-generated content more than business generated content. Show your external reviews, and link through to the review platforms to show transparency.
Menu
Having your menu online will give perspective diners an understanding of the food you are offering, along with the expected cost for a meal. A simple pdf version of your menu can make it easy to manageable, but make sure that the PDF has been generated as a SEO friendly, searchable pdf. Simply saving an image as a pdf will not allow your menu items to appear in Google search. The PDF needs to be converted directly form a text based document, and compressed for fast loading.
Social Media Profiles
Links through to your Social Media Profiles to allow your website guests to become your followers. Also by having the Social Media links on the website makes it easier for viewers to access your website across different devices.
Photos
"A picture is worth a thousand words" and with the increase of online interaction, this is even more true. People want to see pictures of the food, the environment, and also the type of people at the restaurant, to see if it is a good fit for them.
Your Story
The About Us page is often one of the most viewed pages on a website. Use this page to tell a story about your passions, your team and the history of the restaurant.
Mobile Responsive
Perhaps the most essential factor of your restaurant's website should be that it is mobile responsive, and looks good on any device. Remember to look check the site on a tablet, in both aspects (portrait and landscape) to be sure that all areas of the website is accessible and click-able of any device.
