When I'm hungry and not in the mood to cook my own meal, especially when the husband and kids are elsewhere (which is, admittedly, rare), I opt for take-out. One of my pet peeves is that the best restaurants near my home don't have online menus.
This may sound pretentious, but hear me out. I'm a busy person. These days, we're all busy people. We like to get things done quickly and efficiently. While I do tend to savor my meals, I don't particularly enjoy the process of ordering and waiting for them.
There's this awesome restaurant literally six minutes from my house that serves some of the best food in the whole parish. I've often thought it would be great if I could browse their menu online, then call in my order to-go. I've also elected not to even bother with take-out because I couldn't choose a meal from memory and didn't want to go there to order and wait to get my food, and I wasn't in the mood to dine in.
Restaurant owners, are you paying attention? I am a customer and I'm telling you what I want. What I'll give you money for. What I may even give you money for more often than I currently do if you make it easier for me to do so. If that's not a good enough reason to have your own website – because people don't just jump up and do things when I tell them to – allow me to explain why having a website is beneficial to your business. In other words, I'm gonna tell you what's in it for you.
Visibility
Creating your own website is nearly as easy as coloring a detailed picture. There are many sites that already have all the tools you need to create simple, yet professional looking websites that customers are looking for when they type the phrases “fast food”, “good Cajun cuisine”, and “cheap family dinners” into their search engines.
If you don't have a website, those customers can't find anything more than your name, phone number, and address in a directory site. I'm sorry, I know you put a lot of thought into naming your restaurant, and I'm sure it's amazing, but the contact information alone is not compelling enough to get me in the door and my money in your drawers. (Cash register drawers, that is. I'm not implying you're running that kind of business. Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you. That's just not the kind of place I go to for a good, hot meal.)
If, on the other hand, you do have a website, then when I type in the phrases “southern cooking” or “country atmosphere”, and those are your keywords, your site (Your Restaurant!) will pop up in the search results.
While understanding how to use keywords to net you a spot at the top of the list of results can be challenging, there's an easy way around that. Pick some keywords and use them in a natural way three times each on each page. Then google those keywords just like a customer would. Does your restaurant come up where you want it to? Great! If not, try different keywords. Keep trying until your site is visible or hire a website designer with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) experience to do it for you. I won't lie to you, that part can be tricky.
Aside from the keyword thing, your restaurant is nearly invisible on the internet if you don't have your own website. Most, if not all, of your customers have smartphones with internet access that will lead them to an eatery nearby. If your restaurant doesn't show up in those results, you're missing out on customers. Visibility on the web is an integral part of attracting new customers.
Professionalism
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| I created this example site in minutes using Wix. Isn't it pretty? |
You may say, “But Jess, most of my customers are local. Why do I need to be visible on the internet to get the attention of people who already know I'm here?” And if you are asking that, you're on the right track. Well done.
This isn't about what you're doing wrong, it's about an area of improvement – what you could be doing better. By offering your customers a NEW feature of any kind, they feel as though they are being rewarded. This also gives them the impression that you're not just out to make a quick buck, but are interested in self-improvement and advancement as well.
If you have regular customers who've liked your restaurant's Facebook Page, signed up for a newsletter (another great idea, by the way), or simply taken a printed menu with them when they go, an online menu is a must. Those customers will feel like they've gotten a bonus when they learn they can quickly and easily scan your menu online from the comfort of wherever they happen to be sitting with their cellphones already in hand.
What would be even better is if you could set up an ordering system online with e-mail confirmation and secure online checkout. You might be surprised how little those things cost. The real trick would be to figure out how they work. But, I digress.
My point is, if you go the extra mile (or feet, really, it's not that hard to do) to create a website or have one created for you, your customers will be impressed with your professionalism and are more likely to refer new customers to you via that website.
Convenience
In an area where several similarly themed restaurants are competing for customers, the fact that they can view everything about your restaurant in one convenient location will raise you head and shoulders above the rest.
Your website can feature a banner with your brand (or style) to reinforce the name of your restaurant in customers' memories. Word of mouth is still the best advertising out there. You definitely want folks to remember your name so they can tell their friends. Having a “branded” website helps to do that in a way that's convenient for you to set up and easy for them to recall and refer people to. Having a website also offers potential new customers referred by regulars an easy way to check out your restaurant and help nudge them in your direction.
The menu page could include photos of mouth-watering crawfish etoufee, delectable homemade peach cobbler, and an impressively stocked salad bar (if those are the types of items you offer). I know when I'm hungry and browsing pictures of food, the deal is sealed, I'm ready to go.
Not having a website with a menu and appealing photos is a big missed opportunity. And for those of you who offer drive-thru services, be sure to mention that on the home page and/or contact page so that customers know you're bending over backwards to make this as simple for them as you can.
Creating your own website is easy enough to do. Even if you're not tech savvy, paying a designer to create and maintain one for you probably isn't as expensive as you might think. And with the additional customers your site will likely pull in and the increased frequency of regulars, the website will pay for itself within a short period of time and continue to do so as long as it's maintained. So what are you waiting for? Get to it! Miss Sue's in Turkey Creek, Louisiana, I'm looking at you especially. (They really do have awesome food there, but don't ask me for their website – that's one thing they don't have.)
Author Bio: Jessica West is a stay-at-home wife and mother who writes fiction and random articles for various blogs. She's the author of Red River Rangers and its upcoming sequel Red River Rangers II; A Strange Alliance, and a freelance writer/editor for CopyPress. You can contact Jess via e-mail at jpwest 6 at gmail dot com.
*Note: Jessica is not an affiliate of any restaurants, website creation companies, or website designers. The article above is based solely on her opinions, and has not been paid for by any company or person. This article is copyright 2014 by Jessica West, and available for distribution elsewhere with the author's permission. Sharing this article via social media sites such as Facebook, Google+ and Twitter is permitted and encouraged. Reblogging is also permitted, as long as the article's original location is linked to and it's author properly attributed.
