The Guide to a Successful Restaurant Website41886

rewardsnetwork.com 2Introduction Chapter 1 Building a New Website Invest in Responsive Design What Should My New Website Include?. Chapter 2 Taking a Great Food Photograph Use Your Smar

The Guide to a

Successful

Restaurant Website

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Introduction

Chapter 1

Building a New Website

Invest in Responsive Design

What Should My New Website Include?

Will a New Website Be Expensive?

Chapter 2

Taking a Great Food Photograph

Use Your Smartphone

Clean Your Plate

Understanding Your Analytics

Who Were My Visitors?

What Did They Do When They Visited?

Where Did They Come From?

When Did They Start Arriving?

How Did They Spend Their Time on My Site? Why Did Visitors Stay or Leave My Site?

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Think back to twenty years ago, before

you had a smartphone, before Twitter

and Facebook … before the Internet was

everything to business

Pretty wild, huh? The entire world has turned

upside down, but one thing hasn’t changed

– people still want to experience incredible

food With dining out at restaurants in the

United States now outpacing grocery store

purchases, savvy customers have a lot of

options at their disposal Being ready to stand

out in a crowd is more important than ever,

and savvy restaurants do that by being more

accessible online

But what if your restaurant website is driving

customers away?

A few facts to mull over:

Desktop computer ownership has dropped

by 10 percent in the last five years for adults under 30, with younger consumers opting for more mobile formats like laptops, tablets, and smartphones.1

68 percent of all American adults — and

86 percent of adults under 30 — now own smartphones.2

And 65 percent of smartphone owners search regularly for nearby restaurants.3

That desire for more immediate information about you could translate into more views for your website — and more new and repeat customers over time How do you do that?

By making sure your website is built to provide exactly what your customers need

Things have changed Can you feel it?

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Chapter

1

Times have definitely changed And how you

position your business on the internet today

can have a lasting and positive effect on

your sales

When it comes to making their dining

decision, customers no longer wait to sit

down in your restaurant to see what you’re

serving that day In fact, nearly two-thirds

of consumers are less likely to choose a

restaurant if they can’t read the menu on

their mobile device.4 Three out of every 10

will abandon your website altogether if it’s

not easy to view on a mobile device.5

So why have smartphones and tablets

become so important to diners on the

go? It’s because mobile devices are ideal

for consuming content, more so than any

Mobile encourages sharing Consumers can talk to anyone anywhere in the world with a click of the button, but that also translates into deeper connections with people close to home — people who may also frequent your restaurant

Mobile is all about accessing information

Quickly locating timely information is at the root of every smart website developer’s strategy And asking information about restaurants is among the most common queries for consumers on the go

Building a New Website

4 “New Research: Mobile and Web Search Leads to Action for Restaurants”

www.singleplatform.com/blog/2013/04/17/mobile-and-web-search-leads-to-action-for-restaurants

5 “50 Must-Know Mobile Commerce Statistics and Facts”

http://resources.mobify.com/50-mo-bile-commerce-stats.html

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Website developers no longer talk about

web strategy and mobile strategy as

different things; users are making their

device choices not by type of content,

but by personal circumstances With their

smartphone at their fingertips, consumers

don’t generally think, “I’ll save this website/

article/search for when I get home tonight”

anymore It’s now or never for their interest

Your next new customer is searching for you

this very moment … and they want to make

their dining decision on the spot

So, how can you make that moment really

count?

Invest in responsive design.

Since most consumers today own multiple

devices for accessing the Internet, it’s

difficult to predict which device your

customer will be using to visit your website

Responsive web design has only one set of

code that adapts (or “responds”) to the type

of device it’s being viewed on

With responsive design, the way items are

arranged on the screen, the size of your text,

and the size of your photos all adjust based

on the device being used, without any extra clicks or separate sites The content moves around and increases or decreases size to accommodate the size of screen it’s being viewed through Responsive websites are more streamlined, easier to maintain than separate desktop and mobile websites, and better looking than a website built only for the traditional desktop

With websites built based on responsive design principles, you are only loading the absolute bare essentials on smaller platforms like smartphones, while more visual content can expand for larger platforms like desktops and laptops Why does this matter? Because the more items your website needs to load when someone visits, the longer it will take (especially for mobile devices) The longer it takes, the less likely a visitor will wait around before seeking out another option

Your next new customer

is searching for you this

very moment

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In other words, when load time goes down with responsive design, visits go up – visits to your website and, hopefully, visits to your restaurant

What should my new website include?

How can you make sure that potential customer wants to stick around your new website long enough to turn their experience into a meal? How do you seal the deal?

There are a few basics when it comes to building a successful restaurant website Above all, make sure it matches the look and feel of your overall brand Your website could easily be the first impression a new customer has of your establishment, your food, and the overall

experience of dining with you You want the website to be equal parts accurate and attractive

The basics of any great restaurant website include:

Enticing photos Nothing sells your menu to a potential diner like high quality photographs The Internet is a uniquely visual medium Take advantage of that!

Your menu Make sure your menu is in a format easily read

on a mobile device Just posting PDFs or JPGs of your menu can strain the eyes or are difficult for smartphones to load, so include your menu as live text

Video! Website visitors are 10 times more likely to engage with a video than other forms of content.6

Your phone number Calling your restaurant is still an easy way for guests to order directly from you, ask questions, and check your hours of operation

www.forbes.com/sites/seanrosensteel/2013/01/28/why-online-vid-tives/#1fc18f2c29a3

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Your website doesn’t need to be complicated It just needs to

answer your customer’s questions in as simple and elegant

of a way as possible Less is more For every page on your

website, just ask yourself:

What do my customers need…

right this very second…

exactly where they are…

with what they have at hand…

to make a decision to dine at my restaurant?

Will a new website be expensive?

Maybe It depends on how many visitors you expect, how

many bells and whistles you need, and how adept you are

at building your own site from a template The wide range

of website hosting and design costs could end up being

the majority of your marketing budget or it might be a minor

expense It depends on what fits your business’ marketing

needs More complicated doesn’t always mean better, but

simpler doesn’t always mean cheaper, either

Make a plan for a new website that’s easier to read, more

engaging, and will drive more customers through your

doors Investigate different options — from building your

own site through SquareSpace or GoDaddy to hiring a web

design firm to build a site for you — to decide what feels

right for your level of interest and ability

And once you have that new website, start thinking about

what to fill it with First stop? Enticing photographs!

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Simply put, photographs drive interest like

nothing else online But hiring a professional

photographer and food stylist to take

that perfect photograph of your dishes —

the face of your restaurant, really — can

be completely out of budget for most

businesses

The alternatives are limited: Downloading

images from the internet is illegal Stock

photos feel fake And images of anything

other than what happens between the

four walls of your restaurant could leave

the wrong impression with customers The

solution seems simple But can photos you

take yourself really sell your menu to the

casual internet browser?

The answer is yes!

While it’s never been more important to have high-quality photographs readily available for potential diners, it’s also never been easier Technology has progressed with the consumer desire to see, do, and feel as much on the internet as they would in real life So today, the average person already has in their possession everything they need

to take stunning photos that can be shared with the world

With just these few tips in mind, you’ll be taking amazing photographs of your equally amazing dishes in no time — without costing you a fortune in the process

Taking a Great Food Photograph

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Use your smartphone.

There’s an entire industry out there waiting

for you to spend money on equipment and

do-dads that promise the most perfect

photograph in the world Except you’re

not a professional photographer who has

the time and dedication to learn how to

use all that equipment You’re a restaurant

operator and have an entirely different job

to do Unless you have an amateur passion

for the still image and happen to love

cameras and everything camera-adjacent,

we recommend pulling your handy-dandy

smartphone out of your pocket and giving it

a try before spending any hard-earned cash

on professional camera equipment

The last two versions of the iPhone (5 and

6) have both featured superior cameras that

take better photos than a lot of traditional

SLR (single lens reflex) cameras The same

is true of Android models and other modern

smartphones in the market Still rocking a

flip phone? Odds are you have a server or sous chef who would be happy to lend you

a hand — and their technology — if asked nicely

Clean your plate.

Literally There’s nothing more unappealing

to a potential customer than drips, drops, and residue hanging off the side of a bowl

or plate After you plate your dish, wipe all the edges with a clean, damp cloth, leaving

no streaks or smears behind Replate if necessary, taking care to slowly pour or position food into place Be deliberate, but gentle Do all of this at the site of your photograph if carrying an already plated item (like soup) without sloshing or sliding is too difficult

When you set up your photographic scene, isolate the plate of food and try not to have too many extraneous items in view Remove water glasses, silverware, napkins

— everything except the food and the plate

it’s served on You don’t want anything to distract from

the main course! But if you are going to leave utensils

or glassware in the shot, make sure they’re clean and

unscratched, and not reflecting the camera in the final

photograph

Light it up.

Whenever you photograph a plate of food, indirect, natural

light is best Light from the sun is going to give you the

most even tone and best clarity of color Keeping it indirect

(or diffused with translucent shades) will also prevent harsh

shadows from running across your image It’s alright to

have some dramatic shadowing — and can even produce a

strong visual effect — but you’ll want to avoid having sharp

lines diverting attention from the main focus of your image

No matter what, however, never use the flash on your

camera It will flatten your subject, blow out key details,

and produce a very unflattering effect on the food itself

You also want to avoid photographing under tungsten or

fluorescent light bulbs as much as possible The light from

these bulbs will produce a yellow or green cast over your

food that is impossible to fix, even with the best Photoshop

skills If you absolutely can’t shoot with natural light, swap

out your bulbs with daylight-balanced (blue-toned) ones,

available at any hardware store The difference will be

extraordinary

Make sure you focus.

We know this seems self-explanatory, but bear with me It’s

important that the focus on your photos is sharp People

want to see the details of the food you prepare Unlike the

customer experience in your restaurant, which is formed

through sight, taste, smell, touch, and maybe even sound,

the photograph you’re taking only has one thing to offer:

a visual experience Just by looking at this photograph of

your food, the customer needs to be able to imagine the

amazing smell and mouthwatering taste

And that only happens if the photo is crisp and in focus

Keep your grip steady (use an inexpensive tripod and timer

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Indirect, Natural Light

Harsh Light, Flash

In-Focus, Sharp

Out of Focus, Blurry

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if you have jittery hands) and tap the center of the food

on your smartphone screen to align the focus if it’s not doing so automatically If you can’t get the focus to appear

on screen, you may need to move back a touch You can always crop (in camera, even) later on

Say no to filters.

Instagram filters are tempting They make everything more fun More funky But they rarely give food the natural, appetizing look that you really want What’s great for nostalgia-inducing selfies will leave your restaurant feeling old, washed-out, and fake

If you aren’t getting the quality photograph you really want, filters are not the way to go Instead, try a different location Get an employee or friend to help you out (a different

perspective can sometimes go a long way)

Or move on to another dish It could be that the plate of food you feel is so enticing just needs more than a flat photograph to exude all its charm There’s nothing that says every item on your menu needs to be in pictures Pick your battles and put your best foot forward Showcasing five incredible photographs is better than 15 so-so ones in every case

Great photographs are only one part of making your restaurant launch or relaunch a success In our next

chapter, we look at adding video to the mix of content on

your restaurant website!

Instagram filters

are tempting.

But they rarely give

food the natural,

appetizing look that

you really want.

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Today, if you have something — anything —

to say, the world wide web has a platform

ready for you YouTube is free to use and

directly integrated into Google searches, and

consumers are drawn to video as a source

of information and entertainment in greater

numbers than ever before

With video editing software included on

most new laptops and tablets (and relatively

easy to use), the barriers to producing

something eye-catching and memorable

are falling away left and right And most

business owners have all of the equipment

they need to make a high quality video right

in their pocket: their smartphone

At this point, video has completely

overshadowed blogs, text-only posts, and

still photographs In fact, today’s internet

Adding Video to the Mix

Chapter

users are 10 times more likely to engage, embed, share, and comment on videos than any other form of content online.7

Highly shareable and searchable, video is

an ideal form of marketing for any small business looking to attract customers, especially restaurants Want to get started right away? Here’s what to keep in mind:

3

7 “Video Content Marketing: 4 Elements of An Effective Strategy”

http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2014/05/02/opti-mal-length-video-marketing-content-short-possible/