Why Your Restaurant's Website Matters

Your web presence matters as much as your restaurant's location... and here's why

We’ve all done it; you’re either visiting somewhere new or you’re looking to try out a new place to eat, so you pull out your smartphone and type in “restaurants near me.” A majority of the time you’ll get a link to Yelp, scroll through some options, then click on the link to a restaurants website and two things will come of it; you’ll find a hard to navigate website with a seemingly impossible menu to locate, or a website that immediately immerses you in the atmosphere of the restaurant that makes it feel like you stepped into the restaurant. And that’s what your website is: the front door to your restaurant.

We aren’t making this up: in a survey done by NetaWaiter, 83% of smartphone users surveyed said they use their phones to determine where to eat while traveling. Whether it be simply from GoogleMaps, Yelp, or your website, they’re looking for you, so make sure you’re there!

Still not convinced? We’ve come up with 5 more reasons and a few examples of sites we’ve done.

1. Access to a Menu

Another survey by NetaWaiter states 70% of smartphone users view restaurant menus on their phones. Potential customers come to a website and want to know the type of food and price range they’ll have at your restaurant before committing to going to the actual restaurant. By having a website that displays the menu (and allows for you to easily change it on the backend) you are showing your customers another aspect of your restaurant that can entice them to visit. The website we’ve done for Otter Bar & Burger utilizes enticing imagery to attract customers to eat with their eyes before reading the information provided on the menu.

2. Online Booking

The ability to integrate one of the many online booking systems onto your website is becoming more and more important for businesses. By having a website the integrates one of the many systems like, OpenTable, you are allowing them to act on the clear call to action of eating at your restaurant. By doing so you allow for your potential customers to act upon their impulse and committing to your restaurant, meaning more click-to-converts from your website!

3. Yelp Can’t Do It All

As helpful of an environment Yelp is, it’s a stark environment that only allows for comparisons, so when your potential customer clicks on the link to your menu, website, or any other information you’ve provided, they’ll be thrown from the starkness of Yelp into the enticing and beautifully designed environment displayed by your website. For example, the contrast of going from white and red Yelp into Little Sheep Hot Pot’s website instantly gives you the feel for what the restaurant will be like, with dramatic colors, alluring imagery, and lots of information. 

4. Inform Your Customers of Hours, Specials & Events

A website gives your restaurant a platform to give your customers basic information about your restaurant as well as any changes you may make. You can include directions, contact information, and access to mailing lists. Other than the fantastic food and drinks you serve, events and food specials are the way to get your customers into your restaurant. By having a custom website that not only reflects your restaurants atmosphere, but also easily allows you to change information and pictures, you can entice your customers to come back in with your ever changing website.

5. Linking from Social Media Platforms

Whether you snap beautiful photos of your food on Instagram, or share daily specials on Twitter, it’s important that your followers have a place to go for more information. We’ve already discussed the importance of having social media as a small business, and as a restaurant, there’s a huge opportunity to create a community. Taylor Shellfish does a fantastic job of encouraging their customers to post by utilizing the hashtag we created for them #tidetotable and featuring the feed on their website. Linking some of these popular apps to your website is further marketing for your restaurant in an easy and inexpensive manner.

We've done a wide variety of restaurants, from Henry's Taiwan Kitchen to Seattle Fish Guys, to Churchill's Steakhouse and the new Old Stover Brewery. From helping with logos, creating social campagins for awareness of newer restaurants, to really nailing down your the look and feel of your restaurant for your website, our team loves helping every step of the way. 

The endless amount of advertising created by having a beautiful custom website is unbeatable. Whether you're a town favorite or new restaurant, having a website is important and we can help.

Fill out our contact form or give us a call at 206.384.4909!