Restaurant Marketing: 16 Restaurant Website Marketing Features
About six months ago I was seeking to book a reservation for a restaurant in my own city. I knew the name, but wasn't quite certain of the spelling.
I visited Google, and I just couldn't find the restaurant online. It turned out I had the spelling correct, yet couldn't think it is in Google.
Instead, I found a huge amount of reviews, most of which were good (that is why I wanted to eat there).
But, to be able to contact this restaurant, I relied on a telephone number in a directory as opposed to the restaurant's website.
I did eat as of this restaurant and it was fantastic. WHEN I ate t here I grabbed a small business card, plus they did have a website. Just what a shame their SEO was so bad or non-existent.
I don't own a restaurant, but I own your small business with an area clientele. My SEO is not much unique of a restaurants. Moreover, given fast food hacienda heights study internet marketing for many forms of small businesses (and do it for my own), I thought I'd publish articles for restaurants. Specifically articles providing restaurant marketing ideas using a website.
I'm all about a business' website being unique. But, in almost all industries, there's basic information that is important to potential customers. This is really true for restaurant websites.
16 must-have restaurant website features for both conversion and SEO are as follows:
1. Menus
Publishing up-to-date menus is really a no-brainer. Every restaurant should have up-to-date menus on its website.
It's critical it be up-to-date. The final thing a restaurant needs is telling guests "oh, that menu has changed and it's really not right on the website." That's unprofessional and won't sit well with a guest.
I would go as far as to add wine, beer, and liquor menus as well.
And while you're at it, set out the nutritional value of the dishes. Many diners want in nutritional content.
2. Location Info and Map
These days it's so easy to integrate Google Maps right into a website. Make it possible for anyone to find your restaurant with a map. Many people search for restaurants with cellular devices. A map leads them right to your door.
3. Contact Info
I believe all small businesses should have their telephone number and contact form on every page of their website. Restaurants included. Make it incredibly easy for your site people to contact you.
4. Photographs of the Establishment
Hire a specialist photographer if you are busy and get a huge amount of great photographs. Place those photographs around your website. Section of dining is the environment and atmosphere. Show off your establishment on your website.
5. Event Calendar
Should you have events such as live music or special dinners, set up an event calendar on your website.
6. Chef / Owner Bios
Feature in a bio your restaurant's key players. Whether chef, owner, or both. For those who have an over-all manager, consider having a bio of one's GM. Spend some time writing up the bios. Perhaps hire a professional writer. In fact you may wish to hire a specialist writer for all of your website's content (or at the very least the key pages).
7. Restaurant History
Why not use in your About page a brief overview of your restaurant. Some restaurants have a fascinating history. Guests could be thinking about such information. It's easy to write and it might just persuade you to definitely try your establishment.
8. Awards & Reviews
Don't be shy. Publish your list of awards and reviews (get permission from the reviewer first). If you cannot get permission from the reviewer, then provide a link that is clearly a popup window to the review. Why a popup? Which means that your visitor stays on your site and doesn't find yourself on another restaurant's site through the review website.
9. Careers / Jobs Available
Make it easy for people to apply to your restaurant. Regrettably, many restaurants have high turnover and so are frequently hiring. The more applications you receive, the more hiring options you have.
10. A Blog
As a restaurant owner or operator, you might have lots of fun with a blog. A blog informs, entertains, and is good for SEO.
11. On-Site Local SEO
Take advantage of every page and blog post by optimizing your articles for the various search engines. It's not hard to do. The more content you have (hence the importance of a blog), the more opportunities you should rank for various keyphrases (called keywords) in the search engines.
Be sure to create meta titles and meta descriptions for every page and post. In the event that you aren't thinking about doing on-site SEO, hire an excellent SEO company. Your goal would be to rank well in your area, city, and state/province (or geographic area).
Don't be like the restaurant I tried to find Online rather than rank well in the various search engines. There's a huge opportunity for business simply by ranking well in the search engines. The good thing for restaurants is you don't need to compete globally. You need only rank well for your local area(s).
12. Online Reservation Maker
Not all restaurants would want to hand over booking power to customers. That is why I consider it an optional restaurant website feature. However, invest the reservations, it's a good way to book reservations and freeing up your staff time all at once. The more people who self-book, means fewer reservations your staff must make.
If work with a Restaurant WordPress theme, it is simple to add a reservation feature using a plugin. 5 reservation plugins to take a look at include:
? WebReserv
? Checkfront Booking
? Booking Calendar
? Wp-Reservation
? MealClick
If you don't use WordPress for your website, check out:
? OpenTable
? Live Bookings
? Restaurant Diary
? Guestbridge
? Reservation Genie
13. Takeout Online Ordering
If you sell take out, why not offer guests the choice to order takeout during your website. Like reservation software, you save your staff time processing orders and ensure it is easy for website visitors to order meals. You can even process payment online if you wish to save a lot more time when your guest accumulates their food.
14. Pre-Ordering Service
Sometimes a guest is pretty quickly and wish to eat upon entering your restaurant. You could offer a pre-ordering option during your website.
15. Notable Guests
If your restaurant attracts notable guests, say etc your website.
16. Offer Gift Cards on the market
Gift cards could be a terrific revenue generator. Sell them during your restaurant website. You need basic e-commerce software. It's easy nowadays regardless the platform on which your restaurant website is made.