DW Tips

When you're focusing on your restaurant's online marketing strategy, a lot of your attention will be somewhere other than your website. You need to maintain your Yelp and local business directory pages. You need to keep social media current and make sure you have plenty of great pictures. That only makes sense. But schedule a time to make sure your restaurant's website has these five essential things:

1. A full menu with pictures or descriptions.

People are browsing online because they want to know their options. Add a menu with good formatting, descriptions as needed, and photos so they know what you have. This also gives search algorithms more information so they can pull up your site for local queries.

2. Your business hours (including holiday hours).

Make sure your posted business hours are always accurate. Nothing alienates a first-time visitor more than showing up to your restaurant and finding out it's closed. Also, if you know what your holiday business hours will be but don't want to constantly be updating your website, add them below your regular hours.

3. A map widget.

If customers find your restaurant through Yelp, they'll be directed away from that site and towards yours. That means they'll lose the map they had before. Enable your homepage with an interactive map so people can navigate easily. Being convenient is half the battle.

4. A picture of your restaurant's exterior.

If your restaurant is in a shopping strip or at a busy intersection, new visitors only have a split second to find your sign. Make it simple by posting a picture of your restaurant so they know what to look for.

5. A reason to visit your restaurant and not a direct competitor's.

Ultimately, your website has to encourage new customers that they can stop searching. A combination of convenience, varied menu items, and providing answers to all of their questions can do precisely that.

Go to Designer Digital for more tips and a website that perfectly fits your restaurant.