Why You Should Create a Restaurant Web Site

Arsen Carpenter

A good restaurant menu is important. Not only do they provide great information about the food that is available, but they also give an indication of the style of food served, which might be important if you are on a tight schedule and want to eat as soon as possible. However, often a physical menu that needs to be printed and distributed will put a limit on what can be included – for example there may not be enough time or space to include all the specials for the day in detail.

This article will outline why it would benefit restaurant owners to have an online menu where customers can browse through from their computer or mobile device and order their meal before arriving at the restaurant – this will drive more traffic from Google, Yelp, etc.

Benefits of an Restaurant Web Site

There are many benefits to having an online menu as well as the ability to update and add new specials, dishes, drinks. Some of these might include:

  • Customers can check the online menu before going to a restaurant. This means that they can determine what they will eat during the visit and whether it is something that they particularly want or not. Then, if they have some time between their arrival at the restaurant and being seated, customers can browse through the online menu again to decide exactly what they will order. This essentially means that customers could spend approximately twice as long at a restaurant ordering their meal compared to having visited a restaurant where there was no online menu available.
  • Customers can eat at a later time, which can be helpful if they want to order their meal at a specific time. They could also order dessert and pastries to take with them back to their workplace, which may further increase the total amount of time spent at the restaurant.
  • Customers are more likely to come back with a group of friends or colleagues to share appetizers and drinks – which is an ideal way to create new business for a night out as well as creating some word of mouth advertising.
  • Customers do not have to rely on any other information before going to the restaurant – they will know exactly what the will be ordering before arriving in person. This means that there will be less confusion about the menu as well as more satisfaction with the order, which is an important tool for increasing customer loyalty to the restaurant and allowing them to return in future.
  • Customers can order online and pay online, which means that there will be no waiting by the entrance for a waiter or waitress to take their order. In addition, it has also been shown that customers will spend more per person when ordering online because they do not have to worry about waiting for a waiter or waitress or any other issues that may occur from ordering food for themselves while also being served alcohol by someone who could become intoxicated – which is an important factor in creating a successful bar menu.

Restaurants can respond more quickly to feedback as this is available online in real-time. This could include updating the menu online if a dish is no longer available or making changes to a particular dish, which can be helpful for those customers who are allergic.

Restaurants will have a better idea of what the most popular dishes are and what customers are looking for, which will allow them to ensure that they have enough in stock whenever something is likely to be popular. Furthermore, it will also allow them to modify their menu based on the current season – so if fresh fruit is in season they can start using it as part of different dishes.

Drive Increased Traffic

There are many online traffic sources from where your restaurant can get new customers. Those are Google, Google Maps, Apple Maps, Yelp. The most important of them are Google and Yelp. Having an online menu at your website will bring you new customers from all these sources. Google will send you customers directly from search results based on your online menu, Yelp will send you customers in case they put your address in the OpenTable/Yelp app.

Having restaurant web site with an online menu will also drive more traffic to your physical location. That is because people who use for example OpenTable to reserve a table at your restaurant are shown availability by date & time as well as address and directions to get there (for those that need it).

All you need to do is to add your web site URL to Yelp or Google and people who search for your restaurant will be able to see your menu and even order from it. At a time where people are less likely to interact in person. Think of the amount of lost opportunity from the traffic that Google and Yelp generate for your business, which does not get converted into orders. 

How to Create an Online Menu

Menustripe makes creating a shoppable online menu as simple as filling in boxes. You can create a full shoppable menu where customers can order to-go or dine-in orders straight from their phone. The best part is that you will never have to rely on 3rd party apps or pay a fee per transaction. For a flat monthly fee, you have full control and our team is there to help you convert your current menu into a digital one in the matter of hours.

Sign up for your FREE 14-day trial today and see if MenuStripe is right for you.