Three Things Restaurant Owners are Doing Wrong with Their Website

Your website is often the first impression potential customers see when looking for a restaurant. Before even deciding on a spot to visit, customers get on their phones or computer to find a place for dinner or grab lunch. If your website is not efficient and easy to navigate, you may lose potential guests. Here are a few common mistakes many restaurant owners make when it comes to designing websites.

Putting Too Much Focus on Social Media

Many restaurant websites focus too much on social media. When placing a lot of focus on your social media profiles you are inviting potential guests to leave your website, go to another completely different platform which they will likely stay on and not return to your business site. The best thing to do is stay away from adding social media links to your website. If you are active on different social media platforms, put those links at the bottom of the site. The mission of a website is to keep your customers engaged so they want to fill out a form or call and place a reservation. When you place social media links high up on the website you change what the customer is focusing on. Always place your social profile links at the bottom of the page so you keep your customers focusing on the actual website for the restaurant.

Difficult Website Navigation

Having a poorly organized website makes it difficult for guests to find the information they need regarding your restaurant. Restaurant owners often overlook the importance of making their website easy to navigate. When a website is difficult to navigate your potential customers will have issues when finding the information they are looking for.

A few ways websites are difficult to navigate include having complicated menus and no way to easily get back to the home page after clicking on a link. Fix these mistakes by making your website straight forward and to the point. Create a simple layout to your site so customers always know where to click and what they are clicking on. Create links for specialty options like events or entertainment. Keep it simple. 

Providing Too Much Information

Never pack in too much information on your website such as a lot of images or too many words. Many restaurant owners will build their websites thinking they need to put every bit of information possible on the home page. Do not do this. Highlight what you do and what you foods are your specialties.

Put the most important information on the homepage and that’s it. Use bullet points to make the website even more concise. Create subsections at the top of the page to link to other parts of the site such as delivery, locations, events, etc. Limit as many distractions as you can on your homepage to keep your customer focused on the important information you want them reading. 

As a restaurant owner it can be a difficult task when it comes to building your website. Understanding what information to place on it, and more importantly how to arrange that information in a way to attract potential guests is key. If you find yourself not knowing how to design your website, or you notice you are not attracting customers through your site speak with a professional for advice.