Take Your Restaurant Online: Everything You Need To Consider

Want to take your restaurant online? It can be tough to know where to start.

That’s where we come in! As you may know, Team Limely have designed and developed many restaurant websites over the years that have led to tremendous success for both local independent restaurants and national chains. We’ve gathered some top tips we’ve learnt along the way to help you drive growth for your restaurant. Without further ado, let’s dig in!

Branding & Website Design

First things first, developing your restaurant’s branding is key to a successful website. Start by identifying your brand’s core values, personality and how your want your restaurant to feel to customers. This information will be integral to developing your brand and will aid your colour palette, font and style choices throughout the site.

Your brand identity should be reflected at every customer touchpoint and your website should feel like an extension of your restaurant itself. If your restaurant is a quaint and cosy country pub, then your website should feel the same and will perhaps use warm colours and emotive imagery to capture the essence of your restaurant. Likewise if your restaurant is urban, modern and sleek then your website should utilise clean lines and perhaps monochromatic imagery to reflect this.

If you’re not comfortable undertaking this work yourself, check out the branding and design services we offer to help your brand flourish.

Photography

Considering that most first impressions are related to visual cues and design, it’s key that your imagery is on-point and truly reflects your brand. Spend some time researching professional photographers until you find a style that suits the mood and feel of your restaurant. Not only do you want atmospheric shots of your restaurant, you should also get some high-quality shots of the food you serve to entice customers into booking a table or ordering food online.

Menu Options

Every restaurant website must have a menu – but what style is best for you? It’s important to consider the various options when taking your restaurant online as you must put your customer’s experience first and think about the most useful format for them and their needs.

If your restaurant in centred on simplicity and minimalism, a minimal menu that simply states the dishes you offer and their prices is probably enough. However, if you wanted to go the extra mile for your customers, offering an interactive menu is a brilliant idea as it allows users to filter by dietary requirements and even view the nutritional information of every dish.

If you’d like to explore the option of an interactive menu for your restaurant website, get in touch.

Table Reservations

Arguably the most important element of your restaurant website, online table reservations must be super simple and lightning fast if you want a chance of succeeding in the online world. Your restaurant’s ‘book a table’ button should be glaringly obvious to users landing anywhere on your website and the number of clicks needed to book a table should be minimised for the best chance of conversion.

If your restaurant has numerous locations, you should also consider how to easily display these options and ensure that it is intuitive and simple for the user to select their nearest restaurant. By visually mapping out the reservation journey before you begin your design, you should iron out any creases and provide a seamless reservation process for your customers.

Online Orders & Takeaway Options

Next, you must consider if your restaurant is going to offer online ordering, delivery or takeaway services. If so, this must be presented to users in the simplest way possible to ensure that they can easily view the options you offer and quickly choose the right service for them. Reducing friction points and the number of clicks here is key to converting users into loyal customers.

Contact Details & Options

Aside from table reservations and online ordering capabilities, your website should also offer additional contact forms and options to ensure that users can always get in touch if they need to. Navigation to your contact information should be as easy as pie to avoid customer frustration and reflect the swift service you’re sure to provide within the restaurant itself!

If you’d like a helping hand with your restaurant website, don’t hesitate to get in touch!