Restaurant Website Design Checklist
Use this restaurant website design checklist to consider how website design helps diners find information and plan a visit. Restaurants face high expectations from both customers and restaurateurs, online as well as on the premises. A respectable restaurant comes with having ‘the experience’, which is achieved by most restaurants. However, many restaurateurs are neglecting their business website, which is a huge contributing factor to running a successful restaurant in today’s rapidly growing online society.
It is with understanding, a website should always be aesthetically intriguing to hold the viewer’s attention. And once that attention is held, website usability becomes the fundamental factor. The amount of visitors the website has can either decrease or increase drastically depending upon the ease of use of the website. Without ease of use, viewers will simply move on. Website usability can include the presentation of concise and relevant information to the subject of the website. In this instance, location of the restaurant, menus and special offers. The said are simply the primary building blocks to any website design. With regards to a professional restaurant business website, perhaps guidelines should be discussed and considered.
Aesthetic Guidelines for Restaurant Website Design
These guidelines are to help create a website that stands out from the other and many restaurant websites within this competitive industry. The end product is one that reflects the potential ‘experience’ that could be provided by the restaurant. From here on, we will discuss elements such as music, bookings, content and images.
Music may play a part within the restaurant premises, helping to create the right type of ambience. However, it must be noted that this is not a significant element to the restaurant setting. In fact, many restaurants have opted to be without music. It is preferred to allow the customers to enjoy the company that they have, the food that is being served and the service that is being held. The simple restaurant noise is sufficient to set the restaurant ambience. Therefore, why must music be incorporated into the restaurant website. However, if the intention is to have music on the website, bear in mind music is a personal preference so always allow the visitor to turn it on or off; let visitors choose whether to play it.
Reservation is a basic arrangement within the restaurant business. If it is available onsite, make it available on the restaurant website. Whether it’s providing the viewer with contact details such as telephone numbers, email or a system whereby the viewer can make the reservation themselves, make it available. For instance, franchise restaurants often allow the customer to make a booking online and a confirmation email to follow. This has proved favourable amongst customers.
Location is another basic factor. In tangible terms, a restaurant premises should be easy to find with a high traffic flow. However in terms of the restaurant website, clear instructions need to be provided to help customers find the restaurant alongside the actual address. Therefore it makes sense to embed Google Maps as it is so easy to use. Keep your Google Business Profile accurate, including the address, opening hours, contact details and relevant photos. Google’s local ranking guidance explains the main factors involved. Complete information helps diners assess your restaurant, although profile updates cannot guarantee a particular position in Maps or search results.
Focusing back on website usability, one of the components is the content quality. It needs to be relative and relevant. For instance, special offers with regards to set menus for certain events and dates, such as mother’s day could be displayed. Updated menus for the correct season or even year could prove vital. Perhaps a blog about the chef’s new improved recipe on a particular dish or even a new and exciting dish on the menu.
Amongst all the content, consider establishing a tone of voice. Work alongside the branding of your restaurant; if it is fine dining, keep the content simple yet formal. But if the ambience is exotic, make the content loud, bold and fun.
When considering the content of the website, do not just focus on the written content. Accompany it with imagery. Whether it’s photos of the property, drinks or dishes from the menu; advertise the restaurant products through this method.
Attention to detail is a quality to be had when considering customer service. Extend this quality to the website. Ensure your website is compatible with all major browsers and devices. Nothing is more frustrating for a user than to come upon a website that they cannot view.
If the restaurant website has an entry page, delete it. Instead of boasting technical animation skills, take the viewer and potential customer straight to the homepage. Not only are the animation skills not relevant to the website purposes, but it can be rather annoying for the visitor. Such technique is just wasting the visitor’s time and making them wait for no good reason; why make that impression before the customer enters the restaurant.
Technical Guidelines for Restaurant Website Design
The above factors are to be taken into consideration when transferring the essence of the restaurant to the website. Turning to the more technical layout of website design, first let’s focus on the homepage. Important information such as the address and telephone number should be easily accessible. If the business has more than one restaurant location, make that easy and clear for the visitor to select their preferred location before some other aspects such as making a reservation. Key navigation should also be available here. Identify and prioritise the most important pages of the website and display them prominently in your navigation. For example, About, Location, Contact, Reservations, Opening Hours and Menus.
Menus can be either incorporated in to the page design, or as PDF downloads. An accessible menu within the page can be easier to read on a phone and can blend with the site’s design. However, a PDF is still a suitable option if you wish to display the menu as it appears in printed media at your restaurant. Keep the PDF accessible and reasonably small, and offer an in-page alternative so visitors can check dishes without having to download a document.
When preparing images for the website, consider both their purpose and their file size. Use photographs that reflect the actual venue and dishes, with useful alternative text where an image conveys information. Size and compress files appropriately for their display rather than uploading unnecessarily large originals.
If photography is used, quality is key. Use images that are sharp at their displayed size, while keeping page loading efficient. Low resolution and grainy images translate to a low standard of service and product perceived by the customer. One of the biggest and most frequent mistakes made by the creators of menus, is the use of poorly laid up food, bad framing, or even worse, dull and colourless images of their food items. Food and drink galleries should be bold, colourful and of course, appetising.
Any remaining Flash content should be replaced. Adobe ended Flash Player support in 2020 and blocked playback in January 2021, so it is no longer a suitable foundation for a restaurant website. Use supported web technologies for menus, galleries and booking features, and make sure important information remains accessible without an animation or plug-in. Movement and sound should have a clear purpose and suitable controls. Test the finished pages on the devices your customers use, including slower mobile connections. Diners should be able to find opening hours, read a menu and make a reservation without working around obsolete technology.
Following on from having attention to detail being transferred onto the restaurant website, ensure your website is compatible with all major browsers and devices. The restaurant website should be mobile-compatible. Google uses mobile content for indexing and ranking, so ensure essential information is available on phones. Mobile usability alone does not guarantee higher rankings.
Social Media Guidelines for Restaurant Website Design
In an online society where social media plays a significant role in people’s daily lives, consider the many social networks to aid advertisement and therefore boost online popularity. For instance, have a Facebook page and encourage customers to “Like us on Facebook!”. Or suggest to the customer to “Join our mailing list to receive special offers!” However, do not bombard the customer with this feature on the website. Make it subtle as this can be perceived as bothersome marketing on the restaurant’s behalf.
Choose social platforms that suit your customers and that your team can maintain, encouraging diners to share their experiences or discuss favourite dishes. This can also enable the restaurant to announce any special offers or new dishes during the year. Further, use this method to answer customer questions directly and efficiently.
Consider relevant booking and review platforms such as OpenTable. If you display customer reviews on your website, use the platform’s supported options and present feedback accurately, with clear attribution. Keep the restaurant’s details consistent across these profiles.
Planning your restaurant website
Website design is an important part of how a restaurant presents itself online. It is very important to have an online presence within today’s rapidly growing online society. To have a successful restaurant website, is a means for advertisement and creating popularity for the restaurant business, therefore potentially encouraging a growing clientele. However to have that successful website to promote the restaurant, first consider the primary building blocks of a website, then alongside the three types guidelines; aesthetic, technical and social. Dreamkatcha provides professional website design in Berkshire. For the wider visual approach, read our companion guide to restaurant branding and website design.
Contact Dreamkatcha today to discuss a startup business, web design or logo design project.