What’s For Dinner?
Something that most people don’t know about me is that I love to eat. Really. I spend an inordinate amount of my day thinking about what I am going to eat later on. And ironically, eating helps me to focus; I am pretty sure that my snacking abilities sustained me through four years of college lectures. So while you’ll usually find me munching on something at my desk, there is nothing quite like sitting down to a hearty meal with friends after a long day at work or play.
Unfortunately, I also possess very limited cooking abilities. So besides simply eating, another one of my favorite activities is eating out! While eating out is decidedly taxing (literally) on the pocketbook, my bad habit also provides the inspiration for this blog post: restaurant websites.
As with any business, what an owner includes on their restaurant’s website depends on the individual establishment. But here are some of my suggestions, as a seasoned restaurant website surfer, for the most important information to include, and some other fun ideas.
All the essentials (name, address, phone number and hours of operation) should be easily found on the homepage because a potential client is probably searching for one of those four facts. Including a photo or graphic of your restaurant’s marquee, so patrons will recognize it when they drive by, is also a good idea. A few quality images of your restaurant will also make the website more interesting visually. A contact email can also be included, but only if you’re going to check it and respond to it on a regular basis.
If you’re going to have a website with multiple pages, I suggest including the menu to give people a quick glance of what you have to offer. A word of warning, however, on menus: make sure that the menus are updated frequently to reflect changes in seasonal fare; I find it a little irritating when I’m looking at a restaurant’s “winter” menu in June.
Providing a menu on a website is especially useful your restaurant offers a call ahead service for To-Go orders. If you really want to get fancy, you could even include an online order form, as seen on the website of the oft heralded Mindfly neighbor, Rocket Donuts.
Finally, I would encourage restaurateurs to provide a personal message about the history of their establishment on a website. Yeah, it’s kind of cheesy, but a lot of people, like me, like cheese (mmm…cheese), especially if they’re interested to know if you use locally-produced and organic ingredients, or if there are any local charitable organizations that your restaurant regularly supports. And, of course, a blog is an easy and personal way to inform people of special events at your restaurant, like live music, and to keep your website’s content fresh and current.