People of this Millenia are using the Internet recklessly to literally know about everything in this world. That stands true for restaurant recommendations too. 

When people are asking the Internet for the best place to dine near them or the best restaurant in the city serving American cuisines, you should be the first suggestion that the Internet directs them to. 

For the Internet to choose you over the other restaurants in the fray, it is highly essential that you have a restaurant website that search engines would love to highlight.

If you want to create a website that brings people and business to your restaurant, this article will help you by outlining ideas and steps on how to create your own restaurant website.

When the following guidelines are put into practice, the Internet becomes an ocean filled with prize catches rather than a vacuum that simply sucks away your hard earned money.

If you already have a functional restaurant, you know what your speciality is. You must be fully aware of the crux of your business and what makes you unique in the world of culinary players. 

You must already be aware of certain components of the business that have been accepted and rewarded by the guests and the components that need to be reworked. By jotting down all these points, you gain a distinct view of ideas that can be the driving potential of sales on your website. 

Highlight your strengths - whatever it may be. Tell the world your story, introduce them to your team and invite them with images of your mouth-watering recipes. Make them visit and revisit your website simply through your simplicity. 

Keep this central idea consistent. Your website, social media platforms and every digital marketing tool should propagate this central idea too. This makes your branding efforts unidirectional.

The most compelling reason to have a mobile friendly website is that 57% of all web traffic is generated from mobile devices. 

With more than half of a restaurant’s customers checking out information from their hand held smartphones, the kind of experience you are going to give them through your website is going to be game-changing.

Mobile friendliness is a ranking feature on Google. To win the search result war, keep your website and its designs compatible with all kinds of devices, particularly, mobiles.

If the customers are able to instantaneously locate your email address or phone number on your website and if they can get your phone ringing with a mere click, what more would they want? This positive user experience is likely to lead to an eventful journey of that particular customer with you.

You sell food. So, highlight it by all means, in all possible ways. Use templates on your website where the food gains the most significance. 

For the entire website, choose a template that will assist you to: 

i) Boast about your menu

ii) Inform about your prices

iii) Display your food items

iv) Procure Table reservations

v) Get online food orders

vi) Share stories, recipes, offers and upcoming events through a blog section

There are website builders like Restaurantify that offer pre-curated and aesthetic templates exclusively for food and restaurants. Customization of these templates and content is simple and quick too. There are more than 100 templates for you to choose from. Select a template that matches your cuisine and brand, add the required content and you are ready to present yourself to the virtual world.

If you understand how the digital world operates, you must be quite aware that Google loves websites that are constantly updated with fresh content. 

Having a website loses its sheen if it does not carry appropriate and compelling messages. 

i) Tell people about your offers and promotions

ii) Boast about yourself - highlight positive customer testimonials, media clips with positive reviews, noteworthy social media messages and rewards that you may have won. 

iii) Post short videos of chefs preparing a dish

iv) Take the visitors on a virtual tour

v) Publish an online food menu

vi) Feature blogs and keep customers updated

vii) Highlight best employees of the month

Keep the restaurant website content simple and always updated so that people know exactly where to look for when they need information. Your website is the most cost effective mass communication platform that can transmit your information to several thousand people in no time. 

It is natural for any restaurateur to focus primarily on the location, ambience, food and staff orientation to stay at a par with the standards of the hospitality industry. But, it is of utmost importance to ponder about making the restaurant’s online discoverability successful too.  

Despite having a busy schedule, one must put a laser focus on the online marketing strategy and visibility.

i) Understand your target audience

ii) Select one core philosophy or mission statement. Use a tagline and other key elements that supplement the details

iii) Choose traits that you want customers to identify you with and highlight them

iv) Create SEO friendly pages exclusively for your business on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google Plus, Twitter, Yelp and Pinterest

v) Build a brand that reflects you

vi) Advertise your brand more than your menu or services

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the process of impacting the online visibility of a web page or website when online searches are made. By following the best SEO practices, one can enjoy greater visibility and organic results without paying for anything. SEO helps a website to rank higher amidst search results. 

i) Use relevant keywords 

ii) Align the website content with the search intent

iii) Link your website content blog to outbound sites

iv) Have a mobile friendly, easy-to-use website

v) Optimize the page sped - Ensure the website loads within 3 seconds

vi) Use title tags, meta descriptions and meta keywords

The first page on Google search results is a coveted place. Competition for it is extremely high. Always keep yourself abreast with the latest trends in SEO to win the online race and enjoy greater web traffic. 

Once you have started meeting the expectations of customers and in fact, also exceeding it, you can ask them to write reviews and testimonials for you. When you seek a customer’s feedback, your relationship with them and their relationship with the brand endures. They reach a point where they begin recommending you to their friends and family. A customer who was once new to your restaurant, gradually becomes like a brand ambassador for millions of internet surfers looking for honest and trustworthy reviews.

Post positive customer reviews on your website so that they appear on search results when people are looking for restaurants that people love. 

Creating a website for a restaurant is no more a luxury. It is the most basic requirement for any restaurant that wants to win hearts not just through food. Make your restaurant website an exciting runway for customers to land and for your business to take off to greater heights.