Mobile Optimization for Restaurant Websites: Why It Matters

Customers today feel that restaurant mobile apps not only occupy a lot of device space, but also become a means for unwanted promotional messages via push notifications. Thus, they have started to  embrace mobile-optimized restaurant websites to browse the menu and place food orders. Restaurant website mobile optimization is thus crucial to attract and sustain more customers.  

43% of restaurants received online orders via direct channels 

Mobile optimization ensures that a restaurant website looks and functions beautifully on any kind of device – whether it is a notebook computer, iPad or a smartphone. 

Restaurants must use a future-proof, responsive web design which means that the website scales and adapts to fit any screen device and various devices – even ones that have not hit the market as yet. 

Restaurants are the most searched industry by consumers through both mobile applications and browsers. 

1. Websites cater even to users who have not installed the restaurant app on their mobile thus targeting a broader consumer base.  
2. Users hesitate to download apps of brands that they are not familiar with. 
3. Since apps slow down mobile phones, users do not like to have many of them on their devices. 
4. Mobile app marketing is tough without adequate customer data. It is easier to acquire customers and their data using the restaurant website and moving on to a mobile app later. 
5. The mobile app can be used as a secondary tool for marketing while the website remains the primary source to collect customer data. 

By optimizing your restaurant website, you draw in potential customers by making it easy for them to place online orders and schedule reservations. This will automatically increase website traffic and generate more food sales.  

Mobile optimized websites use a script in the header area of the website. This detects the device that has been used to access the website and redirects the user to the mobile optimized website instead of the regular one. So, when people use iPhone, iPad, iPod, android devices, Blackberry and Windows mobile devices, they will be redirected to a mobile-responsive website. 

Register a domain name with at least one keyword of your business. If the entire name is available, well and good. If you own a restaurant called Fiama, register the domain name as fiama.com. If this is unavailable, use other options like fiamarestaurant.com, fiamafood.com, etc.  

While optimizing the restaurant website, make sure to use top restaurant keywords. These keywords will differ from one restaurant to another based on the type of restaurant and the cuisine served. Start by using broad terms like New Jersey restaurant, top restaurant in New Jersey, restaurants in New Jersey, etc. Gradually, start focusing on niche keywords like New Jersey Café, New Jersey Pizza, romantic restaurant, organic food, etc. Some people might directly use your restaurant’s name on the search engine to reach your website. When the restaurant’s name and other brand keywords are included, the search engine will give them better results. For example, Fiama restaurant, Fiama pizza restaurant, Fiama bar and grill, etc. Create pages with information about your location, hours of operation, menu and other essential details as search engines love such detail-laden pages. 

Restaurant owners forget to use meta tags not realizing their importance. But meta tags are crucial for search engines. Adding meta tags will help in website optimization and ensuring that you rank higher in search results. Some important meta tags are – title tag, meta description, alternative text, header tags and responsive design meta tag.  

Since people use their smartphones more than personal computers to search for restaurant websites, the Google search engine gives preference to  websites that have a responsive design. A responsive design is one where the content adjusts its alignment based on the screen size of the user. That is, when a person accesses a website from a smartphone, instead of presenting the images, logos and text as clutter, the design automatically rearranges itself enabling suitable viewing on a mobile device. 

Apart from using a responsive design, the website should also  have a mobile-friendly menu. This is one of the most effective ways to increase website traffic and online orders as people like to know what food a restaurant serves before making a visit. By having a mobile-friendly menu on the website, you reduce the chances of customers walking out of the restaurant after reading the hand-held menu.

Lead generation online relies a great deal on content that is shareable. So, you must add beautiful, mouth-watering images, restaurant reviews and blog posts to the website to attract people. The website content should be shared on your social media sites as well so that people impressed by the content share it with their friends. Content posted on other sites will help optimize the restaurant website. The greater the shares, the more traffic the website will get. This  increases your online visibility and your chances of selling more food.

You will be able to make websites from scratch only if you are a techie. Otherwise, it is going to be lots of work for you. You definitely need a website so that you are not left lurking behind your competitors. At the same time, if you do not want to spend a lot of time optimizing the website, you can  use readymade website templates that are already designed to be responsive. The template makes your work quick and easy, also allowing people to place orders and reservations. 

So, a restaurant website that is not mobile optimized could turn out to be frustrating for the customers. Never let any customer go just because they are unable to view your content well on their hand-held device.  

People and search engines love fresh, new, searchable and optimized local restaurant websites. So, make it appetizing and unique. Get in touch for more on restaurant website creation and digital marketing activities.