More than 90% of hungry internet users will look for a restaurant online and that is why you should have a food delivery website. Thanks to this, you will be able to promote your establishment on the Internet and get new customers.
UpMenu will help you create an outstanding web page that will be self-sustaining thanks to the restaurant website builder. An outstanding online food ordering sites help increase the number of orders and hence profits! The average restaurant website has 2,119 visits per month. That’s 2,119 potential buying customers!
It is imperative that a website for an eatery should be mobile responsive. Over 50% of online traffic originates from mobile devices. A website that isn’t adjusted to such devices will not be user-friendly and may cause shopping cart abandonment.
Let’s see why you should build a website for food delivery and what benefits it will bring you.
Why restaurants need food delivery websites?
Every restaurateur should focus on the quality of food as their main priority. However, if there are no customers, who should your chef cook for? And, how to attract customers? The answer; develop an exceptional website with food delivery ordering system.
Remember, you cannot put all the information about your establishment on Facebook. Even if you show some of it, you can’t bring the true spirit of your diner onto social media. You can, however, show what it’s like with exceptional website design, and not only through texts and photos.
90% of US citizens check information about local restaurants before visiting them. More than 50% of orders for delivery or take out are placed via the internet. If you still aren’t advertising your services online, it’s time to start!
Gain new customers
Guess where customers look for information about your restaurant? On the internet! They want to find out what meals you have on your menu, your business hours, prices, and in best scenario – get their order placed. The internet is the first place your customers refer to. Without a restaurant website, they will not be able to find you.
Developing a website can be really easy. If you get a solution such as the UpMenu system, you will be able to create an effective and self-sustaining website.
Collect bookings and orders online with food delivery websites
70% of customers say they prefer to order directly from the restaurants. If you let them, they will gladly order from your food delivery website instead of a third-party food ordering platform.
It is also important for a website to offer the possibility of making table reservations. Because nowadays, we want to handle everything online comfortably. When a potential customer finds your establishment online, make sure he can get a table reservation or food delivery without unnecessary hassle!
Let people see the atmosphere at your establishment
A good website for restaurants shows what the customers can expect when they visit you or order food for delivery.
Add an interesting photo of the interior and one of your team. Include high-quality, delicious-looking photos of your meals with the menu. Show people that you are an ideal place for dinner or a friendly gathering!
Stay ahead of the competition
Show off your exceptional meals and give customers the possibility of ordering food online or reserving tables through your website. Respond to customer needs and offer them exactly what they are looking for.
Let’s be honest – a simple food delivery website is a must today ! 80% of restaurants turn to technology. If you don’t offer this to your customers, you’ll just stay behind the competition.
Build a food delivery website and a brand at the same time
If you don’t have the budget for huge marketing campaigns, you should focus on building a brand on the internet using the tools available.
Social media may not be enough on its own. It is important for you to have a website for your brand. This will be your property so, you can decide how to advertise it, what type of information to post on it, and what budget to spend on its development.
At the same time, new customers will be able to find you online. This is very important in this day and age. Additionally, if you launch an online food ordering system and a booking system, your food delivery website will be self-sufficient!
14 critical elements of a food delivery websites
What elements should a food delivery website have to ensure you are profitable? There are a few best practices to help you build your homepage. Use the UpMenu restaurant website builder to build a self-sustaining homepage.
Matching the brand image
The best food website designs match the restaurant’s style. They have to draw attention but cannot overwhelm the customer. Show what makes your establishemnt stand out and earn recognition.
Simplicity and transparency
When accessing a simple website for dinner, the customer has to see the key information immediately. Contact details and the menu along with an online food ordering system should be easy to find. Thanks to this, you will increase online order conversions and earn more.
Call to action
60% of customers order food online at least once a week and 31% twice a week. The best food delivery websites must feature a clear call to action. In the case of restaurants, this can be, for instance, an “Order Online” button.
When you build your website remember that your customers must see such CTA clearly. This will convert to greater profits.
Responsiveness
A professional food website must be responsive. 80% of customers order food only through mobile devices. If the brand website is displayed badly on a smartphone screen, it will contribute to a reduced number of food delivery orders for you to provide.
SEO friendly
When you develop the best food websites, don’t forget about their positioning in online search engines. Let your customers find you easily. An UpMenu website is SEO friendly, which means:
- it’s are responsive;
- it loads quickly;
- it can be integrated with social media and SEO plug-ins;
- it features an HTML menu;
- it uses ALT tags.
Easy editing
The best food delivery website needs a great CMS, which is a system for content editing and publishing. Implementing it will make it easier to modify the website in any way, without specialized skills. Therefore you don’t need to employ an IT professional to introduce a simple change or make an update on your food delivery website.
Speed of operation
Your food delivery website must load quickly. This process should take a maximum of 2 seconds. Otherwise, the customer can become irritated and more hesitant to place an order, and probably will not return to your website.
Intuitive navigation
A few main sections will be enough if you want to have the best food delivery website: “Homepage”, “Menu”, “Contact”. The good division will make it easier for the customer to find what they are looking for. This way, they can place the order faster, and that is what you want to achieve. It’s also a good idea to build a one-page restaurant website.
Contact details
Remember to include the key details in an easily visible place on your food delivery website – a menu and an online food ordering system, telephone number, and address. If these elements are not present, your customers will be discouraged and won’t place orders.
Photos of food and interior
Photos are one of the key elements in presenting your establishment and the food you serve. Make sure you invest in high-quality photos of your best dishes and interiors.
Photos on the best food delivery websites should be virtually everywhere: on the homepage, in the menu, and separately as a photo gallery section. Customers should really want to visit you or order food when they look at those photos.
Photos of the menu
Websites for restaurants make it possible to present meals along with photos, short descriptions, and the price. This way, customers know exactly what they are ordering. Try the menu themes offered by UpMenu and create a food delivery website that will sell your products really well. Read more about taking appetizing photos of your meals here: Professional photos of your dishes without a photographer – is it possible?
Customer reviews
92% of customers read reviews for local restaurants. Opinions add credibility to your establishment and emphasize its professionalism. Include several reviews on the homepage or on the menu. The UpMenu online food ordering system will help you collect customer reviews automatically, which can later be used to increase the number of food delivery orders.
Newsletter subscription form
An interesting newsletter will increase your profits. You can inform customers about new promotions and the latest products in this way. The top food websites feature a newsletter subscription form. You can also take things one step further – the UpMenu system develops a database of customers automatically. When customers place orders, they can grant their consent for marketing contact.
Up to date
The best food delivery websites always contain the latest information. Information about events that took place several years ago or outdated promotions will discourage customers. Update your website regularly, so that you don’t lose any food delivery orders.
15 mistakes to avoid while creating the best food delivery websites
If you want to create food delivery website, you should choose verified solutions. Your site should be well-optimized for search engines, have a mobile-responsive design, and offer a simple ordering process. And established solutions like UpMenu delivers on all those fields.
See if your website has any mistakes and learn how to eliminate them with the site created with UpMenu.
No contact details
Imagine a situation where a customer decides to order something, but they can’t find the phone number or an online food ordering option. Make sure you include your contact details in visible manner. Customers will not be able to find you without them and your sales could suffer.
No menu
The top food website must include a menu. They are useless without it and do not present any value to the customer.
A menu in PDF format is not a good solution. A file that a customer has to download scares them away as it takes more time to place an order. This has a negative impact on the quality of your service.
No prices or photos on the menu
The best food delivery websites themes include photos and prices. Delicious looking photos attract customers and encourage them to place orders. Presenting your prices shows transparency and honesty – the customer should know how much they will pay right away. Choose one of the UpMenu menu themes and never lose customers who want to place orders.
Music in the background
This is a relic of the 1990s. Avoid it if you want to build a website for 21st century. Music that is too loud and cannot be disabled irritates customers. It often just makes the customer want to close your website as soon as possible.
Complicated navigation
The customer usually looks first for the menu, contact details, or photos on a website. Complicated navigation makes it difficult. It should be simple and intuitive. It would be best if it redirected the user to the online food ordering system immediately. This way, a customer can place an order easily, which makes them content with the service and more eager to come back.
Design not corresponding to the brand
Everyone who has ever wondered how to create a website should adjust it to the restaurant’s individual character as a priority. An inconsistent concept may confuse the customer.
Try the website design from UpMenu which can be easily adjusted to the your brands image. You can start selling food online almost instantly.
A website not adjusted to mobile devices
Choose only the best mobile sites. Incorrect display of the website on tablets or smartphones is evidence that the customers’ needs are being ignored. 80% of them use mobile devices when looking for restaurants. Non-responsive websites’ themes will be useless to them.
No call to action
Many customers remain undecided if they are not motivated to perform a certain action. Consequently, they will close your food delivery website. Use a call to action, for instance, as a button redirecting users to the online food ordering system. This way you can be sure to provide more food delivery services.
Outdated content
Photos from a carnival ball from 2011 will most likely not be interesting to anyone. There is nothing worse than outdated promotions that mislead the customer. If you want to create a website that builds a positive image, update its content regularly.
Ineffective positioning
When you build a website for your establishment, you should ensure its proper positioning in online search engines. Ineffective positioning reduces the chances of your website being displayed in search engines more often, which translates into lost profit.
The UpMenu food delivery website solves this problem. A website developed with UpMenu will be SEO-friendly.
Overwhelming graphic design
Certainly, you have come across websites where the layout is overwhelming and draws the customers’ attention away, resulting in a reduced number of orders placed. Avoid it.
Absence of customer feedback
The best websites for eateries should include customer reviews. This will be the so-called social proof that visitors look for on websites prior to placing an order. You will make more money thanks to positive customer reviews. The UpMenu food ordering system will help you earn more automatically. See how to do it here: Restaurant online marketing – where can you find valuable feedback?
Difficult to edit
When you build a website for a food delivery, ensure that it can be edited easily. When it’s not easy to edit, your work will be more difficult, while your customers will face frequent errors and technical breaks.
No possibility of signing up to a newsletter
A well-designed website for restaurants should have the possibility of subscribing to a newsletter. This is a great marketing tool that will increase sales, helping you earn more.
No statistics
No possibility of collecting statistics regarding site visits and order conversions can make your activities difficult or even impossible. Make conscious decisions using data provided automatically by the UpMenu system and earn more.
Food delivery websites creation
How to create a food delivery website:
- itneedstobecatchy-dot-com
The very first step in building your restaurant website is coming up with a domain. You probably already have an idea or two – keep them in mind but make sure they are suitable before using them.
There are some rules of online marketing that you have to follow. Most importantly, your domain should somehow be connected to the name of your diner – ideally, perfect when the domain contains the whole name. - A good domain – is that all?
Coming up with a domain is not that easy – the same goes for the name of the restaurant. Both the domain and the name should be original, memorable, and catchy to make it really worth mentioning.
Remember that you should think of a name that gives the potential customer a clue about what they should expect in your establishment. - Money well spent
Before you start making any money, you first have to invest. Look at your budget and ensure you have funds to build a website. Remember that online marketing for restaurants without an exceptional website is a waste of effort.
- Other expenses
Think of the money you need to pay for a professional photographer to capture the beauty of your establishment and meals. Professionally taken pictures will enhance the experience of a potential customer and make them more eager to order online from you.
Do you have some funds left? Take another step and make a video! Show your customers around before they even leave their houses – invite them to your restaurant.
Conclusion
Nowadays, the vast majority of restaurants need a food delivery website. 60% of restaurant owners believe that the introduction of delivery and takeout significantly increases their profits.
The best food delivery websites simply help eateries make money from online orders. 90% of customers check the restaurant website before ordering. The best-looking restaurant website with a food delivery option will attract them more.
There are several necessary elements if you want to build a restaurant website. Remember to include accurate contact details, online ordering options, and match the restaurant website design to your brand.
Remember to track your food delivery website result indicators so, you can be sure that your marketing activities and the website design are fitting and engaging for potential customers.
You can enhance further your restaurant operations and management through the implementation of Point of Sale Systems. Here you can find a breakdown of best POS systems for restaurants.
Check out the website themes from UpMenu. Thanks to them, you can build a free restaurant website, run an online food ordering system, and increase your profits: The 23 best restaurant website templates, 11 of the best pizza website templates for online ordering.
FAQ
– Accelerates customer base growth
– Facilitates table booking system
– Promotes restaurant public image
– Builds brand recognition and online presence
– Missing contact details and menu
– Lack of product pictures and pricing
– Overcomplicated navigation and cluttered graphical design
– Non-corresponding design
– Missing CTA(Call-to-Action) directed to the ordering page
– Customer feedback function vacancy
– Appearance relevant to brand image
– Responsive and intuitive design
– Call to Action inclusion
– SEO optimized structure
– Easy to use editor
– Engaging, easy to navigate through content
– Contact details inclusion
– Consumer experience-enhancing photos of food and interiors
– Customer feedback and communication support
– Up to date content
