Restaurant Owners, You Don’t Need a Website… Or Do You?

Hey, restaurant owners, let’s have a heart-to-heart for a second. You don’t *really* need a website. I mean, who would want to process orders seamlessly online, collect valuable customer data, and show people why they should do business with you? Why on Earth would you want to let potential customers know who you are?

Kidding. You NEED a website. And not just any website—a kickass, can’t-live-without-it website.

Today, I want to dive into **7 Must-Haves** for your restaurant’s website. I’ve spent the last 15 years analyzing restaurant websites, helping thousands of independent restaurants and franchises like yours. And guess what? A lot of you are still struggling with this thing called the “internet.” Let’s fix that.

1. Your Story Matters

If your “About Us” page is just a boring one-liner with a grainy photo of the front door, you’re missing the boat. You’re not Chick-fil-A or Starbucks. You don’t have their money, so your story is your secret weapon. Tell people WHY they should choose you.

– Why did you start this restaurant?
– How long have you been in the game?
– What’s the inspiration behind your menu?

People connect with stories—not just food. Give them a reason to choose your restaurant over some soulless chain.

2. The Menu: Ditch the PDFs

Your badass food deserves more than a PDF or a low-res JPEG. Your website menu should be text-based so Google can actually find it, and it needs high-quality pictures for every dish. I want to drool over those wings before I even step foot in your restaurant.

3. Check Your Links (Please)

You’ve got social media links on your site—awesome. But when’s the last time you actually **clicked** them?

Just last week, I helped a restaurant owner who hadn’t checked his links in years. His Facebook link took customers to a completely different restaurant. Talk about a missed opportunity. Make sure your links:
– Go where they’re supposed to
– Open in a new tab so customers stay on your site
– Are relevant—if you’re not updating your TikTok, don’t link to it.

4. Keep It Current: Layout Matters

Your website layout should look like it belongs in 2024, not 2008. Consumers are used to seeing menus at the top of the page, and if your design doesn’t match what they’re used to, you will lose them. It doesn’t have to be flashy, but it has to be familiar.

 5. Get That Customer Data

Your website is a goldmine for collecting customer data—but it can’t just be through online orders. Pop-ups, calls-to-action, and contests are all tools to capture valuable information.

If someone’s visiting your website for the first time, they’re probably not joining your loyalty program yet. But give them a **reason** to hand over their email. A killer offer will do the trick—just don’t bore them with an “email newsletter sign-up.”

6. Retargeting: Are You Using It?

This one blows my mind. **Website retargeting** has been around for over a decade, and yet hardly anyone is doing it. With a Facebook Pixel or Google tag on your site, you can target customers who’ve visited your page with ads on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Google.

Imagine someone visits your site looking to cater an office event. Later that day, while scrolling through Facebook, BOOM—there’s your ad. You stay top-of-mind, just like Amazon does.

 7. Make It Easy to Give You Money

It’s 2024—online ordering is non-negotiable. Every restaurant in America should have a seamless, easy-to-use online ordering system. If I can’t click a button, browse your (beautiful) menu, and check out without headaches, I’m ordering from somewhere else.

So there you have it: **7 Must-Haves for your Restaurant’s Website** to make sure it’s not just another bland, cookie-cutter page on the web. If this post helped you, do me a favor—**like, share, subscribe**, or drop a comment below. Let’s get your website firing on all cylinders!