On a weekly basis I’ll click a link and go down into a rabbit hole that is a clients website or marketing funnel. My goal is two prong, to provide that restaurant owner with value and help, but also to train my team on what to look for.
Here’s the most recent website audit.
1st – The menu bar – Is there an error, mine shows a “strange” word, possibly a niche word to fit their theme for what goes to the online ordering. I’m betting this is something to fit the theme, I’d recommend against that.
2nd – The menu – The term used for booking the venue is a very unique term. This is just like #1, customers may be confused by Google also will be. Those unique one off brand terms will not be something that shows up when someone is searching for a place to hold an event.
3rd – Great Video on the home page, LOVE IT! SOLID professionally produced video
4th – Need to install FB pixel
5th – Can we get a pop-up for your VIP/Rewards program? Many of your website visitors are just that, visitors. They are not ordering, so give them an excuse to take an action.
6th – Email button at the bottom goes to inactive toast form. OWNERS, every week go to your website and other important online pages and CLICK EVERY WHERE. You will almost always find a link broken or going to the wrong place.
7th – About Us home page box, can we get 2 lines about the owners in there? They have a solid area telling part of the story, but it’s missing the best part. That it’s locally owned and operated and not a chain.
8th – EZ Cater link – What do they charge for you to use their form for catering orders from the website? They have a link for catering that goes through EZ Cater. I don’t know the costs a restaurant would incur with that, if any, if it’s placed directly with the restaurant through the restaurants website. Two things that scare we there are the fees and introducing the customers to a new website like EZ Cater where they can look for other restaurants. But, the value of having an online ordering platform like there’s might outweigh building one from scratch.
9th – Can we get a catering contest pop-up on that page? Same as #5, put a high value call to action button in front of this traffic. Research shows that the majority of catering traffic to your website is for research purposes, so grab their attention and their data. Then you can build a relationship with them through your catering sales program.
10th – Can you create a “see our menu page.” I think a few of those would look great on a dedicated menu page. They currently have the toast ordering page, but if I’m just poking around I might click a menu page before I click an “ordering” page.
11th – LOVE that you don’t have a PDF of the menu.
12th – The tab that takes people to the toast ordering, have that open a new window not in the same one. That keeps people on the website after they exit that one if they are just poking around. (like the buy gift card button does on the toast ordering page)
13th – I love the Bios of the owners on the home page with 1 other employee, but I’d love a picture of the owners together (it’s seperate now) and show it’s owned by a local married couple.
14th – Contact us picture is my favorite, so 90s! This page was LEGIT. It’s at the top of this page. It ties in with their company theme of the 80s and 90s, the pay phone pic is legit!
15th – Love the join the team page. You should always have a page and marketing running to find team members. Make it fun, informative and easy to apply.
16th – Their America’s Best Restaurants branding and ABR Roadshow Episode is missing. This is a huge way to seperate yourself from the competition. When we list a restaurant on www.americasbestrestaurants.com for FREE, those restaurants get access to our branding for their website. And when we film an episode of the ABR Roadshow they can embed the episode on their website.
Just a few observations, hope you can use some of these to make your restaurant standout and drive more sales.
FYI, when I say that a link on your website, like in #12 above, needs to open to an external source, it’s like the one for the ABR Roadshow above and the podcasts below. It takes you to that place, but keeps you on this website.
Thanks,
MP
PS – I also did a podcast on this topic, go figure :). CLICK HERE to listen to episode 638 of Restaurant Marketing Secrets.
