Why Restaurants Should Take Help of Professional Web Designers During the Covid-19 Crisis and Beyond

As the restaurant industry is gradually adapting to new layouts and interior changes to reopen dining areas following the social distancing requirements and local regulations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it now remains one of the most challenging economic sectors to resume operations.

However, while the effectiveness of the new space planning in terms of revenue generation can only be determined after a while, restaurants need to focus on alternative avenues to keep their business afloat during this difficult period. The virus is going to stay and businesses can simply no longer hold onto their old ways of operating and marketing ideas.

A significant digital transformation is slowly taking place in the restaurant industry to handle the operations in the COVID scenario. This makes it a high time to identify the major role of a restaurant’s website to mitigate the challenges from COVID-19.

In today’s blog post, we will discuss the importance of this critical time to adapt to new adjusted restaurant business models, the reasons why you should immediately change your marketing and advertising efforts as well as the changes you should include in your restaurant websites to optimize your business strategy for driving much-needed revenue.

Why you should get a professionally designed and optimized restaurant website now?

Since dining out has taken a halt during the pandemic and people are showing a growing preference for ordering food and eating at home, the restaurant industry is forced to consider digital transformation with an online ordering system for take-away in order to survive.

If you are into the restaurant business and are thinking to cater to online ordering and food delivery services, you can’t afford to have an unprofessional website and online assets without a competitive digital presence. You should realize that a novice website with just a menu listing and hours of operation is insufficient at this time!

Profitability being an issue for many restaurants even under normal situations and COVID-19 making the circumstances worse for revenue generation, you might ask if it is justifiable to invest in a professionally designed and optimized website during this critical time when you are not even generating any profit.

But we emphasize, this is the right time. Here’s why.

The pandemic has changed everything and what matters most to your prospects now is how accessible your business is and how fast.

This simply means a growing trend to check out business websites regularly by potential customers who are looking for ways to order good food as well as help and support restaurants.

What are these prospects exactly looking for when checking out your restaurant website?

1. Whether you are open and offer food delivery or take-away services.

2. The menu.

3. Your new services during the pandemic.

4. New adjusted business hours.

5. How to place food orders in the new system.

6. How you receive orders

7. What precautions you are taking while handling orders.

8. How safely they will get the food delivered at home.

9. Safe transaction

10. Turnaround time

11. Customer reviews

12. Customer support

13. Professionalism

If your prospects or existing customers can’t access these pieces of information and more about your updated services from their devices, it is likely they will immediately abandon your website and may never return to place orders or try your services on offer.

The situation also calls for a good digital marketing strategy in place especially now using your website and other marketing channels to gain more visibility and followers. The more you communicate strategically and reach out to your prospects during this time, the higher the chances of engagement and generating revenue.

So, if you don’t have a professionally designed website yet for your restaurant business, this is the moment that will really count if you invest in building and optimizing one to survive the COVID era and a post-pandemic world.

Why is this the right time to redesign the marketing efforts of your restaurant?

Most people are confined to their homes or are working remotely from home due to coronavirus restrictions and lockdown. As a result, a bigger audience is spending more time in front of their mobile devices and computers during this period.

What does this mean? 

People are spending more time online, be it checking emails, websites, or social media and are also engaging with brands more than before in search of help regarding daily essentials, COVID-19 updates, re-opening news of their favourite places, including safe ways to spend quality time with family at home.

Although COVID-19 has turned the world upside down, delicious food is still one of the most popular things that family and friends still want to enjoy together. Since dining out is no more a considerable option, a lot of people are checking out if restaurants are open and home delivery services are available. So, this makes it the right time to acquire new leads and customers by getting your brand in front of your prospects.

Your marketing and advertising campaigns will be more visible now as people are indulging in longer screen time every day and you should take this opportunity to ensure your restaurant shows up in the search results when people are regularly looking out for restaurant services nearby.

And all of these outreach efforts start with your restaurant website!

Actionable steps to optimize your restaurant website during the pandemic

Our team of web designers and UX/UI designers at Leidsens has been thoroughly studying the various on-going transformations of different industries, including the restaurant industry after the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. We will now share some essential tips and insights from our team to help you move through this digital transformation smoothly.

1. Build a brand new responsive website or opt for a complete website redesign

It’s a fact that most restaurants have not thought of seriously owning a good website to boost their branding before this uncertain time. You might only find a few websites that look professional and has no functional and usability issues.

This is 2020 and as an independent restaurant operator or chain, you should have a modern responsive website design as well as an impressive online presence to convince your prospects that they will get the best experience if they interact with your restaurant.

Here are some factors you need to give the foremost importance to:

• First off, the website should be able to adapt to all screen sizes so that it looks good on every device it is accessed from, be it a computer, laptop, smartphone, or tablet.
• Images play an important role in grabbing attention and they will play a major role in engaging your potential customers. The website should be full of photos of your bestselling and special food items placed in a slider with neat little transitions to make them more attractive, tempting, and interactive for your visitors.
• Background videos of your restaurant, chefs working on food orders, the staff handling food, etc. on the website will also create a sort of lifelike experience for the customers. The videos can give your prospects a direct peek into the restaurant and how you are working during the current crisis. This can be a game-changer if done strategically and positioned correctly on the website.
• The website should be organized and have easy-to-understand navigation and proper CTAs that create interest in your prospects to take desirable actions.

2. Provide up-to-date menus and updated information across the website

Your customers will like to see certain information and the menu first when they visit your website. These things should, therefore, take centre stage when planning your website design and navigation. Make sure you update your menus for online ordering and position them on the home page where they are easily accessible by the visitors such as overlay alerts or headers. If you have dedicated web pages for your menus, you can provide links to them on the home page where it is easily visible. If you want to include any special instructions for your customers, you can add them to the menu page. Also, include quick information on any new services you are offering.

Additionally, keep all your social media channels updated with the new pieces of information regularly. For example, you can upload the images of your new menu or instructions on your Facebook page and Instagram to maximize your reach.

Don’t forget to check out the analytics data of your restaurant website if you already have one to see what visitors are interested in doing other than finding the menu and important information on your website. You can take advantage of the data and introduce some services or rewards for your customers accordingly.

3. Highlight the process of how to place orders

Another important focus point should be providing a quick guide on how to place an order on your website for food delivery. Whether you are introducing a new online ordering system or you have an existing system, create a simple visual guide on your website to make the process more convenient for your customers. Remember, if your prospects have to wonder how to place a take-away order after they visit your website, you will lose most potential customers because none will spare time to figure it out since there are so many options available.

4. Rebuild your brand image

To help with the maximum visibility of your restaurant and its services, make a proper plan to create brand awareness, and boost loyalty among customers. If you are offering exclusive deals, gift cards, groceries, and family-style meal kits, include the links to those pages on the home page.

Collect customer reviews, share location information, restaurant updates, photos, and customer-generated content on Facebook and Instagram. Always make sure to add links to your social media pages on your website and similarly, add a link to your restaurant website home page or specific landing pages in your social media channels.

Add schema markup to your web pages, create a local presence through Google My Business so that your restaurant shows up better in Google search and Maps. If you are outsourcing food delivery to any third-party service, make sure it has a reputation and clearly include the information about the same across all your digital assets.

How can Leidsens help you?

We understand how important it has become for restaurants to make the leap to online food ordering and delivery solutions. Our highly experienced web design and UX/UI design team can help you design or redesign your restaurant website, build an online ordering system, or a link to a third-party service, or an app to control your ordering process.

At Leidsens, we combine creativity, technology, and current trends to build and develop scalable digital assets that are way beyond traditional options. The team will not only help you with the best website design strategies and layouts, but you can also consult with the experts regarding building an account management system for monetized offerings if any, such as subscription services, online memberships, merchandise, deliveries, and more.

Besides, we can assist you in creating and presenting a consistent visual branding across all your marketing platforms. Overall, Leidsens can help you turn your website and branding into something uniquely attractive and more effective so that you are able to drive up sales.

The conclusion

Given the COVID scenario, restaurants can no longer afford to delay their digital presence makeover. You have to act ASAP to build and optimize your website and other digital assets in a new way to ensure sales and success during this difficult time and thereafter.

Remember, even after the coronavirus crisis is over, it will still take time for people to come out from the social distancing habits they have grown over the months. It is likely that when in-premise dining is available again, customers might look out for an online reservation system to book tables and this can also become a new normal for the restaurant industry at large because it will continue to evolve in the post-pandemic world and may not immediately begin to operate like before.

This is why you have to stay prepared and make sure you are able to cater to evolving demands and offer your customers the services they want now and beyond 2020.

Contact us today to discuss your restaurant website project or simply to know more about how an optimized website can help you drive conversions. We will be happy to help!