How to Design a Modern Website for Restaurant?

High-quality web design is a proven method to success for several online businesses today. It can add significantly to the appeal of a brand and help attract more people to your website. 

The crux of web design is to make a website more attractive and usable for your audience. It brings together several aspects of marketing and user behavior to create an appealing website. 

Today, we are going to see more about how website design can help a restaurant flourish. A restaurant is all about aesthetics and usability. And this needs to be reflected in your website design as well. 

Let’s take a look at how you should approach web design for a restaurant.

1. Opting for Professional Web Developer

This is perhaps one of the easiest choices to make. Considering the number of things, you need to take care of during restaurant website design, this is a viable option. 

A professional website developer has the experience and the knowledge to deliver the goods. They can give you a great-looking website that also works well for your audience. 

And this is important because, for sensitive business models such as restaurants, you need to be accurate and effective. This is something that can be difficult to execute for newer companies or yourself. 

There are several considerations to make when you’re creating a restaurant website. Professional web developers have the latest tools and know the most effective methods to get the job done. And all of these are important to the final result. 

Hiring a web developer can let you focus on what you do best – running a restaurant. They will save you time and effort, not to mention costs over the long term. A professionally designed website will also attract more patrons to your business. 

2. Visualize It as a Physical Store

For a restaurant website, it is important to think of it as a brick-and-mortar place. Essentially, this website is going to be an extension of your restaurant. It isn’t a separate entity, and so you need to treat it as such. 

Use noticeable aspects from your restaurant in prominent areas of your website. A good example of this is your brand logo, mascot, or colors. All these contribute to building a solid brand image for your restaurant website. 

It means you need to make sure that the whole website has a welcoming atmosphere. This is from a purely aesthetic standpoint, but it helps. 

It is important to understand that visitors will judge your website like they do your restaurant. You should leave no stones unturned when fixing on a look for your website. Ensure it is as close to perfect as you’ve envisioned it. 

3. Getting Social Media Presence

Social media is one of the biggest drivers of traffic today. With over 3.8 billion social media users worldwide, it is a huge market where you can leverage your brand. 

The best part about social media is that the communication there is dynamic. And people engage a lot of their favorite eateries on their social media platforms. This is not just about getting in touch with your customers either. 

You can include social media as a part of your promotion campaign. With a good social media campaign, your restaurant can become very popular in your area. A good advertisement campaign on social media can get you a lot of views as well. 

Make sure that you use your restaurant’s social media handle as often as possible. A good example here is how Wendy’s uses social media for announcements. This was a recent campaign about a new change on their menu which was well received by their audience. 

4. Optimize It For Mobile Users

It is important to ensure that you always have a mobile-first approach when it comes to a restaurant website. The reason is that most customers today are likely logging in or searching the web through a smartphone. 

Ensure that your website caters to different screen and device configurations. This is something that a lot of restaurants miss out on. They are only looking at users with computers and likely only use them as reference points. 

In fact, mobile versions of a website are so critical to a business that Google uses the mobile version of your website to index content. This is a huge step in favor of mobile users. 

Keeping this in mind, the strategy to web design a good website should also include smartphones. You need to optimize your website content, so it looks good, even on mobile devices. 

Responsive design is key for ensuring compatibility across several types of devices and screens. And this should definitely be implemented on your website. So, if you haven’t made your website mobile-friendly, now is the right time. 

5. Keep The Theme Consistent

A lot of restaurant owners tend to make a mistake with the theme of the website. While it is tempting to go for a new look and feel, your aim should be to keep it as close as it is to the original. 

The reason is to ensure better brand recall among your visitors. Your website should be similar to your physical space. This is how your audience can identify your brand and website together. 

Changing the theme could have disastrous results for your website, restaurant, or both. Visual cues are important for people to identify things. The easier you make it for your audience, the better it is for your business. 

A notable example of putting this into practice is the KFC chain of restaurants. If you look at their outlet and their website, they have several visual cues that relate to each other. From their logo to the colors used to the content – everything is the same. This strengthens their branding and helps brand recall. 

6. Understand Your Audience

Perhaps one of the most important points in this article is that every restaurant needs to understand its audience. This is how you can create a website that will have what they want. 

There are three likely categories of people who are looking at your website. These are new visitors, returning customers, and people from out of town. 

New people want to find more about your restaurant. So, the first goal of a website is to direct them to where they want to go. To you, this means a page that introduces your restaurant and your cuisine.

Recommended Reading- How to Choose the Right Colours for Your Web Design?

Returning customers want to get to a menu with as few clicks as possible. The solution would be to have a menu button right on the homepage. You can also have images of new additions so they are aware of what to order. 

People who are from out of town might be looking for a reservation or your restaurant location rather than ordering online. It is important to have a link to your location so they can use it to drive over. 

Make sure your website caters to different types of visitors to your website. The more inclusive it is, the more successful your business will be. 

7. Use High-resolution Imagery

All visuals used on the web design need to be the highest resolution possible. Food is something that needs to be visually enticing as well. The better the images are, the more chances people find it desirable enough to order. 

Most top restaurants have clear and crisp images of their food items on the website. It is a critical part of the marketing process. The images are meant to conjure an experience for your visitors. 

Images of people having an amazing time, along with beauty shots of your restaurant, create visual appeal. These images, along with shots of your food portions, can get people excited about visiting your restaurant. 

People want experiences, and so that is what you need to showcase. And high-resolution visuals and even video can add to the experience. Add high-resolution images and, if possible, video to get the best results for your website.  

8. Ensure Easy Navigation

The key to more visitors to any website is to make sure that it is easily navigable. And this rule is especially true for restaurant websites. The reason is that people have so many choices in this competitive niche. If your website is difficult to navigate, there are more chances they will click away. 

The first step is to clearly label your menus, pages, and buttons. You should provide them with clear paths to traverse your website. Think of it as your restaurant arrangement. You need to make specific areas clear for your patrons, and the same holds here too. 

If you cater to people from an area where multiple languages are spoken, add an option to switch languages. It will make navigation a lot easier for people who aren’t familiar with the default language. 

To sum it up, use clear visual cues and direct navigation elements to ensure that people can effectively use your website. 

9. Be Authentic About Your Restaurant

An important thing about brands and people is that you need to be as authentic as possible to be appealing. If you specialize in a particular cuisine or a dish, be upfront with your message about it. Do not leave this open to interpretation of your visitors. 

When your message is clear and authentic, it is bound to get more people interested. It is also important for audiences to know the human element behind the restaurant. Add in details about your restaurant and its staff that visitors can read about. 

This will help form a bond between the visitors and your restaurant. People generally relate to other people, and adding pictures of you and your team on your website will help build a relationship. 

Communicate what your restaurant is about as clearly as possible to your audience so they can understand. Also, focus on the human element to build long-term relationships. A good example of this in action is the Pizza My Heart restaurant which, like its namesake, specializes in pizzas. 

10. Optimize Your Menu

The menu is the most important asset on your restaurant website. And it is also an area where people made a lot of web design mistakes over the years. The function of a restaurant website menu is to offer enough information about what is available for patrons. 

It also needs to include an attractive image and ingredients that can offer more insights into a particular dish. A good menu can help people make the right choice and continue being patrons of your restaurant. 

To this end, the more information you give about your food items on your menu, the better it is for them. Also, remember to make it easy to navigate for users. 

11. Implement Robust Online Ordering Process

If your website is catering to online food orders, it is critical to have a comprehensive online ordering page. Online ordering is a specialized task, and you need to put in considerable effort to ensure it works. 

This is another area where a professional web development company would fare better than an individual. The online delivery process includes order taking, communication with the restaurant, order tracking, and delivery. These are more challenging to implement and might not be the best for individual development. 

If you want to include online food delivery, opting for a third-party service or a web development agency might be better. They have all the tools and experience required for this task.