In this new age of ever-changing technology, it is important to keep up with the times and make sure your restaurant’s website is in good shape.

If your restaurant’s website hasn’t been updated recently and is looking like a relic of the 2010 web page you started with, it may be time for a restaurant website redesign. 

In this post, you will find 7 signs that it is time to fix up your website so that customers don’t shy away from your restaurant all because it was just too difficult to look through your menu on a web page that hardly loads.

#1 Your Website is Not SEO Optimized

SEO is short for search engine optimization and what this basically means is how soon your website shows up on search engines like Google and Bing.

Google searches are done using certain keywords and being at the top of the list for certain searches like “restaurants near me” or “best burgers in [city]” is huge for generating business for your restaurant.

Research your business’s target keywords and if they are not in your website, it is time for a restaurant website redesign. At the very least, enough to where you include those keywords on your home page.

#2 Slow Loading Times

Slow loading times are an absolute back-breaker to any business’s website. If it takes your website longer than 5 seconds to load on a browser, a restaurant website redesign is absolutely crucial. 

Customers will click off of websites if they don’t load very quickly and seek out ones that work properly and will get them the information they want fast. This is even more prevalent in mobile users who will usually click off after 3 seconds or less.

Keep away from large images or videos and anything that is animated or moving can likely go as they are slowing down your load times. More times than not a simple, functional website can go a long way in keeping customers on your website and getting them to browse for a while.

#3 No Online Ordering

Ever since the global pandemic struck the world in 2020, online ordering has been the thing that has kept restaurants afloat. If your website has not been updated to where customers can order online you need to do so as soon as possible.

Not many people want to go out to eat and calling-in to order can be tough as well. If the line is busy, people are likely to head elsewhere and some people are sometimes just nervous about calling into places.

Online ordering takes care of all of these problems and allows the process of ordering food off of your menu to become streamlined. Be sure that this is relayed well to your restaurant management and staff as well so people can trust your online ordering methods and the process works smoothly all the way through.

#4 Your Website Isn’t Optimized for Mobile

This is a classic mistake for restaurant marketing where they create a website that runs great on browsers but hardly works on smartphones. People use their phones to look for places to eat now more than ever and you are missing out if you don’t have a mobile site.

There are two ways you can go about getting your website to work on mobile. First, you can simply optimize the website you currently have for mobile devices (this requires some programming skill, you may want to hire someone for this) or create a completely different website that is purely meant for mobile browsing.

Another option is to create an app that users can download straight to their phone and, while this can take a bit of effort, it is well worth it in the long run as this greatly promotes brand loyalty.

#5 Your Website is Cluttered and Not Easy to Use

This point harkens a bit back to the slow loading times but clutter will also make your restaurant’s website distracting and hard to browse which will drive users away from it.

If there are a ton of links all shoved into your homepage that are not taking your user to an obvious location, you have to clean this up. People will almost always not take the time to go on a treasure hunt to find what they’re looking for on your page.

Make sure any external links take the user to a well-defined place and they can be easily found and clicked on without taking up too much space.

#6 No Branding

This one seems fairly obvious, right? It is your restaurant’s website and you should have your brand be clear as day on your homepage so that people can remember it and you can develop some brand loyalty.

Surprisingly, some places will make their website’s design a little too simple and forget about putting their brand out there. You don’t have to plaster it everywhere on the site, but putting your logo, name, or color scheme nice and big in the top left is a necessary addition to your website.

#7 Generic Design

Surely, you’ve looked at your competitor’s websites and thought about how you can do better than them. This is important, because many websites have very similar models and it can get old after a while.

For some users, generic design can mean a generic restaurant with generic food. You want to keep your website’s functionality as good as your competitors but you also should find a way to stand out. Display a little personality in your design, it can go a long way for your restaurant.

Conclusion

All of these factors play a big role in a restaurant’s website design and it is only a matter of time before this list becomes outdated so keep these in mind and make sure your website has none of these warning signs of an outdated website.

Keeping up with the always updating technological advancements can be tough but with some regular check-ups, you can stay on top of the competition and drive sales for your restaurant based on this alone.