3 Emerging Trends For Restaurant Website Design In 2017

When 85% of the US population gets hungry, they go online to do a search. Which means a restaurant without a website is losing out on a lot of business.

Especially since annual sales are now at a whopping $799 billion. With over a million restaurants in the United States, there’s a lot of competition.

This means a website shouldn’t just list their address and call it a day. There are a few other things that go into an effective restaurant design.

Here are three emerging trends every restaurant should be doing with their websites.

1. List Their Menu

Today’s restaurant goer is smarter than ever. They know what they like and they know what they want.

Every restaurant website design should include a menu. People want to know what’s being offered at the restaurant

Also, without a menu, it’s impossible to order online. In 2015, consumers spent over $30 billion dollars ordering online.

Another easy feature to add to a website are symbols. This is especially helpful to those suffering from food allergies. It’s also helpful for those who enjoy a vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free diet.

2. A Restaurant Website Design Should Include Pictures and Video

They say a picture is worth a thousand words but when it comes to food it may be more than that. Every restaurant website design should include plenty of photographs.

Millenials love visuals. They also love sharing their favorite meals on social media. They’re also not the only generation doing it.

It’s easy to use photographs in a variety of ways. A full background or a slideshow are both equally effective. Photographs of the delicious food should be shown as often as possible.

But videos are also a great idea. Show people enjoying happy hour. Or diners enjoying their high-quality meal.

Everything from birthday parties to work-related events brings people into a restaurant. Create a video that shows these events taking place.

Or, shoot a video introducing the wait staff. Even testimonials from happy customers will go a long way toward prompting people to stop by and try the food.

3. Location and Reservation

There’s usually a reason why people search for a restaurant. That reason is that they are hungry.

64% actually convert within an hour of their mobile online search.

So the location should be a big part of the restaurant website design. It should also include a link to Google maps. A restaurant needs to make it as easy as possible for their hungry patrons to get to them as soon as possible.

But they’re also going to want to know there won’t be a wait. So make sure to have a section where they can easily reserve a table. An online reservation system will make it easier for the wait staff to plan ahead. It will also ensure all the information will be correct.

A great design is all about proper use of marketing. However, don’t tackle the marketing alone. HIVE Digital Strategy can help.