What if a few design tricks could transform your restaurant into an instant success?
Nowadays, the majority of consumers browse the internet via mobile devices. That means if someone finds your restaurant website, they’re likely to be reading it on their smartphone.
If they have trouble navigating the site though, they’ll click away and go somewhere else. The key to keeping their attention and bringing them to your door is using the right website mobile designs.
Wondering which ones are best for your restaurant? Keep reading to discover our top tips!
1. Font Size: Bigger is better
Some of these design tips are pretty straightforward. For example, you now know that most of your customers will check out your website on their smaller smartphone screens. Therefore, making sure they can read the text should be your priority!
Use a bigger font for all of your text. How big is “big?” Your text should be no smaller than size 15.
Don’t forget that font choice is just as important as size when it comes to readability. Avoid using fancy or obscure fonts and stick with ones that scan very easily at first glance.
2. Responsive Design
Want to know the primary reason why certain websites look terrible via smartphone? Simple: they were designed to be viewed on a desktop instead of a mobile device.
There are different ways to fix this issue, including establishing different websites (one for desktop and one for mobile) or creating mobile-optimized sites. The best solution, though, is responsive design.
Responsive design uses special HTML frameworks to resize the website based on the size of the user’s screen. It’s a “win/win” design approach because it streamlines things for you and optimizes the experience for each user.
Best of all, those same frameworks make it easy to renovate your existing site instead of forcing you to reinvent the wheel.
3. Simple Landing Page Designs for Home, Menu and Contact
Sometimes, a bad restaurant website comes from a poor understanding of the landing page. For example, many owners want to load up that first page with a ton of text as well as large photos.
However, think of the landing site like a runway for the user. They don’t need clutter—they need a safe place to land!
Your landing page should be simple, with very little text and selective imagery. The goal of this page is to build their interest and make them explore other parts of the site (such as your digital menus for customers).
4. Real Professional Photos
Quick question: who took the photos that appear on your website? In most cases, business owners or their employees take photos of the restaurant and food that appear on the different parts of the site.
You’re better off hiring a professional photographer to take these photos. Sure, it creates a bit more cost upfront because you’re hiring an expert. But for the success of your business, it’s tough to put a price tag on good photos in our digital age.
Best of all, you can get a lot of use out of these photos. For instance, they make a great addition to your online menus, but you may want to use them for your physical menus as well.
And, of course, you can use these professional photos as part of your social media marketing.
5. Speedier Loading
As internet connections have gotten faster and faster, the average consumer has come to expect a lot of speed from the sites they visit. And when a site takes too long to load, they don’t stick around. Instead, they hit the “back” button and check out a different site instead.
That’s why you need to make sure your site (especially the landing page) loads quickly. Some techniques for doing this are simple, including minimizing the photos and using the “lazy loading” technique for the remaining ones.
Other solutions are more complex, including installing caching plugins and CDNs. You can also switch the whole site to HTTPS, which reduces loading times while also securing your website.
6. Turn of Phrase
While videos and images are highly popular, online customers still consume a lot of text. But have you thought about the kinds of text users now expect?
Generally speaking, text communication is shorter. That’s because consumers mostly use short messages to communicate via text messages and social media. Furthermore, they expect shorter, more direct text from the sites they visit.
That’s why you may need to give the text on your website an overhaul. Visitors don’t want giant walls of text about your family or restaurant history. Instead, they want catchy headlines, snappy headers, and short paragraphs.
Altogether, this makes it easy for them to scan your site for relevant info. And once they have that info, they’re more likely to come in and order a dish.
7. Make Navigation Easy
Some design philosophies sound simplistic but are hard to master. For example, you need to make sure that your website is easy to navigate for anyone who discovers it.
Instead of instantly showing all possible links on your landing page, hide the most relevant links (such as links to the menu) behind a menu icon upfront. Try to make everything visual: instead of text-based links, use contextual image-based links instead.
As an added bonus, these changes make things particularly easy for anyone who is visiting via smartphone. Remember, such users are accustomed to clicking on large buttons and icons instead of short sentences. By giving your site this kind of visual overhaul, you can make it easier to navigate and more mobile-friendly at the same time.
Website Mobile Designs: Your New Future Begins Now
Now you know about the best website mobile designs for your restaurant. But do you know who can take your website and your digital marketing campaigns to brand new heights?
We specialize in all aspects of marketing, including SEO, social media, and web design. Not only can we optimize your site for mobile users, but we can help your business grow into its true potential.
To see how we can help you kick off a brand new future for your restaurant, contact us today!