How to manage a restaurant website

As a restaurant owner, the importance of promoting and marketing your business on all possible channels is no stranger to you.

You have a constant flow of customers to maintain through content on social networks, you must get good reviews on sites like Yelp or TripAdvisor, what else could you do?

Surely many of your competitors have their own website working as well; Which begs the question: should you invest in a restaurant website management solution or should you hand over management to someone else or company?

Whatever the answer, it is imperative that you know the tasks involved, and should be, a well done restaurant website.

What should a good Hospitality website contain?

1. Attracting new customers and branding

Perhaps the biggest benefit of a restaurant website is attracting customers through Google and social media.

Let’s say that a client searches for “restaurants in Vallecas”, and if your restaurant does not have a website, you will not have visibility.

If your website does not give you this visibility and source of potential customers, the page is of no use to you. If you are still limited to the traditional ways to get new clients, even if you have social networks or a website, then the management is bad.

2. Provide vital information about your business

One of the most powerful reasons to have a website is to share important information. This includes means of contact, schedules, the menu … whatever you consider important.

If a customer searches for “[name of your restaurant] + hours”, your page must have this information, or that customer will go to another, perhaps the one next door. If your website does not have vital information for your customers, potential or existing, it is of no use to you.

3. Help increase your LOCAL audience

Imagine you have a Mexican food restaurant in Bilbao. You have your website and social networks, with thousands of followers, everyone interacts, and you are successful … until you take a look at the statistics: your largest audience is from Mexico.

It is of no use to you. Your growth must be in Bilbao and its surroundings, that is, where your restaurant (s) is located, in order to attract potential customers.

4. It will make you get ahead of your competition

If your competition has bet everything on social networks and does not pay attention to their website, you should be able to capture, with yours, absorb all Google searches towards yours.

Study the competition well and if this happens: boost SEO and steal that source of potential customers.

Would you manage the website yourself or should you delegate its management?

Now that you know what a website for a restaurant should contribute, it’s time to think: is it worth having a website yourself, or is it better to outsource the administration to a professional?

It may be easy to answer, either positively or negatively. But first, take into account these four aspects:

• Do you have a budget to be able to hire a professional? We are talking about a professional, and not an amateur.
• Are you comfortable designing and building a website from scratch? If you don’t know, it entails a long learning curve in time, although you also have simple options like SquareSpace or Wix.
• Do you have time to keep your website and / or social networks updated? Getting it up and running is just a percentage of the job, and it’s time consuming
• How experienced are you with SEO? If you don’t know what it is … well, you’ve already answered. If you are not so, you will have to spend a lot of time learning and practicing

If your website does not provide any of the above benefits, then think about the previous four points, because a website that does not provide you with real benefits is of no use to you. I’m not saying it should pay off in a day or two, but in the long run it should pay off.

What have you decided?