by restaurantspider | Sep 27, 2017 | Website Tips
Facebook as you all know is the biggest social media platform out there. This year, it was recorded that it has roughly 2 billion monthly active users, which says that a whole lot of people use facebook. I have encountered a few restaurant owners who have mentioned that the reason they do not have a website is that they have Facebook and that’s all they need. Hmm, is this really true and is this a good idea? Well, provide knowledge and information to my readers, I have put together a few pros and cons regarding the topic. You can judge for yourself by checking out the pros and cons below.
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When you have a Facebook page, you are able to directly engage with your customers through comments, videos, and images. The people who like your page are usually interested in your restaurant, which makes them a great audience to target.
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Facebook has no costs involved unless you plan on running ads with their platform.
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Facebook has become the norm so most of you out there know how to use the basic function of Facebook on multiple devices. This makes it a tool that is handy for restaurant owners to use get information out there to their customers immediately.
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Hey, almost everyone is on Facebook so people are sure to find you if you get in front of them.
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Since Facebook is its own entity, you are unable to control the look and feel of your Facebook page. Facebook owns the right to make any updates that work for their brand and not yours. You are limited to uploading your logo (profile image) and a cover photo to make an effort to keep it consistent with your brand.
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You have no control over where you would like your content to be placed to support the needs of your restaurant. You are therefore unable to make use of lead strategies to get your customers to certain areas of your page that can help promote your restaurant and grow your email list.
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On Facebook, you are limited to posting daily and the use of a small “about” section to describe of your restaurant to your audience. You do not have the freedom to add different sections of information that tell more about how you got started, your food menu and other important details. It’s not a good thing when these details get buried in post after post or when your menu is hard to read because it’s been uploaded to a gallery that resizes it without any consideration of legibility.
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You have no control over search engine tools that could possibly control where you appear in online search results.
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I know Facebook is a behemoth when it comes to companies out there but who is to say that they won’t have downtime. Who is also to say that they will not decide to change their algorithms again or even restructure how comments are posted. Would all these changes be for the betterment of your business or for theirs? You as a business owner have no control over these things.
In summary, Facebook is a social media platform and it’s great at what it is meant for.
So, what do you think? Is Facebook really a replacement for a website?
by restaurantspider | Sep 21, 2017 | Mini Website Tips, Website Tips
Provide a welcoming atmosphere.
How is the dining experience in your restaurant? How is the customer experience with your take out service?⠀
Give your customers a great dining experience by providing a welcoming atmosphere.
Don’t miss out on an opportunity for your customers to voice out their concerns because it’s a chance to win them back. Reviews that show that your customers were taken care of at a time of need is definitely better than a bad review.⠀
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What are the measures you take when a customer voices out a concern? Comment below.
by restaurantspider | Sep 18, 2017 | Mini Website Tips, Website Tips
Welcome good or bad reviews.
Reviews, whether good or bad, benefit you and your customers a great deal. Show good reviews on your website to build trust and use bad reviews to improve on your service. There is no better way to get the best feedback about your restaurant service than from your customers.
For more tips on reviews, check out this post about adding them to your website.
by restaurantspider | Sep 13, 2017 | Restaurant Tips, Website Tips
DIYing your website isn’t as bad as you think. I’m saying this because there are certain times where creating a DIY website is the best option for you. You can benefit from a DIY website when you just need to get something up, and how it looks isn’t important, or when you are just starting out and don’t have a clear definition of who you are but you still want to get the word out. Well, if you are a restaurant owner, what I said above simply does not apply to you, especially if you have a physical location. There are some exceptions when it comes to caterers and bakers that are just starting out and just need something up so their customers and get information about them and submit orders. When you set up a restaurant, you are in for the long haul so it is great for your image and reputation when your brand identity is created before you launch or at least within the first 6 months of business.
Let’s begin by understanding what a DIY website is.
What is a DIY website?
A DIY website is a website that puts you, the business owner, in charge of creating a website that fits your needs based on an existing template. Purchasing or signing up for a DIY website means that you are basically in charge of setting up your website as the proposed template. It is a much cheaper option than a custom website because the responsibility is put on you the owner to set up the website while they simply provide you with a platform. To name a few, some the companies providing these types of products are Squarespace, Wix and Weebly. These companies provide good looking website templates but the question is, can you do the work?
Why is a DIY website a bad idea for a restaurant?
1. As a restaurant, you want to provide as much professionalism as you can because you are in the people business. You want to give your customers an impression that you take your restaurant, your service, and your customers seriously. Having a website that is not professionally built gives the opposite impression.
2. Branding is one of the most important things for a restaurant. You want to keep consistency and credibility so your customers make a connection with you whether at your restaurant or online. With DIY websites you miss out on the ability to fully customize your website for cohesiveness with your branding. These websites are not fully customizable because most of the areas that handle the core of websites are inaccessible due to the risk of breaking the website if not handled properly.
3. You also miss out on the key opportunities and strategies a restaurant website design studio would use to make your website a success based on the knowledge of your industry.
4. DIY website companies usually do not provide backups of your website so you are doomed if anything bad happens to your website.
5. There is a lot of wasted time on you, the restaurant owner or your staff because you will need to spend a lot of time trying to make your website as close as possible to what you want. The templates are usually based on a drag and drop type platform making it very easy to use but there is still a learning curve. If you do not have the time or patience for online based tools, this is not for you.
6. DIY websites are usually very general by nature so any type of business can use the template for their website. These websites, therefore, do not focus on the needs of a restaurant. Yes, there are restaurant DIY templates but they usually only provide the look and feel of a restaurant website but not necessarily the functionality that restaurants need for their customers to have a great experience. For example, easy to update menus, unique photo gallery options to display your food, etc
7. It is also very easy to have the same look and feel as other restaurants using the same platform and/or template because most likely they are having a hard time customizing the template to their liking as well.
A custom website, no matter how complex or simple your branding, is the best way to go for a restaurant. Invest in a website that would be the most beneficial to your restaurant than one that is cheaper to build without the necessary tools for success. Unless you, a restaurant owner, are trained and have great skill in the art of web design, development and strategy, leave this part of your business to the professionals like us. We’re here for you when you need us!
Comment below about your experience with DIY platforms whether good or bad for us to start a conversation.
by restaurantspider | Sep 11, 2017 | Mini Website Tips, Website Tips
Invest in a professional photographer.
Invest in a professional photographer to make sure the photos on your website are stunning and visually delicious. A photo is worth a thousand words so make it count.
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Are you ready to begin a website project with us? Ask about our photography services.
