Full Transcript
Lauren: So I was talking to a friend who owns a restaurant in Paso. She swears most of her customers just walk in off the street... they don't even check her website. And I'm like... is that actually true?
Honor: Welcome to the 805 Web Minute with Lauren and Honor... We make interwebs and website stuff make sense... Let's get into it.
Honor: So here's the thing... 77 percent of diners visit a restaurant's website before they eat there. Whether that's dine-in, takeout, or delivery.
Lauren: Wait, 77 percent?
Honor: Yeah. Three out of four potential customers are judging your restaurant before they taste a single bite.
Lauren: Oh! So even if they walk in, they probably already looked you up first.
Honor: Exactly. And here's the scary part... 68 percent of diners have been completely discouraged from visiting a restaurant because of its website. Not because the food was bad. They never got that far. The website alone turned them away.
Lauren: That's like having an amazing chef in the kitchen, but the host at the front door is rude and dressed like a slob. People just turn around and leave!
Honor: Perfect. Your website IS your host stand. And people decide fast... like 60 seconds fast. Picture this... it's 6pm, a couple just finished wine tasting in Paso, they're hungry, they pull out their phone. Within a minute they've picked a place or crossed yours off the list.
Lauren: 60 seconds! That's like speed dating for dinner.
Honor: Right. And what they're looking for is pretty simple. Number one, the menu. 45 percent specifically want to see food photos. Number two, hours and location... are you actually in Morro Bay or 20 minutes away in SLO? And number three, how to get a table.
Lauren: That makes sense. I always check the menu before I go anywhere.
Honor: But here's where restaurants mess up. 30 percent of diners are turned off by menus that are hard to read... tiny text, PDFs that don't work on phones, menus buried three clicks deep.
Lauren: Oh, I hate that! When you're pinching and zooming on some blurry PDF like you're trying to read ancient scrolls.
Honor: Exactly. And 36 percent have decided against a restaurant because of bad food photos. Dark, blurry shots... they're worse than no photos at all.
Lauren: So if your burger photo looks like it was taken in a dungeon, people assume the food is also dungeon quality.
Honor: Pretty much. And here's the mobile thing... people aren't looking at your website on a computer. They're standing on a sidewalk trying to decide where to eat in the next ten minutes.
Lauren: With spotty Central Coast cell service.
Honor: Right! 56 percent say mobile-friendly is very important. But honestly that number's low because everyone else just expects it to work. Menu big enough to read, phone number you can tap to call, address that opens in maps.
Lauren: What about reservations? I assume that matters too.
Honor: Big one. 59 percent of diners prefer to book online. And get this... 65 percent go directly to the restaurant's website to make a reservation. Not OpenTable, not Google. Your website.
Lauren: Oh! So they're coming to you first.
Honor: Exactly. And 66 percent make same-day reservations now. They're not planning three days ahead. They're deciding right now.
Lauren: So if your website makes it hard to book, they just swipe to the next restaurant.
Honor: In about 30 seconds, yeah.
Lauren: Okay so what's the one thing a restaurant owner should do?
Honor: Pull up your website on your phone. Set a timer for 30 seconds. Can you find the menu, your hours, and how to make a reservation? If you struggled, so are your customers.
Lauren: The 30-second phone test! That's something anyone can do today. So the moral of the story is... your restaurant website is speed dating. You've got 60 seconds to impress someone who's hungry right now. Make it easy or they're picking someone else. And if your site fails the test... give YouGrow a call!
Honor: Yeah. We build sites for SLO County restaurants. 79 dollars a month, everything included. Your menu loads fast, looks great on any phone, hours and location are obvious. When your menu changes or seasonal hours shift... just email us. We handle it within a day. Sites go live in days, not months. Month-to-month, cancel anytime. We're right here in Arroyo Grande.
Lauren: So your website can finally be as good as your food. Alright, this has been 805 Web Minute. Thanks for listening.