Covid-19 changed our lives as we know it. From how we work to how we eat, it forced us to get creative and make life feel normal, even with all the restrictions. During the stay-at-home order, many people began reaching out to their favorite meal delivery apps to create the fun atmosphere of leisure time that was so missed, so they could enjoy it from the comfort and safety of their homes. Although this unexpected turn in everyday activities meant fewer seats filled at our local eateries, it created a significant spike in online orders for businesses in the food and hospitality industries. 

Since people's purchase votes changed, ordering meals online became more of a necessity than ever before. Instead of visiting our usual lunch or dinner spots, we began discovering new favorite cuisines and places online. Many food and hospitality business owners realized the importance of a healthy and professional online presence and how it served their business. The realization was that a powerful website could mimic the same ambiance of your physical space and allow new customers to discover you in the palm of their hands.

So, chances are, your delivery service is up exponentially, but is your website ready and equipped to optimize delivery partner integrations and user experience across desktop and mobile? Take our latest Up in a Day™ website build out for JRK!, a healthy, fast casual Jamaican restaurant in Aventura, FL. Their initial website was not optimized for web, was difficult to navigate, and lacked delivery and pick up button links in key areas on their homepage. We completely refreshed the site from scratch using Squarespace and designed and optimized every page in order to help increase revenue.

We want to share three simple and effective website components for restaurant owners that will ensure they get more clicks, new customers, and more revenue from their site.

1. CTA button in the header: Order Now

CTA buttons should always strategically appear near the header, navigation bars, and throughout your site. They should act as your digital "store associates" to quickly help secure those online orders. How they read is just as important. If the CTA wording is unclear, chances are you will lose your customer's attention. Remember that online, there are no personal shoppers or associates to lead the way, so it is vital to have clear communication from the get-go.

2. A visual header: with beautiful images of your food and restaurant interior 

Take your customer on a multi-sensory experience within your homepage with powerful imagery and creative writing that support your mission. These steps will create an urgency to place that order quickly and swiftly. Remember that your services, space, and community all create the ambiance that defines your restaurant. Some ways to communicate this ambiance digitally are through photos that tell a story. Think of people interacting with your dishes, macro shots of the ingredients you use, or lifestyle shots of the space where these ingredients grow to help your customer feel connected to what you sell.

3. Trust is everything: Real reviews from real people.

Most conversions happen when you gain your customer’s trust. When we go out to eat or order out, we first research the restaurant or look at their review page. Having a variety of positive reviews on your site pulled from places like Yelp, or Google, will help you not only gain your customer’s trust, but it may even help them make a decision faster.

We hope that these tips and tricks help you increase orders from your website. We know how busy things can get when you run or manage your own business or restaurant.