Picture this…

Your customer wants to book a table at your restaurant. They jump online and head to your website, but the page won’t load. Finally, they get in – only to realise that there’s an old menu on there, from two years ago.

Frustrated, they remember there’s a similar restaurant close to yours, so they go straight to their website. They have a quick look at the summer menu and book a table instantly.

This happens all too often. In this day and age, your customers expect a certain service on-line too. It goes further than just how they’re served in your venue.

This post is all about helping restaurateurs serve up what customers want online, as well as on the table. So how do we keep them happy on-line and pull them through our doors?

1. Your website with booking capability can and will make a difference!

If you have a recurring customer base, if you’re a restaurant or pub that needs to post events, for example, or if you have a business crowd that comes in for lunch – a good website that’s regularly updated is critical. It brings people back through your doors. So, start with recognising that it’s important and put the time and budget aside for it. There is no point having a flashy website if it is not mobile friendly.

Your website needs to look professional, include up to date information, especially menus, lots of images, relevant information such as your opening times, and most importantly enables instant booking. H&L’s BooKBooK™  widget ensures that you can offer potential customers the ability to book on-line 24/7.

 2. Engage your customers

There are two sides to a successful web presence. You’ve got to own your site and what you do on it. Use it, be happy with it and engage with your customers on it. If you’re passive on it, how do you expect to bring people from their phones and computers, into your venue? Make it easy for your customers to communicate with you, download new menus, book tables and offer feedback. Use your social media accounts to direct people to your website when they want further information.

3. Promote your website

Think about how you can promote your website. Make sure your restaurant can be found if someone is looking for a place to eat in your area. The last thing you want is for a potential customer to reach your website, only to find it hasn’t been updated in a year – so keep the content fresh.

Traffic or the people reaching your website from a mobile, will soon overtake desktop searches. Mobile searches currently sit at over 50% and are continually increasing.

Maximise traffic for those customers on the go – and make it easy for them to find you wherever they are. Include all your important information, encourage them to check out your social media profiles, and ask them to ‘book now.’ It’s a much larger challenge to create a website that takes care of all of these functions – but the benefits of doing it right are far greater.  

Click here to contact our sales team and find out how it can help increase your occupancy or call 1800 670 200.

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H&L POS – working with you to help you grow your business

H&L POS has been delivering POS solutions with extensive back of house and staff management systems to the hospitality industry for more than 30 years. As hospitality people at heart, H&L understand the critical requirements for each food and beverage operation. We have staff in every state of Australia providing direction and advice as you grow and as technology changes.

Call us at 1800 778 340, email [email protected] or fill in the form below to discuss your venue’s needs.