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Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

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Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#51

Post by InclinedPlane »

mashmac2 wrote: post #49
InclinedPlane wrote: post #48

The problem is that restaurant websites aren't seen as revenue makers, so they are merely vanity products and thus dominated by the whims of the restaurant owner, who (at the present time) likely has very little familiarity with web technologies, let alone web design. When websites become more appreciated as a source of revenue then they will be taken seriously enough to actually improve. The big problem today is tha…

So, the question is, how do we show the restaurant owners that having a better website will increase their revenue?

Metrics and feedback. Here's a simple idea: create a separate google voice number for the business and put that on the website, then forward it to the existing biz line. That way you can track which business comes from the web site. Similarly, try implementing web-only specials and promotions (even if only superficially different) so you can track the effectiveness of the web site.

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#52

Post by Bockit »

ZoFreX wrote: post #2

As someone who has built a fair few restaurant sites, there are lots of reasons. If a web design agency builds a site that doesn't work on the iPhone or iPad, which are both now considered critical to restaurant marketing, they get to charge extra for creating an iOS specific version, or an app, or whatever. If you create one site that works great on everything, you make less money. Restaurants are also sometimes run…

Regarding the PDF menu question I recently took on a client, a cafe, who was asking for a drupal-backed website. For menus I laid out the options of having it backed by the CMS, or PDF downloads. I explained the benefit of having the menu be HTML vs PDF and ran through the workflows of updating it via cms vs uploading new pdfs.

The response was overwhelmingly PDF menus, only for the simplicity of the workflow. Despite a demonstration of how easy it was to use the CMS to update the menu they really just didn't want to spend the time doing that.

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#53

Post by nfriedly »

ZoFreX wrote: post #2

As someone who has built a fair few restaurant sites, there are lots of reasons. If a web design agency builds a site that doesn't work on the iPhone or iPad, which are both now considered critical to restaurant marketing, they get to charge extra for creating an iOS specific version, or an app, or whatever. If you create one site that works great on everything, you make less money. Restaurants are also sometimes run…

Mind if I ask what company you work for?

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#54

Post by Bockit »

mashmac2 wrote: post #49
InclinedPlane wrote: post #48

The problem is that restaurant websites aren't seen as revenue makers, so they are merely vanity products and thus dominated by the whims of the restaurant owner, who (at the present time) likely has very little familiarity with web technologies, let alone web design. When websites become more appreciated as a source of revenue then they will be taken seriously enough to actually improve. The big problem today is tha…

So, the question is, how do we show the restaurant owners that having a better website will increase their revenue?

I'm currently building a website for a cafe who roast their own beans etc. They sell alongside their in-premises coffee bags of the ground beans made to customer specifications. The next stage of development will be adding a store for people to order these (and other) products online.

I wonder if similar opportunities exist in the restaurant space.

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#55

Post by chunkyslink »

callmeed wrote: post #18

My next startup is targeting this problem. I'm pitching it as "About.me for restaurants" ... a single-page, instant setup site that has location/hours/menu/contact info. I'm planning on posting it to HN for review in a few days. If anyone wants a peak now, drop me an email.

You might want to look at http://www.pocketdiner.co.uk to help you with the mobile version.

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#57

Post by tibbon »

jrockway wrote: post #6

Restaurants have websites? I just use Google Places or Yelp. Not only do I get the hours of operation, a rough idea of the price, and a phone number without even clicking, I also get reviews. Who would even think to look for a restaurant's own page?

One problem here is that these things often change and no one on Yelp will notice in a smaller community. Maybe they aren't open Monday anymore. Maybe they moved.

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#58

Post by tibbon »

I was talking to a local business owner who runs a new Takoyaki place in town. I mentioned he didn't have a website. We had a good conversation about it, and he was hoping to get one up but wasn't quite sure what he needed. He's a young guy a pretty savvy overall, having acquired around 4,000 Likes on Facebook and frequently updating it.

I told him (and he seemed to agree) that he needed a simple website that was the following

- No Flash, just HTML5/CSS.

- No music/sound at all

- No long story about the owner, style, etc. If I'm here, I'm likely already sold, just let me know how to get there. At most, a short line on what Takoyaki is, since many Americans in Ohio are unfamiliar with it.

- One page only (SEO people will cringe, but its better than Flash likely and easier to maintain.

- Basic information given upfront: Name, address, Google Maps widget, phone number, hours and their standard menu which consists of 5 items. Mention to check Facebook/Twitter for specials (thinking of maintainability). Making sure none of the items are done as photos, which is a favorite of auto repair and sales places for unknown reasons.

- Very basic colors and formatting. Ugly? Yes. But if I'm on my iPhone and looking for dinner, I don't care. I just need the details.

- Links to their Facebook and Twitter accounts (maybe widgets for each if he wants to get fancy).

- Google Analytics for long term tracking

- Maybe a photo of the front of the establishment, didn't need to be fancy, just something a person who looked online would recognize when they were looking for it. No photos of the owner, etc.

I don't claim to be an expert here, but this is what I want to see when I visit a website. Again, some of these are technically bad for SEO, but that isn't the point. Functionality should always trump SEO in my opinion.

I actually even offerred that I do this for him for some free Takoyaki, since literally it sounds like 20 minutes in Textmate and then just throwing a static page up. Might stop by later this week to confirm the details. I'd rather see a local business do it right than wrong.

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#59

Post by jdminhbg »

encoderer wrote: post #4
ZoFreX wrote: post #2

As someone who has built a fair few restaurant sites, there are lots of reasons. If a web design agency builds a site that doesn't work on the iPhone or iPad, which are both now considered critical to restaurant marketing, they get to charge extra for creating an iOS specific version, or an app, or whatever. If you create one site that works great on everything, you make less money. Restaurants are also sometimes run…

Another reason certainly is a lack of resources (cash) to commit to the project. Sure, an established, profitable restaurant should have no trouble funding a modest, tidy, professionally built site. But the truth is, most restaurants youre visiting aren't "established" and "profitable."

The restaurant website topic comes up frequently, and this is a frequent response. But there are two reasons it's clearly wrong:

1) Restaurants could jam their hours and menu onto a free theme for much less money than they spend getting a bespoke Flash monstrosity and be vastly more usable, yet do the latter anyway. 2) There are lots of cash-strapped small businesses around that don't have as uniformly unusable websites as restaurants.

The issue is not money.

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#60

Post by jamesteow »

kenjackson wrote: post #27
callmeed wrote: post #18

My next startup is targeting this problem. I'm pitching it as "About.me for restaurants" ... a single-page, instant setup site that has location/hours/menu/contact info. I'm planning on posting it to HN for review in a few days. If anyone wants a peak now, drop me an email.

Don't pitch it as "about.me for restaurants". I had no idea what about.me is and I'm in the startup community, read HN, TechCrunch, etc... The people you're selling to will have no idea what you're talking about. What about "Facebook for restaurants"?

"Facebook for restaurants" is like another social network.

I know what about.me is, and if he pitched it to me, I would think, "a one page website for restaurants."

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