If you’re a small business owner, you should know that going digital is the first step to longevity and success. The most crucial step of establishing your authority and presence online is through a website, especially if you’re the owner of a restaurant or food chain. A restaurant website will not only garner the audience’s attention but more importantly, it’ll create the social buzz that your restaurant needs.
If you don’t have a website, remember, it’s never too late. However, if you do have a website for your restaurant, ask yourself, does it have everything that the user wants to see?
Why Does Your Restaurant Need A Website?
In a world where 78% of millennials would rather spend on food than any other product, as a restaurant owner, it’s time for you to invest in this opportunity and create a website that attracts more users. Moreover, it’ll earn your restaurant a place on the digital map. We all know that in today’s time if you’re not digital, there are lesser chances of your success. It’s primarily because the majority of people rely on the digital landscape to look for new openings and restaurants.
Now, every market and industry is dominated by new trends every year that bring out the X-factor in it. If you genuinely want to create an impact and generate an excellent user experience, then we’d advise you to follow these trends while creating your restaurant’s website.
If you already have a website, there’s still no need to panic. You can simply incorporate these trends and elements on the existing site, and you’d be good to go!
Trend 1: Cinemagraph
Think of a cinemagraph as a live picture. The idea of cinemagraph is to allow your audience to get mesmerized with the appeal and the aesthetic of the image. While it is still an image, it has a minor and repeated movement. Here are a few great ways in which you can incorporate the cinemagraph element to your website:
- A photograph of a lava cake with the chocolate oozing out of it.
- A photograph of a sizzling steak with the steam coming off it.
- A bartender is pouring the champagne in the glass.
What it does is that it effectively intrigues the user and hook them to the website. They’re visually appealing and belong to your website.
Trend 2: Revolutionizing Typography
For a long time, designers have stuck through the rules of typography and followed them thoroughly. However, when it comes to the latest trends in the restaurant niche, you should be breaking the rules attached to typography.
Remember, the newest web design trends are also a reflection of the new generation taking over. It means that the websites now have to divulge in the minds of the youth and then make web designs appropriate to their psychology. If you use the font correctly, they can bring accent and personality to the photographs on the website.
Here are a few things to keep in mind with this trend:
- Use bolder fonts to grab the user’s attention and put across your point effectively.
- Don’t feel shy and experiment with handwriting fonts. They’d give a personalized look to your website.
- Make sure that your typography is accessible and visible on every screen. Test them on different browsers and mobile screens to ensure the maximum outcome.
An important aspect to keep in mind is that breaking away too far from the rules might come biting at you. It means that you’d still have to follow the spacing of the words and the choice of font in mind. Remember, at the end of the day, the purpose behind experimenting with typography is to enhance features, not destroy them.
Trend 3: Abstract & Artistic Illustrations
We can all agree that artistic touch to anything can pop out its features. The best feature of incorporating photographic illustrations is that it makes the message of the brand clearer and creative. Instead of using a plethora of images and videos, you can simply create an illustration that is best suited for the vision of the brand. Additionally, it also captures the attention of the millennials and Gen-Z.
Other than that, illustrations with line-style and free-hand drawings are becoming more popular. The reason behind that is that it brings out the authenticity and evokes imagination. Each illustration represents and weaves a story in itself that doesn’t look forced and positively impacts the viewer.
For restaurants, this trend can revolutionize photography for them. Here are a couple of useful tips to keep in mind:
- Use custom illustrations with your photography to help your website stand out.
- Think of it as imperfections bringing out perfection in the overall scape.
- Give it a personalized touch of your brand. We can all agree that personalized and creative graphics are more appealing than impersonal visuals.
Trend 4: A Mix of Photography and Graphics
For those of you who wouldn’t want illustrations to dominate their websites, they can opt for mixing the platter of photography and graphics. This trend is the most used in the restaurant niche because it is easy to incorporate. All you have to do is add graphic elements that complement the overall theme of your website. The benefit of using this trend is that it makes your web design more user-friendly and is an excellent help for space-filler.
Additionally, you don’t have to add too many graphics to it. You can simply play around with natural elements like polka dots or arrows and draw attention to highlight the features you want the viewers to see.
Here are the tips you should keep in mind while incorporating graphics with photography:
- Overlap photography with visual graphics to enhance its meaning.
- Create an unforgettable visual that immediately becomes committed to memory.
- Create a 3D effect on photography and makes the food just as real as the user would want it to be.
Trend 5: More Images, Fewer Texts
For restaurant websites, the fewer the text, the better it is.
Understand this; the most critical aspect of your business is your food. Therefore, you must highlight it the most throughout your website.
However, another aspect that you need to keep in mind is that the search engines pick up on text. So, with every image, ensure that you incorporate a bit of writing too, which would keep a balance between the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and the visual appeal.
You can make use of these tips to ensure that:
- Add more text on your home page as compared to other pages.
- Use the menu page to enhance the visual appeal with photography and add text to explain each item’s features.
- Pick the best photographs to ensure the best results.
Trend 6: Interactivity and Explicit Call to Actions
Lastly, keep in mind that an essential aspect of a good website includes user experience. If your users are satisfied with your website, they’re more likely to refer it to their peers and order food from there. Hence, along with making it user-friendly and interactive, add an explicit call to actions.
Here are a few crucial things to keep in mind while making your restaurant website more user-friendly:
- Add CTAs (Call to Actions) on the home page.
- Add clickable buttons to phone numbers so the users can place the order quickly.
- Incorporate clear online ordering systems.
- Link your social media posts to your websites so you can easily convert the potential consumers.
Conclusion
If you genuinely want to expand your restaurant, our advice would be to start with a website today and incorporate these elements for exceptional user experience.
Remember – the more you invest in making the user journey better, the more returns you’ll get in the long-run.
Alina Zahid Khan is an entrepreneur, a poet, a writer and a content creator. She runs her own content and publishing house by the name of Storyteller’s Saga. Her passion is to share knowledge, helpful content and stories with people all around the world.
