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Smart Tips for Online Food Businesses to Increase Sales

Sarah Landrum

November 09, 2015

The Internet is a competitive frontier for restaurant owners. Does your restaurant have what it takes to make it in this digital age? With these smart tips, you too can harness the Internet to increase your sales.

1. Be Visual

As any hungry Internet user knows, there’s nothing like food photos to get you drooling. Images are a great way to make your food seem more real and desirable. Tempt your customers with mouthwatering photos on your front page, or illustrate your menu with pictures of popular items.

Images aren’t the only way to catch your audience’s eye, though. Website visitors are 64% more likely to buy a product after watching a video. From menu spotlights to chef interviews, video is a great way to share your food business with the world. Just remember, videos 15 seconds or shorter have the greatest chance of going viral, so think quality over quantity when you plan a video.

2. Put Your Menu Online

Online ordering and mobile menus are keystones of bringing your food business into the digital age. Busy customers appreciate mobile menus because they speed up the ordering process. Online ordering can also prevent frustrating misunderstandings and make your business more accessible to patrons with communication difficulties.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be a tech genius to set up online ordering. All you have to do is find the right tools to help you build your online menu and make it mobile-friendly. You’ll be reaching more customers in no time with your new online ordering system.

3. Target Your Marketing

If your restaurant is in New York, you won’t benefit much if someone in Oklahoma views your website. This is why it’s critical to target your online marketing to local audiences. Here are four places your restaurant should be featured if you want to be discovered by locals:

• Google Places: If you want to show up in searches, you need to take full advantage of Google Places. Be sure to fill in your profile thoroughly, including keywords.
• Yelp: Build a positive image on Yelp by soliciting reviews from loyal customers. Leave links to your Yelp profile on your menu, receipts or website to encourage reviews.
• Zomato: Formerly known as Urbanspoon, Zomato is the largest restaurant review site in the world and well worth your time.
• Foursquare: This popular business finder app helps you communicate with your customers in addition to helping them find you.

And of course, be sure to get your website listed in local directories as well.

4. Utilize Your Mailing List

A good mailing list is essential to keep customers coming back for more. Once you have your patrons’ email addresses, you can send them news, special offers and invitations to like your restaurant on social media.

Before you can fully utilize your mailing list, though, you need subscribers. Here are some simple strategies to make the most of mailing list opt-ins on your website:

• Placement matters: Try placing opt-ins somewhere prominent, like near the top of your homepage. You can also integrate an opt-in into your online ordering system, inviting customers to join your mailing list as they check out.
• Keep it simple: If all you need is their email address, only ask for that. If you don’t need their name and phone number, don’t ask. Customers will shy away from long forms.
• Ask before they leave: Exit-intent technology senses when a user is about to leave and gives them one last chance to subscribe, converting would-be deserters into loyal customers.

A strong online presence is bound to increase your restaurant’s visibility and sales, so keep testing strategies until you find the ones that work best for you! It won’t be long before you reap the benefits of your new outreach efforts.

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