How User Friendly Is Your Online Menu?
Have you ever placed an order yourself on your restaurant’s website? Have you ever heard complaints about your online menu?
Most importantly, we pose the question, “How user friendly is your online menu?”
As more and more websites look toward website accessibility, one place that often gets overlooked is the online ordering system. However, this is vital to the success of your business. After all, it’s one of the top reasons people visit your restaurant website.
What Makes a User Friendly Online Menu?
A user friendly website and online menu are important for several reasons:
- It puts the customers’ needs first.
- Your website visitors can easily navigate your online menu.
- It’s pleasant to look at it.
- Users can find it easily and understand it.
You don’t want to overlook the overall customer experience with your online menu. It must be usable and accessible by all users even if they have issues such as a disability or slow internet speeds. (tweet this)
When your online menu is user friendly, it works for anyone, anywhere. Your customers can place their online orders with ease and speed.
Now let’s look at what a user friendly online menu looks like.
Your Online Menu Loads Quickly
While some restaurants have quick websites, their online menus aren’t always quick loading.
Today’s web users as well as Google place a lot of importance on fast websites. So, you want to make sure your online menu also loads quickly. You don’t want users to get hung up waiting for a menu item to add to the cart.
According to one source, more than half of people shopping online expect a website to load in three seconds or less. If your online menu is slow to load and cumbersome to use, you are most likely going to lose the purchase.
Your goal is to make sure your online menu pages load in under three seconds. If they don’t, talk to your web developer as it might be time for an upgrade to your website.
Your Online Menu is Mobile Friendly
It really should go without saying, but you’d be surprised at how many restaurants don’t have responsive websites, or if they do, their online menus aren’t.
A responsive, mobile-friendly website is imperative for your restaurant website, and that includes your online menu. A majority of your customers will place their online orders from their mobile phones, so make sure your online menu can handle that beautifully and responsively.
Your Online Menu Conserves Clicks, Taps, and Scrolling
This is important for all of your users, including your disabled users. You’ll often find that the easier your online menu is for users with a disability, the easier it is for everyone.
You want to make sure that you use the fewest number of clicks and taps for people to find and use your online menu. Eliminate any barriers so website visitors can order quickly and with ease.
Talk with your web developer and make sure they’re considering this aspect of your online menu.
You also want to consider reducing the amount of scrolling to just what is necessary. The overall goal here is speed.
Your Online Menu Remembers Customers
Another user friendly feature makes it easy for customers to save their information for next time.
Make sure your online menu allows your repeat customers to set up a username and password so they can log right in. They won’t have to re-enter their name, address, phone, email, or even credit card.
You’ll find that this is an incredible user friendly feature that also encourages repeat business. It will just take customers seconds to place an order.
Take it a step further and have an online menu ordering system that remembers your customers’ past orders. This again makes it quick and easy for them to order.
You’ll also find an added benefit: you now have your customers’ information to add to your digital marketing strategy.
Your Online Menu is Formatted Well
Most restaurant website visitors scan your content quickly. They get an overview and then decide what to order and even if they are going to order.
This is why it’s important to pay attention to the following:
- Attractive photography
- Alt tags for your images
- The correct use of heading tags so they easily see sections of content
- The correct use of subheading tags as well
- Easily distinguishable paragraphs
- Bullet lists to break up text
- Fonts that are easy to view
By taking care of the above items, you also make your online menu easy to use for people with disabilities. They can use their screen readers and easily scan your content, and then they can ultimately place an order.
Your Online Menu Has a Contrasting Color Scheme
Another way to make your online menu user friendly is to ensure there is a good contrast between the background color of your website and the color of the fonts in your text content.
While this may seem like a simple thing to do, so many restaurant websites get it wrong.
A good contract (i.e., black on white and vice versa) makes it easier to read for people of all ages.
When you don’t have good contrast, it makes it harder to read, especially on smartphones, for older people, and those with visual impairments.
Final Thoughts
An accessible, user friendly website and online menu with a great user experience keep website visitors on your website longer and encourages repeat business. (tweet this)
Not only does a user friendly online menu increase customer retention, but it shows your customers that you value their time and want their experience with your restaurant (both online and in-person) to be respectful and mindful of accessibility issues.
You’ll find customer loyalty increases with a user friendly menu and with it your overall revenue.
At Restaurant Engine, not only do we create great, responsive websites, but you can count on us to create a website and online menu that are accessible and available to all. Let us help you create the perfect site that draws customers in, improves your conversion rate, and enables you to grow your business! Ready to take the plunge and create a new website? Get your free website consultation today!
Images: kt Leung and Aleksander Sadowski on Unsplash
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