How Mobile Websites and Menus Can Change Your Restaurant

The days of aimlessly driving around looking for a place to eat are over. Now that so many Americans own mobile devices, it’s easier than ever to pull up information about restaurants in your area. This is why having an easy-to-navigate, mobile-device-friendly website and menu is so important. Think of it this way: If the person in the passenger seat is browsing through restaurants and your establishment has no menu, or perhaps one that is large screen formatted and hard to browse, they may move on and ultimately end up at a competing restaurant. Mobile formatted websites and menus are an easy way to help keep this from happening.

Unclear what mobile formatting is? Here’s how it works. For many of us, a website is a website, right? But when you think about it, viewing a web page built for a larger screen device like a computer or even an iPad tablet is quite different from viewing that same information on your small screen mobile phone. It’s harder to see and find things on the phone, for one, when the type and images shrink down or you have to scroll and pinch in awkward ways to read text and find links. It’s not uncommon to give up on the site altogether when faced with such tasks on your mobile phone.

Enter the mobile formatted website, which automatically senses what type of device you are on and what the screen size is. With this type of site, your viewers see regular sized content, type, and images that are all laid out to fit within the dimensions of the mobile-sized screen. The links are large and easy to hit, and familiar scrolling allows users to quickly navigate to what they are looking for – in this case – your menu.

The Mobile Formatting Trend

How important is this? Well, believe it or not, mobile formatted websites and menus are becoming almost as important (and sometimes more important) than a typical menu on a large screen formatted website. According to data collected over a period of 45 days by SinglePlatform from Constant Contact®, 62% of the menus viewed in New York were looked at through mobile devices. Considering New York is one of the top locations for menu viewing, this is a significant percentage. And majority figures aren’t exclusive to the Big Apple – Charlotte, North Carolina, for example, came in at 57%.

"Mobile formatted websites and menus are becoming almost as important (and sometimes more important) than a typical menu on a large screen formatted website."

Even more impressive is the Telmetrics® study that shows 90% of "mobile restaurant seekers" convert within the day. When you zoom in on smartphone users, 64% converted within an hour after their restaurant search. Those conversion rates are difficult to ignore, and catering to this mobile demographic could be extremely beneficial for business.

With so many people accessing mobile menus to make their dining decisions, it’s important to note that less than 13% of full service restaurant chains have mobile websites, according to a Restaurant Sciences study. So, for the moment, there’s no need to panic if you have at least a large-formatted menu and website. But imagine the competitive advantage of having a mobile formatted site. With some simple additional page formatting, you could stand out among those 62% of mobile menu viewers – a hefty slice of the market if you are in New York or another major urban area.

Designing the Digital Menu

So, now that you’re convinced it’s time to craft a website or menu that’s mobile friendly, there are several things to keep in mind when taking the leap.

While deciding to make a mobile-friendly site and menu is a great first step, that choice alone will not necessarily lead to success. You have to take the time to make a site and menu that will be effective in attracting the customer. Thankfully, a lot of the design fundamentals for large formatting carry over into the mobile platform.

For one, images are still effective for advertising a meal. A CBS News article lists photos as one of the big menu components that get people to spend money. It makes sense: Once you see how delicious a dish looks, it’s harder to restrain from ordering it. On a mobile platform, you have easy options to work with in terms of incorporating images. For example, tapping a certain menu item could reveal an image and a description. But regardless of what you decide to do, appropriate organization and design are integral to the success of your menu.

Some suggest that people are more likely to order the first item listed under each menu category. Because of this, people often put items that are profitable at the top. This same concept can be applied to mobile menus, but with a twist: People aren’t looking at mobile menus to order but rather to get a feel for the restaurant, so menu items that are either the most appetizing or present the best deals should be priority. Also, since mobile screens are so much smaller than physical menus, the visible menu items become even more important and will get even more attention from the user. Strategic placement of mobile menu items can play a large role in drawing customers into your restaurant.

Above all – the mobile site and menu should make clear, easy navigation the top priority. If people can’t find what they’re looking for, they’ll likely give up and move on to a different restaurant. Smashing Magazine makes this point: If someone scrolls all the way to the bottom, they may not want to scroll all the way back up to continue exploring other sections. Make sure to consider this when designing the navigation of menu categories – having a repeat of your navigation links at the bottom of the page – so people stay on the menu longer.

By following these simple suggestions for mobile formatting, you’re bound to generate more interest, more visits, and more profits.