3 Must Haves on Your Restaurant Mobile Website

Mobile websites are meant to provide users with only the information they are looking for when they are on the go. Many restaurant goers decide where they'll eat while out doing activities with friends and family, and you want your restaurant's website to rank high on search results and deliver an optimal user experience once they arrive. Google recently stated that 66% of all local searches were for restaurants, making it more critical than ever in order to reach those that are looking for your business.

After researching the top searched items, both online and mobile, we have determined there are three must-have pieces of content on your mobile website in order to differentiate it from your competitors. These are the items users indicated are most useful when deciding where they will have lunch or dinner. 

1. Online menu - Consumers want to be able to research products and services before they purchase, and this is no different when they select a restaurant. The top searched items were for products, services, and menus, so it is important to have a sampling of your menu available for search. You can also add daily or weekly specials to the website which keeps content fresh and improves search optimization (SEO).

2. Turn-by-turn directions - This seems fairly straight forward, but many restaurants don't include this on their mobile websites, and traditional sites on the mobile are almost impossible to navigate maps and directions, especially if they are in Flash. One of the unique benefits of a mobile website is the ability to add your restaurants location coordinates on the site and give the users the option to plug it into their map function on the phone. From there, they will receive turn-by-turn directions to your location.

3. Click to call/Text to reserve - Another must-have on your mobile website is the ability for customers to reach you quickly and easily. This can be done with a click to call button that connects them to you with one touch. Restaurants can go one step above an integrate SMS or an online reservation system in their mobile website to allow customers to research, review, and reserve their dinner plans within a few minutes.

These are the foundations to an effective mobile website. In order to create a unique and effective mobile website for your restaurant, it is important to look at your goals and determine what additional functionality should be added beyond the basics to reach your customers. It is clear that consumers are searching, the question now becomes, "can they find you?"

Mobile Marketing can be an Effective Tool for Tourism Industry

Why would the tourist industry be interested in using mobile marketing techniques to attract visitors? Mobile engagement has proven successful in other industries, such as banking, restaurants, and entertainment, so it only makes sense that consumers would want to search travel deals through their mobile devices. Most travelers use their smartphones to search for restaurants, accommodations, and attractions while they are away from home, so it's important that they find the information they are looking for through a fast, user friendly website on their devices.

People who are planning a trip that will take place in the future may use a desktop or laptop computer to conduct their initial research. When it gets closer to the actual departure date, it makes more sense for them to use a handheld device to browse for last-minute deals and online coupons.

Business owners who are offering services that will appeal to tourists will want to make sure that people using these devices can find their web sites by making sure that they have a mobile website set up and ready to go before their busy season starts.

Another great reason to set up a website for mobile devices is that local results tend to rank higher in mobile searches. The mobile engagement platform gives you another chance to connect with visitors who are in the area and who are specifically looking for the service your business provides. Connecting with consumers who are motivated to buy right away is a great strategy for any business, and I can the 2012 summer travel season as a great opportunity to connect with travelers through mobile. 

Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way Retailers Do Business

Nothing stays the same, and this is true for retailers as well as other types of business. I was interested to learn that e-commerce sales increased by 13.5 percent in the 2011 holiday season, while sales in brick and mortar stores were up by only 2.8 percent. 

I can see that as consumers continue to become more comfortable with buying products electronically, mobile shopping will become an even more important part of a retailer's business operations and having a mobile website will become crucial to future success. Consumers will be looking for even more features as their level of sophistication with online shopping grows, and retailers will need to make sure that they have a well-designed mobile web site up and running to respond to customers' needs.

Retailers should anticipate the customer's needs and respond to them by making mobile engagement platforms easy to navigate on the go, through mobile channels such as SMS messaging and mobile websites. The customer should be able to access store contact information quickly. Providing a button that will immediately dial the closest store's number is a great strategy to accomplish this goal.

The shopping feature on the mobile web site should also be easy to navigate. Customers should be able to see the store's inventory online so that they can make a buying decision quickly. If this function is slow to load or too complicated, the online buyer is likely to click away without buying.

Mobile marketing for retailers is here to stay, and having a well-designed mobile marketing strategy is becoming an important feature for businesses.

Think Content First When Creating a Mobile Website

If you have ever heard the expression, "Content is king," you may not know that it applies to businesses that are creating mobile websites as well. I know that a company's mobile website is an important part of doing business, and the success of the site will depend on the way it is set up for visitors.

One very important factor is for the company to provide answers within its content to questions that prospects and existing customers will likely be asking. This format should provide an overview of the company's products and services, as well as key points about features and benefits to mobile web browsers.

As part of your mobile engagement solutions, make sure that your mobile website is SEO optimized. If you put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and ask what types of keyword phrases they would use to find your business, you can start to build a list that you can use for your web copy.

Keep in mind that the content you are providing on a website for mobile devices must be customer friendly. Internet users do not want to have to dig for the information they need, and someone who is using a handheld device is likely to be even less patient than a desktop computer user.

When providing information to prospective customers on your mobile website, use a "show, don't tell" approach. Use figures and direct examples of how your product or service can benefit them. All of these strategies will help to make your mobile website an important business generation tool.

Should All Businesses Build Mobile Websites?

I can understand why business owners would be thinking about whether it makes sense to build mobile websites. Mobile phone and tablet owners are using these devices to access the internet in ever-increasing numbers. The decision of whether to set up a website that will appeal to mobile users is one that needs to be considered very carefully.

Before a business owner can make a decision about a mobile website, he or she needs to consider whether it will benefit the enterprise and, if so, what the website will offer to visitors. An important consideration is whether the business’ customers can benefit from being able to access a mobile site.

If the business owner can see a benefit to providing a mobile-friendly website, the next thing to look at is what the visitors accessing the site through their mobile devices will be doing. If the average mobile device user will be looking for general information, the mobile site’s content will be different from a site whose users are accessing the site for the purpose of taking some type of action, such as scheduling an appointment or placing an order.

Once an owner has a clear idea of what the mobile site should do, he or she has options. The owner can choose to build a mobile-only website or have one that has similar content to the main one. For some owners, I can see that a hybrid site, which offers some elements of the main site but focuses on being mobile friendly, is a better option.

Build Mobile Websites for Users on the Go

Setting up a website is an important part of marketing for modern businesses, but it isn't enough to attract customers who are using mobile devices to surf the net.  The marketing plan should also include a plan to build mobile websites that will be easy for cell phone, smartphone and tablet users to access.

Business owners who are conscious of their bottom line may not want to invest in developing a true mobile website, but this will be money well spent.  Mobile users are utilizing their devices to perform searches for many types of products and services, and businesses with mobile websites will have a better chance of capturing their business.

For it to be a true mobile website, it must be one that has simple navigation.  Internet users have notoriously short attention spans, and mobile device users are no exception.  If a company website is slow to load or doesn't appear to be user-friendly, mobile users will simply click away.

Another way that mobile websites can be made more user friendly is by anticipating the customer's next step when he or she lands on it. Adding features such as a contact button, which immediately connects the customer to the business by phone makes it easy for them to make contact to answer questions or get information needed to make a buying decision.

With the number of mobile searches continuing to increase, developing a website that can meet the needs of users on the go will pay off in higher revenues.