Let’s face it, the only thing worse than having to drive to get take out is having to call and talk to a person to make that order. It’s loud, you have to repeat yourself numerous times, you have to try to get them to enter your address and card information and still have the likelihood of having the order wrong. It’s because of these reasons and many more that most of your orders come from your website or third-party online ordering site or lose out on a ton of business!
So what is a third-party ordering site you may be thinking….
We all have seen them and probably never thought anything of it. These sites are offered as a basic option developed for small restaurant service used to take online orders and very little else. While they may be a cheaper up front option, they may be costing you more than you realize, especially if this is also being used as your main website as well.
These third party ordering sites have a very basic webpage format which allows for minimal customization to include menu offerings, limited photos of stock images and logo and location information. They also offer minimum customer support for you and the customers that order from you, cost a monthly fee for use(often times charging a percentage of the order total as well) and unless you pay a high “build out rate or setup cost” on top of the other initial fees, many times it will not work as you need it too.
Why do companies use these services?
These are very popular because they allow small restraunt owners without a web development team or extra time to learn yet another skill, to have a way for customers to find you online and order from your business. Because these are “cookie cutter templates” , they are able to be sold often covering a variety of business types meaning there is little separation between you and the next restaurant that uses the same service (many of them being your direct competitors).
They are also popular to use as part of your current website to allow the third party to handle the order section while you or a member of your team manages and updates the main website. As these pages are limited in changing and customizing the appearance, many times it is very noticeable when switching to the third party ordering section as it looks like a completely different site leaving customers wondering if they were still ordering from the right place.
When restaurant owners use these pages as a stand alone website it leaves customers questioning the quality of the food and if they want to try this place out or not.
With all good comes some trade-offs in what you are able to do. Some of these trade-offs include:
- Limited ability on what you are able to make changes on from the original template.
- Ability to provide customer service when people have difficulty with the website.
- Inability to upload your own images or having the ability to edit format to fit properly.
- Difficulty getting proper set up to be able to get the results you are looking for.
- Limited storage space to upload & store images & videos.
- Normally restricted to have one page with everything crammed together causing slower page loading and endless scrolling.
Why having a full webpage is the better option
When you have a full webpage not only do you have the option to create the additional content your customers need to have to make a smart buying experience, but you also have the ability to break the content into multiple pages and offer more than just a place to order from. Having this ability for your content allows for faster loading speeds, separation to better and quickly lead customers to what they are looking for, ability to track user engagement through programs like Google analytics to see where you need to make adjustments to the page, ability to increase your effectiveness of marketing using tools such as Search Engine Optimization, and the ability to add plug-ins which will allow you to create your own ordering webpage along with many other helpful tools.
Another great benefit of having your own full website is the ability to host much more content, which allows you the ability to upload your own professional images which is critical to setting your business apart from the competition, ultimately gaining you more business.
Finally, having a full webpage gives your restaurant a much more professional and established appearance, putting your customers at ease that they are ordering from a reputable business.
Conclusion
It is these reasons and many more that having a full website instead of a third-party ordering page is crucial to gaining more business. If you are interested in getting more information or are ready to partner with me and create the webpage your business deserves please reach out by filling out this quick contact form and we will get started right away.
