Some small business owners still think it is not yet time to have a presence on the Internet. They think much of their business is on the street, and thereby continue to miss out on the opportunity to expand their scope of business and attract a new generation of customers that seem to do more on the web.

Attract Customers on the Web!
With additional reports from Smallbizpipeline.com and National Restaurant News

The days have come when no business can afford not to be seen on the web. Whatever it is that you do, there is some way by which having a web site, or just getting listed on the search engines will help to widen your customer base and retain the customers you already have. The web is the way by which more businesses will be conducted in the future, and the future is, perhaps, here already.

Alice LaPlante of Smallbizpipeline.com made an all-important point in this regard: "... no matter how local, loyal, or (seemingly) uninterested in the Web your customers seem to be, chances are, they're trying to find you out on the Web. What if you're not there and a competitor is? Can you really afford to take that chance?"

Maybe what your restaurant needs is not really a web site, even thought that is highly unlikely. You could still draw some businesses to yourself by being present in local search pages of major search engines such as Yahoo and Google.

These days, buyers go to the web to dig up simple information such as a fine dining in a particular part of the city. When potential customers search for information about a business you compete in, make sure they can find you there, otherwise you are losing potential business to competition.

A simple search shown in the picture above can drive a lot of traffic to your business

Although presence in local searches is very important, it is even better to have a web site that can provide the most basic information to your customers such as directions, menu, promotions and contact information.

One mistake many people make is to believe their website is a standalone marketing tool. According to Henry Houston, executive vice president of ADM Advertising of Deerfield, N.Y., it is important to think of websites as being a part of the restaurant's overall advertising program. He adds: "It has to be an extension of the marketing program." "Other media act as a teaser. They should drive your customers to the website, where they can get far more information than you can deliver elsewhere."

There are still a lot of restaurants out there without web sites. According to IDC only 50 percent of small businesses in the United States had web sites by the end of 2004. Some business owners still ignore the web despite the fact that the vast majority of Web surfers use search engines to find what they need online, and a full 25 percent of all shopping-related searches are for local products and services.

Moreover, the costs of building and deploying a basic web site have dropped dramatically: from $10,000 in 1995 to just $1,200 in 2004. Many of the basic web sites generally preclude true interactivity; however, they provide a rudimentary way to get a small business online quickly and cheaply.

In spite of the affordability of web sites, many restaurants still ask: "Do we need a website?" The answer is yes, you do need a web site, and for the following reasons:

Visibility: your business is more visible to customers when they can find you online. Visitors, local buyers, vendors, and even exploratory buyers can find you quickly if your restaurant comes up when they search on the Internet.

Ordering and reservations: There are new programs that allow restaurants to sell directly to customers on the web. Some of those applications are so powerful that they orders and payment come directly to your point-of-sale computers as they are placed, saving you enormous business costs and driving up your sales. CC Productions has developed one of such applications with Bigholler which allows orders to be sent directly to Positouch systems from the Internet. Call us at 1-800-507-5554, Ext. 1 to find out how we can integrate Internet ordering to you Positouch system.

There are three basic types of web sites you can develop, depending on your need and financial capacity: static, e-commerce and email marketing.

Static Site: The majority of websites used in the restaurant industry are static. They offer menu, news, promotions and contact information. The imperative is to provide basic information.

Dynamic Site: Dynamic sites involve some level of sophistication. There is advanced programming involved that allows automated actions. Dynamic sites are more expensive to build and maintain, but they provide more functionality. Ecommerce sites exist to sell goods or services to people or other businesses.

Despite the difference in function on the surface, e-commerce sites don't appear to be very different from static sites. But what sets them apart are the Web applications that drive them. Web applications are programs designed to operate on the Web. Essentially, the programs might be connected and accessed through a restaurant website. Then owners and managers are able to access the program for the data it collects or the transactions it records by also using the Web.

Some of the things that a dynamic web site can do include selling gift certificates and food, updating menus on the fly, managing information collected from the web site for other uses such as online promotions for events or featured entrées, credit card transactions, allowing potential employees to apply online, making reservations. Dynamic sites also allow discussion forums, e-mail marketing, customer newsletters, coupons and login accounts.

Good websites take time to create, it usually takes two to three months to create a very good web site. Elements such as graphics have to be built meticulously. For even a better site, a research phase of production is essential. The developer needs to get particular information about the business and what is expected to be achieved to make a site that will be well tailored to customers. The personality of the restaurant must be reflected in the final work. What is put on the web must match what exists on the ground.

Email marketing: An email marketing does not have to be separate from your web site, but it needs some space online. Email marketing is actually a web site that is sent to people en masse as email. When they click on the email message, it takes the recipient to the location of the information on the web site.

No matter how it is dressed up, decked out or disguised, restaurants that engage in marketing events, featured entrées, coupons or gift cards via e-mail run the risk of being seen in the same light as those who appear in customers' inboxes to market pills, porn and low-interest mortgages. So, some guidelines must be followed so that the email is not tagged as spam and arrives at destination successfully.

"E-mail is a very personal thing to many people," says Jaime Oikle, owner and co-founder of RestaurantReport.com, a Miami-based online website community for restaurant management. "If you engage in e-mail marketing, you must make it very clear to message recipients that they are getting an informational or promotional message from you."

This form of customer relations is subject to a set of very tight federal controls laid out in what's called the Can Spam Act of 2003, which strictly defines what is acceptable e-mail marketing and what is not. The act covers e-mail marketing as well as automated newsletters and contest systems, Gandy says.

Receivers must be able to identify from where the e-mail originates. In addition, it's illegal to create a false return address, and the subject line of the e-mail message can't be deceptive and it must be relevant to the text in the message body. Also, the e-mail must feature a way for recipients to remove themselves from the mailing list. The law does not specify a required method for accomplishing that, although there are a number of options.

Newsletters are far preferable to mailing coupons, gift cards and other forms of promotional literature. "In a newsletter, you can write stories about your business, about staff members, interesting upcoming events, plus whatever promotions you are running," according to Oikle.

David Cain, senior manager of restaurant marketing for OpenTable.com of San Francisco thinks it's very important for anyone in the restaurant trade to have a Web presence. No one needs to be convinced about the value of advertising in traditional media, but Cain says the Web offers significant advantages over them. "Other media do get the message out," he says, "just not necessarily at the time [consumers] are thinking about dining."

Once a restaurant is on the Web, though, Cain warns that restaurateurs must assure their sites look professional. "Be sure your site has functionality and not just fancy graphics. Keep clutter to a minimum," he cautions.

Remember, too, that the Web is an interactive medium, Cain adds. "Your website should be interactive. Give your clients something to do on the site so they can get involved in the content," he says.

CC Productions can help get your business on the Web, or even re-develop your existing web site. We can also provide consulting information about web marketing and other related issues. Give us a call or fill a form to find out how we can help.

Call 1-800-507-5554, Ext 1 for more information.