Restaurant Website to Grow Online Orders: A Quick Guide

In the digital-first world of 2025, your restaurant’s website isn’t just an online brochure—it’s your most powerful revenue-generating tool. With online food orders projected to account for 40% of global restaurant sales by 2026 (Statista), not having a restaurant website to grow online orders is like locking your front door during peak hours.

Whether you’re a cozy neighborhood café or a rapidly expanding restaurant chain, the right website can attract new diners, drive repeat business, and build a loyal customer base. So how do you actually create a high-performing restaurant website to grow online orders?

Let’s dive into the must-have elements.

Why Every Restaurant Needs a Website That Converts Orders

Your restaurant website is more than a digital menu—it’s your online storefront, customer service rep, marketing manager, and ordering platform rolled into one.

Key Stats:

✅ 86% of diners check a restaurant’s website before deciding to visit
✅ Restaurants with online ordering see a 30% revenue increase on average
✅ Responsive, fast websites boost conversion rates by up to 40%

1. Prioritize Mobile Optimization on Your Restaurant Website to Grow Online Orders

With 76%+ of food orders placed via mobile devices (Think with Google, 2024), a mobile-optimized restaurant website to grow online orders is non-negotiable.

Mobile-Friendly Features:

Responsive design that adapts across all screen sizes
Click-to-call and click-to-map buttons
One-click checkout with Apple Pay, Google Pay, UPI, etc.

📊 Stat: 61% of users won’t return to a mobile site they struggled with—and 40% will go to a competitor.

2. Use High-Quality Visuals and an Intuitive Menu Design

Visuals sell food. According to Toast, listings with quality images receive 35% more online orders.

Optimization Tips:

Use real photos of your actual dishes—not stock images
Categorize the menu (e.g., Vegan, Breakfast, Kids’ Meals)
List ingredients, pricing, and nutrition info

🔍 Pro Tip: Clear visuals and categories reduce bounce rates and keep customers engaged longer.

3. Enable Seamless Direct Online Ordering

Don’t redirect users to third-party apps that take commissions. Instead, set up direct online ordering on your restaurant website to grow online orders.

Must-Have Features:

In-built ordering with cart, checkout, and delivery time estimator
Live order tracking
Options for delivery, pickup, or dine-in scheduling

💰 Fact: Restaurants see 15–30% higher profit margins when customers order directly vs. third-party apps.

4. Offer Diverse Local Payment Options

Checkout abandonment is real—37% of users ditch orders if their preferred payment method isn’t available.

How to Reduce Cart Abandonment:

Offer UPI, Paytm, Google Pay, credit/debit cards, cash on delivery
Enable Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options for flexibility

🔒 Multiple payment options = fewer drop-offs and more completed orders.

5. Add Loyalty Programs and Promo Engines

Turning one-time visitors into regulars is the key to sustained growth. A restaurant website to grow online orders should reward loyalty.

Growth Strategies:

First-order discounts
Free delivery over a certain cart value
Points/rewards for each order

🔁 Insight: Returning customers spend 67% more than first-time visitors (Bain & Company).

6. Use Location-Based Features to Drive Local Traffic

More than 50% of “food near me” searches lead to a purchase within 1 hour. Use local SEO to help your restaurant website grow online orders in your city.

Features That Help:

Google Maps integration
Multi-location store locator
Area-specific landing pages with local keywords

📍Be visible when hungry customers are searching nearby.

7. Showcase Real Customer Reviews and Ratings

Trust drives orders. Adding reviews to your website can boost conversions by 18%.

Best Practices:

Testimonial slider on homepage
Google or Facebook review integration
In-app post-order feedback feature

💡 Social proof is your secret weapon to winning new customers.

8. Improve Speed and Security on Your Restaurant Website to Grow Online Orders

Speed matters. A 1-second delay in load time reduces conversions by 7%.

Performance Boosters:

Cloud-based hosting for faster load times
SSL certification (HTTPS) for secure transactions
Image compression and caching for speed

9. Track, Analyze & Improve with Customer Data

If you can’t measure it, you can’t grow it. Use analytics to understand customer behavior and refine your strategy.

Key Tools:

Google Analytics and heatmaps
Customer order history segmentation
Real-time dashboard for campaign ROI tracking

📈 Use data to personalize offers and increase average order value.

🚀 How Yelo Helps You Build a Restaurant Website That Grows Online Orders

At Yelo, we make building a restaurant website to grow online orders simple, powerful, and scalable—no coding or IT team required.

With Yelo, You Get:

✅ Drag-and-drop website builder made for restaurants
✅ Built-in online ordering with real-time updates
✅ Support for 150+ local and global payment gateways
✅ Loyalty programs, referral engines, and CRM tools
✅ Mobile-optimized and SEO-ready templates

Whether you’re starting from scratch or upgrading your current site, Yelo gives you everything you need to increase orders and drive growth.

👉 Ready to turn website visitors into paying customers?

Build your restaurant website to grow online orders with Yelo today. Let us handle the tech while you focus on what you do best—serving delicious food.