Website for restaurant in Friborg and Gruyère: what it changes for your dining room

A restaurant can cook excellent food and have empty tables on Wednesday evening. Quality food isn't enough if people don't know you exist, don't know you have space, or can't find your menu before deciding where to go for dinner.

What people look for before choosing a restaurant

The decision to choose a restaurant is increasingly made before reaching the door. Someone looking for where to dine in Bulle, Gruyères or Friborg will open Google Maps, look at the photos, read two or three reviews, and try to find the menu. If he cannot find the menu, he will go to the competing restaurant whose dishes are visible.

Many restaurants in French-speaking Switzerland do not have a menu viewable online, or have a PDF menu not accessible from a phone, or a site that displays last year's menu because no one has the access to update it.

Friborg and Gruyère: a specific tourist context

The region attracts a significant tourist clientele, particularly around the Château de Gruyères and cheese tourism. This clientele is often from outside the region, they do not know the local restaurants, and they heavily use Google and TripAdvisor to choose where to eat.

German-speaking Swiss tourists also represent a significant part of this clientele. A site only in French is invisible to part of this market.

What a restaurant website should contain

The menu, up to date and viewable without downloading a PDF. This is the top priority. Customers want to see what you offer before coming, the vegetarian options, the daily specials, the prices.

Opening hours and closing days, clearly displayed. Many restaurants lose customers who come on a Monday, a closing day, because this information was not visible.

The possibility of booking online or a clickable telephone number.

Real photos of your room and some iconic dishes. Two or three good photos make more than a gallery of twenty mediocre photos.

What restaurateurs are doing wrong with social networks

Many restaurants invest time on Instagram without having a functioning website. This is a mistake in the order of priorities. Instagram is excellent for building loyalty in an existing community. It is much less effective at attracting customers who don't yet know you and are searching on Google.

A website that answers basic questions is worth more than an Instagram account with 2,000 followers if the goal is to fill your room.