If your restaurant is on DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub and Yelp, it's easy to think you're covered online. Customers can see your menu, read reviews and order food. Why pay for a website too?
Because every one of those apps is working for itself first. Here's what they don't do for you, and what your own website does.
1. Every app order costs you a commission
Delivery apps charge restaurants a commission on each order, often somewhere around 15% to 30%, depending on the plan. On a $40 order, that can be $6 to $12 that never reaches you.
Your website can send customers to a pickup or ordering system you control instead. Online ordering services like ChowNow, Toast and Square usually charge a monthly fee or a small card fee rather than a big cut of every order. Even moving a few regulars from the app to your own ordering link adds up fast.
2. The apps keep your customers
When someone orders through an app, the app gets their name, email and order history. You get a ticket. You can't email them about your new brunch menu or text them a deal on a slow Tuesday.
Your website is where you can build your own list: email sign-ups, a rewards program, catering requests. Those customers are yours to keep.
3. Your competitors are one tap away
On a delivery app, your restaurant sits in a list with dozens of others, with "you might also like" suggestions right under your menu. Yelp may show ads for other restaurants on your page. On your own website, there's only you.
4. The app menu can make you look expensive
Many restaurants raise their prices on delivery apps to cover the commission. That's fair, but if the app is the only menu people can find, they may think your dine-in prices are that high too. Your website shows your real menu at your real prices.
5. Google looks at your website
When people search "tacos near me" or "best brunch in Montrose," Google decides what to show, partly based on your Google Business Profile and your website. A website with your full menu, hours, address and the dishes you're known for gives Google much more to work with than an app listing.
And before they visit, most diners want to look at the menu. A fast, easy-to-read menu on your own website, not a blurry photo of a paper menu, is one of the most useful things you can give them.
6. The apps don't sell the things that make you the most money
Delivery apps are built for one thing: delivery orders. They don't help with:
- Catering orders and party trays
- Private events and reservations
- Gift cards
- Your dine-in or happy hour menu
- Job applications when you're hiring
- Your story: who you are, where your recipes come from, why people should come in
One catering order for 50 people can be worth more than a week of app orders. Your website is where those customers find you.
7. You control the details
Hours change for a holiday. A dish comes off the menu. You add a new patio. On your website, you decide what people see. App listings and review sites often show old information, and you can't always fix it quickly.
Keep the apps. Make your website home base.
This isn't about leaving DoorDash or Yelp. They bring you new customers, and that's valuable. The smart setup is:
- Apps and Yelp help new customers discover you.
- Your Google Business Profile puts you on the map.
- Your website is home base: your real menu, catering, events and a way to order directly.
The hard part is keeping your menu and prices the same everywhere. Every price change means logging into four or five apps. That's exactly the kind of work we take off your hands.
Nicks Web Shop builds and manages restaurant websites in Houston and beyond, starting at $20/mo with no setup fee and no contract. Menu changes are free: just text us. See our websites for restaurants, or try the restaurant demo.
