Flash brings motion to pages and that motion/animation gets people pumped up. Sure, at first brush it’s great, but then you run into the problems of functionality and user wants. I’ll go into detail in another post, but for now, lets list what a user wants from your restaurant website.

1. What’s Cooking? Obviously, a first timer wants to know what’s on the menu. But that doesn’t mean you should have it plopped on a page as a PDF download. You need the menu on the actual page AND a PDF download. The menu on the page gets them the info right away. The PDF gives them a way to download it and print it for later. You need both.

2. What’s the Vibe? A first timer wants to know what the place looks like and what its vibe is like. Is it formal? Casual? Fun? Light? Manage expectations with photography of the locations and food, and also the design. A template website is going to look generic. A custom design will be tailored to deliver an expected vibe. That’s invaluable. This also plays into brand messaging.

3. Where are you? People want addresses and phone numbers. They want links to a map. Put these somewhere VERY obvious so people can find you quickly and easily.

4. What’s New? Is it fresh? Is the restaurant happening or did they put up a site and leave it at that. The site needs a news area. The site needs a way to feature new dishes and specials. Most importantly, the site needs updated frequently. This is prime reason for using a content management system tailored to restaurants like VIM.

4. Opportunities to Save. Now they want to see if they can save a little bit on their visit. They’ll look for ways on your site, on Twitter, Groupon, FourSquare and various other places. But why not just list them in one area? Put this info in one location for them to find and choose. Your goal with any discount program is to get them to visit then worry about increasing the ticket while they’re there.

5. Connect & Contact. Finally, then want to connect to you. They want you to talk to them. Do this through Facebook, Twitter and email. Give them the means to ask you to reach out then make sure you actually reach out!

Your visitors/users come first. You have to deliver what they want and get it to them quickly or you’ll lose them every time. Make sure these 5 elements are present on your restaurant’s website and win.

What are features you like seeing on a restaurant’s site? What features do you hate?

Check out the site at www.aroogas.com

Despite the need for content management, a lot of misconceptions have arisen over the years with regard to what can and cannot be done (not to mention how much it should cost.) So, we’ve decided to shed some light on the facts surrounding content management systems. Whether you are using an opensource God like WordPress, or using a proprietary system like Vigor’s VIM, the following hold true.

1. The more you want to do, the more it will cost

Things cost money and just because you want something doesn’t mean you get to have it for cheap. The more complex you imagine the capabilies of a CMS, the more it is going to cost to purchase, setup, integrate, support and use. There are no work arounds and no exceptions. Think of it as a car. Older cars were easier to work on because the system was pretty basic. Now there are electronics in the engine throughout the vehicle, A/C systems with coolant and a million other elements that make the car cost more to purchase and maintain.

2. Flash is restricting

Flash animations, blinking lights and moving pictures restricts your ability to update. Those animations are what they are so you won’t be able to edit that particular content without investing significant money to make it editable. Even then, it’s going to be tricky. Use Flash to add a little flair, but use it wisely. We’ve never heard of any brand making money because they animated their entire site. On the other side, companies have paid out more money because they had to hire outside consultants to update their site over and over again.

3. You aren’t going to automatically understand the system

No matter how hard engineers try to make things intuitive a content management system is a new piece of software, and it will take some learning time to use. You aren’t going to open it and automatically understand how everything works. Training is key and training does usually cost money. It’s worth it to take the time to understand how all the caveats of a CMS works.

A content management system is a MUST for every website out there. That is, of course, if that website is supposed to be successful.