Restaurant Mobile Websites in 2012 and Beyond

If there is one trend that is sweeping the web in 2012 and beyond, it would be mobile websites.  And your restaurant iPad or smartphone website is more important than ever. That is — having a quality viewing experience for visitors who access your site on their mobile device. iPhone and iPad aren’t the only players anymore. Today there are Android devices, Windows Phones, and a slew of other phones and tablets in this growing market.

Your goal as a restaurant owner should be to make sure your restaurant website looks great on iPad, iPhone and all other mobile devices.

Comparing Solutions for your Restaurant Mobile Website

There are services that offer a quick-fix “mobile” version of your existing website. However, these tend to focus only on some devices, and ignore the rest — particularly new ones just entering the market. Also, these services often give you a generic-looking, alternative mobile site design, which doesn’t match your restaurant’s main website at all.

The best solution for your restaurant mobile site (or any website for that matter) is to have a Responsive Web Design. Responsive Web Design means your website is designed to scale and adapt to any screen size and any device it’s viewed on. This fluid approach ensures your website is “future-proof” and will work on all devices. Not to mention, your restaurant’s unique design is carried through to the mobile version. No generic, mobile alternative site.

iPad Websites – The middle ground between a smartphone and desktop

Clearly, iPad is the most popular tablet on the market.  So you’ll want to take particular close attention to the way your restaurant website looks on iPad.

When it comes to scaling your restaurant’s website on iPad, you don’t want it to be over-optimized.  Meaning, you don’t want to see a smart phone version on the tablet screen because that’s meant for the really small handheld screen.  Your iPad site should probably look more like it does on your desktop computer, but slightly scaled down or modified to work on the iPad web browser.

The important thing is that you, the restaurant website owner, takes the time to test your website on iPad and all other devices, so that you can see what all of your different users see.

See a Responsive Mobile Website in Action

For an example of what I mean, I invite you to visit restaurantengine.com first on your desktop web browser. Then visit it again using your smart phone’s web browser. You’ll notice the design has magically adapted itself for an optimized mobile experience. Pretty cool, huh?

And of course, go ahead and try out any web design template in our collection to see it’s mobile responsiveness.

This post is an excerpt from the Free 2012 Restaurant Website Strategy Guide, an essential guide for restaurant owners looking to attract more customers by having a great website.  Go download your copy now.  It’s free!