Digital Restaurant Menu Do’s and Don’ts
Digital menus are no longer optional for restaurants; they are required for success. Consumer demand for no-contact ordering and food delivery has spiked in the wake of the novel coronavirus. Digital menus are now a critical brand asset that can make or break even the most beloved food establishments. Even the CDC is weighing in on restaurant menus, advising that restaurateurs avoid reusable menus and instead use digital menus. Thankfully, creating a digital restaurant menu doesn’t have to be difficult—as long as you follow a handful of basic guidelines.
Digital Restaurant Menu Do’s
When transitioning from a traditional printed menu to a digital restaurant menu, you will need to make a number of adjustments to your menu design. Do:
- Convert your design file from CMYK to RGB
- Condense your menu descriptions
- Compress the file size of photos
- Categorize your menu items
- Include ingredients, allergy information, and prices
The type of digital restaurant menu you create will determine how many menu items you can include and how long the descriptions can be. You can fit much more information on a menu designed for a smartphone than you can on a digital display board, for example. Which type of digital menu is best for your restaurant is up to you. For a fast-casual dining experience, digital menu boards have become a standard. For restaurants that offer pick-up options, a digital menu on a website or in a phone app will allow easy ordering.
Digital Restaurant Menu Don’ts
There are a number of things you shouldn’t do when designing a digital restaurant menu. Don’t:
- Try to fit everything from your print menu into your digital menu
- Use background images
- Force customers to download a file
It can be tempting to simply upload a PDF version of your printed menu onto your website and call it a day. However, many customers will not know how to download your menu and others will not want to. Additionally, the text in the file will not be optimized for viewing on a phone. Customers will need to zoom in and out, scroll left and right, and navigate all around the file just to read the menu. Worse yet, a PDF file is not accessible to customers with vision impairment.
The best thing you can do when creating a digital version of your restaurant menu is to hire a professional to help you. Diace Designs has worked with restaurants large and small; our team knows how to create polished and professional digital menus for your restaurant. Contact us to learn more.
About Kara Franco
Kara writes copy that speaks. She has a knack for creating clear, compelling messages without wasting words. She is passionate about digital marketing and believes that copy is the cornerstone of user experience.
Copywriter + Content Strategist
Kara@diacedesigns.com
