Website Audits for Restaurants

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Pizzerias

🍔

Fast Casual

🍴

Fine Dining

🍣

Asian Cuisine

🌮

Mexican

☕

Cafes

🍺

Bars & Pubs

🍞

Bakeries

🥗

Food Trucks

🍰

Catering

Restaurant Website Challenges

📄

Menu Schema Markup

Google can display your menu items directly in search results - but only if you have proper Menu schema. Most restaurant sites miss this opportunity entirely.

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Hours & Location Prominence

Customers searching "restaurants open now near me" need your hours immediately visible. Buried or outdated hours lose hungry customers to competitors.

🛒

Online Ordering Integration

Third-party ordering adds friction and takes a cut. Does your site make direct ordering easy? Is the button visible on mobile?

📷

Food Photography Optimization

High-quality food photos sell dishes - but unoptimized images slow your site. Balance visual appeal with performance.

⭐

Review Management

88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Are your best reviews visible on your site?

📱

Mobile Experience

Most restaurant searches happen on mobile. Is your menu readable? Can customers tap to call? Is the location linked to maps?

Restaurant Website Benchmarks

Top-performing restaurant websites that drive orders and reservations hit these targets:

HTML

Menu format
(not PDF)

2.5s

Max load time
(mobile)

4.5+

Google
rating

100%

Schema
markup

Based on analysis of 350+ restaurant websites across casual dining, fast casual, and fine dining.

Deep Dive: Restaurant Website Essentials

▼ Menu Accessibility: Why PDF Menus Are Killing Your SEO

PDF menus are invisible to Google. When someone searches "margherita pizza near me," your menu items won't appear because Google can't properly index PDF content.

Menu accessibility issues we audit:

PDF-only menus (Google can't index prices or dishes)
Image-based menus (text not readable by search engines)
Missing MenuItem schema markup
No prices in structured data
Menu not mobile-optimized
Large PDF file sizes causing slow downloads

Solution: Convert menus to HTML with MenuItem schema. This enables rich results showing your dishes directly in Google search.

▼ "Open Now" Searches: Capturing Hungry Customers

"Restaurants open now near me" searches have grown 300% in the past 3 years. If your hours aren't in machine-readable format, you're invisible for these searches.

Hours and availability elements we check:

OpeningHoursSpecification schema markup
Hours displayed as text (not images)
Special hours for holidays
Different hours for different services (dine-in vs. delivery)
Real-time status integration (if available)
Google Business Profile sync with website

Impact: Restaurants with proper hours schema see 45% more "open now" search visibility.

▼ Online Ordering: Direct vs. Third-Party

Third-party delivery apps take 15-30% of every order. Your website should make direct ordering easy and prominent to protect your margins.

Online ordering elements we audit:

Order button visibility (above the fold on mobile)
Direct ordering integration (Toast, Square, ChowNow)
Third-party links vs. native ordering
Order button contrast and size
Checkout flow friction analysis
Pickup vs. delivery options clarity

Revenue protection: Restaurants that prioritize direct ordering over third-party apps save $3-6 per order in commission fees.

Sample Audit: Local Restaurant

restaurant_audit.log

$ schemareports audit mariospizzaphx.com --industry restaurant

Analyzing restaurant website for order conversion optimization...

[CRITICAL] Menu schema not implemented - missing rich result eligibility

[CRITICAL] Menu is PDF-only - not crawlable, not mobile-friendly, 2.4MB download

[WARNING] Hours displayed as image - not machine-readable for "open now" searches

[WARNING] Online ordering button below fold on mobile - 67% of visitors never scroll

[WARNING] Food images not optimized - 8.2MB total, 4.7s load time on 3G

[PASS] Google Maps embed functional

[PASS] Phone number uses tel: link

Overall Grade: D+ | Menu SEO: 22/100 | Local Search: 58/100

What We Check for Restaurants

📄

Menu Schema Markup

Proper Restaurant and Menu schema markup enables rich results in Google Search, displaying your menu items directly in search results with prices and descriptions.

🕑

Hours & Location Schema

OpeningHoursSpecification schema helps you appear in "open now" searches. Address schema ensures accurate map placement and directions.

🛒

Online Ordering UX

Order button placement, checkout flow friction, mobile ordering experience, and integration with popular platforms (DoorDash, UberEats, direct ordering).

🌄

Food Photography Performance

Image optimization for fast loading without quality loss. WebP format support, lazy loading, proper alt text for accessibility and SEO.

⭐

Review Integration

Google Reviews widget, Yelp integration, TripAdvisor badges, and aggregate rating schema for star ratings in search results.

Restaurant Schema Examples

Proper schema markup can dramatically improve your visibility in search results. Here's what we check for:

Restaurant Schema

{
  "@type": "Restaurant",
  "name": "Mario's Pizza",
  "servesCuisine": "Italian",
  "priceRange": "$$",
  "address": {...},
  "openingHours": "Mo-Su 11:00-22:00",
  "telephone": "+1-480-555-0123",
  "menu": "https://..."
}

Menu Item Schema

{
  "@type": "MenuItem",
  "name": "Margherita Pizza",
  "description": "Fresh mozzarella,
    tomato sauce, basil",
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "price": "16.99",
    "priceCurrency": "USD"
  }
}

Case Study: Local Pizzeria Transformation

Before the Audit

[ Before Screenshot Placeholder ]

❌ 2.4MB PDF menu only
❌ Hours as image (not text)
❌ Order button below fold
❌ No Restaurant schema
❌ 8.2MB image gallery

After Implementation

[ After Screenshot Placeholder ]

✓ HTML menu with MenuItem schema
✓ Machine-readable hours
✓ Sticky order button
✓ Full Restaurant schema
✓ Optimized WebP images (1.2MB)

+127%

Online Orders

+68%

"Open Now" Visibility

D+ → A

Audit Grade

The Cost of Restaurant Website Issues

In restaurants, small conversion improvements compound fast. Every lost order matters:

PDF Menu Only -$1,500/mo

Invisible for "[dish] near me" searches. Missing 50 orders monthly at $30 average ticket that go to competitors with indexable menus.

Hidden Order Button -$2,100/mo

67% of mobile visitors never scroll. Order button below fold loses 70 orders monthly at $30 average.

Missing Hours Schema -$900/mo

Invisible for "open now" searches. 30 missed orders monthly from hungry customers who couldn't confirm you're open.

Slow Load Time -$1,200/mo

53% of mobile users abandon sites over 3 seconds. 40 lost orders monthly from impatient, hungry customers.

Total Potential Monthly Revenue Loss:

$5,700

Our $35/month Starter plan identifies exactly which issues are costing you orders every day.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I convert my PDF menu to HTML?

Our audit provides specific recommendations. Most website platforms (Squarespace, WordPress, Wix) have menu plugins that create SEO-friendly HTML menus. For custom sites, we recommend structured menu sections with MenuItem schema. The key is making dish names, descriptions, and prices crawlable by Google.

Should I focus on direct ordering or third-party apps?

Both, but prioritize direct. Third-party apps (DoorDash, Uber Eats) charge 15-30% commission. Your website should make direct ordering the most prominent option, with third-party as a fallback. We audit for order button prominence, checkout friction, and commission exposure.

How do I optimize food photos without slowing my site?

Use WebP format (50% smaller than JPEG), lazy loading for images below the fold, and proper sizing (don't use 4000px images for 400px displays). Our audit identifies oversized images and provides specific optimization recommendations. Beautiful food photos should load fast.

What's the difference between restaurant and general website audits?

Restaurant audits check for industry-specific elements: Menu schema markup, OpeningHoursSpecification, order button prominence, food image optimization, review widget integration, and delivery zone information. Generic audits miss these critical elements that directly impact orders.

How do I appear in "restaurants open now" searches?

You need OpeningHoursSpecification schema markup with your hours in machine-readable format. This tells Google exactly when you're open. Your Google Business Profile hours must also match your website. We audit for schema implementation and consistency between platforms.

Do reviews really matter for restaurant websites?

Absolutely. 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations for restaurants. Displaying your Google Reviews or Yelp ratings directly on your site with AggregateRating schema can increase order conversion by up to 270%. We audit for review widget implementation and proper schema markup.