There plenty of companies now that offer online marketing options, a number of which push SEO services (Search Engine Optimization), so that everyone and their brother finds your restaurant online and then crowds of people from all over the globe will swoop down to your doorstep and you'll make more money than Bill Gates. Ok, perhaps I'm being a bit sarcastic here... but then again, perhaps not.
I won't name names here, but I did get approached by one such company and even though Takeout Online is highly visible in Google and some other search engines (are there others?), thought I'd see what they can and will do. To make a long, somewhat expensive, and totally disappointing story short - it was a total waste of resources. Yes, these people can get you some other pages built that will be findable by other people, using some specific words and phrases. Can you guarantee that your customers will use those very words? Of course not, and thus the concept falls on its face. Can they guarantee that only customers in your restaurant's takeout reach will see this ad? Of course not. So, will anyone order takeout from London to New York? Highly unlikely (although someone did try).
Having a web site for any restaurant is a must. As for improving the customer experience and generating wider reach of takeout audience and improving the bottom line... that can all be done by offering some useful and compelling content, such as basic contact and info about the restaurant and offering online ordering of takeout. Anyone who'd use search to find a place to eat will surely be savvy enough and interested in ordering food online. Being part of a larger network of restaurants immediately has great benefits, since it's much more likely to be found when you're part of a large, more visible group. Takeout-Online.com provides all of these basic elements of success for restaurants of any size and type, with extreme simplicity, hassle-free and most importantly - extremely cost-effectively.
There are some businesses that could potentially benefit from companies that do SEO and SEM (Search Engine Marketing), but restaurants would do better to steer away from those and not waste their hard earned money.
