Looking for a sure-fire way to win the attention of Grubhub customers and improve their online ordering experience? Try adding a few images to your restaurant’s menu through the Grubhub for Restaurants platform. Including photos can increase sales of menu items by up to 30 percent – and it’s easy to see why.

From improving order accuracy to giving customers a better idea of what to expect, images can help deliver an online ordering experience that customers are hungry for.

Why great restaurant photography improves diners’ online ordering experience

Integrating images into your restaurant’s online presence greatly improves customer satisfaction. 

Take a look at the three pain points that strong restaurant photography has helped resolve:

Greater menu familiarity

While new and exotic dishes are guaranteed to spark curiosity, they likely won’t be a top choice among customers who don’t know what’s in them. Eating is a full sensory experience, and photos can help give diners visual cues that can get their mouths watering. Clear up any confusion about dishes on your restaurant’s menu by including images wherever possible.

Quicker online ordering

Use images to show, not just tell, customers about your restaurant’s offering. Supplementing menu descriptions with appetizing images that can capture the hearts – and stomachs – of customers in just seconds will reduce the time it takes them to place an online order. The faster a customer adds meals to their cart, the less of a chance that they will change their mind and not place an order.

Higher order accuracy

In addition to providing customers a snapshot of what a dish might look like once it finally arrives, images also give back-of-house staff members a visual guide for putting orders together. By taking a few seconds to compare the image on your restaurant’s menu with the finished product, your staff can ensure no detail – big or small – is overlooked.

Where to feature your restaurant photos

There are many places where your restaurant’s brand will pop up online, and it’s important that strong photos are included in your digital presence. Brush up on our restaurant photography tips if you want to learn more about how to snap professional-grade photos. Take a look at where you can add photos to get more traction online:

Feature your dishes on your restaurant’s menu

Your restaurant’s online menu is the most important place to feature images of your food. When diners are scrolling through a list of dishes, a jumble of dish descriptions makes it hard for them to navigate your restaurant’s offerings. Restaurants that have already made the switch from fully text menus to photos on their online ordering platform have seen increases in their conversion rates by about 25% on average.

Your menu photos should showcase your food – capturing each dish at its prime. Close up photos of your dishes helps capture your creation’s details, giving diners a look into what ingredients are cooked in. Plating is especially important when it comes to menu photos. Take your time arranging each dish and make sure the plate and background are clean. You want your diners’ focus to go straight toward the food.

Nando’s Peri-Peri has perfected their menu photos on Grubhub Marketplace. Highlighting their main dishes along with recommended side pairings helps diners envision what their order will look like.

When you partner with Grubhub, your restaurant can schedule a free photoshoot so you can get professional photos of your cuisine to feature in your digital presence. Already a Grubhub Marketplace partner? Schedule your free photoshoot today or reach out to account support to learn more.

Highlight your offerings on your restaurant’s website

90% of customers research a restaurant online before visiting – that’s more than any other business type. Your website serves as a virtual home base for your restaurant’s brand. It’s often the first place you can make a memorable impression on customers, so featuring irresistible images of your cuisine can motivate diners to place an order.

Your restaurant’s brand begins to form online as soon as a customer searches for your cuisine. When a customer searches for your restaurant on Google, your restaurant’s Google Business profile will appear. This profile features basic information about your restaurant including its address, hours, website and ordering platform. Make sure you update your Google Business profile so that customers can easily find out more info about your restaurant.

What types of images should you include on your restaurant’s website? Photos of your food are great to place on your homepage and menu. Crisp images of your cuisine on top of white plates that will showcase the natural colors of your ingredients stand out. Since natural light can help do the same, consider conducting each of your photoshoots near windows. Take a look around your restaurant and snap some photos of your staff in action. It’s also important to include photos of your ambiance so that diners can get a feel of your overall dining experience. 

Be selective about what photos you choose to feature. Too many photos can bog down a website’s load time and make it more difficult to navigate. Check out more tips on how to design a successful restaurant website.

A strong restaurant website won’t do much for your bottom line unless you have a clear avenue for diners to place an order. Unsure how to create a seamless online ordering system? Look no further than Direct. 

Direct is a commission-free online ordering platform that allows customers to place orders right from your website. Direct makes menu management simple. When you update menu items or add photos on your Marketplace menu, your Direct menu will automatically update to reflect changes. You can bring your restaurant’s brand to life with Direct by easily customizing your site to match your brick and mortar location.
Check out how Naan N Curry used their Direct site to feature their food photography:

Connect with your diners on social media

Social media is a gold mine for foodies these days. Social media offers the perfect format to tell your restaurant’s story through images – putting your mouth watering food photography center stage. Creating a social media profile for your restaurant can get your food into the digital conversation, and strong food photography can help bring your account to the top.

When it comes to social media, strong photography is key. There’s no one size fits all for social media composure, and cookie cutter posts can blend into customers’ feeds. Mix up the recipe by trying out one of these formats:

• Food features are high resolution, close up images of your dishes. These posts are great for featuring a specific menu item.
• Food films are videos that feature your dishes. Videos tend to perform better on social media apps like Instagram and TikTok, so taking advantage of this feature to show your food in action can draw extra attention from diners.
• Interactive stories are the best way to directly prompt an action from a customer. On apps like Instagram and Facebook, you can post images to your story that will appear at the top of diners’ feeds. With this feature you can directly link to your online ordering website, ask interactive questions or run a contest.
• Behind the scenes photos and videos help your restaurant come to life. You can make a short video showing how your chef whips up a recipe or use a photo slideshow to showcase what your employees like to order.
• Reposts of your followers’ photos of your food can not only connect you with your customers, but also give you more unique content to work with, turning your diners into your PR team. Make sure you get permission from the original creator before you repost any content. You can also collaborate with local micro influencers to expand your reach.

Hashtags are key when it comes to getting your account more exposure. #Foodie has over 200 million posts on Instagram, and #LocalRestaurant has racked up over 300,0000 posts. You can also get in on the local conversation by using hashtags like #AustinFoodie or #NYCeats. Adding trending hashtags to your post allows them to enter different categories online, bringing your restaurant into people’s social media feeds.

Make your restaurant picture perfect with Grubhub by your side

Embellishing your restaurant’s online presence with eye catching photography can greatly improve your digital brand. Adding them to your website, online menu and social media accounts get customers’ mouths watering, prompting them to place an order.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and a picture of your delectable food is worth the delivery fee for Grubhub’s over 30 million customers. That’s why Grubhub offers a free photoshoot for restaurant partners. Ready to get your mouth watering food in front of hungry diners? Partner with Grubhub today to start taking more orders now.