How to get more online orders for a restaurant

To get more online orders, make your order button easy to find everywhere guests look for you, make your menu fast and clear on a phone, and cut checkout down to a few taps. Then bring past guests back with reminders and rewards. Most restaurants gain more from fixing leaks in what they already have than from new ads.

Below are 15 fixes in the order most owners should tackle them, plus a simple way to measure progress.

Where online orders get lost

Think of online ordering as a path with three stages. Guests drop off at each one.

Stage	What goes wrong	Sign you have this leak
Finding the button	Google shows a delivery app link, or your site hides the order button	Few menu visits even though people know you
Choosing food	Menu slow, no photos, unclear options, items missing	Many visits, few items added to cart
Paying	Account sign-up, long forms, no Apple Pay, surprise fees	Many carts, few paid orders

Fix the stage with the biggest drop first.

Make ordering easy to find

1. Put your own order link on your Google profile

Google lets restaurants help guests order takeout or delivery right from their Business Profile. Many guests search your name on Google Maps, tap “Order,” and land wherever that button points. If it points to a delivery app, you pay app fees on guests who were already looking for you.

Check your profile, add your own ordering link, and keep hours exact, including holidays.

2. Put an “Order online” button at the top of your website

On a phone, the first screen should show an order button and a book button. Don’t make guests scroll past a slideshow to find it. Our restaurant website must-haves checklist covers the rest of the page.

3. Use every printed surface

Add a QR code and short link to receipts, menus, bags, table tents and catering invoices. Write one plain reason to use it: “Order here for pickup, skip the line.”

4. Turn app guests into direct guests

Put a small card in every delivery app bag with your direct order link. App pickup still costs 6% on DoorDash and delivery 15% to 30% (DoorDash pricing, Nov 2026), so every guest who moves to your own ordering saves you money. See DoorDash alternatives for restaurants.

5. Answer the phone, or catch the call

A missed call during the rush is often a lost order. Have someone own the phone at peak times, or use a service that takes the order or a callback request when the team can’t pick up.

Make the menu easy to order from

6. Make it fast on a phone

Google’s web.dev guidance says the main content of a page should load within 2.5 seconds. Back in 2016, Google reported that 53% of mobile visitors leave a site that takes longer than three seconds to load. Test your ordering page on a phone with mobile data, not office Wi-Fi.

7. Show photos of your best sellers

Use real photos of your own dishes, bright and close up. Start with your top 10 items. A photo on every item is good; a photo on your best sellers is essential.

8. Write clear names and short descriptions

Guests who don’t know your cuisine need help. One line on what is in the dish, spice level and portion size. Mark vegetarian, vegan and common allergens where you can.

9. Keep options simple

Every required choice slows the guest down. Set sensible defaults (medium spice, regular rice) and keep add-ons optional. Group sides and drinks as easy add-ons near checkout.

10. Keep the online menu true

Mark items sold out as soon as they run out. Nothing loses a guest faster than paying for a dish the kitchen can’t make. Keep online prices and hours in step with your POS.

Make checkout fast

11. Let guests pay with Apple Pay or a saved card

Typing a 16-digit card number on a phone is where many orders die. Wallet payments cut checkout to a tap and a glance.

12. Don’t force an account

Ask for name, phone and email. That is enough to send a confirmation and a ready message. Let guests save details if they want to.

13. Be honest about time and price

Show a real pickup time, and update it when the kitchen is slammed. Show the full total, with tax, before the guest pays. Surprise fees at the last step make people quit.

Bring guests back

14. Follow up after every order

A confirmation, a “ready now” message, then a short “how was it?” a few hours later. Happy guests can then be asked for a Google review. See how to get more Google reviews.

15. Give a reason to return

Rewards points, a referral link, and a weekly email or text with one clear offer. Use slow hours for offers, not your busy Friday night. Our guide to restaurant SMS and email marketing goes deeper.

Grow order size, not just order count

More orders is one lever. Bigger orders is another.

• Group and office orders. One shared link where coworkers add their own items, then one pickup ticket. See office lunch group orders.
• Family meals and bundles. A set meal for four is easier to choose than four separate plates.
• Order ahead. Let guests schedule pickup for later today or a holiday, so you can plan the kitchen.
• Catering. A clear catering page turns one order into fifty plates.

Worked example: fixing one leak

Say your ordering page gets 1,000 visits a week and 5% place an order. That is 50 orders. At a $35 average, that is $1,750 a week.

Change	Conversion	Orders per week	Sales per week
Today	5%	50	$1,750
Add Apple Pay, remove forced sign-up	6%	60	$2,100
Plus photos on top 10 dishes	7%	70	$2,450

These are example numbers, not a promise. The idea holds: a small lift in conversion on traffic you already have adds up to real money over a year. In this example, going from 5% to 7% adds $700 a week.

Mistakes that cost online orders

• Pointing guests to the app by habit. If your Instagram bio links to a delivery app, you pay app fees on your own followers.
• Different hours on Google, your site and the door. Guests who find you closed don’t try twice.
• Pausing online orders without saying why. If the kitchen needs a break, show a later pickup time instead of shutting off.
• Running the same discount all week. Guests learn to wait for it, and busy nights pay for it.
• Never looking at the numbers. Without weekly visits and orders, you can’t tell which fix worked.

Weekly online orders checklist

Spend 15 minutes on this every Monday:

• Google profile: order link points to your own ordering; hours correct
• Place a test order on your phone using mobile data
• Sold-out items hidden; prices match your POS
• Note visits, orders and conversion for last week
• Read every complaint or low rating; fix the cause
• Plan one offer for your slowest day only
• Send one message to past guests

How WhatsTable helps

WhatsTable builds your website with you and runs online ordering that goes straight into Clover and prints in the kitchen. Guests pay with Apple Pay or card, nothing is added to their bill, and the money goes to your own Clover account. Group orders, order ahead, rewards and referral links are built in. Smart offers spot slow hours and draft a deal for you to approve, and campaigns are sent only when you say yes.

WhatsTable costs $0 a month plus 5% to 10% of sales through WhatsTable. It works with Clover POS only. See online ordering.