Across the globe, new restaurants seem to pop up constantly, bringing wonderful new flavours and trendy themes to those that indulge in the vast array of cuisines offered. In Dubai, the number of restaurants operating within the small emirate constantly grows, especially now that the pandemic has died down, as the sector sees great growth financially with the emergence of vibrant and exciting food venues. There is constantly a new restaurant to explore, that the public seems to flock towards. So, how do these new restaurants manage to garner so much exposure and hype for their seemingly unimpressive cuisines?
Well, one very important factor – especially in today's modern day and age – is food photography. In a society that is overridden by technology and social media, food photography in Dubai is a significantly powerful medium to market a restaurant and its products, and so if you operate or are seeking to start a restaurant of your own, this article will discuss the importance of food photography for your restaurant’s menu and websites (including social media).
It Looks DELICIOUS
Need I say more? It is undeniable that seeing professionally photographed food – especially tasty and yummy food – holds visual appeal. In the world of photography and marketing, it is also known that professional photography can sell a product. By using professional food photography techniques and presenting these delicious images on your menu or website, it can help encourage patrons to eat at your establishment significantly, which speaks to the importance of using food photography for your restaurant.
The appeal of well-photographed food on your social media platforms and menu can also:
- Increase sales and drive traffic towards certain products or dishes that you serve.
- Make great impressions on customers and visitors.
- Build a level of trust in the public provided your food actually tastes as good as it looks in the images!
It Boosts Your Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization or SEO in a nutshell is the process of optimizing a site so that search engines like Google Chrome place the site higher in relevant searches. This will in turn increase traffic to your site, and if you don’t know what it is, then you should really get on top of it as it is very important to understand in today’s world for a business or restaurant.
Now, using images increases your SEO as you are able to include additional keywords as a form of alternative text for each image – which can make your site much more discoverable and visible in search engine results. Why is this important? Well, higher visibility and discoverability result in more traffic and clicks, which can result in potential customers.
So, by using relevant and attractive food photography pictures on your restaurant’s websites and various other social media pages, it can significantly boost your SEO performance which can in turn increase your sales and bring in new customers. Obviously, this is massively important for any restaurant.
It Can Increase Your Conversion Rate
Now, you may be thinking about how more traffic to your site will equate to more customers and sales. By utilizing SEO practices and embedding attractive images on your site, it will increase how often your site appears in search engine results, which will in turn increase the number of users that are visiting your restaurant's site. But once on the site, potential customers can leave at any time without wanting to try your cuisine or food. This means that they have not been converted from a visitor into a customer.
However, using professional food photography can actually help convert visitors into customers! This all goes back to the initial point made in this article, that food photography looks DELICIOUS. So much so, that professionally photographed dishes will leave visitors to your site with a burning itch to try your mouth-watering cuisines.
It Can Help Customers Make a Hard Decision…
Have you ever been presented with too many delectable options and dishes at a restaurant before, unable to decide which one you would like to get? Well, this probably wasn’t your fault for being indecisive, nor was it the fault of the restaurant for providing customers with too many delicious alternatives. No, it was probably due to a poorly designed menu that wasn’t utilizing professional food photography.
You see, when you present customers with professional photographs of the dishes you serve, it can help customers make the tricky decision of what to order. How can you decide on what dish to order, when you can’t see it and all you have to go by is a short sentence and an unfamiliar name? This is where the wonderful world of visual aid comes in handy! Visual representations of the cuisines on offer will help customers make the hard decision of what to get, and as well as that, it can help customers see what the food looks like first before actually ordering. Needless to say, it can also make your menu look much better if it is filled with professional food photography in Dubai!
Wrap Up
Hopefully, you now see the importance that using professional food photography has on a restaurant’s website and menu. This article explored the impact it has as a marketing tool due to the undeniable visual appeal that it holds, the positive impacts on SEO, the increase in conversion rates, and how well-photographed food can help customers decide what to order. There are many more reasons why food photography is so important for your restaurant's website and a menu that hasn’t been covered in this article, so it is clear that any new restaurant that isn’t already utilizing professional food photography is missing out on a very important marketing tool to use in today’s modern day and age. Do you want your restaurant to be the next trendy gourmet landmark that people swarm to? Then you should explore professional food photography today and begin embedding delicious images on your sites and menus.