Seven Steps to Create a Restaurant Website (page 3)
5.- Add a Signup Page to Your Restaurant's Website
I will guide you step by step through the process of creating an online subscription form and add it to your restaurant website. I will use AWeber for the example since I do have an account with them but you should be able to do the same with iContact.
To add a signup page to your resturant's website just follow these four steps:
To add a signup page to your resturant's website just follow these four steps:
CREATE YOUR RESTAURANT SUBSCRIBERS LIST
The first thing that we need to do is to create lists that we will associate with the forms. In this way, when people subscribe to one of your forms, they will become part of the list.
Log in to your AWeber account and click on the My Lists Tab and then click on the (+ Create a New List) link:
The first thing that we need to do is to create lists that we will associate with the forms. In this way, when people subscribe to one of your forms, they will become part of the list.
Log in to your AWeber account and click on the My Lists Tab and then click on the (+ Create a New List) link:
Now you need to give your list a meaningful description. For example, you could create the following lists:
General Clients
Theme-Dinner (ie. Wine-Dinner) Clients
Music days Clients
Etc.
You don't need to be so specific if you don't want to. I would suggest to create a separate list for each event that you have in your restaurant that it's recurrent. For example, if you have live music one day a week, or some kind of recurrent special theme meals, etc. Remember, you would need to create different forms to capture people in different buckets (and place them in different pages in your website) so this is another way of deciding how many lists you can create.
List Name: This is a unique name that will identify the list in AWeber. I suggest that you leave it as it is.
Description: Now you need to give your list a meaningful description. For example, you could create the following lists:
You don't need to be so specific if you don't want to. I would suggest to create a separate list for each event that you have in your restaurant that it's recurrent. For example, if you have live music one day a week, or some kind of recurrent special theme meals, etc. Remember, you would need to create different forms to capture people in different buckets (and place them in different pages in your website) so this is another way of deciding how many lists you can create.
- General Clients
- Theme-Dinner (or Wine-Dinner) Clients
- Music Night Clients
- Etc.
You don't need to be so specific if you don't want to. I would suggest to create a separate list for each event that you have in your restaurant that it's recurrent. For example, if you have live music one day a week, or some kind of recurrent special theme meals, etc. Remember, you would need to create different forms to capture people in different buckets (and place them in different pages in your website) so this is another way of deciding how many lists you can create.
From Address: Enter your name, or better yet, the name of your restaurant in the first field and your email in the second one.
Subscriber Alerts: This field is not mandatory. You can enter your name and email if you want to be notified via email each time that a new prospect or customer subscribes to your list. Again, enter your name in the first field and your email in the second one.
Company Name: 5 to 7 are Optional Fields; they will be used only when somebody unsubscribes from your list. If you don't enter any information here, your customers will be directed to AWeber standard pages. I suggest that you enter your Restaurant Name in this field.
Website URL: You can create a special page to direct people when they unsubscribe from your list with something like:
"Sorry that you don't want to be part of our list anymore. Can we ask you why you are leaving us? Please send us an email at email@yourrestaurant.com and let us know if we can do something to change your mind.
Thank you."
Add here the URL (web address) that points to this page.
"Sorry that you don't want to be part of our list anymore. Can we ask you why you are leaving us? Please send us an email at email@yourrestaurant.com and let us know if we can do something to change your mind.
Thank you."
Add here the URL (web address) that points to this page.
Logo URL: You can add here the URL for your restaurant's logo. If you don't have a logo, I would suggest that you check GetECovers. For just $47, they can design a professional logo for you.
If you already have a logo in your restaurant website, but you don't know your logo URL, go to your website, right-click on your logo and choose "Properties." Copy the logo address/location and paste it in this box.
If you already have a logo in your restaurant website, but you don't know your logo URL, go to your website, right-click on your logo and choose "Properties." Copy the logo address/location and paste it in this box.
Save Your List: You are done. Just click the green button "Save List Settings" to save your list.
Repeat steps 1-8 for each new list that you want to create. In step 6, you can use the same URL to the unsubscription page. Just make sure that the page is generic and you don't mention the list. Alternatively, you can create several list-specific URL's and point each one from each list.
Repeat steps 1-8 for each new list that you want to create. In step 6, you can use the same URL to the unsubscription page. Just make sure that the page is generic and you don't mention the list. Alternatively, you can create several list-specific URL's and point each one from each list.
CREATE YOUR RESTAURANT SUBSCRIPTION VERIFICATION MESSAGES
Once you have your list, you need to create the messages that your subscribers will receive when they subscribe to your list. Click on the Messages Tab:
Once you have your list, you need to create the messages that your subscribers will receive when they subscribe to your list. Click on the Messages Tab:
Click on the Web Forms tab:
You will see a message telling you that you need to customize your "new subscriber verification message". This is the message that your subscribers will get when they enter their information in the form that we will create. Just click on the hyperlink to create the message:
You'll go to the "Customize Your Confirm Message" page. You'll see that AWeber already created a default message for you. You need to customize the default message with information about your restaurant and your restaurant's website.
Before clicking the big green button "√ Save Confirm Message" you should fill in the section below: "Confirmation Success Page".
This is the page in your restaurant website where people will automatically be re-directed by AWeber once they confirm their subscription to your restaurant. In this page, you will thank your customers for subscribing, and I recommend that you offer a printable discount coupon that they can print and bring with them to your restaurant.
Since they will only see this page once (right after subscribing), they will only use the coupon once.
This is the page in your restaurant website where people will automatically be re-directed by AWeber once they confirm their subscription to your restaurant. In this page, you will thank your customers for subscribing, and I recommend that you offer a printable discount coupon that they can print and bring with them to your restaurant.
Since they will only see this page once (right after subscribing), they will only use the coupon once.
Once you add the URL to the Confirmation Success Page in your restaurant website, click the big green button "√ Save Confirmation Success Page" and then the other green button "√ Save Confirm Message".
You'll see now a message at the bottom of your screen asking you to name your list. This is very important if you plan to have more than one list.
For example, you could name your main list: Restaurant Customers. But later on, you could create separate lists and call them with descriptive names such as: Wine Tasting Customers, Live Music Customers, etc.
So enter the name of your list and then click Next (see attached screenshot):
You'll see now a message at the bottom of your screen asking you to name your list. This is very important if you plan to have more than one list.
For example, you could name your main list: Restaurant Customers. But later on, you could create separate lists and call them with descriptive names such as: Wine Tasting Customers, Live Music Customers, etc.
So enter the name of your list and then click Next (see attached screenshot):
You'll be asked for needed information like your company name (restaurant's name), your restaurant website URL, etc. Just enter the information as AWeber is asking you and click the button Next each time. Once you are done, we are ready to create your Web Forms.
CREATE YOUR RESTAURANT SUBSCRIPTION WEB FORM(S)
Once you have your list created and your messages ready, we can start creating the subscription form.
Click on the Web Forms tab:
Once you have your list created and your messages ready, we can start creating the subscription form.
Click on the Web Forms tab:
Click on the big green button "+ Create Web Form". You'll see a tab called 1: Form Details (see screenshot below):
There are only three fields that you have to worry about in this Form, the rest you can leave them as they are by default:
From Name: Enter here a name that it's descriptive. This field is visible only to you.
Type: I would suggest to leave it on the first option. Pop-ups are usually annoying and you don't want to annoy your customers.
Thank You Page: This is the page in your restaurant website where people will automatically be re-directed by AWeber as soon as they enter their information in the subcription form and click OK.
You can customize this page with your personalized message reminding your clients that they need to confirm their subscription by clicking on the link in the email that they will receive. If you prefer, you can just leave the page by default that AWeber provides.
You can check their page by clicking on this link: http://www.aweber.com/form/thankyou_vo.html
You can customize this page with your personalized message reminding your clients that they need to confirm their subscription by clicking on the link in the email that they will receive. If you prefer, you can just leave the page by default that AWeber provides.
You can check their page by clicking on this link: http://www.aweber.com/form/thankyou_vo.html
Now we are ready to create our form. When you click the green button Next (on the lower right side), you'll go to the Design Form tab:
Notice that there is already a very basic form that contains only two fields: Name and Email.
There are also two extra fields to customize (marked with red boxes in this screenshot). On the top, you can enter a headline that the users will see on top of the subscription form. On the bottom you can add a footer. Again, please do this.
I would suggest the following text as a header:
"Please enter your name, email, birthday and anniversary (month and day ONLY), and receive a discount coupon as a token of our gratitude. You will also be subscribed to our emailing list."
For a footer, you may want to stress that your customers's information is confidential and you won't share it with anybody. Something like this:
"Your information is confidential. We don't share your data with any other company."
So now we need to create three more fields, since you also want to capture your customers's birthdays (him or her and his or her significant other that will come with them to eat at your place) and anniversary.
Click on the "> Add New Field" text in blue (marked with a red arrow in the above screenshot) and enter "Your Birthday" as the field. Then click the button Add.
There are also two extra fields to customize (marked with red boxes in this screenshot). On the top, you can enter a headline that the users will see on top of the subscription form. On the bottom you can add a footer. Again, please do this.
I would suggest the following text as a header:
"Please enter your name, email, birthday and anniversary (month and day ONLY), and receive a discount coupon as a token of our gratitude. You will also be subscribed to our emailing list."
For a footer, you may want to stress that your customers's information is confidential and you won't share it with anybody. Something like this:
"Your information is confidential. We don't share your data with any other company."
So now we need to create three more fields, since you also want to capture your customers's birthdays (him or her and his or her significant other that will come with them to eat at your place) and anniversary.
Click on the "> Add New Field" text in blue (marked with a red arrow in the above screenshot) and enter "Your Birthday" as the field. Then click the button Add.
Add another field called "Your SO's Birthday" (or "Your Spouse's Birthday" if you prefer) and click Add again.
Finally, add a last field called "Anniversary" and click Add one last time.
You should now have the three new fields visible on top of the Add New Field text as the screenshot shows.
The white space after each field is a default value that it will show in your form. Since we want your customers to give us their month and day of birthdays and anniversaries (we are not interested in their age so we won't ask for the year), we will enter MM/DD in these fields so that they know how to enter their information.
If you put your mouse over these fields, you'll see a green + sign appear. When you click on the + sign, the field adds to your form (and moves to the Preview window). Do the same with the three new fields that you've created. You can re-organize the fields in the order that you'd like just by dragging them.
Finally, add a last field called "Anniversary" and click Add one last time.
You should now have the three new fields visible on top of the Add New Field text as the screenshot shows.
The white space after each field is a default value that it will show in your form. Since we want your customers to give us their month and day of birthdays and anniversaries (we are not interested in their age so we won't ask for the year), we will enter MM/DD in these fields so that they know how to enter their information.
If you put your mouse over these fields, you'll see a green + sign appear. When you click on the + sign, the field adds to your form (and moves to the Preview window). Do the same with the three new fields that you've created. You can re-organize the fields in the order that you'd like just by dragging them.
And this is how the form will look with all the fields added:
If you click on the first new field that we've created (Your Birthday), you'll see a box appear with a pencil icon. This is the Edit field button. Just click on it and you'll see on the left side a new windows appear with some values. This is useful if you want to add a new field for customers to send you comments, etc. We will ignore it for now. You can also reorganize the fields by dragging them to your desired location. If you click the red square with the X symbol, your field will go back to the left side and will dissapear from your form.
We are done for now, just click the green button "√ Save" and AWeber will take you to a screen like this:
We are done for now, just click the green button "√ Save" and AWeber will take you to a screen like this:
Notice the Get HTML field (in red in this screenshot). You want to click on it. It will create the HTML code that you need to add to your website to add the subcription form that we've just created.
You can also click on the Preview link to see how your form will look.
You can also click on the Preview link to see how your form will look.
ADD THE SUBSCRIPTION WEB FORM(S) TO YOUR RESTAURANT WEBSITE
At this point of the process, you have your list created, your automatic messages customized and your web form ready. Now we just need to add it to your restaurant website.
I recommend that you add the subcription form in the Home page of your restaurant website. This is the page that everyone will see and it will invite people to subscribe to your list.
If you clicked on the Get HTML link (highlighted in red in the screenshot above), you'll ge a pop-up with a Javascript Snippet. You just need to copy this snippet and paste it in your website. Is that simple!
At this point of the process, you have your list created, your automatic messages customized and your web form ready. Now we just need to add it to your restaurant website.
I recommend that you add the subcription form in the Home page of your restaurant website. This is the page that everyone will see and it will invite people to subscribe to your list.
If you clicked on the Get HTML link (highlighted in red in the screenshot above), you'll ge a pop-up with a Javascript Snippet. You just need to copy this snippet and paste it in your website. Is that simple!
Notice that there is also the possibility to obtain the Raw HTML code. If you are working with a Web designer or you are really technical, you can get the HTML code and customize it even further. I recommend you just to use the simple Javascript snippet of code.
And this is how our form will look in a Website:
And this is how our form will look in a Website:
In the next page I will tell you how to select a reputable restaurant online booking reservations company, sign up with them, and add their HTML code into your website. I will also cover how to select an online ordering menu system.
Just click on the Next Page link to go to the next page.
Just click on the Next Page link to go to the next page.