The Challenge
A popular cafe in Sydney's Inner West came to us with a problem: they were getting plenty of foot traffic but almost zero online bookings. Their website was a Wix template that hadn't been updated in three years.
What We Found
Our audit revealed five critical issues:
1. Mobile experience was broken - The booking button was below the fold on mobile, and the menu was a PDF that required downloading 2. Page load time: 8.2 seconds - Their homepage had 12 uncompressed images totalling 24MB 3. No Google Business integration - Reviews weren't displayed on the site 4. Confusing navigation - Seven menu items when they only needed four 5. No clear CTA - Visitors couldn't figure out how to book a table
What We Did
Phase 1: Strategy (Week 1)
- Analysed competitor websites
- Mapped the customer journey from Google search to booking
- Defined three key actions: Book a Table, View Menu, Find Us
Phase 2: Design & Build (Weeks 2-3)
- Mobile-first design with the booking button fixed at the bottom of every page
- HTML menu (no more PDF downloads)
- Optimised images (24MB → 800KB)
- Google Reviews widget showing their 4.8-star rating
- Simplified navigation: Menu, Book, About, Contact
Phase 3: Launch & Measure (Week 4+)
- Redirected old URLs to new ones
- Set up Google Analytics events tracking
- Monitored booking conversions daily
The Results
The booking increase wasn't magic - it was the result of making it genuinely easy for hungry customers to do what they came to do: book a table.
Key Takeaways
1. Speed matters more than aesthetics - A fast, simple site outperforms a slow, beautiful one every time 2. Mobile isn't secondary - 78% of their traffic was mobile. Design for mobile first. 3. Remove friction - Every extra click between "I want to book" and "booking confirmed" costs you customers 4. Show social proof - That 4.8-star Google rating badge generates trust instantly
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