June 2010 - (excerpts from iMenu360 and Google)

Google has created a new tool that is completely FREE and allows your restaurant to ensure that your web listing will come up near the top of the heap when a customer searches for you.

It's called Google Places and any business can sign up here (it take only 5 minutes to register). You can add photos, hours, menus, and more.

In addition to getting a better spot on Google, you can also protect yourself from competitors who might use your restaurant name as a keyword, and from food portals like Grubhub, Campusfood, Delivery.com, etc. who try to redirect your customers to their site using keyword advertising.

If your website design has Online Ordering available using iMenu360 or another vendor, you stand to lose money if your restaurant name does not come up first during a search and prospective customers end up ordering from a food portal instead.

Using Google Places ensure you a better listing spot, and using iMenu360.com to display your entire menu via online ordering virtually guarantees you will increase your revenue and prevent competitors and portals from taking away your customers.

According to iMenu360, restaurants who use the iMenu360 ordering platform and have also enhanced their Google listing with Google Places have seen the number of online orders increase by over 50%.

To find out more about online ordering, contact iMenu360 (if you signup for service, mention code SoftCafe360 to receive additional discounts).