pakalpojumsPDF menu or text: what is better for a restaurant
A PDF menu is a quick solution, but it often creates difficulties for both guests and Google. Here is why – and how to do it better.
Many restaurants publish their menu on their website as a PDF file: it is easy to do, and it looks exactly like the printed menu. However, most guests open the menu on a phone, where a PDF is inconvenient.
1. PDFs are difficult to read on a phone
An A4 page is too small on a phone screen – prices can only be read by zooming in and dragging the page sideways. On some phones, the file has to download first or opens in another app. If the menu is several pages long, guests often give up before finding what they are looking for.
2. Google does not see the menu as part of your website
Google can index PDF files, but they appear as a separate document rather than as content on your website. If the PDF is a scanned image or created from an image, the text cannot be read at all. As a result, when someone searches for, for example, “Neapolitan pizza in Riga” or the name of a particular dish, your menu does not help them find you.
3. Prices become outdated
To change a price in a PDF file, you need to open the design file, export a new PDF and upload it to the website. As a result, online prices often differ from the prices on the menu at the table – and guests only discover this when they receive the bill.
4. Allergens and languages
Guests with allergies and foreign tourists look for information in advance. In a text-based menu, allergens can be shown next to every dish, and you can offer the same menu in Latvian, English or Russian with one click.
How to do it better
- A text-based menu on your website: categories, dish name, short description, price.
- Allergens next to every dish and several languages.
- Photographs of dishes where they help guests choose.
- A management panel where you can change a price in seconds, including from your phone.
- Structured data (schema.org), so Google understands that it is a menu.
- You can keep the PDF as an additional file for those who want to print it.
On every website we create, the menu is presented as text, with prices and allergens, and you can update it yourself. How much does it cost.
Frequently asked questions
Can Google read a PDF menu?
Google can index PDF files, but they appear as a separate document rather than as part of your website. If the PDF is a scanned image, the text cannot be read at all.
Should you delete the PDF menu?
No. You can keep it as an additional file for printing, but the main menu should be presented as text on your website.