Customers Convenience: Effectiveness of a Good

Website
Recommendation report for

Oramen
Suggested to Mr. K Wang, Owner of Oramen

Created on
November 25, 2015
By Rene A. Arias
Information Consultant

Table of Contents
Abstract1
Introduction......................................................................................................................2
Research Plan.....................................................................................2
The Results of the Methodology.......................................................................................3
Discussion and Analysis of Possible Solutions Using the Conditions...............................6
Option 1 Improve on the Facebook page.............................................................6
Option 2 Create a brand new website..................................................................7
Recommendation.....8
Example of Survey..10
References........................................................................................................................11
Glossary..12

Abstract
The purpose of this report is to innovate or create a new method of presenting
information to Oramens customers. Oramens previous method of conveying information is
inaccessible and lacks information that fulfills peoples needs. My research plan involved a fourstep process: (1) create conditions for evaluating, (2) gather information about accessible
information, (3) create a survey about restaurants accessibility, and (4) talk to a local restaurant
about their method of conveying information. The research showed that a lot of people use
websites as their main source for information and that there is a positive correlation of growth in
business with a website. The possible solutions developed that passed the required conditions
were to update the Facebook page or to create a website. Updating the Facebook page is easy and
require to least amount of work and money initially. Creating a website cost a fair amount of
money in initiation, but in the long run it will be dramatically cheaper and will provide a
professional tone for the establishment. I recommend the option of creating a website and these
steps to get started: look through your Facebook page and take note of information that it doesnt
present; draft an image of how you want the website to look and what feature (tabs, maps, etc.)
you want to put; contact Simply Design and mention my name so that you can get a discount ;
tell the person who is helping you exactly what you want on the website; the helper will give you
an estimate and from there you can decide if it is financially acceptable for your business.

Customers Convenience: Effectiveness of a Good

Website
Introduction
Accessibility is the number one goal for all establishments. Information presented and the
physical location of the business should be able to be used by any person. Oramen lacks in its
accessibility of information. Oramen has a Facebook page that contain very few information and
it lacks a website. I have tried to contact your restaurant for a possible collaboration in the past. I
knew about what kind of restaurant you run, but I wanted to find more information about it. I
tried to look for an email and possible inaccessibility of the location. But, I could not find any of
this information. The purpose of this report is to create or improve on a medium of conveying
vital information to customers.
Following the observational analysis of Oramens means of conveying information, your
restaurant lacks an effective method of conveying information. The Facebook page that you run
only gives information about the location, times and days open, and a phone number. This is not
nearly enough information to satisfy all of the needs for your potential customers. I came up with
a few solutions that can solve this problem. The solutions involves updating the Facebook page
to provide more information or creating a well designed website. In conclusion of the report, we
recommend creating a website and I will provide a basic plan on getting started. A website
would fulfill all of the customers needs and be a Universal Design. The website will be helpful
in the long run. A website is a lot more professional than a Facebook page and this factor alone
influences many customers. Without this professional aspect, the restaurant would not grow to its
full potential. Many famous restaurants have a website and their website reflects the type of
establishment it is.
This report is divided into four sections: a) research plan, b) the results of the methodology, c)
discussion and analysis of the possible solutions using the conditions, and d) recommendation.

Research Plan
The research done to reach the solutions that I have to offer are based on a four-step process:
Step 1: Create conditions for evaluating
Step 2: Gather information about accessible information
Step 3: Create a survey about restaurants accessibility
Step 4: Talk to a local restaurant about their method of conveying information

Step 1: Create a Condition for Evaluating

I will have a consultation with Charles Jackson from Demand Media. He is familiar with social
media, websites, and ways to effectively present information. With this professionals advice, we
will create conditions or criteria that would be used to judge whether a method is suitable for
Oramen.
Step 2: Gather Information about Accessible Information
Since I have very little knowledge about how to make information more accessible, I will gather
information from the Internet. I will use key words such as accessibility, website, and cost
when I use the Google search engine. These key words are the concepts that I will need to
explore in order to come up with detailed solutions for Oramens information inaccessibility.
I will also browse through some restaurant websites or Facebook pages and use them as an
example or guideline for Oramens situation.
Step 3: Create a Survey about Restaurant Accessibility
Oramen is near by a university, so there are a lot of students who commute locally to it. The
students are most likely the main customer groups for most of the businesses around including
Oramen. I will create a survey that contains questions that pertain to what customers tend to
search for and what medium they expected to find when searching for information about a
restaurant. I plan to make a multiple choice question that will ask what they first try to look for
when trying to get information about a restaurant. I will also create a few questions that will ask
for a rating about how useful websites and Facebook pages are for presenting information. The
questions will ask the person what they search for in a restaurant website and what they expect to
see there. The survey will be given to students who have access to a phone or Internet.
Step 4: Talk to a Local Restaurant About Their Method of Conveying Information
Frontier is a popular and well-established restaurant in New Mexico. They have an Internet
presence through their website and Facebook page. Their Facebook page is setup like Oramens
by having very little information on it. But to make up for this lack of information, they have a
website they provides a lot of information about them. Any possible questions about the
restaurant that may come up can be solved by the website alone. I decided that an interview with
a worker from Frontier would provide good insight on how information should be presented and
more possible solution to that I might have not heard of.

The Results of the Methodology

In this section, I will talk about the results from my methodology. The results were insightful and
will contribute to the creation of the best possible methods of conveying information for
Oramen.

Step 1: Create a Condition for Evaluating

I had a consultation with Charles Jackson, from Demand Media, about what conditions should be
used to determine whether a solution is the effective choice for conveying information. I asked
him what a company should think of when deciding to pick a medium of presenting information.
In the end, we narrowed it down to three options:
Cost-Effectiveness- the suggested solution should not cost too much and cause an
imbalance of revenue for the restaurant when implemented. (Jackson interview)
Effectiveness in Conveying Information- the suggested method should be able to
provide information easily for anyone who accesses it. The medium should also be able
to provide a great amount of information in an organized manner. (Jackson interview)
Professional Influence- the presentation of the medium must be acceptable universally
and give off an essence of professionalism.
These conditions will be used to judge the solutions in the discussion and analysis section of this
report.
Step 2: Gather Information about Accessible Information
I searched for information through the Internet. As I browsed through the web, I found articles
from Forbes and Chron. Forbes and Chron are both websites that provides articles for an
audience of entrepreneurs. I also found good companies, Simply Design primarily, that could
create websites for a reasonable price.
Based on the information I collected, I learned that more about how websites can provide
accessibility. Websites will act as an invaluable and always-available resource for information
which would otherwise only be accessible during your companys business hours (Jackson
web). This information supports that the current Facebook page need to be changed since it only
provides a business phone number and store hours. I have also learned about two possible
solutions for improving the accessibility of restaurants. It was to create a Facebook page for the
business and create a website. These were the two of the many methods found that can easily and
efficiently provide information to the customers. After learning about these possibilities, I
researched more about it. I found a variety of articles and examples of restaurant that found
success from having either a Facebook page or website for their business.
I have also found a study that researches whether a restaurants website is the first thing a person
searches for. The graphic below is based on a study conducted on 1496 people. The statistics
show that people will always look for a website and will neglect the possible Facebook page a
restaurant may have. Therefore, those with only Facebook pages will not be able to give out vital
information about them.

% of People who Initially Search for Restaurant' Websites

(McGee)
8% of people look
for other mediums
of the restaurant

92% of the people

look up
restaurant's
website ?irst

Step 3: Create a Survey About How People Search for Information about a Restaurant
Over 40 UNM students, who have access to the Internet and has a phone, had answered the
survey and their input was really insightful. The graphic below is derived from one of the
questions in the survey. Based on the survey, customers tended to check the restaurants website
for gathering information about it. Also, most of the survey takers rated restaurant that have
websites as being slightly more helpful than those that don't. There was also a question that
asked what people search for in a website. Overall, the survey tells us that we do need to change
the current method of conveying information for your restaurant. The current method does not
fulfill the needs of the customers and this needs to be addressed in order to become more
successful. I will provide an example of the survey that is given to the people towards the end of
the proposal.

Number of Students for an Option

How People Get Information about a Restaurant,

Response From 40 UNM Students

30
25
20
15
10

Check the website

Call the restaurant
Check Facebook Page
Email the business

5
0

Step 4: Talk to a Local Restaurant About Their Method of Conveying Information

I had an interview with Pete Villegas who worked for Frontier Restaurant. I asked him about the
effectiveness of the Facebook page and website for Frontier. The questions asked were Is the
website or you Facebook page more useful for your restaurant? What about the customers? and
If a restaurant does not have either of the two mediums and wants to be successful, then which
should they create first? He said that the Facebook page mostly serves as a place for people
who already know about the restaurant and the website is for people who never been there
before. He also said, the Facebook page cant really hold too much information. Lastly, I
asked him to give a possible method to convey information for the customer. He said to simply
make a website (Villegas). Overall, his feedback states that the Facebook page and the websites
have separate audiences but the website is more versatile in the long run due to its ability to
withhold a lot of information.
Possible Method for Presenting Information
Using the information collected from the survey, interview, and articles, I have narrowed down
the possible solutions to improving on the current Facebook page or creating a website. These
solutions would be a perfect fit for Oramen. I designed a method of implementing either one of
them in the most appropriate way.
Afterward, using the conditions created in step 1, I analyzed and determined whether the
solutions were cost-effective, effective in conveying information, and professional looking.

Discussion and Analysis of the Possible Solutions Using the Conditions

In this section, I will describe two options of dealing with the inaccessibility of information. I
will then evaluate them using the conditions created. The options were created based on ideals,
morals, and tone of Oramen for the benefit and convenience of their customers.
Option 1- Improve on the Facebook Page
In this option, we will simply add more information to the premade Facebook page. We will also
expand the restaurants public awareness by utilizing the promotion feature of Facebook.
Cost-Effectiveness- The cost of adding more information is zero for this method.
Facebook is a free social medium that can be used by anyone. But if we want to expand
on customer awareness of the restaurant in New Mexico, we may need to use the promote
option of Facebook. Promoting will cost $5 for fifteen likes per day. The payments vary
by adding $5 to the original cost and this will add an additional fifteen likes to the
previous option. I suggest paying $20 for sixty-one likes per day for a month. The total
amount will be $560 per month or $6,720 per year (if you want to do it for a year). This is
the medium option and it is affordable enough to get good results and public awareness.
A month of promotion can attract many individuals to your page. You can always repeat
this payment in order to continue using this service.

Effectiveness in Conveying Information- You would be able to add as much information

as you want in the description section of your page. Or you can post your information and
bookmark it, so that it will always be on the top of the page. But, this method could cause
minor cluttering and be a little hard to find specific information.
Professional Influence- Anything that has the name of your restaurant on it should be
well presented to your customers to give off a professional and reliable tone. The
Facebook page works well for the younger audience, since Facebook is a social media
that almost all young adults use. The problem of this is that older individuals and those
not familiar with Facebook will be neglected from the information that you provide in the
page.
Option 2- Create a brand new website
In this option, we will create a website from scratch. We will hire someone or a company to
create it. The website will contain all of the information about the Oramen that the previous
Facebook page didn't have. It will be well organized and contain various functions, so that it can
be more user friendly and steadily increase your customer numbers.
Cost-Effectiveness- There are many steps that are needed in order to create a website and
keep it running. I have explored through the many web designers and I have found one
that will do a professional website for a good price. The company is called Simply
Design and Madison Mady, a representative, gave me an estimate of what it will cost to
create a website. A domain name will cost $ 10 per year. Hosting the website can range
from $10 to $100 per year and this depends on how many people visit the website. To
maintain the website will cost $500 dollars. There are no certain per year amount because
updates and problems can occur sporadically. To market the website online will cost
1500$ for a few months. This value also has no definite amount of months since the
choice of when to market the website is dependent on the choice of the websites owner.
Also adding an interface design, images and graphics, a responsive design, possible
programing features, and content insertion will cost an additional amount of money
(Mady). The total to create the website will be $8,660.
Requirements to Create a Website and its cost from Simply Design
Domain
$10/year
Hosting
$50/year
To maintain the website
$1000/ time varies
Marketing the website
$1,500
Having an interface design
$1,400
Images and graphics on website
$100
A responsive design
$400
Programming features
$3,500
Content insertions
$700
Total
$8,660

Effectiveness in Conveying Information- A website can present a lot of information. A

website can convey this information in an organized manner by fully utilizing tabs and
redirects. With effective tabs, a person can easily find what they want. The website will
also be neat and will not have clutters of information on one page since you can space it
out.
Professional Influence- By creating a website, you can decide what kind of tone you want
it to give off. But no matter what you decide the professional essences will still remain.
Having a website makes the restaurant more professional in the eye of the customer or
consumer. The website for Oramen will improve the reliability and image of the
restaurant to the public compare to the old Facebook page.

Recommendation
Using my research and calculations, I am able to make three conclusions, which proves that
creating a website is the better option than improving on the Facebook page.
The website costs less to create than the Facebook option
In my results, I stated that it would cost $560 dollars for the Facebook option and that it would
cost $9,660 for the website option. The difference in price may seem like a lot, but they are
actually close. $560 is for one month of promotion. And if we continued to do it for a year, then
it will be $6,720. And for two years, it will cost a total of $13,440. For the website option, we
will only pay $8,660 for the first year and $3,000 for the second year. The total will be $11,660.
The second year is cheaper due to the fact that we don't have to create a new website. Instead, we
are just paying to maintain it. This difference of cost is big and it will allow the restaurant to use
the excess money for other things.
Cost of Options Over Time to Maintain Effective Value
First Year Second Year Fifth Year Total cost in Five years
Facebook Page Option $6,720
$6,720
$6,720
$20,160
Website Option
$8,660
$3,000
$3,000
$14,660
A Website Can Provide Information Better
The website option can provide information easier and more effective than the Facebook option.
The Facebook page will be too cluttered due to the excess of information in one area. The only
visible area for information is the description area. But based on the format of Facebook pages,
most people don't read the description area since it is not in a conspicuous area. Websites don't
have this problem since tabs can organize information and prevent cluttering in one page. Also
tabs will allow a person to navigate through the page with ease and find information that they are
looking for.

Website Can Contribute to Greater Success

Having a website is good in the long run for several reasons. A website will save you a lot more
money in advertising your business than the Facebook page. This was proven by the graphic
above. A website is also a lot more professional looking than a Facebook page. This alone can
influence other companies who are looking into investing or collaborating with your business.
Also a website that is once made is saved forever in the form of a template, but this may not be
the same for Facebook. Facebook may one day be obsolete like some of the older and once
successful social medias. When that happens, it may be a lot more expensive to create a website
due to inflation and that the online industry is becoming more prominent as time goes on.
In conclusion, creating a website for Oramen is the best option. Previously, Oramen had a
Facebook page as the only medium to get information about the restaurant. But, the page didn't
provide vital information and it prevented further growth as a business. Creating a website will
save you more money in the future, provide information in an easily accessible medium, and
appeal to the customers in a positive way. I recommend taking the following actions:

Look through your Facebook page and take note of information that it doesnt present.
Draft an image of how you want the website to look and what feature (tabs, maps, etc.)
you want to put.
Contact Simply Design and mention my name so that you can get a discount.
Tell the person who is helping you exactly what you want on the website.
The helper will give you an estimate and from there you can decide if it is financially
acceptable for your business.

If you decide to go with the plan, then the website should be created in roughly one and a half
years. Within a year or two, your website will reach a Universal Design and customer
satisfaction and growth will rise.
Thank you for your time and consideration. If you want to meet with me to discuss more about
my study, then please call me or email me. My phone number is 123-533-6545 and my email is
renearias9292@gmail.com.

Questions on Restaurant Information Medium

1. How often do you eat in a restaurant a week?
2. To get information about a restaurant, do you first
a. Call the restaurant
b. Check the restaurants website
c. Email the restaurant
d. Other:_______________
3. How helpful is it for a restaurant to have a website? Give a range from 1 to 5

(1= not very helpful; 2= slightly not helpful; 3= neither helpful or not helpful; 4= slightly
helpful; 5= very helpful)

4. When browsing through a restaurants website, what kind of information are you looking
for?

5. Why do some restaurants not have websites?

10

Reference
Jackson, Charles. Personal interview. 20 Nov.2015.

Jackson, Charles. Importance of Having a Website. Hearst Newspapers. n.d. Web. 18
November 2015.

McGee, Matt. For Restaurant Owners, There May Be Nothing More Important than Local
Search. 2013. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.

Villegas, Pete. Personal interview. 18 Nov. 2015.

Mady, Madison. Personal interview. 20 Nov.2015.

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Glossary
Domain- is a system used to identify IP addresses (ex.com, org, gov)
Hosting- this is based on an IP address and is the system the contains data
Responsive design- able to adapt to different mediums (ex. able to view in a unique way in
mobile)
Universal design- creating or developing something to be safer, easier, and more convenient for
anyone to use

12