Last month, a family-owned Thai restaurant on Commercial Drive came to us with a familiar problem. Their food was outstanding — regulars lined up on weekends — but their website was driving customers away before they ever placed an order.

Their online ordering had flatlined. Their bounce rate sat at 79%. And nearly every competitor on the Drive had a sleeker, faster website pulling customers in their direction.

Here is exactly what we changed, why we changed it, and the results that followed.

The Before: What Was Broken

When we audited the original site, the issues were immediate and painful. The homepage took 6.2 seconds to load on mobile — more than double the 3-second threshold where 53% of mobile visitors abandon a page entirely. The menu was a downloadable PDF, which meant it was invisible to Google, impossible to navigate on a phone, and completely cut off from any ordering flow.

The site was built on a template from 2019. It looked fine on a desktop monitor, but on a phone — where 78% of their traffic actually came from — text overlapped images, buttons were impossible to tap, and the "Order Online" link was buried three scrolls down.

There was no Google Business Profile integration, no online reviews visible on the site, and the contact page still listed a fax number. The restaurant was essentially invisible to anyone searching "Thai food near me" on Google Maps.

The Strategy: What We Rebuilt and Why

We did not just give the site a fresh coat of paint. We rebuilt it from the ground up around one principle: every page exists to move a visitor closer to placing an order or making a reservation.

Here is what that looked like in practice.

1. Mobile-First Layout With Sticky CTAs

We designed the entire site for a phone screen first, then adapted it for desktop — not the other way around. The new layout featured a sticky footer with two buttons: "Order Now" and "Reserve a Table." No matter where a visitor scrolled, the next action was always one tap away.

We also added tap-to-call functionality and a swipeable image gallery of signature dishes right on the homepage. The goal was to make the experience feel as intuitive as scrolling through Instagram, because in 2026, that is exactly where many Vancouver diners discover restaurants before checking the website.

2. HTML Menu With Direct Ordering Links

The PDF menu was the single biggest conversion killer. We replaced it with a fully structured HTML menu organized by category — appetizers, curries, noodles, desserts — with high-quality photos, dietary filters for vegan and gluten-free options, and a direct "Add to Order" button beside every item.

This change alone had three effects. First, Google could now index every dish on the menu, which meant the restaurant started appearing in searches like "pad thai Commercial Drive" and "vegan Thai food Vancouver." Second, mobile visitors could browse and order without downloading anything. Third, average order value increased because customers could see photos of dishes they might not have tried otherwise.

3. Speed Optimization Down to 1.8 Seconds

We compressed every image, implemented lazy loading, switched to a faster hosting provider, and stripped out the bloated template code. Load time dropped from 6.2 seconds to 1.8 seconds on mobile. That alone would have made a measurable difference — research consistently shows that every second of improvement in load time can increase conversions by up to 7%.

4. Local SEO and Google Business Profile Integration

We optimized the site for local search terms specific to the neighbourhood. Page titles, meta descriptions, and heading tags all included relevant terms like "Thai restaurant Commercial Drive," "best Thai food East Vancouver," and "Thai delivery near me."

We connected the Google Business Profile directly to the website, embedded a live Google Reviews feed on the homepage showing their 4.7-star average, and added structured data markup so Google could display rich results with ratings, hours, and menu items directly in search.

5. Social Proof Front and Centre

The old site had zero reviews visible. The new site featured a rotating carousel of Google reviews on the homepage, a dedicated testimonials section, and an Instagram feed showing real customer photos. In 2026, trust signals are not optional — they are the difference between a click and a bounce. Vancouver diners check reviews before they check menus.

The After: Results at 30 Days

The numbers told the story within the first month.

Mobile bounce rate dropped from 79% to 38% — visitors were actually staying and exploring
Online orders increased by 112% — more than double the previous month
Average order value rose by 23% — the visual menu with photos drove upsells naturally
Google Maps visibility improved by 340% — the restaurant began appearing in the local 3-pack for multiple search terms
Page load time: 6.2 seconds down to 1.8 seconds — a 71% improvement
Organic search traffic increased by 67% — driven by the indexable HTML menu and local SEO

The owner told us the phone was ringing more, the online order queue was consistently full during dinner service, and they had started getting catering inquiries from office managers in the neighbourhood who found them through Google for the first time.

What This Means for Your Vancouver Business

This was not an unusually broken website. It was average. And that is the problem — in 2026, average means invisible. Your competitors are investing in faster, smarter, mobile-first websites that guide visitors toward a specific action. If your site still relies on PDF menus, slow load times, or a layout designed for desktop screens, you are leaving money on the table every single day.

The good news is that these changes are not complicated or mysterious. They follow a clear logic: make it fast, make it mobile, make the next step obvious, and let your happy customers do the selling for you.

Whether you run a restaurant on Commercial Drive, a contracting company in North Vancouver, or a boutique in Kitsilano, the principles are identical. Speed, clarity, trust, and a clear path to conversion.

Want to see what a redesign could do for your business? We offer a free website audit for Vancouver businesses. Book your free audit here and we will show you exactly where your site is losing customers — and how to fix it.

How a Vancouver Restaurant Doubled Orders With One Redesign