Seven free ways to get more direct online orders.
You don't need an ad budget to grow direct ordering. You need your link in the places your regulars already look — here are the seven that cost nothing but a few minutes.
- 1
Put the link on your Google Business Profile
When someone searches your name, Google shows an ordering link — make sure it’s YOUR site, not a marketplace’s. Set the website and ordering links in your Google Business Profile, and check them after any menu or hours update. This is the single highest-traffic spot you control, and it’s free.
- 2
Make the front door do the selling
A simple sign at the register and on the door — “Order ahead at yourname.com” — catches the person who just waited in line at the rush. They wanted to skip the wait; show them how, while the wait is fresh in their memory.
- 3
Staple it to every to-go bag
Everyone who already ordered is your best future direct customer. A small card or sticker on the bag with your ordering address (and a QR code) turns tonight’s marketplace order into next week’s direct one.
- 4
Answer the phone with it
When the phone rings off the hook mid-rush, the honest line is: “Fastest way tonight is our website — yourname.com — your food goes straight to the kitchen.” The phone customer gets their food sooner, and your staff gets their hands back.
- 5
Pin it on social — don’t just post it once
Your ordering link belongs in the bio, in the pinned post, and in the caption of every food photo. People don’t scroll your feed looking for a link; put it where a hungry person lands first.
- 6
Collect customers, then actually email them
Direct ordering means the customer relationship is yours — names, emails, order history. Use it kindly: a short email when you launch a new item, close for a holiday, or run a weekend special. One good email a month beats silence.
- 7
Give regulars a reason to sign in
A loyalty program turns “I should order from them directly” into a habit with a scoreboard. Points on every dollar and a reward within reach make the direct site the default — because it’s the only place their points live.
None of these are tricks — they're just making the direct path visible at the moments people already want your food. Do the seven once, keep them current, and direct ordering compounds quietly in the background of every shift.
Running your ordering on MasOrder? The rewards program and email automations handle numbers six and seven for you — and the free Growth Report checks number one.