01 Jul Player’s Sports Grill & Arcade Website Case Study
ABOUT Player’s Sports Grill & Arcade
Player’s Sports Grill & Arcade is located on the famous Pier 39 by Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco and is home to the only arcade on the pier. Known for their beautiful views of the bay and the famous Alcatraz Island, Player’s is a popular hot spot for locals and tourists alike for their food, fun, & entertainment.
Player’s Sports Grill & Arcade
PIER 39
San Francisco, CA 94133
www.playerssf.com
PROJECT
In June of 2023, the owners of Player’s contacted Embark Marketing for assistance with their previous site, which had not been updated in a number of years. The restaurant was going through a rebranding process with a new logo and new color scheme & wanted a new site to reflect this modernization. Along with the new look, the owners wanted a new site that would serve as a landing page for the 3 concepts housed within the Player’s family. These were the restaurant itself along with the attached arcade & tiki bar, known as the Luau Lounge. Upon identifying the key areas of focus for the site as well as the functionality required to achieve those goals, it was determined that a Squarespace site would be the best option within the client’s budget for the project.
WEB DEVELOPMENT
From the research and speaking with the client, a site map was developed that included pages for all 3 concepts, as well as pages for private event inquiries and contact information. For SEO & searchability purposes, both the food & beverage menus were also built out as separate pages. The client stated they were looking for a fresh clean look for the new site that would provide a user-friendly experience with a specific emphasis on the mobile experience and ADA compliance.
SEO FOCUS
With the restaurant being in such a high-traffic tourism area, it was important that the site be optimized for search engine visibility to remain competitive with other restaurant concepts in the area. Although the client wanted minimal pages & copy for the site, this goal was still able to be achieved through keyword research and placement throughout the site, with a heavy emphasis on location-based keywords to help target the local area as well as tourists looking for attractions nearby. By paying careful attention to alternative text for all images & metadata for pages, Embark Marketing was able to retain the aesthetic required for the client without degradation of SERP ranking.
ACCESSIBILITY CHALLENGES
One area of importance identified for the client was ADA compliance. To provide a user-friendly experience for those with disabilities, a minimal color scheme was chosen for the design with an emphasis on contrast. Additionally, ADA-compliant text sizes were used throughout the site to assist those with visual impairment or disabilities in reading the content.
Due to limitations within the Squarespace CMS, 100% compliance was not possible due to inaccessible core files for certain tagging elements. However, to bridge the gap in compliance, a widget was installed to allow for users to add compliance features to the site within their own control. These features included aspects such as a seizure-safe profile, which reduces the risk factor of seizures for users when browsing the site, along with several other options for customization for viewing the site. For additional compliance efforts as well as to release the client of liability, both an accessibility statement and privacy policy were developed and implemented on the site and found along with the sitemap in the footer.
PRIVATE EVENT EMPHASIS
Another key area of focus desired by the client was to increase private event bookings for all three concepts. Research was conducted to determine the most effective process for booking events by using plugins available to Squarespace users. However, these options were deemed too expensive by the client and it was ultimately determined to stick with a simple contact form for those interested in a private party option. To drive traffic to the form, Call To Action (CTA) buttons & copy were strategically placed throughout the site to increase awareness of this offering and drive traffic to the private events form.
CONCLUSION
Embark Marketing was able to build Player’s Sports Grill & Arcade a user friendly website that matches their new branding and effectively displays their three concepts housed under one roof with a fresh look & ADA compliant layout. Despite challenges with asset acquisition and budgetary constraints, the client was able to receive a more modernized website that will help them reach their business goals of expanding their reach, connecting with their customers, & increasing revenue.
Are you looking for a fresh look for your food & beverage business’s website? Embark Marketing has built dozens of websites for the restaurant industry that are both aesthetically pleasing and highly functional at driving foot traffic & generating sales for our clients. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about how we can help your business grow.