Start with every place a guest can tap, scan, or type a link to order from your restaurant. Check your website and social profiles, but also look at search listings, printed QR codes, email campaigns, and links controlled by other businesses. Put each entry point in one shared inventory before the switch.
For every link, record where it appears, where it currently leads, who can change it, and how you will confirm the replacement works. That list gives your team a way to find old links before they become missed or misdirected orders. It also shows which changes depend on someone outside the restaurant.
Find owned and third-party entry points
Begin with the places your restaurant controls. Open the website as a guest would, on both a phone and a computer. Look for order buttons in the navigation, home page, location pages, menu pages, footer, and pop-ups. A button can look correct while still pointing to an old address. Check the link behind it, not just its label.
Next, search for your restaurant by name and location. Inspect the website and ordering links shown in business listings, map results, social profiles, and local directories. Search each location separately if you have more than one. Guests may find a location page without ever visiting your home page.
Ask staff to collect physical materials too: table cards, takeout bags, menus, window signs, receipts, and mailers. Scan each QR code with a phone. A code printed on thousands of menus may need a different plan from a link you can edit in minutes.
Use this checklist to widen the search:
- Website: Buttons, linked menu images, location pages, and any separate campaign pages.
- Search and profiles: Business listings, map results, social bios, pinned posts, and directory entries.
- Messages and campaigns: Email templates, scheduled messages, advertisements, and promotional pages.
- Printed materials: QR codes, short web addresses, menus, packaging, signs, and receipts.
- Other organizations: Hotel, office, event, or community pages that send guests to your ordering page.
Ask the manager for printed materials, the person handling marketing for campaigns and profile access, and whoever maintains the website for a list of pages and redirects. The outgoing ordering vendor may be able to identify addresses or codes it supplied. Ask the incoming vendor for the exact destination for each location and service type. Do not assume one new link is right for every entry point.
For context on the ordering destination itself, the online ordering buying guide covers questions beyond the link inventory. Here, the job is to account for the paths guests already use.
Give every link an owner and an update method
Make one row for each distinct placement, even if several placements use the same old URL. A website button, a social bio, and a printed QR code may all lead to the same place, but they have different owners and different ways to update them.
Record the visible label or a description of the code, the page or physical location where it appears, the full current destination, the intended new destination, and the person responsible for changing it. Add the update method, planned timing, status, and the date and result of the final check. Store login details securely rather than in the shared inventory.
The following is a hypothetical example for a single-location restaurant. The priorities are assumptions for planning, not measured traffic.
| Entry point | Owner and update | Priority and reason | Check after cutover |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home-page order button | Website manager edits button link | High; assumed common starting point | Open on phone and computer; confirm location and menu |
| Search business listing | Profile manager updates order link, if editable | High; guests may arrive directly from search | Open listing in search and follow the displayed link |
| QR code on takeout menus | Manager replaces print stock or updates redirect, if controlled | High; old menus may remain in guests' homes | Scan an existing copy and confirm its destination |
| Hotel concierge page | Hotel contact edits its page | Medium; outside access may delay the change | Ask for confirmation, then open the public page |
The table separates responsibility from verification. The hotel contact may make the edit, but the restaurant should still check the public result. The QR row also exposes a choice: if the restaurant controls an intermediate address that can be redirected, it may be possible to keep an existing code useful. If not, replacement print and a plan for old copies matter.
For each third-party placement, identify a named contact and send the new URL, location name, and requested change date. Ask whether the link can be edited and how long publication may take. If the contact cannot commit, mark the row as pending rather than treating the request as a completed update.
Keep old and new destinations side by side. Some addresses include location or campaign details that are easy to miss when copied. Have a second person compare the final link with the intended destination before it is published.
Prioritize with the evidence you have
Not every old link deserves the same amount of attention on the same day. Start with placements that are both likely to send guests to an ordering page and hard to correct quickly. A prominent order button may be easy to edit but important to check. A printed code may be harder to withdraw after distribution.
Use available evidence instead of guessing when possible. Website reports may show visits to a page or clicks on an order button. A campaign report may show link clicks. Staff may know which printed menus are still handed out. Ask third-party partners whether they have useful referral information. Note the period covered and what each number actually counts: a page visit is not necessarily an order, and a click is not proof that checkout worked.
When evidence is missing, label the priority as an assumption. In the example above, the home-page button and search listing are high priority because they are plausible starting points, not because their traffic has been measured. The takeout-menu code is high priority because old copies can persist, even if its usage is unknown. The hotel page is medium priority on the current assumptions; a busy referral relationship or a slow update process could justify moving it higher.
Also flag links with no known owner, no access, or an uncertain destination. Those rows need investigation even if their apparent traffic is low. An owner can request access or contact the organization now, rather than discovering the problem during a busy service.
For a focused first pass, have one person walk through the restaurant's most visible guest paths while another checks the inventory. Search on a phone, open the website, inspect social profiles, and scan available print materials. Add anything missing. This is a simulated discovery check, not a live service pilot: stop before submitting an order, sending a guest message, making a real card payment, or dispatching a courier.
Retest each destination after cutover
Once a link is changed, check the public placement rather than relying only on the editor's confirmation. Open the button or scan the printed code from the same kind of device a guest would use. Confirm that the destination loads, identifies the correct restaurant and location, and shows the intended ordering menu. If pickup and delivery have separate paths, check the relevant path for each link.
Record the date, device, destination, and result in the inventory. Mark a row complete only when the public link has been checked. If it fails, record the issue, assign an owner, and set a time to check again. A third-party page may take longer to change than a website button, so keep unresolved rows visible.
Check links without submitting a real order. If you want to inspect later checkout steps, ask the new vendor how to use a safe test environment or simulated order that cannot charge a card, message a guest, or dispatch a courier. A separate live service pilot involves real operations and should be planned as such; do not treat a simulation as proof that every live order will work.
Leave the inventory available after the first round of checks. Old posts and printed menus can resurface, and a partner may update a page late. Set a follow-up date for pending entries and decide who will handle reports of a stale link. For a code that cannot be changed, stop distributing old stock and replace it where practical; make a note that copies already in circulation may remain.
Use the checklist to evaluate your current setup. If you are considering Fleksa's restaurant online ordering or a restaurant website, ask Fleksa about current US availability and which destination links you would need for each location.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find links I cannot edit?
Search for the restaurant and each location, inspect directories and partner pages, and ask staff about sites they have used to promote ordering. Record the public page and contact its owner with the replacement URL.
Should I replace every printed QR code immediately?
First check whether the code points to an address you control and can redirect. If it does not, plan replacement print and stop handing out old stock. Keep checking because copies may still be with guests.
Does opening the new menu prove ordering works?
No. It confirms only the steps you checked. Ask the vendor for a safe way to simulate later checkout steps without a real payment, guest message, or courier dispatch, and plan any live service pilot separately.
