“Where should we go to eat?” “What time does that restaurant open?” “What does everyone want for takeout?”
An International Falls dining and entertainment guide has been posted online and includes menus and information on most area restaurants to answer those common questions.
Ifallsdining.com, created by website designer Sandy Netland, was started because she did an online search to find information on area restaurants to try for dinner and had a hard time finding the information she was seeking.
After retiring from her job in the Twin Cities and returning to the Falls on a full-time basis, Netland said as her first project she began working on a website to provide visitors and local residents information she said was not previously compiled in an accessible format.
Each participating local restaurant has its own page, for which Netland works with the owners to customize the content to fit the restaurant. Menus, coupons and general information are all included on most pages.
“It’s basically like a website of their own,” Netland said.
Netland said she hopes to include all area restaurants for a comprehensive look at the Borderland dining options. Keywords included on the site will help drive traffic from search engines to businesses’ websites on the guide, she said, and therefore hopefully drive traffic to the restaurants.
Having the content digitized will be more flexible than the old, laminated menu guides found in area motels and tourist stops because it can be updated frequently and as new dining options are added. Each restaurant can update its page with specials, new menus and general information.
Netland charges each restaurant a per-month or per-year fee to be included on the guide. She will also be selling advertising spots on the site.
She said the site has even helped refresh her mind on area restaurants.
