7 Tips for creating the best websites for cafes and restaurants

How to nail the perfect hospitality website

It takes only 0.05 seconds for a user to form an opinion about your website and decide if they’ll stay or leave. Make that time count with our hot tips on the best website design for your cafe or restaurants.

1. Use good, high-quality photos, and lots of ‘em

When it comes to food, no words can do your food’s justice like a beautiful image. Hospitality is a highly competitive industry — so getting someone to your website is only half the battle.

Dazzle them with vibrant, high-quality images of your food and facilities — with clear and cohesive character. Quality photos are especially important to cater to international customers – however, make sure the file size isn’t too big, otherwise you web page will load too slowly and you’ll actually turn users away.

2. Have an easily accessible food menu

Menus are to restaurant websites what popcorn is to a cinema. Neglect having it at your own peril.

When your customers arrive on your website, what’s one of the first things they are looking for? Your menu. They want to see your prices, variety and quality of options available. This is particularly essential for people with dietary requirements.

Millennials – more than any other generation – are heavily influenced by a restaurant’s Instagram presence and will rarely go to a restaurant without checking out their menu online first. Ensure your restaurant or café’s menu is well-designed (ideally, by a graphic designer) and easily accessible on your website.

3. Think visual outlay and customer experience (CX) first and foremost

Well-designed websites are built for purpose. The visual outlay of your website dictates the journey a user will go on when navigating your website.

Visual outlay helps drive users to the places you want them to go, which ultimately leads to conversion. Your restaurant’s website should be a living and breathing representation of your brand. It needs to engage visitors, capture leads and answer questions.

4. Make sure your important information is clearly displayed

Menu and photos aside, the next most important thing is ensuring information is clearly displayed. We’re talking opening hours, phone number, email or contact forms and an easy way to book a table online. Hiding key information in the footer or making people scour through a website to find what they need will turn people away very quickly.

5. Showcase clear and consistent branding

Yeah, so you serve food, but what else? Your website is your opportunity to represent who you are as a brand and set yourself apart from the pack. Tell your story through words and clear and consistent branding. This comes down to logo, typography and website design. By personalising these design elements, you can create an engaging brand identity.

6. Highlight positive testimonials

In the hospitality industry, people tend to be more vocal about negative experiences than positive. Be sure to highlight your most positive testimonials on your website to add that extra touch of credibility. This could be done by adding a testimonials carousel, UberEATS rating, Good Food Guide ratings or Timeout Awards.

7. Think mobile-first i.e. Responsive design

Repeat after us: A website that doesn’t look good on a mobile is not a good website. Got it? Good.

When people access your website, it’s crucial that it works and looks the way it should across all devices, because almost 70% of all web users now do so via their mobile device. This is one of the major gaps we see between do-it-yourself websites and a professionally designed small business websites. At Small Business Bundles, our WordPress websites are vigorously tested across device and browser types to ensure a consistent brand experience for everyone.