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Ready to build a restaurant website? Learning how to build a restaurant website doesn’t have to be complicated but it does require some forethought.
Your restaurant website is the digital homebase of your business. It’s where your current and potential customers learn about your business, your menu, your locations, and get in touch with you. Getting it all right is critical to inviting more customers into your world!
Whether you’re planning on doing it yourself or hiring a professional, this article will walk you through the steps to successfully build a restaurant website.
Let’s GO!
5 Steps to Build a Restaurant Website
1. Identify Your Goals and Priorities
First up, figure out why you want a restaurant website in the first place. Before you start thinking about how your website will look, you need to start by identifying the main goals for the website.
Ask yourself these two questions:
- What’s the purpose of the website?
- What do you want people to do when they land on your website?
The answer to these questions will determine what needs to be on your website, then help you prioritize that website content.
For example, if your main goals are to let people know where you are located and encourage online ordering, then your website needs to a) clearly highlight your address (maybe with a map), and b) make it easy for customers to find your online food ordering system.
On the other hand, if your main goal is to get more bookings for food truck festivals and events, then the design should focus on helping prospects contact you or find more information on what to expect.
2. Secure Your Hosting and Domain Name
With goals and priorities mapped out, it’s time to choose a hosting platform that can support those goals. There are many popular website builders and platforms available on the market, like Wix, BlueHost and WordPress, but take the time to do your research before diving in.
What to consider when choosing website hosting:
- Mobile Friendly: Does the website look good and work well on a phone or tablet?
- Forms: Can you create customized forms for prospective customers to request catering services, book you for an event, or simply ask a question?
- Media: Is there a limit to the number of photos or videos you can upload? Is that number enough to cover all or most of your menu items and location photos?
- Marketing Tools: Are you able to capture emails, highlight social media buttons, and include pop-ups to promote specials? What about built-in SEO and accessibility functions?
- Simplicity: Is the website builder easy to use and straightforward to navigate?
- Price: How does this tool compare to other similar tools? Are there hidden fees or extras that you’ll need to pay for, aside from the standard subscription?
Many restaurant website builders will offer a free version that allows you to create a very basic website on their platform but if you need an integrated calendar, forms so folks can book catering services, or other interactive features, you’ll need to pony up for a paid version.
Domain: Custom Domain or Not?
If you want to have a website address that’s easy to remember and custom to your particular restaurant, you’ll need to purchase a domain name. Domain’s can be purchased from a variety of providers, such as GoDaddy or BlueHost.
What to consider when buying a domain:
- Say It Out loud: Seems silly but make sure it’s easy to pronounce and understand so people can easily remember and type in your domain name.
- Keep it Short and Sweet: This goes along with the above tip but also Google prefers short, simple URLs so avoid unnecessary letters, numbers, or symbols.
- Legal: Be careful not to use any trademarked names or anything too similar to a trademarked name.
- Availability: Before you get your heart set on the perfect domain name for your restaurant website, make sure it’s available to purchase. A quick search on a site like GoDaddy will let you know if it’s available or not for free.
Whew! That was a lot of technical information, let’s switch gears into content and design next.
3. Build Your Restaurant Website Pages and Content
It’s time to get into the meat and potatoes of building a restaurant website! With your goals and priorities in mind, let’s outline what pages you’ll need and what needs to be on each page.
Start small with the essentials: description of your restaurant, location and hours, featured menu items, and maybe a contact form. From there you can add on more robust types of content, like an About page or Press page, as well as a calendar for events, bookings, and more.
To get you started, below is a list of common restaurant website pages to consider.
Essential Restaurant Website Pages:
- Home Page: This is the main page of your restaurant website and should include your restaurant name, location, hours, and phone number (if relevant). Bonus points for social media links and a link to order online!
- Menu Page: Include updated digital menus or at least a few featured items so that prospective customers know what to expect from your restaurant. This is also a great spot to add a button for online ordering.
- About Page: Your About page has 2 jobs, the first is to tell people about your restaurant! The second job is to fill it with keywords so people can find your restaurant website.
- Contact Page: Make it easy for people to find your restaurant and get in touch with you! Include your address, phone number and a simple form to contact you for catering, events, or something else.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Keywords
Websites unfortunately don’t subscribe to the “build it and they will come” philosophy. Planning out a simple restaurant marketing campaign that includes SEO and keywords.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and choosing keywords can get very complicated but for our purposes today, the goal is to include search terms on your website that would lead hungry people to you. Think of it as a pyramid shape:
- Tier 1: Primary Keyword – This is where you identify the type of restaurant and location. For example, “BBQ Restaurant in Ft. Collins”
- Tier 2: Secondary Keywords – Now go deeper to the specific types of food you serve and a wider location area, for example: Best ribs in Northern Colorado or BBQ Restaurant in Larimer County.
- Tier 3: Tertiary Keywords – Last, choose keywords that will help attract people to any extra services you provide, such as catering or renting out space for special events.
It’s easy to get into the weeds when choosing keywords. Best practice is to keep a balance of super specific and general keywords to help your target market find you.
4. Design Your Restaurant Website
Don your artists’ cap… it’s time to get creative! The #1 tip we have for designing a restaurant website is to be clear and consistent. Choose simple layouts and designs that let your photos and headlines do the heavy lifting!
Deciding on a layout will depend on how much information you need or want to have. There are two main choices when it comes to selecting a restaurant website layout:
- Single-page layout: Enables website visitors to nonstop scroll through a single page to find everything they’re looking for: location & hours, menu, contact form.
- Multi-page layout: This is a common style that has visitors navigate to separate pages, such as a menu page, contact page, about page, and anything else you might need.
Speaking of design, your restaurant website should match what customers will experience in your physical restaurant. Most often, people are checking out your website because they want to get a sneak peak into your restaurant, your food, and understand what to expect. Keeping your color choices, fonts, and logos consistent makes a huge impact.
Professional photography is another way to really get the heart of your restaurant experience. Share photos of popular menu items as well as inviting shots of your location and team. The goal is to make it easier for potential customers to envision themselves in your restaurant and get them one step closer to placing an order.
5. Review Your Restaurant Website
This next step is critically important: ask multiple people to review your restaurant website prior to publishing! When you’re in the weeds building a restaurant website, it’s easy to make mistakes that range from simple typos to broken links to straight-up incorrect information. Other people who haven’t yet seen your website will have a fresh set of eyes to catch mistakes before the public does.
Once all is perfected, it’s time to hit publish!
Ready to build your restaurant website?
We can help! In addition to full-service social media management, personalized marketing strategy, and monthly consultations, Table Needs restaurant marketing services includes customized website building. Get in touch with us today to learn more about how we can help you on your path to profitability.
Ready to learn more? Schedule a hassle-free demo today!
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