Hi, do you own a restaurant? You do? That’s awesome! I’m always looking for new places to eat. What’s your web address? Wait, you don’t have a website?! Uh, never mind. I’ll just go grab myself a McDinner.

Restaurantseriously

 

You know how many times in my life I’ve skipped eating at a restaurant because I couldn’t find a website for it? Four hundred billion. A lot. And I’m not the only one who does this. If you own a restaurant, you have to have a website.

Let me say that again:

If you own a restaurant, you HAVE to have a website.

And before you ask: no, a Facebook page doesn’t count.

People are sooo picky about where they eat, and some will avoid your restaurant if they don’t know in advance when you’re open, or how to contact you for reservations, or what kind of food your restaurant serves, for crying out loud. So do yourself a favor, and create a killer restaurant website immediately featuring the following 6 essential elements.

1. Sexy homepage

You’ve heard the term “food porn,” yes? It’s an appalling phrase that can conjure some unsavory images (pun intended), but it gets across the idea that people really, really like to be enticed by mouth-watering images of food.

Take advantage of this by including on your homepage a really amazing image of your signature dish. You want people to stop in their tracks and say, “I need to eat this IMMEDIATELY.”

Or, if your restaurant is all about ambiance, or is known for being family-friendly or a great place to grab a drink with friends, include an image that conveys the appropriate mood. You want people to easily see themselves having a good time at your place. Check out these examples of well-designed restaurant websites for inspiration on setting a mood.

2. Detailed contact page

Pro tip: If people can’t find you, they can’t spend money at your restaurant. Right? Therefore, a “Contact Us” or “Find Us” page is a must-have.

Include your street address, phone number, reservation phone number (if different), online reservation info (if applicable), directions from major freeways and, if possible, a link to Google maps. There is no such thing as overkill here: make it as easy as possible for customers to find you.

3. Hours of operation page

An hours of operation page is essential. People need to know when you’re open, of course, and they also need to know in advance if you’re closed on certain holidays. Maybe you close for a month during the summer for vacation. Do you want your customers to discover this only after they show up to find a sad, handwritten note on your front door? Nope.

4. Menu page

I don’t know about you, but one of the main reasons I look up a restaurant is to see what’s on its menu. I want to know before I get there what I’m going to order (and what it’s going to cost).

You should absolutely include your full menu on your site. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, beverages, cocktails: whatever menus you have, you need to include these on your site.

If you offer specials at certain times, or to certain customers (kids, seniors, veterans), make sure that information also is listed. If your restaurant does Happy Hour, don’t forget to include these times and specials, as well. People love themselves a drink special.

Note: PLEASE do not make your customers download your menu information from a fuzzy PDF. That is so, so lame. Make your menu page as easy to read and enticing as the rest of the site. Mmmkay?

5. Images of your food

Yeah, I already mentioned food images while talking about the homepage, but there are other places to include pictures on your site (and you can’t have too many images of mouth-watering food).

Some restaurants choose to showcase their food on a specially created gallery page, and some sprinkle the images throughout the site. Do what you like, as long as you keep in mind the power of a well-done image to draw in customers.

6. Responsive web design

This last thing is so important, I debated putting it at the top of the list (but figured you’d eventually skim your way to the bottom).

Some people will look at website while sat at in front of their home computers, but others will seek you out on their smartphones and tablets while on the go. This means your website needs to look good on multiple devices, something not all restaurant owners are thinking about when they create their sites (even though they absolutely should).

At Buildicus, we know how essential responsive web design is, so we make sure that your website looks good on computers, tablets and phones. Try us for free for 30 days, and we’ll help you create a killer website that will have customers eating out of the palm of your hand.

Not literally, of course, because: health codes. But you get it.