Many customers today research restaurants and businesses before they decide to visit. Your business should not only have a website, but your website should also be optimized to create an excellent first impression and to improve your Google search rankings. While designing your own website can seem intimidating, we’ll run through all of the essentials, such as the major website hosting sites, the main components of your site, as well as some design tips to make your website look professional.
Free Website Hosting Sites
When setting up a website, the first step is to register your domain and create a URL. You can pay to register your domain with a service like GoDaddy or Google Domains, but you can also choose a free website hosting service. Here are some of the best free website hosting sites where you can build your restaurant’s website:
- WordPress: One of the most popular web hosting sites on the Internet, WordPress offers a variety of useful tools that help users set up their websites. They have many free themes that users can utilize or tweak to their exact needs. Users with graphic design or web development backgrounds “can also build their sites from scratch if they want.
- Wix: Boasting a user-friendly design and a lot of free tools, Wix is a great option for beginners and webmasters without a tech background. The service also offers hundreds of free templates that you can use to get your restaurant’s website started.
- Weebly: Weebly offers customers a lot of freedom in customizing their website, allowing them to create exactly what they want. The service also offers a variety of free templates and designs that customers can utilize.
If you’re also willing to spend some money for more features, there are many affordable options available, such as Squarespace or GoDaddy. Additionally, all of the free options listed above have premium options, which will give you access to many more features, storage space, and templates.
Building a Restaurant Website
Guildford Mina Pizzeria on Top4
Once you’ve signed up for a web hosting service, you can begin designing your restaurant’s website. You can work on the website yourself, but many restaurant owners may choose to hire web developers or freelancers to give their websites a more professional look.
Essential Components on a Restaurant’s Website
While each restaurant’s website will differ slightly, there are four major components that every restaurant should have on their website: a home page, a contact page, a menu page, and an about us page.
1. Homepage
Your homepage is the central hub of your restaurant’s website, and it’s important that it’s well-designed and easy to navigate. The homepage should also have important information on it, such as your hours of operation and a link to your menu. You’ll also want to prominently display your restaurant’s name and logo.
2. Your Restaurant’s Menu
You want to be sure that your restaurant’s menu is readily available and easy for customers to use. You should never make your menu a downloadable PDF or file that customers have to download, because it can cause them to leave your site. Downloadable PDFs may cause customers to leave your website because there is the potential that the link contains a virus or they may think it’s too much effort. Instead, have custom programs built into your site that display your menu items in a more visually appealing manner.
3. Contact Us Page
Your website should have a way for customers to contact you in case they have any questions or any issues with their meal. Additionally, you can add a lot of other useful information to your contact page. Here is some other information that should be on your contact page:
- Social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
- Hours of operation
- Address
- TripAdvisor and Yelp reviews
4. About Us Page
This page is a great chance to make a personal connection to your customers and explain how your restaurant got started and some of the personal aspects that customers may not be aware of. On this page, for example, you can talk about the owners of the restaurant and their background, talk about when the business was founded, or introduce some of the kitchen staff.
Tips to Design the Best Restaurant Website
Your restaurant’s website should have a strong framework and structure, but it’s also important for it to look appealing. Similar to the process of optimizing your menu, designing an excellent website can give your customers a great first impression and make your business look professional. Here are a few tips that you should consider when designing your restaurant’s website:
- Choose your color scheme strategically. The colors that you use on your website can affect how your customers perceive your restaurant, so choose them carefully. For example, colors like red, orange, and yellow can boost someone’s appetite and make them excited to visit your restaurant. On the other hand, cool tones like blue and purple are not often naturally found in food, so they may decrease your customers’ appetite.
- Limit the amount of pictures you use. While using a few images on your website may pique your customers’ interest, too many images may make your website and business look cheap as many people connote lots of images with diners and low-quality restaurants. Try limit yourself to only 1 or 2 images per page, if possible.
- Use high-quality images on your site. Nothing makes a website unprofessional like low-resolution or grainy pictures. So, if you’re going to use photos on your website, make sure that they’re high-quality and clear.
- Add your restaurant’s Instagram feed to your website. Using a simple string of HTML code, you can insert images from your Instagram feed onto your website. It’s a great way to show off your latest creations and for potential customers to see what other customers are saying about your business.
- Feature great reviews from Yelp. Personal reviews are very impactful on potential customers. So, if you see a particularly glowing review on your Yelp or TripAdvisor account, consider featuring it on your site.
Customers may get their first impression of your business online, so it’s important to build a well-designed website. You want your website to be user-friendly and offer useful information, but you also want to ensure that it has a pleasing design that matches your restaurant’s brand. You can follow this helpful guide to make sure that you cover all the necessary bases when building your restaurant’s website and to ensure that you’re creating an excellent online presence for your business.
While there are tools available to build a restaurant website all on your own, it might be better to leave it to website professionals. Top4 Marketing builds and promotes exceptional websites that give our clients more exposure and leads. Not only will you get a more professional-looking website, Top4 Marketing can also optimise your website so that your customers can immediately find your website on Google within 24 hours after the website went live!
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Source: webstaurantstore