A Café or Restaurant Website That Brings People In

Nobody browses a café website for fun. They're hungry, they're nearby, and they're deciding where to go in the next ten minutes. Usually they're standing on a footpath or sitting in the car, looking at a phone.

So a café or restaurant website has a simple job: answer three questions faster than the place next door. What's on the menu? Are you open? How do I get there? Everything else is extra.

Here's how to get those right, and the few extras worth adding.

Put your menu on the page as real text

This is the most common problem we see. The menu is a PDF (a document file made for printing), or a photo of the printed menu. It feels like the easy option, but it causes real trouble:

• It's hard to read on a phone. People have to download it, then pinch and zoom around a page made for A4 paper.
• Google can't read it well. If your menu is real text on a web page, someone searching "gluten free breakfast Katoomba" or "pizza Richmond" has a much better chance of finding you.
• It goes out of date. Changing a PDF usually means going back to whoever designed it, so the old one stays up.
• Screen readers struggle with it. People with low vision use software that reads pages aloud. A photo of a menu is silent.

Put the menu on the page as ordinary text, organised into sections (breakfast, lunch, drinks), with prices. Keep a printable version as an extra if you like, but make the web page the main one.

If your menu changes daily, say so, and show a sample with "changes daily, here's a typical day". People understand. What they don't like is a menu from two summers ago.

Opening hours that are actually right

Wrong opening hours lose you customers and earn you grumpy reviews. Make sure:

• Your hours are on the home page, in text, not inside an image.
• Public holidays and closures are there, including when you close for a break. Add a short note at the top of the site when something changes.
• Your hours match everywhere: your website, your Google Business Profile and your Facebook or Instagram page.

Bookings, if you take them

If you take bookings, make it easy:

• A clear Book a table button, near the top of every page.
• Online bookings if you can. If you already use a booking system, we can put its booking button on your website. If not, we can add online bookings for $350 (No GST charged).
• Say what you can't book online: large groups, functions or set menus. Give those an enquiry form or phone number.
• Walk-ins only? Say that too. It saves people ringing to ask.

Google Maps and getting found

When someone searches "café near me" or "breakfast Penrith", Google usually shows a map with a few places before any websites. Your listing on that map comes from your Google Business Profile, a free listing you manage yourself.

Keep it complete: the right category, accurate hours, your menu link, plenty of good photos and replies to reviews. Our guide to getting found on Google Maps covers it step by step.

On your website:

• Show your address and a map, with a link that opens straight into Google Maps on a phone.
• Say where you are in words too: "Across from the station" or "Upstairs, above the bookshop".
• Parking and access: where to park, and whether there are steps.

Photos that make people hungry

Food is sold on looks. You don't need a professional shoot, but you do need good, honest photos:

• Taken in daylight, near a window, not under yellow lights or with a flash.
• Your real dishes, as they're actually served. If a dish looks different when it arrives, people notice.
• The space as well as the food. People choose a café for the feel of it: the courtyard, the fireplace, the view.
• Your team, if they're happy to be shown. It makes a place feel friendly before people walk in. Ask first, and never crop anyone's head off.

Make sure the photo files are resized for the web. Huge photos are the most common reason café websites load slowly.

Allergy and dietary information

More and more people check before they go. Make it easy to find out what they can eat:

• Mark dishes clearly on the menu: vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, dairy free or nut free, with a short key to explain the letters.
• Be honest about cross-contact. If your kitchen handles nuts or gluten, a short note such as "Our kitchen handles nuts and gluten, so we can't guarantee any dish is free of them. Please tell us about allergies when you order" is clearer than a promise you can't keep.
• Keep it up to date when recipes or suppliers change.

This information is about people's health, so check it with your kitchen and your local food rules rather than guessing.

Fast and simple on a phone

Your website will mostly be seen on phones, often with a weak signal. Keep it light:

• No autoplay videos or big sliders that take ages to load.
• No pop-ups asking for email addresses the moment someone arrives.
• Your phone number as a tap-to-call link.
• The menu, hours and directions one tap from the home page.

The nice extras

Once the basics are right, these are worth thinking about:

• Events: live music, trivia, long lunches or special dinners. Our events add-on is $300 (No GST charged).
• Gift vouchers or takeaway orders, if they suit how you work.
• An email sign-up for regulars who want to hear about new menus and events.
• A short "about" story: who you are and why you opened. Locals love knowing who's behind the counter.

A quick checklist

• [ ] Menu on the page as real text, with prices.
• [ ] Opening hours on the home page, including holidays.
• [ ] A clear way to book, or a note that it's walk-ins only.
• [ ] Address, map link and parking.
• [ ] Good daylight photos of the food and the place.
• [ ] Dietary markings and an honest allergy note.
• [ ] Fast on a phone, with tap-to-call.
• [ ] A complete Google Business Profile.

Where to start

Most cafés and restaurants need nothing more than our new small business website: up to 6 pages, works on phones, a contact form and ready for Google (titles, local details, fast on phones), with 2 rounds of changes, for $990 (No GST charged). If your menu changes often, our "Edit it yourself" add-on lets you change it any time for $250 (No GST charged). Or we can keep it up to date for you with a website care plan, from $99 a month (No GST charged).

We work with cafés and restaurants across the Blue Mountains, Penrith, the Hawkesbury, Lithgow, Bathurst, Orange, the Hunter Valley and the Southern Highlands. Try our quick quote to see what your site would cost, or book a free chat.