how to start a restaurant website

How to create a restaurant website: Step-by-step guide

Bryn Glover,

If you’re wondering how to create a restaurant website, you’re in the right place. For any modern business, an online presence is crucial for attracting new customers and engaging existing ones. 

A well-designed restaurant website can showcase your establishment, provide essential information, and act as a tool for both you and your customers. From advertising your location to providing a space to reserve a table or order a takeaway, your website could be just what you need to level up your business.

In this article, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide on how to start a website for your restaurant, whether you provide fine dining experiences or Saturday night takeaways.

Table of Contents

How does a restaurant website work?

Building a restaurant for your website can be an excellent use of time and money, for several reasons.

  • Online visibility – there’s no downside to having your restaurant visible online. It offers you the chance to promote your business to potential customers while offering them the chance to find out more about you. If you optimise your site for search engines, you may even be able to win top ranking when people search for things like ‘restaurant near me’.

  • Showcasing your menu – your website provides the perfect platform for showcasing your menu. You can include descriptions, information about where you get your ingredients, as well as pictures or videos to really entice would-be customers.

  • Customer experience – having a website can simplify things for you while providing more information for customers. Without a site, you might rely on people ringing up or arriving at your door to inquire about opening times, reservations and placing orders. With a website, you can automate a lot of these previously manual tasks with a few tools.

  • Online ordering – during COVID, a huge number of restaurants realised that they needed a way to receive and process orders for takeaway. A website is the obvious solution to this problem. If you don’t have one yet, there’s a good chance that you could be missing out on valuable custom.

Of course, there are other important reasons to launch a site – which of them matters most to you can depend on any number of factors.

The good news is that you can get online quicker than ever now and for low prices. Find out how to build your own websites with the steps below.

Step 1: Define your goals and audience

Before you start creating your business website, you should know what your plan is with it. Define your objectives and make sure you know who your target audience is. 

Start by thinking about the following factors.

  • What do you want your website to do? Do you want to take reservations, allow customers to order food online, or are you just raising awareness?
  • Who is your audience? Are you catering to families, young professionals, tourists?
  • What makes your restaurant unique? Are you the only restaurant making Italian food in your area? Do you use the best ingredients? Are you delivering food quicker than anyone else?
  • Who is your competition? How do other restaurants and takeaways operate nearby? Do you know their strengths and weaknesses?

Answering these questions will help you build a website that matches your needs best. You don’t want to spend hours, days or weeks on an online platform that ends up missing key features you need.

If you want help with this stage, take a look at our page on how to create a business plan.

Step 2: Choose a domain name and hosting plan

If you are already running a restaurant, then you probably have a brand name already. If you’re starting your business from scratch, you might not. Either way, choosing a domain name is an essential first step to getting online.

You will want to choose a domain name that’s as short, memorable and easy to read as possible. 

Once you have a domain name, you need to set up website hosting. There are a number of hosting providers to choose from, and they all offer a range of plans.

If you want help with this stage, visit our best website hosting providers page to compare some of the top options.

Step 3: Choose a platform to build your website

You can either choose to use a website builder or a custom content management system (CMS) like WordPress. The website builder option is much simpler, whereas the CMS route will provide more customisation if you know how to use it.

You should also bear in mind at this stage what sort of restaurant website you are building. If you plan to sell products, you will need to include ecommerce functionality in your platform.

You can take a look at our best website builders page to compare the options available.

Best restaurant website builders

You want your restaurant website to be as appealing as the food you serve. You’ll want photographs of your restaurant and food to show people what’s on offer, and you should also make sure to include your menu or menus.

BrandPlanCostMore info
WixLite£9/monthFull Review
SquarespacePersonal£12/monthFull Review
GoDaddyBasic£6.99/monthFull Review

Wix

One of our favourite brands to build a new website with. For those restaurant owners looking to launch a simple site to advertise their premises, even the Lite plan from Wix would provide all of the features you need. You may need to upgrade to get access to some more advanced options, but the cost isn’t prohibitive and it’s difficult to complain about the ease of use you’ll enjoy.

Squarespace

If you want a beautiful website that showcases your menu in the most enticing way possible, Squarespace might be the brand for you. Prioritising design above all else, Squarespace is a little trickier to get to grips with than Wix, but boasts some truly beautiful design options and templates.

GoDaddy

If your main concern is cost, then GoDaddy is the best option of the three. Though it’s only slightly cheaper than Wix, there is still a difference. It’s easy enough to use and offers a range of tools and features.

Step 4: Design your website

The design of your website should reflect your restaurant. Think about the sort of cuisine you sell, and what sort of atmosphere you want.

When it comes to the actual design itself, make sure to use a cohesive colour scheme with high-quality images to portray your food in the best possible light. You should also make sure that your site is easy to navigate and use – this will be particularly important if you’re planning to sell food for delivery on the site.

There are a number of key elements to include on your restaurant website:

  • Homepage – this is the centre of your site where you can welcome visitors in. Use captivating images with clear content and a call-to-action (CTA) that leads users toward whatever step you want them to take, whether that’s ordering food or reserving a table.
  • Menu – display your menu in an easy-to-read format, ideally with images and descriptions included. You can also consider adding downloadable versions so that people can save them for later.
  • About Us – let people know who you are, who your staff are, and what sort of restaurant you run.
  • Contact page – provide any essential contact information, including your restaurant’s address, phone number, along with a map that can help people find you.
  • Reservations or online booking – if you need either, you can integrate a reservation or online ordering tool into your website to streamline the booking process for customers.
  • Reviews – showcasing positive reviews can make your restaurant stand out to potential new customers.
  • Gallery – share images of your restaurant, including what it looks like inside, what sort of food you serve, and satisfied customers enjoying themselves.
design your restaurant website

You might not want or need every one of these things on your site, but consider them all to make sure you won’t miss them later on.

Step 5: Create your website content

Website content can come in a range of forms. In this section, we’ll provide a rough overview of some of the content you might consider including. 

Bear in mind you might want to pick and choose just a few of these options, depending on how your restaurant operates.

Menu descriptions

As a restaurant owner, you’ll know better than anyone that the menu is the heart of your establishment. You want your website to reflect this.

Focus on creating detailed descriptions of your dishes, highlighting the ingredients, the tastes a customer will experience, and the cooking techniques used. Include high-quality images or videos to show off your signature dishes in the best way possible.

Also consider including dietary information, such as vegan, vegetarian or allergy-friendly options to make sure you’re catering to a wide audience.

Chef’s story

Provide your customers with a chance to find out more about the chef. Highlight their experience and training, as well as what makes them unique and how that impacts the food they serve.

Customers will appreciate knowing more about who is preparing the dishes they eat. You can also behind them with a behind-the-scenes view of what goes on in the kitchen.

Restaurant atmosphere

Make sure to let customers know what to expect when they visit you. Providing an insight into the atmosphere and the style of dining they can expect will help you to stand out and, more importantly, attract the right sort of customers.

There’s no point in targeting absolutely everybody if you know that your restaurant will appeal to a particular style of diner.

Customer testimonials

Make sure to incorporate reviews and testimonials into your website. Would-be customers will be far more likely to book a table or order a meal if they can see how other people found your restaurant.

Suppliers and ingredients

If your restaurant is proud to serve local ingredients, or only works with the highest quality suppliers, then it’s worth shouting about it.

Dedicating a page on your site to the people who supply your ingredients can be a great way to show your customers what sort of quality they can expect.

Step 6: Ensure your site works on different devices

There’s a good chance that people will be visiting your website on their mobile phones as well as on their laptops or desktop computers.

When you design your site, you need to make sure it works well on a range of devices. The last thing you want is to put a potential customer off visiting you because they can’t read your menu on their phone.

Most website builders are responsive by default, so you will normally be ok if that’s the route you took to build your restaurant’s online platform, but it’s worth making sure anyway.

Step 7: Market your restaurant website

If you want to grow your restaurant business, then marketing your website can be a good place to start.

Consider setting up a social media marketing strategy so that you can reach audiences on platforms like Facebook or Instagram. Consider capturing email addresses when people order food for delivery or book a table so that you can market to them by email later on and drive repeat business.

You might also want to invest some time in search engine optimisation (SEO) to make sure that people can find your site online when they search. Think about targeting local keywords to try and make sure you appear first when people look for ‘good restaurants nearby’.

Step 8: Manage online reservations and orders

If you accept reservations through your website, you should make sure that the tool you use to facilitate them is easy to use for both you and your users. If it’s more difficult than it needs to be, you could very easily lose customers.

Likewise, if you want to take food orders on your site, use a system that is efficient and easy. Also, consider how you will take payments by connecting the correct tools.

Step 9: Test your website

If you accept reservations through your website, you should make sure that the tool you use to facilitate them is easy to use. If it’s more difficult than it needs to be, you could very easily lose customers.

Likewise, if you want to take food orders on your site, use a system that is efficient and easy. Also, consider how you will take payments by connecting the correct tools.

online order and reservations

Step 10: Stay on top of maintenance

Depending on what sort of restaurant you create, you’ll need to keep an eye on it to make sure everything is working as planned.

Make sure your menu is up-to-date with images and content refreshed to make it clear that your business is thriving. Monitor how people interact with your site too to gain insights into how you can improve things. If you can see in the data that people struggle when it comes to ordering food, make sure that you react appropriately to fix the issues.

How much will a restaurant website cost?

When it comes to the cost of your restaurant website, the first question is: how will you build your site?

If you plan to do it yourself using a website builder, then your cost will depend on the builder you choose. For example:

  • Wix – £9/month
  • Squarespace – £12/month
  • GoDaddy – £6.99/month

This is almost always going to be the cheapest option – and usually the easiest too.

However, you might need something with a lot more customisation for your restaurant. In this case, you’re more likely to be looking at having an agency design your website.

The cost of having someone else build your website can vary massively, but generally, you’ll need to factor in the following:

  • Domain hosting – £7 to £40/year
  • Web hosting – £3/month; £36/year
  • Web designer – £50/hour

As you can see, there are ongoing costs to consider that can easily push the cost of a custom website into the thousands.

You can visit our page on how much a website costs to find out more about the details.

What to include in your restaurant website

For the majority of restaurants, cafes or bars, people are landing on your website for two main reasons. They may want to:

  • Look for a new place to eat
  • Check the menu offers food to match their taste
  • Make a reservation
  • Order food for takeaway

If you don’t offer takeaway services or reservations, then you can ignore the third and fourth bullet points. But for everyone else, all four points are important.

Content to include

We’ve covered content earlier in the page, but remember to focus on the following areas:

  • Menu descriptions – provide all of the information your customers will need, along with imagery and descriptions to entice them.
  • Chef’s story – give people background on who is cooking the food and why. Mention your chef’s experience and expertise.
  • Restaurant atmosphere – make sure to provide a clear idea of what people can expect. 
  • Testimonials and reviews – people want to know how good your restaurant is. Make sure to include what other people have said.
  • Suppliers and ingredients – highlight the quality of the ingredients used in your restaurant, including some information about where you buy them.

Tools to include

As well as content, you should also be sure to pay attention to the tools you can add to your site. Often, these features are designed to make life easier for you and for your customers.

  • Online reservation system – adding an online reservation system to your site can help to automate your bookings. This can free up time and help to keep timings in order.

  • Online ordering system – if you offer takeaways – or want to – you will need to make sure your website can support it. There are a range of tools and integrations available that enable ordering to takeaway.

  • Contact information and location – it’s easy to build forms and maps into your site to help people contact you or find you. Making sure to include both will provide customers with easy ways to get in touch or visit.

  • Events calendar – if your restaurant offers special events, you can add a calendar to your website to promote them. Think about special nights you might host during holidays, for example. A calendar can keep your customers informed easily.

How to create a restaurant website: Final thoughts

Creating a website for your restaurant can be an exciting way to grow your business. Remember though, that it is an ongoing process.

By following the step-by-step guide above, you can create an attractive and effective online presence that represents your business and drives customers through the door.

Picture of Bryn Glover

Bryn Glover

Bryn is the founder and editor of WebsiteJumpStart. He has worked in the digital field for over a decade and was editor for Startups.co.uk - the UK's leading small business website - and for NerdWallet UK before launching WebsiteJumpStart to help people and businesses get online with ease.
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