The six things a restaurant website has to get right

A customer is standing on the sidewalk looking at their phone. They are trying to figure out if your kitchen is open. They do not want to read a welcome message. They do not have time for the history of your family recipe. They are hungry and they want facts.

When owners decide what to put on a restaurant website, they often get distracted by design. A restaurant web page has a very specific job to do. It needs to answer a few basic questions as quickly as possible. If it does that, it works. Everything else is decoration. Here are the six restaurant website essentials you have to get right.

The basic facts

The first thing people look for is your hours of operation. Your hours must be accurate. They must be on the first page a visitor sees. If you close the kitchen at nine but the bar stays open until eleven, spell that out clearly. If you close between lunch and dinner service, list the exact times. You also need a routine for updating these hours on holidays. A customer who shows up to a locked door will rarely give you a second chance.

Next is your physical location. Put your full street address near the top or bottom of the page. Include specific directions if your building is difficult to find. If your entrance is in an alley, tell the customer before they arrive. People want to know exactly where they are going without switching to a map application just to check the neighborhood.

You also need a phone number. The phone number should be typed out as text. Do not trap it inside an image. Someone on a mobile phone needs to tap it to call you. Even if your goal is to handle all orders online, some people will always need to call. They might have a severe allergy to discuss. They might want to book a large table. Give them a direct way to reach the building.

The menu and how to order

Your menu is the most important piece of small business website content you have. People want to know what you serve and how much it costs before they commit. The menu needs to be readable on a small screen. Do not upload a photograph of a printed menu. Do not force visitors to download a PDF document. A PDF requires the user to pinch and scroll around to read the text. Type the menu out directly on the page. Keep the items and the prices current.

Once a customer decides what they want, tell them how to get it. Make the next step obvious. If you take reservations, put a booking button near the top of the page. If you do takeout, add a clear link for online ordering. If you rely on third party delivery apps, put your own delivery links on your site. This lets people find your Uber Eats or DoorDash page directly. Do not make a customer hunt for a way to pay you.

Show the real place

Finally, you need photographs. Use pictures that actually belong to you. You do not need a professional photographer. You just need to show your actual dining room and your actual food. Stock photos of generic burgers or perfectly lit empty tables look fake. Customers want to see the atmosphere they are walking into. They want to see the size of the portions. Honest pictures build trust because they show the reality of your business.

Keeping it simple

A good website does not have to be complicated to build. lokal is one app for running a local business. It includes a website builder that publishes a real site at a custom subdomain. You can also connect a domain you already own. Online ordering and reservations are built directly in. The pricing is a single plan at 1 dollar for the first month, then 99.99 per month plus tax. Card payments are processed through your own Square account at normal rates. lokal takes zero percent commission on your own orders. You just type in your details, upload your real photos, and get back to running your shift.