Essential Elements You Need For A Hospitality Website

Your website is the first port of call for potential customers looking to visit your venue. Whether they’ve found you by Googling local venues, or ended up on your website via social media, they’ve made the proactive step to seek out more information about your business. So it’s vital that your website is attractive, comprehensive, and reflects your brand.. Here’s what you need to include.

In the past, creating, hosting, and maintaining a venue’s website was contracted out to a third party development company. This is still a great option for those with limited online know-how and the budget for it. However, with a plethora of template based website creation tools available online – such as SquareSpace and Wix – you can create your venue’s website yourself. This cost effective option allows you to have complete control over your content, design, and the ability to alter information to ensure it’s always up-to-date and relevant.

When building and designing your website, make sure it is mobile friendly, as many potential customers will be viewing your site on a phone or tablet device.

Home Page

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and your website’s home page is the landing base that tells potential customers who you are. A pop up offering a quick shortcut to make a booking or sign up for your EDM, is a great way to grab your customer’s attention, and a wonderful opportunity to expand your customer database.

Consistency of design with your venue and marketing materials tells a customer that your venue is polished, professional, and put together. Maintain the consistency of the fonts and colour palettes that are in use in your venue on your website. These are little touches that your customers will notice, even if they seem small. A bright, bold website may be the perfect fit for a high energy dining venue aimed at a younger crowd, but it has the potential to be off-putting to a potential customer looking for a fine dining venue. Consider your audience, your brand, and the aesthetic you want to convey in-venue when choosing the design for your website.

Your home page needs to be engaging and attractive, but also functional. Use high quality, high resolution images that showcase both your menu and the aesthetics of your venue. Video is much more eye catching than static images, so consider how you can add movement and life to your home page by utilising video content. If you’re going for an understated and sleek design, static images may be appropriate, so consider different styles of layout to find one that best reflects the culture of your venue.

A pivoting point for customers looking for information about your business, your website’s home page navigation should be clear and easily understood. Finding out the important info about your venue shouldn’t be a scavenger hunt that requires effort – make it easy for your customers to find out exactly who you are and what you’re about. Keep hyperlink headings simple, bearing in mind the diversity of your prospective clientele, and consider what you would want to know if you were a customer planning to visit a venue for the first time.

Whilst your website should have a separate “Contact” tab for those wanting to engage with you, it is still vital that your address, phone number, and email address are clearly outlined on your home page. Many customers already know they want to visit your venue, and may be checking out your website just for this info. Make it easy to obtain.

Widget links to your social media should also be available on your home page. Keep these unobtrusive, but easily accessible. While many of your customers may have found you via your socials, others won’t have and not linking them in is a missed opportunity for a future relationship and point of contact.

About

Your website’s ‘About’ page is your opportunity to expand on your brand’s philosophy, and really showcase who you are and what you’re about. For example, if sustainability is at the heart of your venue’s mission, this is a great place to flesh out your brand narrative and get your customers interested and engaged in your venue holistically.

When crafting the copy for your ‘About’ section, keep your SEO engagement in mind. SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, is the creative use of keywords that places your website in relevant Google searches. A beautifully designed website is all well and good, but if you’re on Page 2 of your target market’s Google search, then you might as well be invisible.

Using the sustainability example, copy that includes references to “sustainable farming”, “farm to table”, and “ethically sourced” would rank well for potential customers searching for venues in line with their ethical values – bringing exactly the right people to your website.

Customers love a back story. Take advantage of this, and use this space on your website to introduce yourself and your key players to your audience. Who are you? Why are you passionate about food and dining? Tell your customers about the journey that’s brought you here. Share your experiences and your passions. If you, or a member of your team, has a notable experience or profile, give that space to shine. You’ve got feathers in your cap, don’t be afraid to show them off.

Last, but not least, don’t be afraid to toot your own horn! Got a great review or testimonial? You’ve earned them. Add a quote or two that lets your customers know that they’re in for a great experience. Websites such as Broadsheet, Urban List, Time Out and co are respected and trusted by food-minded consumers, so if they’ve been singing your praises, why not sing along?

Menu

Your menu is what most of your customers are looking for when they visit your website. You’ve given them a little taste of what’s to come with the beautiful imagery on your home page, and your menu gives you the opportunity to expand on the dishes and courses you’ve designed.

Before launching into the specifics of your dishes, an introduction by way of a brief paragraph gives visitors an overview of what they can expect of both your dishes, and your dining style. If your venue’s menu is designed to be shared, let your customers know. If a particular region or cuisine has inspired your dishes, adding this information illuminates your dish and dining style choice. It need not be an exhaustive run-down, just a few sentences that capture the vibe of your menu.

When it comes to the nuts and bolts of your menu, most potential customers will scan the menu at first visit, so make sure it is easily understood and viewer friendly. Categorising dishes is a great way to grab a guest’s attention. If your courses are served traditionally, a la carte style, keeping categories simple will be easily understood by most diners. If dining is share-style, make sure the customer can easily identify smaller versus larger dishes. Clear dish names and descriptions that are easy to read at a glance will engage your customers. If a dish goes by a non-familiar name, or employs a niche ingredient or technique, you may choose to expand on that.

If your venue offers a set menu, or a “Feed Me” chef’s choice option, ensure this is clearly delineated from the a la carte section and is easy to understand for a diner who may not have visited your venue before.

Depending on the overall design of your website, you may consider adding an image or two to your menu page as well.

What’s On

If your venue hosts events – such as trivia nights, performers, a masterclass, or themed dining evenings – having a dedicated “What’s On” page is a great way to provide this information in an easy to access way for your customers. An accessible “click to book” functionality connected to the event image tile or description makes it easy for customers to secure a spot for events, and increases attendance and ticket sales.

Your ‘What’s On’ page is also a great opportunity to market a recurring special that has added value for your customers, such as a bottomless brunch or happy hour special.

Functions

Restaurants that can double as function spaces offer a great alternative revenue stream for a business. If this is something your venue offers, a comprehensive function page on your website will rank higher in SEO results, and make booking a function venue headache free for your customers.

A group booking form or pop up on your function page is a great idea for both ease of booking, and for building your EDM database with an opt-in option for customers.

A high quality ‘hero’ image of your venue in action as a function space allows potential customers to imagine their event in your space. Choose pictures that highlight the touches that make your space unique. Whether it’s a beautiful view, or a minimalist space that allows themed decorations to take centre stage, or an architectural touch that’s photo-worthy.

Explain to your customer why your venue space would be great for functions. If you’ve hosted functions before, or a function hosted at your venue has been featured in a publication such as a bridal magazine, adding a testimonial or review lets your customer know they can expect a high quality experience and inspires trust.

A downloadable PDF function kit on your functions page is essential, and should include all the relevant information your customer will need. A clear hyperlink encouraging your customer to “Download Function Package” (or similar wording) leaves no room for confusion, and makes things easy for you and your customer.

Is your venue space ideal for an intimate gathering, such as a cocktail masterclass or a group anniversary dinner? Or can you accommodate a large dream wedding with plenty of room for guests to boogie? Outline your venue’s capacity – seated and cocktail style – as well as offering a floor plan with possible seating arrangements.

Gift Vouchers

If your venue offers gift vouchers, make this a clear and easy to access option on your navigation menu. Gift vouchers are a great way to generate profit and guarantee future visitors, especially during difficult times when restaurant dining may not be possible, as seen during the Covid-19 closures.

Adding a few sentences that explain why a gift voucher to your venue is of great value, and outlining the ease of redemption, will help draw in your customers and make a meal at your venue a gift worth giving. If you are part of a network of restaurants that allows a gift voucher to be redeemed at one of several venues, make that clear, as it adds value to the experience.

If your vouchers can be purchased online through a secure third party eCommerce tool, make it clear to your customer if their gift recipient will receive their voucher as an email or via post. If you’re using pay/pick up in store, make this clear as well.

Contact

Just as important as your menu to prospective customers, your contact page is a one-stop-shop for making visiting your venue easy and painless.

Contact information should include your full address (including any extra directions that might be required, such as “upstairs”), a contact phone number, and email address. Some venues choose to include a “Contact Us” email box, that allows customers to email directly from the website with any queries they may have. If this is something that you choose to utilise, obtaining a contact number or email address will be necessary, so it also makes for a great opportunity to include an opt-in for your EDM.

If using website design tools such as WordPress or Wix, functionality to include an automatically generated map based on your entered address is available with relative ease for even those with rudimentary website design skills, and adds another level of ease for customers who may be more spatially orientated. Allowing the map to open in another tab or pop up window when clicked on by the customer, rather than loading in the current window, is preferable as it keeps your customer on your website instead of navigating them away.

You should also include a hyperlink for your booking service on your contact page, as well as a space for customers to provide their email address to opt-in to your EDM database independent of any booking or query function.

Book

While you may have included a booking option at various points on your website, a clear and direct “Book” or “Booking” option will lead customers directly to where they need to go, especially for those who may already be familiar with your venue and are visiting your website with the express intention of making a booking.

Creating a website that reflects your brand, pulls in the clicks, and entices customers, makes visiting your venue easy and hassle free.