Restaurant website checklist: 12 things that turn visitors into bookings
A restaurant website turns visitors into bookings when it answers four questions within seconds on a phone: what's on the menu, what does it cost, when are you open, and how do I book. This restaurant website checklist covers those basics plus eight more fixes, from photos to page speed, that make it easy to say yes.
Most people looking at a restaurant site are on their phone, hungry, and comparing two or three places. They aren't reading your story. They're scanning for reasons to choose you, or reasons not to. Work through these twelve in order. The first five matter most.
1. The menu is real text, not a PDF
A PDF menu takes ages to load on mobile data, forces pinch and zoom, and goes out of date because updating it is a hassle. Put the menu on the page as text, grouped by section, with prices. It loads instantly, it's readable, and Google can read it too, which helps when someone searches "vegan ramen near me".
If you change the menu often, set it up so you can edit it yourself in two minutes. If editing the menu needs a developer, it won't get edited.
2. Prices are shown
Some restaurants hide prices to seem upmarket. For most places this costs bookings, because people assume the worst. Show them. If you have a tasting menu, show the price per person.
3. Booking is one tap away, on every page
Put a "Book a table" button in the header so it stays visible as people scroll. Link it straight to your booking system, with the party size and date picker, not to a contact page with a phone number buried at the bottom.
If you don't take bookings, say so clearly: "Walk-ins only. Busiest from 7pm on Fridays."
4. Hours, address and phone are at the top or bottom of every page
Not on a separate "Contact" page only. Make the phone number tappable so it opens the dialler. Make the address link to a map. Show holiday hours well before the holiday.
A quick rule: check your hours match your Google Business Profile exactly. Mismatched hours are one of the most common complaints in restaurant reviews. Our Google Business Profile checklist covers keeping those in sync.
5. It's fast on a phone
Open your site on your own phone, on mobile data, not your Wi-Fi. If it takes more than a few seconds to show the menu, people leave. The usual culprits are huge photos, autoplay video and too many plug-ins. Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool will tell you what's slowing things down.
6. Photos are honest and recent
Three good photos of real dishes beat thirty stock images of smiling strangers. Show the room too, so people can picture the evening: is it cosy, loud, good for a date, good with kids? Phone photos in natural daylight are fine if they're sharp. Retake them when the menu changes.
7. Dietary needs are easy to spot
Mark vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and common allergens on the menu with a simple key. People with dietary needs often choose the restaurant for the whole group. Make it easy for them to say "this place works for me".
Add a line about allergies and how to tell staff. Keep it factual and tell people to check with the team, rather than making promises the kitchen can't keep on a busy night.
8. Private dining and groups have their own page
If you take group bookings or private events, give them a page with capacity, set menus, minimum spend and a short enquiry form. This is often where the bigger revenue sits, and it's usually hidden.
9. There's a clear answer to "what are you known for?"
One or two lines near the top: "Wood-fired Neapolitan pizza and natural wine in a 40 seat room." Not "a passion for great food", which every restaurant says. If a stranger can repeat what you do after five seconds, you've got it.
10. Ordering and delivery links go to the right place
If you do takeaway, link to the platform you prefer customers to use. If direct ordering is cheaper for you, say so, and make it the first button. Remove links to platforms you no longer use. Dead links make the whole site feel abandoned.
11. Gift cards are buyable online
Gift cards are near pure margin and a common last minute present. If you sell them, make the link obvious, especially from November. If you don't sell them online yet, this is often a cheap win.
12. Social proof without the clutter
A short line linking to your Google reviews, or one or two press mentions with links, is plenty. Don't embed a live Instagram feed that slows the page to a crawl. Instead, link to your Instagram and keep posting there. If you need ideas, our post on restaurant Instagram content ideas has a month of them.
The quick audit
Run this on your own site tonight, on your phone:
| Check | Pass? |
|---|---|
| Menu loads as text in under a few seconds | |
| Prices shown | |
| Book button visible without scrolling | |
| Hours match Google exactly | |
| Phone number opens the dialler | |
| Address opens a map | |
| At least three real food photos | |
| Dietary key on the menu | |
| Groups or private dining explained | |
| No dead ordering links | |
| Gift card link (if you sell them) | |
| Reviews linked, not a slow embedded feed |
If you pass ten or more, your site is doing its job. Spend your time and money elsewhere, like your Google profile or your social posts. A rebuild won't move the needle much.
If you fail the first five, that's where bookings are leaking.
What it doesn't need
You don't need a long "Our story" page, a blog nobody updates, background music, a splash screen, or an animated intro. You don't need a custom app. These all cost money and mostly slow the site down. A good restaurant website is closer to a well designed menu board than a magazine.
Who should own the updates
Most restaurant sites go stale for one reason: nobody is responsible for them. Give one person on the team the job. Usually it's the manager who already sets the rota. Their list is short: hours changes, holiday closures, menu and price edits, new photos when dishes change, and checking the booking button still works once a month.
Make sure they have their own login, not the owner's, and that the site is simple enough that a change takes minutes. If they have to email a developer and wait three days to change a price, the website will drift away from reality, and customers will notice before you do.
How Yardly Agents handles this
Our Starter Website is $900 one-off, then $79 a month for hosting, backups and small updates. For restaurants we build it around the checklist above: text menu you can edit yourself, a booking button in the header, hours that are easy to change, and fast loading on mobile. If your team spends evenings answering the same messages ("do you have a table for six?", "is there parking?"), a website plus Lead Agent bundle starts at $1,900, and the agent passes anything unusual to your staff.
Prices are in USD and quoted the same for UK and UAE restaurants. Have a look at our sample restaurant and local business sites, all concept work, or the packages.
Frequently asked questions
What should a restaurant website include?
At minimum: a readable menu with prices, a booking button or link, opening hours, address with a map link, phone number, and a few honest photos of the food and room. Everything else is a bonus. Most visitors want those six things within seconds.
Should a restaurant menu be a PDF?
Avoid it if you can. PDFs are slow on phones, hard to read and hard for search engines to understand. Put the menu on the page as normal text. If you also want a printable version, offer the PDF as an extra link.
Do restaurants need a website if they have Instagram?
Yes, for most. Instagram is good for showing the food, but it's poor at answering practical questions like hours, menu and booking. A simple website also shows up in Google searches and is something you own, which an Instagram account isn't.
How often should a restaurant update its website?
Update hours and menu the same day they change. Wrong hours lose customers and annoy the ones who turn up to a closed door. Beyond that, a refresh of photos and seasonal specials every few months keeps it current.
Want this done for your business?
Tell us the one job you'd like to stop doing by hand. We reply within one working day with an honest view and a rough price.
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