Are you redesigning or building a new website for your restaurant in the coming year? If so, it’s crucial to make sure you’re giving visitors the best possible online experience before visiting your establishment.
In fact, research shows that 77% of diners visit a restaurant’s website before they dine in or order takeout.
While your site should be a reflection of your brand and its image, there are some features that the best restaurant websites in 2024 share.
7 MUST-HAVE Elements for the Best Restaurant Websites in 2024
One advantage of restaurant websites is that you can be as creative as you want with the design. However, there are still some elements that you should incorporate into the design to give your visitors the best possible experience, including:
1. Restaurant Mobile Website Design
Restaurant websites must be mobile-friendly. An estimated 86.29% of the world’s population owns and uses a smartphone, and 56.16% of web traffic came from mobile devices in 2022.
Mobile-friendliness is also a factor that Google and other search engines take into account when ranking websites in the search results.
You can check your site’s mobile-friendliness by using Google's mobile-friendly test.
Even a simple restaurant website should be designed with mobile users in mind. The best restaurant website designs are responsive, which means that the user’s experience changes depending on the device they are using.
A responsive design is ideal, so you can provide a positive experience for any user who lands on your website.
2. Online Ordering Options
Today’s consumers expect restaurants to offer the option to order food online. An estimated 86% of Americans order food at least once a month, and they prefer to order directly from the restaurant itself if they have the option.
Cool restaurant websites display their menus online, offer online ordering and may even have delivery options. These options are convenient for users and make them more likely to dine at your restaurant.
The best websites for restaurants offer seamless online ordering that’s as simple as possible.
When building or upgrading your website, you have the option to develop a custom online ordering system, or you can implement a third-party system, like:
- UpMenu
- Square Online
- Wix Restaurants
- FlipDish
- Toast Online Ordering
The solution you choose will likely come down to budget. When you go the custom route, you provide a 100% branded experience and incorporate only the features you need. Third-party systems are convenient and often more affordable compared to custom solutions.
3. Reservations and Seating Features
If you offer dine-in options, you can streamline your seating and wait times directly through your website. Many restaurants websites give users the option to reserve tables and join waitlists from their apps or websites. Guests save time because they can see wait times and arrive at your restaurant when their table is ready.
If you’re looking for cool features for websites, consider adding these options to your website:
- Making reservations on your site or app
- Joining waitlists on busy nights
There are many solutions available that you can incorporate into your existing website to start offering these options.
4. Companion Apps
Many restaurant owners are reluctant to invest the time and resources into developing apps for their restaurants. But apps can make it easier for guests to place orders, reserve tables, take advantage of promotions or view your menus. You can also offer loyalty programs, special promotions and more directly through your app.
Many of the restaurant website ideas on our list are simple and straightforward to implement, but an app will require additional costs and time.
That said, most restaurants find that it’s worth the investment to develop a companion app. An app will allow you to reach new audiences and markets. It will be convenient for your customers, and it will help you build loyalty.
5. Social Proof
Along with having the best food web design and providing factual information about your establishment (operating hours, location, etc.), your website should also offer social proof to potential customers.
Customers want to know that other diners have already visited your restaurant and enjoyed their meal and experience. In fact, 94% of diners will research a restaurant's reviews before visiting.
Displaying reviews and ratings on your site will give potential diners the proof they need to take a chance and visit your restaurant for a meal.
Social proof can also come in the form of:
- Ratings and reviews on your social media accounts
- Features in local publications
Some restaurants partner with influencers on social media to promote their establishments.
6. Photo Galleries
The best designed restaurant websites have photo galleries. Why? Because visuals can be very persuasive, especially when it comes to food. Professional, high-quality photos of your dishes are often enough to convince diners to check out your restaurant.
Just research any restaurant website example and you’ll find that most have galleries featuring menu items and the interior of the restaurant.
Photos will paint a picture of the experience guests can expect when they visit your restaurant.
Invest in hiring a professional food photographer for your restaurant website gallery.
7. Blazing Fast Speed with Caches
Good restaurant websites have lightning-fast speeds. Their pages load almost immediately, so mobile and desktop users have a positive experience.
Speed plays an important role in the user experience, and if your site is too slow, you’ll lose customers and potentially damage your restaurant’s reputation. Research shows that 53% of mobile users will abandon a site if it takes longer than three seconds to load.
Let’s say that you have an amazing cafe website design with fantastic visuals, but your pages take about five seconds to load because they are so image-heavy. Users get frustrated because they really want to view your menu and learn more about your cafe, but they just don’t have the time to wait for your pages to load. They click off of your site and visit a competitor instead.
This scenario is more common than you think, and many restaurants lose potential customers because their sites are too slow.
How can you avoid this mistake and ensure your site is speedy? Caching.
Caching is a process that stores several copies of files or data in a temporary storage location (cache) so that they can be accessed faster.
Through caching alone, you can greatly improve your site’s speed and provide visitors with the experience they expect and desire.
Make Sure Your Site Has These 7 Elements
If you’re building a new website for your restaurant, make sure that it has these seven crucial elements. These elements will work together to provide users with a positive experience and get more customers through the door.