If you run a pub, restaurant, cafe, or any hospitality business, your website is often the first impression a potential customer gets. They are searching for somewhere to eat, checking your menu before they book, or looking up your opening hours on a Friday evening. If your website is slow, outdated, or hard to use on a phone, you are losing customers to competitors who have got their online presence right.
This guide covers what hospitality businesses actually need from a website, and how the right design choices can directly increase footfall and bookings.
Most customers discover pubs and restaurants through Google. They search for terms like “pubs near me”, “best restaurants in Guildford”, or “Sunday lunch Surrey”. Your Google Business Profile gets you on the map, but your website is where people go to decide whether to visit.
A well-designed website does three things: it gives people the information they need quickly, it makes your venue look appealing, and it makes it easy to take the next step, whether that is booking a table, ordering food, or simply finding your address.
Your menu is the single most visited page on a hospitality website. It must be easy to find, easy to read, and up to date. Avoid uploading a PDF that customers have to download and pinch-zoom on their phone. Instead, use a properly formatted web page that displays your menu clearly on any device.
If you change your menu seasonally or run weekly specials, your website should make it simple to update these without needing to call a developer every time.
This sounds obvious, but a surprising number of hospitality websites make it difficult to find basic information like opening hours and address. These details should be visible on every page, ideally in the header or footer, so customers never have to hunt for them.
An embedded Google Map showing your exact location helps customers find you and gives them confidence they are heading to the right place. Make sure your address matches your Google Business Profile exactly, as inconsistencies can hurt your local search rankings.
If you take bookings, your website should make it effortless. Whether you use a third-party system like ResDiary, OpenTable, or DesignMyNight, or a simple enquiry form, the booking option should be prominent on every page. A clear “Book a Table” button in your navigation removes friction and encourages customers to commit.
For pubs that take walk-ins only, make this clear on the website so customers know what to expect.
The majority of people visiting your website will be on their phone. They might be walking through town deciding where to eat, or checking your menu from the sofa before heading out. Your website must look and work perfectly on mobile devices, with text that is easy to read, buttons that are easy to tap, and pages that load quickly on a mobile connection.
Hospitality is a visual industry. Good photos of your venue, your food, and your drinks make an enormous difference. A professional photo shoot is a worthwhile investment, but even well-lit smartphone photos are better than no images at all. Avoid using generic stock photography, as customers can tell immediately and it undermines trust.
Make your phone number clickable on mobile so customers can call with a single tap. Include your email address and links to your social media profiles, especially Instagram, which is a natural fit for hospitality businesses. If you are active on social media, embedding a feed or linking to recent posts shows that your business is alive and thriving.
If you offer takeaway or delivery, your website can either integrate with platforms like Deliveroo and Just Eat, or offer direct online ordering. Direct ordering avoids the commission fees charged by third-party platforms and gives you full control over the customer experience. For many hospitality businesses, this alone can justify the investment in a proper website.
A beautiful website is worthless if nobody finds it. Local SEO ensures your site appears when people search for hospitality businesses in your area. This means optimising your pages for location-specific keywords, keeping your Google Business Profile up to date, earning reviews from happy customers, and making sure your site loads quickly and works well on mobile.
Your website content should naturally mention your location, your type of venue, and the kind of experience you offer. A page titled “Traditional Pub in Guildford Town Centre” tells both Google and customers exactly what you are.
At Weyside Digital, we build websites specifically designed for pubs, restaurants, cafes, and hospitality businesses across Surrey and the surrounding area. Our website design and development service covers everything from initial design through to launch, including mobile optimisation, menu pages, booking integration, and local SEO.
We build sites that are easy for you to update, fast for your customers to use, and designed to turn online visitors into paying customers. Get in touch to discuss what your hospitality business needs from its website.