Websites for Restaurants and Cafés on the South Shore
What a restaurant, café or takeout's website needs on the South Shore: a menu people can read on a phone, hours for each season, and a way to order.
A restaurant's website answers three questions for someone standing on the street with a phone. Are you open now? What is on the menu? How do I get there, or order? If they find those in a few seconds, they come in. If not, they walk to the next place.
On the South Shore, a lot of those people are visitors in Lunenburg, Mahone Bay or Chester for the day. They do not know you. Your website and your Google listing are all they have to go on.
What people search for
"Lunch Lunenburg." "Coffee near me." "Fish and chips Mahone Bay." "Restaurants open now." Google answers most of these with its map first. The listing sends them to your website to check the menu.
What your site needs
The menu, as text
Type your menu onto the page. A photo of the menu or a PDF is hard to read on a phone. Text is easier for Google to read, and you can change a price in a minute.
Say which dishes are vegetarian or gluten free. People search for that.
Hours for every season
Your summer hours and your winter hours are different. Say both. If you close for the season, say when you close and when you open again. Change it on your site and on Google the same day.
Where you are
Your address, a map, and a word on parking. "Free parking behind the building" is the kind of line that brings people in.
A way to order or book
If you take pickup orders, give a number to call, or a way to order on the site. If you take reservations, make it one tap.
Delivery apps charge restaurants 15 to 30 percent of each order. DoorDash's own plans are 15, 25 and 30 percent. A pickup order by phone or through your own site keeps that money.
Real photos
Your food, your room, your view. Taken on a good day, in daylight. Customers decide with their eyes.
What to skip
- A PDF menu.
- Music that plays when the page opens.
- A slow video at the top.
- Last summer's specials, still up in November.
Getting found
Your Google Business Profile is the most important thing you have. Keep the hours right, add your menu, and post photos. Ask happy customers for reviews. Getting on Google Maps shows how.
Link it to a small site with your menu and hours. I build small sites for South Shore businesses with the menu typed out and the hours up top. The offer is $500, with no monthly fee.
Questions restaurant owners ask about websites
Is a Facebook page enough for a restaurant? It is good for specials and news. But your menu and hours get buried in posts, and visitors searching Google rarely find it. Is a Facebook page enough goes deeper.
Should I put prices on the menu online? Yes. People decide before they walk in, and prices help them choose you.
Do I need online ordering? Only if you do a lot of pickup. Otherwise a phone number people can tap is enough.
