Picture someone new to the area on a Saturday morning. They want brunch. They search, they find a few cafes, and they decide in about a minute. A cafe website that wins that minute does five things, and none of them are complicated.
1. Opening hours, right at the top
The first question is "are they open?". Put your hours on the home page, above everything else, and keep them right. Nothing loses a customer faster than turning up to a closed door because the website said otherwise.
If your hours change for holidays, change them on the website and on your Google Business Profile the same day.
2. The menu, as text, with prices
Not a photo of the chalkboard. Not a PDF that needs pinching and zooming. Your menu as plain text on the page, with prices, so it reads easily on a phone and so Google and AI tools can read it too.
Owners sometimes worry that prices put people off. The opposite is true. People who can see that a flat white is £3.40 and a full breakfast is £11 walk in relaxed. People who can't see prices assume the worst and go elsewhere.
3. Real photos
Your food, your room, your counter, your people. Phone photos in daylight are fine, and they are better than any stock photo of a latte that has never been near your cafe.
Three or four good ones on the home page is enough. Put more on the menu page next to the dishes they show.
4. Your reviews, word for word
97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, according to BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey. Your Google reviews are already doing your selling for you. Put a few of the best ones on your cafe website, exactly as written, with the reviewer's first name, and link to the rest on Google.
5. How to find you, and where to park
A map, your full address, the nearest parking or the bus that stops outside, and whether you're dog friendly or have room for prams. These are the questions people actually ask, so answer them before they have to.
What about booking and ordering?
If you take table bookings or do collection orders through an app, the website doesn't need to replace it. It needs a big button that goes straight to it. The app takes the order. The website is what makes someone decide to order from you in the first place.
A cafe website in five pages
A cafe website doesn't need to be big. Home, menu, about, reviews and contact covers almost everything. Five pages, built for phones, loading quickly on mobile data, with your real photos and prices.
That is what I build for a one-off £595, with no monthly fees, linked to your Google listing and set up for Google and AI search. I build it first, for free, from the photos and prices you've already got, and text you the link within a week. See how it works, or tell me about your cafe and I'll get started.
