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“Follow the plan outlined here and you can create your own website from scratch without writing any code for less than $300.”
Need a website for your restaurant?
You’ll want an aesthetic that matches your establishment and a few critical features like a food menu that can be viewed on laptops and mobile devices.
The good news is that there are tons of great options available for your site. Even better, creating a gorgeous website has never been easier.
A quick preview
How about a little motivation?
Here’s a sneak peek at the kind of site you’ll be able to make following this guide:
While that site is gorgeous, I have a lot of other designs prepared for you in case you want something different.
For now, let’s get to the steps required to create the website.
How to make a restaurant site
There are just a few steps to create your site and it won’t require writing any code.
The steps are:
- Get a domain name
- Get hosting
- Install WordPress
- Find a WordPress theme
- Launch
As you’ll see in the following sections, it’s really not so hard to make the site yourself even if you’re a total newbie.
Get a domain name
Your domain name is the web address where people can view your site. This site’s domain name is competethemes.com.
Coming up with a domain name for your site can be tough, but what really makes it tricky is how competitive the market is. It can be extremely challenging to find a name you like that is also available.
That said, I have a strategy for you in this domain name selection guide. You’ll come up with a fast approach for finding a name and a few extra tips along the way.
Get hosting
Your website will be stored on a server that will deliver the files to visitors when they arrive at your domain.
Most businesses pay hosting companies for this service rather than managing their own servers because it’s much easier and cheaper.
While there are lots of hosting companies available, I always recommend Nexcess. I used their service to launch my very first WordPress site back in 2010, and they continue to offer quality hosting.
If you choose Nexcess, you’ll get lightning-fast hosting at an affordable price. Plus, they backup your site every day and have 24/7 live chat available.
And they make it really easy to get started…
Install WordPress
This is a very easy step.
WordPress has always been pretty simple to install, but some hosts offer an auto-installer to make it even easier.
Nexcess takes things a step further and automatically creates a WordPress site for you when you signup, so you get to skip this step entirely.
Why WordPress?
WordPress has been around for over a decade and is incredibly reliable. Not to mention, you can create any kind of site imaginable with this platform.
You might be amazed to find out just how many amazing designs you’ll have at your disposal once you’ve got a WordPress site online. I’ve already picked out the best ones for you, so let’s get to the fun part already – picking your theme!
For more guidance, follow the free video course on creating a WordPress site here.
Pick a WordPress theme
The number one theme I recommend is called Rosa.
It’s incredibly customizable and every style available looks amazing. It also includes all sorts of practical features like complete food menus.
Most restaurant websites allow visitors to make online reservations, and the developers behind Rosa have thought of this too.
While some themes have their own reservation management tools, Rosa is smart to integrate with OpenTable instead which is a robust and widely-used table reservation app.
On top of all this, you can install WooCommerce and the WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering plugin. This allows you to sell products and accept payments for food deliveries. Customers can select food items to build their meal, pay online and arrange delivery or collection. It’s just like ordering from UberEats or JustEat, but on your own restaurant website with no commission to pay.
Alternative themes
Rosa is great, but there are plenty of other excellent themes to consider.
To help consolidate your search, check out this collection of the top restaurant WordPress themes.
Also, you might find a theme you like that doesn’t have a great layout for the menu. You can always select another theme, even one that’s not specifically made for restaurants, and then install one of these restaurant menu plugins.
Launch your site
These tools should give you plenty of choices for building your website.
With the steps outlined here, you’ll be able to get a site online from scratch and transform it into a gorgeous restaurant website.
To summarize the steps one last time:
- Get a domain name
- Get hosting with Nexcess
- Install WordPress
- Get Rosa or an alternative theme
- Launch your site
Since marketing and acquisition is a bit out-of-scope for this article, I’ll leave that part up to you.
You’ve now got the steps outlined for building your site and all the best tools available. With a great launch strategy, your site is sure to become a powerful marketing asset for your restaurant.