Checklist for your restaurant website

Why your website deserves a regular check-up

A website isn't a project you just finish and forget about. It's a living tool that requires maintenance, updates, and periodic checks. That menu you uploaded two years ago might no longer be readable on a smartphone. Your phone number might not be clickable. Photos might load so slowly that visitors flee before even seeing your dishes.

The problem is that these flaws often remain invisible to restaurant managers. They know the website by heart, they know where to find all the information, they assume it works. But a first-time customer has a completely different experience. This checklist helps you look at your website with fresh eyes, identifying what works and what drives away reservations.

Before you begin: How to use this checklist

Dedicate an hour of uninterrupted time. Open the site on different devices: your smartphone, a tablet if available, a computer. Even better, have someone who has never visited the site try it out, observing where they hesitate, where they click, and what they don't find.

For each item on the checklist, assign a status: working properly, requiring improvement, or critical and requiring immediate resolution. At the end, you'll have a clear map of your action priorities.

Accessibility and essential information

The basics that cannot be missed

This is the information that 90% visitors are looking for. If they don't find it within a few seconds, they'll leave.

• Full address visible on the homepage: The customer should see immediately where you are, without having to search through hidden subpages.

• Clickable phone number: On mobile, tapping the number should initiate the call. It seems obvious, but many sites display the number as an image or non-interactive text.

• Updated opening hours: Check that they correspond to actual hours, including any seasonal variations, extraordinary closing days, and holiday opening hours.

• Working Google Maps link: Clicking on the address or the map icon should open the navigation. Make sure the coordinates are correct and don't point to the other side of the city.

• Visible contact email or working form: If you use a form, send a test message and verify that it arrives. Many forms stop working after site updates without anyone noticing.

Menu and culinary offerings

The heart of a restaurant website

The menu is probably the most visited page. Yet it's often the most overlooked.

• Menu available directly on the site: Avoid forcing visitors to download a PDF. The menu should be readable as a web page, especially on mobile devices.

• If you use PDF, make sure it's readable on mobile: Open the PDF on your phone. Is the text large enough? Can you navigate without continuous zoom? If not, consider alternatives.

• Current and updated prices: A menu without prices generates distrust. Customers think, "If they don't show them, they'll be expensive." Furthermore, outdated prices create embarrassment when it comes time to get the bill.

• Allergens and dietary information listed: More and more customers are looking for vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. If you offer them, make them easily identifiable.

• Appetizing yet accurate dish descriptions: Descriptions should whet your appetite without promising something the dish doesn't deliver. Avoid empty adjectives like "delicious" or "exquisite" and focus on the ingredients and preparation.

• Photos of quality dishes: If the photos aren't professional, it's best not to post them. A dark or blurry photo will hurt more than it helps.

Reservation system

From desire to action

A satisfied visitor can turn into a lost customer if the booking process is cumbersome.

• Clearly visible call to action for booking: The “Book” button must be immediately identifiable, possibly fixed at the top or always reachable without infinite scrolling.

• Simple booking process: How many steps does it take to complete a booking? Every extra field is an opportunity to abandon the booking. Keep it to a minimum: date, time, number of people, name, phone number.

• Clear booking confirmation: After booking, the customer needs to know for sure that it worked. This can be a confirmation email, an on-screen message, or both.

• Contact options if the online system doesn't work: If booking is temporarily out of order, the telephone number must be even more prominent.

Performance and speed

Second courses that cost customers

Every second of waiting increases the likelihood of abandonment. On mobile devices with poor connections, speed is even more critical.

• Speed test with Google PageSpeed Insights: Go to pagespeed.web.dev, enter your site's URL, and analyze the results. A score below 50 on mobile is problematic.

• Homepage loading time under 3 seconds: Measure it with browser development tools or GTmetrix. After 3 seconds, you're losing visitors.

• Optimized and non-oversized images: 5 MB photos slow down everything. Images must be compressed and sized correctly for the web.

• No broken or infinitely loading elements: Scroll through the entire site looking for images that won't load, blocked videos, or empty sections.

• Reliable hosting without frequent downtime: If your site is frequently unavailable, you're losing customers. Use free tools like UptimeRobot to monitor availability.

Mobile experience

Where most visits occur

Over 70% of restaurant searches are made on smartphones. If your site doesn't work perfectly on mobile, you're ignoring the majority of potential customers.

• Responsive layout that adapts to the screen: Rotate your phone horizontally and vertically. Does the site adapt? Does anything fall off the screen?

• Readable text without zoom: The body text should be at least 16 pixels. If you have to pinch the screen to read, it's too small.

• Easily touchable buttons and links: Interactive elements must be large enough and spaced apart to avoid accidental touches. The minimum recommended size is 44x44 pixels.

• Accessible navigation menu: The hamburger menu (the three lines) must be visible and functional. Once opened, the items must be easily selectable.

• No intrusive pop-ups blocking your browsing: Pop-ups that cover the entire mobile screen and are difficult to close scare visitors away.

SEO and visibility on search engines

Get found by those who are looking for you

A beautiful website that no one finds is like a restaurant in an alley with no sign.

• Optimized homepage title tag: Must include the restaurant name, cuisine type, and city. Example: "Trattoria Da Mario | Traditional Bolognese Cuisine | Bologna City Center.".

• Present and inviting meta description: This is the text that appears in search results. It should entice the user to click, and it should be approximately 155 characters long.

• Clean and readable page URLs: Better “tuoristorante.it/menu” than “tuoristorante.it/page?id=4523”.

• Images with descriptive alt text: Every image should have alt text that describes what it shows. This helps with both SEO and accessibility.

• XML Sitemap present and submitted to Google: Verify in Google Search Console that the site is indexed correctly.

• No 404 errors on important pages: Use tools like Screaming Frog or Search Console to identify broken links.

Content and communication

What you say and how you say it

The tone, style, and freshness of the content influence the perception of the restaurant.

• Texts without grammatical errors or typos: Proofread everything carefully or have someone else proofread it. Obvious errors damage credibility.

• Tone consistent with the identity of the place: An elegant restaurant shouldn't have overly informal texts. A family-run trattoria shouldn't feel like a luxury hotel.

• Updated information: Is the year in the footer correct? Past events removed? Expired offers removed? These details reveal whether the site is well-maintained or abandoned.

• “About Us” section present and authentic: Customers want to know who's behind it. The restaurant's history, the team, the philosophy: everything helps create a connection.Photos that represent the current reality: If you've updated your decor or changed the style of your dishes, your photos should reflect your current situation.

Safety and technical aspects

Protect your site and visitors

• Active SSL certificate (HTTPS): The URL must begin with "https://" and display a padlock in the browser. Without SSL, Google penalizes your rankings and browsers display security warnings.

• Regular backups configured: If your site crashes or gets hacked, can you recover it? Check with your hosting provider to ensure backups are active.

• Updated plugins and CMS: If you use WordPress or other CMS, keep everything updated. Outdated versions are vulnerable.

• Spam-protected forms: If you receive dozens of spam messages from your contact form, activate a protection system like reCAPTCHA.

Integrations and social media

Connect to the rest of your online presence

• Links to working social media profiles: Verify that each icon leads to the correct profile and that the profiles are still active

• Integrated social feed (if present) working: If you display your Instagram feed on your site, make sure it updates and doesn't display any errors.

• Working TripAdvisor/Google reviews or widgets: If you have integrated review widgets, check that they are working correctly.

• Consistency between information on the website and on Google Business: Hours, address, and phone number must match exactly. Discrepancies confuse customers and penalize your positioning.

How to proceed after the check

Once you've completed the checklist, prioritize the issues. Critical interventions are those that prevent bookings or severely disrupt the experience, such as incorrect contact information, an unavailable website, or a broken booking process. These should be addressed immediately.

Major improvements include issues such as insufficient speed, problematic mobile experience, or difficult-to-navigate menus. They require action within a few weeks.

Desirable optimizations include advanced SEO, small aesthetic improvements, or additional integrations. These can be planned slowly.

Establish a schedule to repeat this check at least every three months, or after any significant changes to the site.

A site that works for you

Your restaurant's website works 24/7, even when your business is closed. It can be your best salesperson or the reason potential customers choose your competitors. The difference lies in how carefully you maintain it.

This checklist isn't a one-time-and-forget exercise. It's a tool to keep handy, to revisit periodically, to use as a gauge of the quality of your digital presence. A well-maintained website communicates care, the same care customers expect to find on their plate.