A high-quality, contemporary website can be a game-changing investment for your restaurant. It will drastically improve your business prospects and increase your turnover. However, designing such an amazing website will cost you time and money. So the question is…
How much does a restaurant website cost? If you hire a professional web design agency to create your restaurant website, then expect to pay $3000 to $10,000 on average for a basic restaurant website. And if you decide to build it yourself, the cost will vary according to the website design platform you choose. For example, creating a restaurant website with WordPress will cost you between $20 to $200, creating it with Wix will cost you $5/month to $35/month, and building it with Squarespace will cost between $18 to $40 per month.
- WordPress: WordPress is free, but there are charges for special themes, web hosting, SSL certificates, and plugins. So, it can cost anywhere between $20 to $200 according to the elements you choose. If you are interested in reducing this cost significantly, then here’s a great tutorial on how to create a restaurant website.
- Wix: Wix is a SaaS platform for creating websites. The cost of creating a website on Wix will depend on the plan you choose. There are premium plans ranging from $5/month to $35/month.
- Squarespace: Similar to Wix, Squarespace is also a SaaS platform for creating websites. Squarespace price plans range from $18 to $40 per month.
Basically, the cost of creating a restaurant website depends on various factors like domain and hosting charges, website functionality and complexity, platform used to build the website, and more importantly, whether you design it yourself or hire a professional. Let’s talk about these factors in detail…
Factors Affecting The Cost Of A Restaurant Website
Every respectable restaurant deserves its own website. However, the amount you spend on it is a personal choice. You can have a fantastic restaurant website for a nominal price or spend several grand on a fully customized restaurant website with extensive functionality.
So, why is there such a drastic difference in restaurant website costs? To understand this, let us explore the factors that affect website pricing.
1. DIY Or Hire A Professional Website Design Company
There are several website builders like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace that allow you to build your own restaurant website from scratch.
With these fully-managed website builders, you can design the entire website using simple drag-and-drop functions. So, you needn’t write a single line of code to make your own restaurant website.
WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace have free templates that can be used as a starting point to design your restaurant website. Apart from free themes, you will also find custom restaurant themes that can be bought. Pre-built themes will allow you to save on costs. The only additional expenses are for domain hosting and charges for using the platform.
Meanwhile, you will need a much bigger budget if you hire a professional web designer to build your restaurant website. Web design companies charge anywhere between $3000 and $15000 for the entire restaurant website design. The exact charges will depend on the extent of work involved, the tools used for development, and the time it takes to build the website completely. But if you decide to build the website all by yourself, then this cost can be significantly reduced.
2. Domain Name, Web Hosting, And SSL Certificate Charges
The domain name is basically your website’s address on the internet. To become the owner of a particular domain name, you should pay a registration charge and buy it from a domain registrar. The exact cost will depend on the name you choose.
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Similarly, a web host provides the space for your website on the internet. You can opt for shared hosting or a dedicated hosting service according to your budget and space needs.
SSL certification is necessary for websites that collect sensitive data like credit card information or personal data like telephone numbers. If your website has an e-commerce element, you will have to buy an SSL certificate to encrypt sensitive customer data.
3. Other Factors That Affect Restaurant Website Costs
Restaurant websites do not need too many functions. Customers mostly visit these websites for information about opening and closing hours, menus, testimonials, and contact details. However, it is important to pay attention to the clarity and visual appeal of the website, as these affect the user experience.
You will need a responsive design to allow users to access the restaurant website on different devices. Although this will add to the overall cost, getting your website to be responsive is usually a one-time expense.
The restaurant website design cost will also go up if you add a payment gateway or online reservation feature. Premium themes on WordPress and Wix will allow you to set up an eCommerce channel. Similarly, you can also find WordPress themes with booking options, if you wish to add an online reservation option to your restaurant website.
4. Extra Expenses For Restaurant Websites
All the above elements are essential expenses for a restaurant website. Additionally, there are some features that aren’t compulsory but beneficial for increased website visibility. Let us look at what they are.
- Content Development Expenses: Good quality static and dynamic content in the form of written text and images helps a website get noticed. Storytelling enhances the branding quotient and acts as a valuable marketing strategy for restaurants. Through strong copywriting, you can communicate your brand concept and increase your website reach. Similarly, good quality photographs will attract and engage customers. Website visitors will be tempted to try your restaurant when they see enticing food and décor images on your restaurant website.
- SEO Integration: SEO is an ongoing task for any business that wishes to enjoy higher search engine rankings. Good SEO strategies will help you dominate local search results and in turn, improve your turnover. SEO integration is easy with website builders like WordPress. However, you must dedicate effort and time to understand how SEO works and tailor your content to meet these requirements. Consider hiring an SEO expert to help you optimize your restaurant website for SEO from the beginning itself. You can also hire their ongoing services to stay abreast of changes in SEO and help your website maintain or improve its rankings from the time it goes live.
Comparison Of Different Website Builders To Make Your Own Restaurant Website
If you decide to build your website yourself, the best way to proceed is to use a website builder. The most popular three website builders are WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace.
Wix uses a simple drag-and-drop feature to build entire websites. Squarespace has more attractive templates than Wix, but it can be tricky for new users to understand. WordPress is the best of the three when it comes to customization, as the options are endless. All three website builders have eCommerce functionality and customer/community support.
Now, let us look at the cost…
Wix has a free plan with very limited features. It also has seven premium plans starting with $5 per month. You can pay for your Wix website every month or annually. Check out Wix pricing plans.
Meanwhile, Squarespace offers a trial for 14 days, after which you must upgrade to a paid option. Check out Squarespace pricing plans.
WordPress software is free to use. However, there are charges for special themes, SSL certificates, hosting, and plugins. Check out the list of WordPress themes and plugins needed to build a restaurant website.
To Summarize…
There is no fixed cost for a restaurant website as it depends on the level of complexity, tools used for development, features and functionality, and whether you handle the task yourself or hire an expert.
Complex websites usually call for technical expertise and coding knowledge. However, customers rarely require such functionality on a restaurant website. These websites serve as information sources and, at the most, must allow customers to make online reservations.
You can easily build such a restaurant website using website builders like Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress. Not only are these platforms budget-friendly, but the end results are amazing.
Use these website builders to build your restaurant website from scratch, and you can enjoy all the features you desire from a full-fledged restaurant website.
