The three things restaurant websites get wrong

A restaurant website has one job. Someone is hungry, they have heard of you or found you on the map, and in the next sixty seconds they decide whether to come, book or order. Everything on the site either helps that decision or gets in its way. Most sites get in the way in the same three places.

1. The menu is a PDF

Or a photo of the printed menu. Or a page that says "download our menu". On a phone, a PDF means pinching, scrolling sideways and giving up. It also cannot be read by Google, so "restaurant with vegan ramen" never finds you.

The menu is the most-visited page on every restaurant site we have ever measured. It should be a proper page: one column, big enough type, dishes with a line of description, allergens marked, and prices. Editable by someone on the floor in a minute when the fish changes.

2. The prices are missing

"Prices on request" on a menu means "more than you think". Nobody books a table to find out. Put the prices next to the dishes; put the price of the tasting menu on the page; if you charge for bread, say so. Guests who know what it costs arrive relaxed and spend more.

3. The photos lie, or don't exist

Stock photos of food that is not yours, a dark blurry shot of the dining room, a hero image of a wine glass at sunset. Guests are choosing between you and two others based on what the place looks and tastes like. A few honest photos — the room in daylight, three signature dishes, the terrace, the kitchen — do more than any slogan. Take them once a season with a phone in good light, and replace the stock.

The fourth thing, which is really the first

Where, when, and how to book — on the first screen. Address with a map link. Today's hours, correct. A button that books a table or orders, that works without an app. If you are full on Saturdays, say it and offer Sunday. If you do takeaway, say it above the fold. The rest of the site — the story, the chef, the sourcing — is for the second visit.

What we leave out

Music. Full-screen video. A "reservation request" form that someone answers on Tuesday. Pop-ups asking for a newsletter before the guest has seen the soup. Anything that loads before the menu.

A good restaurant site is nearly boring: menu, prices, photos, hours, a button. That is because the restaurant is the interesting part, and the site's job is to get people to it. If yours is a PDF, fixing it is a week's work and you will feel it on Friday night.