Many food companies and restaurants have opted for take-out and delivery-only opportunities during the global coronavirus predicament. To maintain business operations, they instigated the WooCommerce food ordering system so customers can place orders anywhere.
Setting up a WooCommerce food ordering classification and providing food delivery is cheaper and more bearable than managing any franchise or eatery., especially gourmet restaurants considering to shut down due to the coronavirus epidemic.
The most fabulous restaurant websites have come a long way from the days when only menu items and contact information were displayed. Its development evokes a sense of fashion in the restaurant and brings visual taste buds to customers, which they will experience during the visit. But if your competitor already has an attractive website, how do you stand out from the crowd? Simple – Get one or two free restaurant WordPress templates and setups.
Luckily, WordPress has everything you need to build the perfect restaurant website. Not only are there many excellent restaurant WordPress themes to choose from, but there are also many plugins to help improve your website’s functionality. By choosing the add-on that suits your needs, you can effectively spread the restaurant’s brand and fascinate more customers through the door.
This article will show you how to build your own custom WordPress-based restaurant website in WooCommerce through easy steps.
Steps to Create a WordPress-Based Restaurant Site
Before you start, put everything in context…
STEP #1 Purchase Your Restaurant Site Domain Name
First, you need to purchase a classy domain name that replicates the name of your cafe. If probable, choose the.COM extension because it is the most preferred extension, and by default, people will enter the extension while typing a business or searching keywords in the address bar. Consider the word “restaurant” in the title if your desired name is taken.
Not all businesses that sell domain names (called domain registrars) match. Some use strategies like hiding charges or peddling your information to earn extra money, which can have a long-term effect on your business.
- Watch out for hidden fees
As with any purchasing decision, the price can be an essential factor. Go ahead and buy a domain name at a very economical price. But don’t be tricked – some domain registrars bargain with profile-raising pricing at meager prices, but then they fleece a lot of changes in the agreement, lock it up, and charge higher renewal fees. In general, keep in mind that the registrar offering the lowest domain name price may have other unethical ways of earning money.
STEP #2 Hire Reliable WordPress Hosting Service
You also require a reliable server to host your website’s data files and make them accessible for online search. A decent clue is to read reviews of different hosting companies that support WordPress, and as you do your research, make sure your existing customers have a virtuous experience.
For testing, we chose the StartUp suite. However, we recommend using the Bluehost plan for packages that are generally more optimized for WordPress. They are a bit more expensive but have other benefits as well, such as advanced caching (customized by SiteGround), staging, advanced wildcard SSL certificates, and free PCI compliance if you want to run an eCommerce store. Another cool option is Elementor. The popular WordPress website builder now offers built-in cloud hosting for WordPress. You can build your website, hosting included, for as little as $99 a year.
STEP #3 WordPress Installation Procedure
Start setting up your website. You need to install WordPress, configure the theme, and add the necessary WP plugins yourself. In any case, you need to build your restaurant website page and add your exclusive restaurant assets. Let’s dive into how to do this with three easy steps:
- Installing WordPress
The primary step is to connect to WordPress. It is a prerequisite to sign in to cPanel using the host’s username and password. Then scroll down to the “Website Installer” or “One-Click Installer” section. Search for WordPress and select the “Install” button.
Enter your site name, username, and password, and then click the “install” button.
Once the installation is finished, you will see a message asking you to log into the WordPress dashboard. Browse the link and enter your login credentials.
- Installing Your WordPress Restaurant Theme
You’ll find the detailed setup in the WordPress dashboard; navigate to “Appearance”> “Themes”> “Add new. ” On the following screen, choose to upload a theme.
Click the button and select the zipped folder that holds the theme files. Click Upload. After the installation process is complete, click “Activate.”
- Install the Required Plugins
The last but not the least step is to initiate the necessary plugins. Click on the link that shows the Begin Installing Plugins.
- Activating Required WordPress Plugins
Select all plugins on the loaded page and click “Install” from the drop-down list.
- Activate Plugins
Now once all the plugins have been installed, it is time to set up your website.
STEP #4 Installing WooCommerce Plugin
It is recommended to start with a WooCommerce installation wizard with a WordPress default theme without any other eCommerce plugin. This will reduce the compatibility issues with WooCommerce throughout the process.
- Adding A New WordPress Plugin
Now navigate to the WordPress dashboard for easy installation, find the plugin tab, and select ADD NEW.
You can search hundreds of plugins; just type WooCommerce in the search bar. Once you get the plugin, select and click INSTALL NOW.
- Installing The WooCommerce Plugin
Once the installation is finished, click the ACTIVATION button to finalize the process; now, WooCommerce will shortly launch its configuration and restore your setup with the home setting. For this setting, you need to provide basic details about your store, such as store location, product type, categories, etc.
STEP #5 Other Required Plugins Installation
- All-in-One SEO for WordPress
All-in-One SEO is one of the best choices for SEO plugins, particularly for WooCommerce stores. The idea is to jump straight to other SEO alternatives. After all, many preferred WordPress SEO plugins are available, but the all-in-one SEO pack is one of the most comprehensive SEO toolkits right now.
All-in-One SEO Pack has been downloaded over 30 million times and is actively installed on over a million WordPress sites. As the name suggests, this is an all-in-one SEO solution for users of all skill levels. But it hasn’t garnered as much courtesy as Yoast SEO. Have a look at the features it offers.
Main Function:
- XML Sitemap support.
- Google Analytics and Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP support).
- Integrate into the API with WooCommerce.
- Automatically generate meta tags.
- WordPress performance tweaks
- MonsterInsights – The Top Google Analytics Plugin
This plugin makes it very easy to set up and practice Google Analytics. Take the estimation out and provide factual data to business analysts to make conversant decisions and produce positive ROI.
Main Function:
i. Track Form Conversions
With the MonsterInsights form plugin’s help, you can trace all kinds of WordPress forms, including contact forms, signup, polls, surveys, lead generation. The plugin will automatically track form conversions and display a comprehensive report containing vital, relevant statistics based on each form’s performance. For example, you can view the total number of impressions, conversions, and conversion rates against the contact form.
ii. E-commerce Tracking
In just a few clicks, you can check out how much revenue the store can make, along with conversion rates, number of transactions, and average order value. The plugin also displays your popular products, top conversion resources, purchase time, purchase sessions, and other statistics.
iii. User-Friendly Dashboard Reports
MonsterInsights can easily connect your website to Google Analytics and assist you with internal data insight.
Its dashboard report allows you to view Google Analytics without leaving the website. Each report is prudently designed so that users can quickly realize the insight and find actionable information to elevate their business.
STEP #6 Restaurant For WooCommerce Extension Installation
This plugin can turn a WooCommerce store into a fully functional food ordering system and present menus in an easy-to-use one-page restaurant ordering system so that customers can look, select and customize their preferred orders.
With Restaurant for WooCommerce, you can express your business name, logo, and portrayal of the menu. Use an exclusive shortcode to show restaurant menus and functions on any page or post on the WooCommerce website.
Prominent Features:
- Simple menu layout: display your menu in ascending or descending order;
- easily create restaurant menus; create online restaurant menus by transforming WooCommerce store pages to a complete restaurant page;
- Unlimited delivery choices – your Customers provide a variety of options (free shipping, express delivery, etc.) and related costs;
- Interactive mini shopping cart widget: The mini shopping cart widget extension displays your customer’s order summary. They can also rise or decrease the number of items in the shopping cart;
- show daily hours and restaurant status: the main menu will display as the restaurant status (open or closed) so your clients can order accordingly;
- Random Sorting and Products – Reorder the products and categories in the menu as needed. Use the drag-and-drop feature on the backend to bring your best-selling or recently released foods and categories to the top of the menu.
STEP #7 WordPress Template That Suits Your Needs
As mentioned earlier, many WordPress restaurant online themes are available, or you can utilize multipurpose themes. It is recommended that you use a niche theme, as this will make it easy to build a complete restaurant website easier. Different WordPress theme providers offer different themes with miscellaneous functions and designs at economical charges. You can choose from thousands of options, but remember these three golden rules.
- Select a responsive theme, and check how the design is displayed on your mobile device.
- Choose a flexible and customizable theme.
- A theme that is easy to use and implement.
STEP #8 Create A Contact Us Page
The “Contact Us” page is an essential part of any website. This page will help your potential clients understand your cafe location and get in touch with you. You can place an address, map, and other contact information on your contact page.
The “Contact Us” page should also include a form for customers to provide comments or suggestions. It is recommended to use GravityMore services to add a contact form in WordPress.
Besides, you can also customize contact forms with hundreds of options, add different social media icons, and link your official social pages, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
STEP #9 Building Loyalty Through Restaurant Gamification
The rule is that you will get free drinks once you get five stamps. It’s called gamification because it’s like carrying out five levels and getting rewarded for it. These days, we have become bounty hunters for rewards and discounts.
If you’re ready to get started but want to know how to start the rewards program, visit myCred. This WordPress-based customer point management system can help restaurants create a glimpse of experience and ensure that visitors come back repeatedly. myCred can quickly build a loyalty program or gamify your restaurant website, which can intensify typical customer value with less marketing effort.
Check myCred’s membership Club offers here.
STEP #10 Choose The Finest Payment Gateway For Your Restaurant
Finding a payment processor for an eatery is never easy. There are many options, prices vary widely, and terms of service are often challenging to interpret. If you already have access to the point of sale (POS) system and don’t want to upgrade, you need a processor to work with your existing system.
Square is an inclusive payment gateway or virtual terminal. It derives as an essential part of a bigger eCommerce solution. The versatility of Square is aligned to foster customer payment and omnichannel buying experience. Square’s core strategy is to collect payments through POS, credit cards, and smart payment devices.
To skip the transformational process and jump-start with digital payments. It would be best if you worked with a payment plugin like WP EasyPay, & WooSquare Plus, a well-known option that led your digital strategy and delivered instant customized square payment processing, leveraging sales, service, customization, and insights.
FINAL STEP: Maintaining Your Restaurant Site
Since you are the owner of the restaurant website, you need to keep it running. You have to take on two practical responsibilities when managing your website: updating WordPress and changing the content. The update is the simplest; it only takes 5 minutes to complete. Whenever WordPress publishes an update, you will receive a notification in the WP admin panel. The same goes for all plugins that need to be updated.
