Do you need one?
Does a pizza restaurant need a website?
A fair question when the apps bring orders. But the honest answer turns on choice: people seek out the good pizza and pick the one that proves it.
From £297, live in 7 days, on your own domain.
Does a pizza restaurant need a website?
The honest answer
Does a pizza restaurant need a website? If you’re content to be a generic option on the apps, paying commission and never reaching the people who seek out good pizza, then perhaps not. But the honest answer turns on how people choose pizza, because they are particular about it. A pizza lover has a favourite and actively seeks out the good place, so before they order or book they look for proof that yours is proper, real photos of the pizza, reviews, a place that looks like it cares about what it makes. They are not settling for whatever is nearest; they are choosing the one that proves its quality. A pizza restaurant that shows nothing of its own is lumped in with the generic options and passed over for the place that looked properly good, and with no site it hands its orders, and its customers, to the delivery apps. The real question, then, is whether you want to be chosen as the good pizza place and keep your trade, because a website is how a pizzeria proves its quality and owns its orders.
People seek out the good pizza and choose the one that proves it
The defining fact about pizza trade is that people care which pizza they get, and that changes how they choose. A pizza lover is not indifferent; they have a favourite and they hunt for the good one, so the decision turns on which place looks like it makes proper pizza. So before they choose you, they want proof, real photos of your pizza and your place, reviews that back it up, a sense that you take it seriously, and they look for that online. A pizza restaurant that proves its quality wins them; one that shows nothing is filed with the generic options and loses them to the place that looked properly good. These customers are not reached by being on an app alone, because on an app you are one thumbnail among many, undifferentiated. So a site that proves your quality is how a pizzeria gets chosen by the people who seek out good pizza, which a bare app listing never does, because a particular customer picks the pizza they can see is proper.
A website wins the quality-seekers the apps and footfall miss
The strongest objection is that the delivery apps and passing trade already bring orders, and they bring some, but a website wins the trade they miss rather than duplicating them. The apps bring orders at a cost, a cut of each and ownership of the customer, and on them you are a generic thumbnail, not the good place people were seeking. Passing footfall is real but doesn’t reach the pizza lover at home deciding where to order the good stuff from. A site wins that quality-seeker by proving yours is worth choosing, and keeps direct orders off the apps so the margin and the customer stay yours, while still letting the apps do what they do. So a website does not replace your apps and footfall, it wins the customers who were choosing on quality and keeps the orders you’d otherwise rent from a platform. Far from being unnecessary, a good site is how a pizzeria stops being a generic thumbnail and becomes the good place people seek out.
So the real answer to does a pizza restaurant need a website is: yes, if you want to be chosen as the good pizza and keep your orders, because people seek out the proper place and pick the one that proves it, so being absent means being a generic option. And finding out costs just £99 up front: I build the site on spec, from £297, and you see it finished before you pay the rest, so you can look at your actual site, ready to prove your pizza and keep your trade, and decide from there, knowing the trade won and commission kept cover the cost many times over.
How it works
From message to live in four steps.
- 01
Message me
Tell me your trade and your town on WhatsApp. No forms to wade through, no call to book.
- 02
£99 to start
A £99 deposit gets your build going and comes off your quote. It covers some of the build time.
- 03
I build it, you see it
I build the whole site, framed around your work, and send it to you finished to look at.
- 04
Pay the rest, go live
Happy with it? You pay the balance, it goes live on your own domain, and it is yours to keep.
What you get
What a pizza restaurant site from me includes.
-
Built on spec
I build it first and send it finished. You see the real thing before you decide, not a mock-up.
-
Live in 7 days
From the go-ahead, your site is live within a week. No months of back and forth.
-
On your own domain
It goes live in your name. You own the site and everything on it, with no lock-in.
-
Genuinely fast
Static pages, no WordPress. Fast pages rank better and turn more visitors into calls.
-
Found on Google
Built to be found in local search, with the plumbing done properly from day one.
-
Looked after
Someone looks after it and changes it when you need. Two small edits a month, your listing kept current.
What it costs
A straight price.
From £297 to build it, first three months of Care included, then £49 a month.
You own the site outright and can stop the monthly plan whenever you like. Hosting is part of Care and Grow, so one of those keeps it online after the first three months, or you host it yourself. See the full pricing.
Common questions
Questions I get asked.
Does a pizza restaurant really need a website?
If you want to be chosen as the good pizza place and to keep your direct orders, yes, because people seek out proper pizza and pick the one that proves it. They have a favourite and look for quality, so a pizza place that shows, with real photos, that it's the good one gets chosen, while one with nothing to prove it is a generic option among many, and one with no site of its own hands its orders to the apps.
Aren't the delivery apps and passing trade enough?
They bring some trade, but the apps take a cut and own the customer, and passing trade doesn't reach the people seeking out good pizza. A site gets you chosen on quality by those who care, and keeps direct orders off the apps, while relying on apps and footfall alone caps your trade and your margin. They fill some of the room, a site wins the customer who was choosing.
Why do people look at a pizza place online before choosing?
Because pizza is a considered choice and they want the good one, so before ordering or booking they look for proof yours is proper, real photos, reviews, a place that looks like it cares. They judge it online, and a pizza restaurant that proves its quality wins them, while one that shows nothing is lumped in with the generic options and passed over for the place that looked properly good.
We do fine on the apps. Do we still need a site?
Yes, because app orders cost commission and the customer is the app's, so busy on the apps can still mean thin margins and no direct relationship, and it misses the dine-in trade seeking out good pizza. A site wins the quality-seekers and keeps direct orders, while relying on the apps alone leaves margin and customers with the platform. Doing fine on apps is not owning your trade.
When could a pizza restaurant skip a website?
Realistically, only if you're content to be a generic option on the apps, paying commission and never reaching the people who seek out good pizza. Because those customers choose the place that proves its quality, a pizza restaurant with nothing to show misses them. For any place wanting to be chosen and keep its orders, the case for a site is strong.
Is a website worth it for a small independent pizzeria?
Often especially so, because quality and care, not size, win a pizza lover, and a good site lets a small independent prove both with real photos as well as any chain. A quality-showing site can win a small pizzeria the people seeking out proper pizza, and keep its direct orders off the apps. The trade and margin won cover the cost easily.
How much does it cost to find out if a website is worth it?
Just £99 to start with me, and it comes off your quote. I build the whole site first and you see the finished thing before you pay the rest, from £297. So you are not gambling on a maybe, you are looking at the actual site for your pizzeria and deciding then. Given the trade won and commission kept, the risk of finding out is very low.
Tell me your town and I'll build you a pizza restaurant site on spec, so you can see it before you pay. Or read A Checkatrade alternative, see the full pricing, or get in touch.