Things needed before launching website

Things you will need before and after launching your website (for all types of websites)

Affiliate Link Disclosure: Some of the links provided in this article are affiliate links. We may be paid a commission if you use these links to make a purchase.

Once you have decided that you need a website then there are a number of things you will need to either create, buy or do before you can launch it and show it off to the world – such as:

Creating and or collating all of your Web Content (….including all the text that will display on your website pages & articles etc – and don’t forget your menu items and their descriptions, too),
Your Photos & Images (….needed for inserting into your Pages, Articles etc)
Good quality images for all your menu items and or any products you may have available for sale,
Plus your Website Header Graphics, Custom Logo & Favicon etc etc etc.

A website is a big investment in time and or money – so make sure that can you get the most from it. Having great photos, well written web copy and menu descriptions etc makes a difference, and helps to entice people to try your food.

Not sure which type of website is best for you? – see our articles “Website Types Explained” for a brief overview of website types, and “Websites 101 – What Type of Website Is Right For YOU?” for an in-depth explanation plus advice and details on the most common types of websites available.

1./ Website Logo & Favicon

Above: A Hotel Logo Design available for sale in our S2U logo Store

You’d be surprised how many clients don’t have a logo to provide to me after hiring me to build them a website.

Some had a logo designed long ago but were unable to locate the files for me…. others had logos available but only in raw format (….which means the logos have to be cropped and resized then processed into PNG files first before they can be added to the website – which is extra work and therefore extra cost – a cost I was always expected to absorb…) – or they have no logo at all to give me (and no funds to get one designed).

So, if this sounds like you then it’s time you got your logo files together & stored them in a safe place, ready for whenever you may need them (and you will need them again, often – for your web advertising, social media pages, flyers, banners, to name just a few).

If you don’t have a logo already, or you need a new one, then you will need to get it before you build or order your new website, or at the latest before your website is launched. You will also need a matching favicon (…..favicons are the small icons that display on web browser tabs when you visit a website).

Most professional logo designers charge from USD $500 upwards for a basic logo design, and much more if it is a complex design or requires special features such as a character / mascot creation. Some well-known brands have spent millions of dollars on their logo design – such is the importance of a good logo design to a business. Those companies know the importance of their logo to their business brand, and you should too.

Above: Some of the ready-made Restaurant Logo Designs available for sale in our S2U logo Store

If you really cannot afford to have a logo professionally designed and are not proficient in Photoshop then perhaps you could try hiring someone on Fiverr (….just be sure to not scrimp too much – pay a little extra to get multiple revisions & also make sure you also get the source files).

Or if you think that you can do it yourself then check out our S2U Logo Store – where we have a range of Restaurant and Food related logo designs available, and then you can use a free online tool such as Photopea to edit the logo files (it’s very easy to use).

2./ Web Content Creation:

Most new website clients are surprised to learn that they will need to supply the website developer with all of the website content for their site (…..as if web developer can just magically pull out all the customised text and images required for each individual business! lol), and are surprised – and sometimes annoyed too – that if they cannot provide it to the web developer there will be a cost involved for it to be created for them.

Writing web content requires knowledge (plus time and expertise). Only YOU know your own business – how on earth can a web developer know all about your business? If you don’t have the time or expertise, or perhaps you cannot be bothered to create and collate all the material needed to fill your website, then don’t expect it to be done for you for free.

Expect to pay at least USD $1,000-$2,000 for expert content creation for an average or small website, and from USD $50-$500 for an individual article (300-500 words) depending on the content creators level of expertise. This does not include any content SEO optimisation, which would be extra.

We also offer expert and affordable Content Creation Services for clients who need web content creation.

Note: If you are creating the content yourself to provide to a web designer then you will need to create it in a digital file format that your web developer prefers (such as .TXT, MS Word, or notepad),

3./ Website Photos & Images:

As well as your text content, your website will need some high-quality images. Great images and photos can make a HUGE difference to the overall look of your website – so don’t skimp on them.

Whilst you can find some nice images online for free, you need to be careful using free images due to copyright issues (…many free websites carry material which is in breach of copyright – use it and you risk legal action).

You can purchase professional images for a relatively small fee, so it is safer and better to buy them – expect to pay from USD $3 for each image.

Note: If you are creating the images yourself to provide to a web designer then you will need to create them in a digital file format that your web developer prefers (such as .JPG, PNG), Expect to pay extra if the images require cropping or optimising for web use.

PS: If you use free images (and even if you don’t!) we advise you to add a DMCA legal policy to your website – This is a legal document basically stating that you follow copyrights etc and that if anyone believes that there is something on your site that is in breach of their copyright that they contact you and you will remove it straight away.

We provide DMCA templates and other legal templates for free to all our website clients, which can be easily edited to suit your needs.

4./ Website Graphics:

Don’t scrimp on your Website Graphics to try save money…

As well as images and photos for your products and articles etc, you will also need great-looking graphics for your homepage header or slider, product categories, call-to-actions, etc.

Professional graphic designers are highly skilled and in-demand, and therefore are expensive to hire and can cost up to USD $300+ per hour, and a professional header image will usually cost USD $200-$500+ or more per design. however I advise you not to try to skimp on your website graphics or try to create them yourself just to save some $$ (….you may think that your home-made “creations” look ok, even great!, but I have news for you – they probably don’t…..).

Your website graphics are an ESSENTIAL part of your website – get it wrong and your website could look shabby, unprofessional or worse still, it could look “dodgy” and can cause customers to mistrust you and leave.

Website graphics are like the painted signs on a bricks & mortar shop – they need to be done by an expert…

Don’t have any nice food images? – We provide 100’s of images to all our restaurant website clients at no cost 🙂 – see bottom of this article for some examples.

5./ Website Legal Pages:

Whilst they may not be the “sexiest” items in your website (….which is probably why every single website client I’ve ever had never had any, or had even considered getting any….) they are actually one of the most important and necessary items in your website. They are a bit like insurance – you will only realise how important they are when the shit hits the fan…..

Ideally your Legal pages should be specifically written for your business by a professional lawyer who specialises in internet law & has experience in preparing legal documents for websites. However, that sort of expertise is sometimes hard to find and does not come cheap (expect to pay at least AUD $500 per hour, or about USD $500-$1,000 per document) and when you consider the amount of legal pages most websites need nowadays it can really add up (…..Website Policy, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, DMCA Policy, Terms of Service Policy, Returns Policy, Testimonials & Reviews Policy – the list goes on),

So, whilst they are not a replacement for hiring a lawyer and they come without any guarantee that they will be fit for your purpose or legally binding etc, we have a range of legal templates that we can provide to all our web design clients at no cost.

6./ Website SEO:

Whilst you can use SEO plugins to help with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), it can never replace the work of a human SEO expert. A SEO expert will optimise your website pages and content according to your niche, location and other factors to help increase free traffic from Google and other search engines. They also undertake other tasks that a mere plugin cannot do, such as link-building, content writing and so on.

SEO work also requires undertaking lots of SEO research (research into your particular business niche, your competitors & the methods & keywords they are using, plus current keywords and phrases specific to your niche, etc), and it is not something that a lay-person can usually do well, so it requires hiring an SEO expert and it also requires constant “tweaking” and updating to get the best results.

SEO professionals are highly trained experts (…essentially their “studying” never ends, as they have to keep up with many changes on a daily basis, which also adds to their hiring cost) and their services are very much in-demand today too, therefore like many other professionals they can command high prices for their expertise.

There are different types of SEO services available – Restaurants and Cafes will benefit most from Local SEO services.

It usually takes 3-6 months or more to see any real results from SEO work, and it is a long-term and on-going commitment (posts and pages that were optimised in the past will need re-optimising in the future in order to continue to rank high and beat your competitors).

Google algorithm changes can also create the need to update or change your website’s SEO, so it requires considerable outlay to retain results, but the benefits it can bring can be worth it.

The costs of SEO work will vary according to a number of factors, including the type of business niche (some niches are highly competitive and will require more time and more work to get results).

Because SEO takes time to produce results we recommend combining it with a PPC (“Pay-Per-Click”) Campaign and or other types of advertising, in order to bring in immediate traffic and sales.

7./ PPC & Other Advertising:

Building a website and filling it with all your content is just the beginning – once it is launched you will need to find a way to attract customers! The best way to do this is by advertising and marketing.

You can use many different types of marketing at the same time for optimal results, including PPC, Social Media, Search Engine paid placements, email advertising (ads prominently shown in peoples mail inboxes), to name just a few.

8./ Free & Low-Cost Marketing Methods…

Social Media Give-aways & Promotions: Everyone loves something for free, and everyone loves a competition. Combine the two on social media and you should be able to get some good results for very little or no cost.

For this type of competition campaign you should stipulate that entry requires some sort of work in return for a chance to win (such as a like, share and comment on your social media page) in order for your campaign to go viral/get you lots of attention. Some examples for Restaurant or Cafe business promotions would be: a dinner for two give-away (for Valentine’s Day), a Gourmet Foods Hamper (Christmas, Thanksgiving), or gift vouchers give-aways (suitable anytime!).

Newsletter & Email Campaigns: If you already have customers and have their email addresses then you can run an email or newsletter campaign. These types of promotions work best if you have something special to promote – such as a special offer, discount or to remind customers to book a special day event dinner (such as Valentine’s Day Romantic Dinners, Mothers Day Banquets, etc).

Local Business Banner Exchanges: If you know a local business with a website then you could consider exchanging banners. Cross-promotion such as this can work well, especially if the two businesses compliment each other without competing (eg: A Florist exchanging banners with a Restaurant website for Valentine’s Day).

Affiliate Programs: If you have a product or service that others want, and if you can afford to give some of your profit away in return for a sale, then you could consider joining an Affiliate Marketing Platform (or alternatively you can run your own affiliate program via a plugin or software, but it is more work and we only advise it for established brands or high traffic websites).

Simply sign up to your chosen Affiliate platform, add your products and state the amount of commission you are willing to pay out, and wait for affiliates to sign up. Once they send a customer to your website and that customer purchases, the platform pays them a commission.

You will usually need to have professional banners and other creatives produced ready for the affiliates to promote your products/services, and it is only suitable for promoting certain types of business and services (….a typical restaurant is probably not suited to affiliate programs, however a restaurant that sells food hampers online or takes online bookings for weddings etc, could be suitable).

9./ Tax Compliance:

For making tax compliance easy we recommend Quaderno software (which also has a free WordPress plugin, so incorporating the Quaderno service on your website is a breeze).

As well as global tax rules, many countries also have different rules for each state (eg: USA), and the EU also has different rates for each member state.

Quaderno software will not only handle all these for you but is also kept up-to-date with any changes surrounding global tax laws and tax compliance for e-Commerce businesses that will happen in the future (……and changes are happening a lot lately, as countries around the world are all scrambling to find ways they can get more revenue due to the devastating COVID pandemic).

Without a service like Quaderno you will need to keep an eye on local and Global tax rates constantly, especially if you also sell internationally.

10./ FREE FOOD PHOTOS – WEBSITE CLIENT BONUS:

We provide all our Restaurant website clients with 100’s of food images to use for free, plus we have many other great resources available in our S2U Members website (free membership is provided to all our website clients).

Below: Some examples of our food images available at no cost to all our restaurant website clients.

Things you will need before and after launching your website