Restaurant or hotel website: 9 essentials for more direct bookings

A customer looking for somewhere to eat tonight in Geneva or a hotel for a weekend in Montreux makes their decision in a few minutes, almost always on their phone. They compare photos, read three reviews, look at the menu or the rates… then book wherever it’s easiest. If your restaurant or hotel website is slow, incomplete or poorly ranked, that booking goes next door, or to a platform that takes a commission.

Here are the 9 elements we put in place at 360 Web Agency so that a venue’s website in French-speaking Switzerland becomes its number one direct booking channel.

1. A booking button that’s always visible

This is the most important action on your website: it must be one click away from any page, at the top of the screen on mobile. Connect it to your booking tool (hotel booking engine, table booking module, simple form) and avoid detours through intermediate pages. Every extra click loses customers.

2. A menu in text, not a PDF

A PDF menu is unreadable on mobile, slow to load and invisible to Google and to artificial intelligence alike. Publish your dishes, prices and information (vegetarian, gluten-free, allergens) directly on the page. You improve the customer experience and gain visibility on searches like ‘tartare restaurant Geneva’ or ‘brunch Lausanne’.

3. Photos that make people hungry (or want to stay)

Photos are the number one decision factor in hospitality. Invest in professional images of your dishes, dining room, terrace, rooms and team. Then optimise them: WebP or AVIF format, reduced file size and descriptive alt text (‘lakeside restaurant terrace in Nyon’). They should seduce without slowing the website down.

4. A fast, mobile-first website

The vast majority of restaurant searches happen on smartphones, often on the move. A website that takes more than three seconds to load loses a good share of its visitors. Quality hosting, compressed images, few unnecessary plugins: speed is a selling point as much as an SEO factor.

5. A complete Google Business Profile linked to your website

For a ‘restaurant near me’ search, Google first shows the map and three venues. To appear there, your Google Business Profile must be complete: the right categories, up-to-date opening hours (including public holidays), menu, recent photos, a booking link and, above all, regular reviews that you reply to. Your website and profile must show exactly the same name, address and phone number.

6. Local SEO targeting your neighbourhood

Your customers don’t search for ‘restaurant’; they search for ‘Italian restaurant Carouge’, ‘hotel with parking Lausanne’ or ‘cocktail bar Eaux-Vives’. Each page of your website should target these precise searches: title, meta description, content, and mentions of the neighbourhood and nearby landmarks. That’s the core of our SEO.

7. A website in at least two languages

In French-speaking Switzerland, a large share of guests are international: tourists, business travellers and international organisations. A well-translated English (and sometimes German) version, with URLs and tags specific to each language, opens up these searches and reassures foreign visitors when they book.

8. Structured data for Google and AI tools

Structured data (schema.org Restaurant, Hotel or LocalBusiness) describes your venue in a language search engines understand: address, opening hours, price range, cuisine and booking link. It helps Google enrich your results and helps ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity cite you when asked for a recommendation. This is what we call visibility in AI search (GEO).

9. Reasons to book direct

Booking platforms and online travel agencies bring visibility, but their commissions eat into your margins, often 15 to 20% for a hotel. Give customers a reason to book through your website: best rate guaranteed, a free upgrade, a welcome drink, more flexible cancellation terms. Highlight this benefit next to the booking button.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to build a restaurant website?

For a showcase website with a menu, gallery, booking and an optimised Google profile, allow four to eight weeks, depending on when photos and copy are available.

Do I need a website if I’m already on booking platforms?

Yes. Platforms make you visible but keep the customer relationship and take a commission. Your website is the only channel you fully control: your prices, your image, your customer data.

Can the team update the website themselves?

Yes. We deliver WordPress websites that are easy to manage: you change the menu, opening hours or photos yourself, without touching the design.

Make your website your best waiter

A good hotel or restaurant website doesn’t just look good: it sells. At 360 Web Agency, we build websites designed for direct bookings, with local SEO, your Google profile and visibility in AI search included. Discover our approach for hotels and restaurants or contact us to review your online presence.