What does a coffee shop website need?

Today's hours, a short menu of drinks and food, your address with directions, and whether people can sit and work. Add wifi, outlets, patio and dog rules, where your beans come from, and a link to order ahead if you take mobile orders. Many cafes need one page that does all of that well.

Can my cafe website show if we're open right now?

Yes. Shingle can show open or closed from the hours in Details, in your own time zone, and that's only as good as those hours, so keep them right. For a snow day or a broken machine, use the announcement bar. It's one line across every page, and it still needs a publish.

Can customers order ahead on a coffee shop website?

Not on the site itself, since Shingle doesn't take orders or payments. If your register or app takes mobile orders, give Shingle that link and your order button will open it. If you build from your Google listing, Shingle also reads any ordering link the listing gives.

Do I need more than one page for a cafe website?

Often not. Shingle decides between one page and several from your brief and says why, and a one-page site's menu links to its sections. You can ask for one page in your brief, and add another later if you start catering or selling beans, which uses 10 credits.

Can a cafe website list open mic nights and art shows?

Yes, as words on the page. Shingle has no events calendar, tickets or sign-ups for them, so keep a short section on what's coming up and edit it by hand, which costs no credits. For one big night, the announcement bar can carry the date and take itself down the day after.

How do I change a coffee shop menu when seasonal drinks change?

Edit the words on the page and save, which costs no credits. You can also ask in plain words, such as “swap the pumpkin latte for a maple one”, which uses 5 credits. Either way, visitors see it once you publish your updates, which is free and usually takes a few minutes.

Open yet? Oat milk? Wifi?

Someone on their way wants fast answers. Your origin story can wait one scroll.

What the home page says

Section by section, in the order a visitor reads it.

Today's hours
Most visitors are checking if you're open, on a phone, on the way. Put your hours in the first screen. Shingle can show open or closed right now from those hours, and the announcement bar handles a snow day.
What we pour and bake
Keep it short and in words: espresso, drip, tea, what you bake and what milks you carry. Nobody needs every syrup, but plenty of people check for oat milk or something gluten-free before they walk over.
Can I stay a while?
A question only a cafe has to answer. Say if there's wifi, outlets and big tables, if you go laptop-free on weekends, and what the patio and dog rules are. Remote workers and study groups choose by this.
Our beans
If you roast, or buy from a roaster worth naming, give it a few lines. Regulars care. Shingle has no store, so if you sell bags online, link to that shop, or say they're at the counter.
Order ahead
The morning line is the reason for this one. If your register or app takes mobile orders, put that link near the top. Shingle has no ordering or payments, so the button opens your provider.
Coffee for the office
Boxes of coffee and pastry trays go to people who order again. A short form can ask for the date, the headcount and a delivery time. It takes a request and can't confirm a slot, so say you'll reply.

How they search

coffee near me
coffee shop open now
cafe with wifi near me
quiet place to work near me
best latte near me
oat milk latte near me
coffee shop with patio
breakfast sandwich near me

What earns their trust

Today's hours, kept right through holidays and snow days
Photos of your own counter, drinks and seats
Where your beans come from
What you bake yourselves, and what comes in
The milks you carry, and which pastries have nuts
The people behind the bar, if they're happy to be named

How it gets found

What moves a coffee shop up in a town's results.

Coffee shop, cafe or espresso bar
Google lists all three, and it wants you on as few categories as you can manage. Choose the one that matches what you mostly sell. A place built around the bar is a coffee shop, and a place with a kitchen and table service leans cafe.
Fill in the details people filter by
Google listings can show outdoor seating and wifi, where Google offers them for your category. People comparing cafes look for those first, so make your listing and your site say the same thing.
Say where you are in people's words
Coffee is a walking-distance decision. Name your cross streets, the neighborhood, the campus or the station you're near. “Two blocks from the ferry” helps a visitor and a search engine more than a zip code.
Move your hours with the seasons
Summer closing times catch people out. Your Google listing and your site don't update each other, so change both when the season turns. On your site that's in Details, and it uses no credits.

How to sell one

Most coffee shops run on regulars and Instagram, and the owner has little budget for a big project. They buy when they open a second spot, start selling beans or catering, or get tired of answering “are you open” in their messages.

This is a walk-in business, so walk in. Radar marks a shop with only a social page. Build the demo, buy a coffee and show it on your phone. Keep the site to a page or two and the price small, and show them changing the hours themselves.

“Everyone finds us on Instagram.”: Your regulars do. Someone staying at the hotel down the street searches “coffee near me” and needs your hours, and your last nine posts don't show them. The site links to your feed.
“I can't spend much on this.”: Then don't sell them much. A coffee shop often needs one good page with hours, a menu and a map. Price it like one page and keep the monthly fee low.
“Can I sell beans and merch on it?”: Shingle has no store or payments, so beans and shirts stay at the counter or in the online shop they already run, and the site links to it. If an online shop is the main business, be honest that this isn't the tool.
“My hours and menu change with the seasons.”: That's fine. Hours are in Details, and seasonal drinks are words on the page. Both are free to change by hand, and the update usually goes live in a few minutes.