A website for your catering business, and you see it before you pay

First, do you actually need a website yet?

Not everyone does, and I would rather tell you that up front. If you are still at the research stage, or you plan to do one street pitch at lunchtimes and nothing else, do not spend money on a website yet. A free Google Business Profile and an active Facebook page will do the job while you find your feet, and your budget is better spent on the van, the kit and the stock.

You need a website when the bookings start to matter. If you want wedding and event enquiries, if you want to show up when someone searches "hog roast hire" or "coffee cart" with your town attached, or if you have ever lost a booking to a caterer who simply looked more established online, that is when a proper site starts paying for itself. One decent event booking usually covers the cost of the whole thing.

Who builds it, and why I recommend them

Websmartz is a UK web design service that builds websites specifically for mobile caterers, hog roast, street food, pizza, coffee, mobile bars, the lot. They look after the design and automation behind the MobCater sites, including the one you are reading now. So when I say they understand what a catering website needs to do, menus with prices, an enquiry form that works at midnight, a tap to call button, photos that sell food, it is because they have been doing it for this industry already.

We have used Websmartz for a long time on our own sites, so I am not guessing when I recommend them. Even so, do not take my word for it, judge the work instead. That is what the free mock-up is for.

How the free mock-up works

Step one, tell them about your business. Your name, what you cook, the style you like, takes a few minutes on their form. No payment details, they do not ask for a card at all.

Step two, see your homepage, free. They design your actual homepage with your name and style on it, usually back with you the next day. Not a template with someone else's logo, yours.

Step three, pick how you pay. Most people start at £29.99 a month with nothing upfront, which covers the full build plus your domain, hosting, professional email and a content change every month, for a minimum of 12 months. Or buy it outright for £399, normally £599, and run it on your own hosting. Either way it is usually live within 7 working days of you sending your menu, photos and details. And if the mock-up is not for you, that is fine, it costs nothing and you are under no obligation.

While you wait for your mock-up, it is worth checking your web address is free, it takes a few seconds and a good name is worth securing early.

See the styles they build

These are three example catering sites Websmartz built to show the range, click any of them to browse the full working site. There is a mobile bar style too, and you can see all the styles on their examples page.

What you get, the full list

This is not a starter page with everything else sold as extras. Whichever way you pay, it is the same complete, fully loaded site, and I have taken this list straight from what Websmartz deliver:

• Mobile-first design, it looks right on phones, which is where caterers get found and booked
• Your menu with prices, answering the question behind every enquiry
• Online enquiry and booking form, so event bookings land in your inbox at any hour
• Tap to call and WhatsApp buttons, one tap to reach you, no faff
• A coverage map, so people know straight away whether you travel to them
• Your Google reviews on the site, your reputation doing the selling
• Local SEO and AEO setup, found in the "near me" searches on Google and by the AI tools people now ask, like ChatGPT
• Secure SSL, the padlock, which customers and Google both trust
• Your own favicon, your logo in the browser tab
• Built, installed and made live, they do the lot, you just send your details

On the monthly option your .co.uk domain, hosting, SSL and professional email are included on top, along with one content change every month. If you need a logo, they design one for £49 as an optional extra, and that is the only extra on the list.

What it costs, plainly

There are two ways to pay, and both start with the same free mock-up.

£29.99 a month, nothing upfront. That covers the full build plus your .co.uk domain, hosting, SSL, professional email and one content change every month, for a minimum of 12 months, then it simply carries on month to month. Here is the part I want to underline: the domain and hosting are registered in your own name from day one. So after the first year you choose, keep us looking after everything for the same £29.99, or take the keys and run it yourself. Either way it is already yours.

Or £399, one payment, normally £599, a special rate we have secured for MobCater readers. You sort your own hosting and domain, they are the usual small yearly costs on your own account, and the site is built on it. No monthly fees to us at all.

Whichever you choose, the site is built on WordPress, the system most of the web runs on, so you are never tied to one company to make changes later. No lock-in, no rental model, no surprise renewal at triple the price. If you have a name in mind, you can check your web address is available before you do anything else.

Every site is also set up for search from day one, proper SEO for Google and the "near me" searches, and AEO, which means it is structured so the AI tools people now ask instead of Google, like ChatGPT, can find you and recommend you too. That matters more every year, and it is built in, not an extra.

The honest comparison is doing it yourself with a DIY builder. That route costs less cash and more evenings, and plenty of caterers go that way happily. My guide to getting online covers what your page needs to include whichever route you take.

Questions people ask me about it