Your food truck’s website essentials are those things that expand your brand and bring visitors to your service window. Don’t expect your food truck website to be a common hangout for web users. The truth is that users have specific goals when going to a food truck website.

In my experience the top three things people are looking for are:

1. Menu options (and prices)
2. Locations
3. Pictures

Today we will discuss these website essentials that every food truck website should make sure they have.

Food Truck Website Essentials

The Home Page

When discussing your food truck website’s home page it’s important to point out that this page must be properly setup. Ensure the following:

• Utilize great imagery. Don’t cut corners here. It is essential that you have near perfect images for food and and the atmosphere around your food truck. People really pay attention to those things.
• A nice opening intro message. This is your 30 second elevator pitch to tell the user what you’re about. This is also great for getting more traffic from search engines.
• Locations. People will want to find you. Don’t hide your directions or location. While we understand that you are mobile, there are ways to share your current locations (Twitter feed, Google maps, etc…).

The Menu Page

What’s on the menu? It’s a critical question and one that your food truck website needs to answer. Chances are, those visiting your website are also checking out the competition; how are you going to display your menu offerings in ways that will set you apart and, ultimately, make them choose you?

Keep in mind that, unlike at your truck, staff members aren’t available to answer questions or provide additional information. Whether or not to include pricing on your menu will be a decision that will be tied, to a large degree, to your desired image. For many food truck diners, it’s an obvious question and one they’ll want to find answers to on your site.

If you offer catering, make sure to have a separate catering page. It can include your catering menu, minimum requirements, and a contact form that prospective clients can request additional information.

The About Page

The about page will act as a continuation of your 30 second elevator pitch on the home page. Great for search engines and also a way to highlight the deeper details behind the restaurant.

• Site pictures. Once again, don’t cut corners here.
• Tell your story. Share who you are and how your food truck business came to be.
• Employment. An often overlooked visitor to a food truck website is somebody who is looking for a job. Setting the correct expectations on your website with how to seek employment options can save a lot of headaches.

RELATED: The Importance Of Your Food Truck Website About Us Page

Contact Information

Don’t overlook the obvious. Those who visit your website are making a decision about where to go to eat. If you don’t tell them where you’re located, or give them easy-to-find information about how to track you down, you may lose them to the competition. And there’s a lot of competition in the food truck industry.

Add Fresh Content

The typical food truck website is not a very appealing place for users to hangout. Add fresh content to your site will greatly improve your standing in search engines, which will add to exposure. A great way of doing this is by either adding a blog or News & Events section.

PLEASE NOTE: Do yourself a favor and don’t add music to your website. Usability studies continue to show that this is one of the most disliked features a website can have. If you have music, you can be assured that users will leave quickly or not return again.

The Bottom Line

By using these website essentials for your food truck website, the search engines will take notice and so will your potential customers. Once they click, they’ll find themselves admiring your flavorful photos, scouring every detail of your menus and finding your next location so they can savor your food first-hand.

Do you have any additional website essentials for food truck websites? Share your thoughts on this topic in the comment section or social media. Facebook | Twitter