If you run a café, chances are your Instagram looks great. Golden croissants, latte art, happy regulars. So it's fair to ask: do I really need a website too?
Short answer: yes — and not because websites are fancy. Because of how people actually find a café they've never been to before.
People don't search Instagram for "café near me" — they search Google
When someone's in your suburb wanting brunch, they don't scroll Instagram hoping to stumble on you. They type "café near me" or "best breakfast [your suburb]" into Google. What shows up is Google Maps and websites.
No website means you barely exist in that moment — and that moment is exactly when someone is hungry, nearby, and ready to spend money.
Instagram is rented space. Your website is yours.
On Instagram, the algorithm decides who sees your posts — most of your followers never see them. The rules change without warning, and if your account is ever hacked or suspended, everything is gone overnight.
Your website is the one place online you actually own. Nobody can change the rules on it, bury it, or take it away.
A website answers the questions people actually have
Before someone visits for the first time, they almost always want to know:
- Are you open right now? (hours)
- What's on the menu, and what does it cost?
- Where exactly are you, and is there parking?
- Can I book a table for Saturday?
- Do you do gluten-free / vegan / dog-friendly?
Digging through months of Instagram posts for that is hard work. A website answers all of it in ten seconds — and a booking form turns the answer into a customer.
It makes you look established
Fair or not, people judge. A café with a clean, fast website feels like a real, well-run business. "Instagram only" can read as temporary — fine for a market stall, risky for a venue you want people to drive across town for.
So is Instagram a waste of time? Not at all.
Keep posting — Instagram is brilliant for keeping regulars excited and showing your personality. The trick is how the two work together:
- Instagram makes people want your café.
- Your website makes it easy to actually get there — found on Google, menu read, table booked.
What a café website actually needs (it's less than you think)
- A home page with great photos and your vibe
- Your menu (as text, not a blurry PDF — Google can't read photos of menus)
- Hours, address and phone on every page
- A simple booking or contact form
- Fast loading on phones — that's where almost all your visitors are
That's it. Four or five pages, done well, working with your Google presence — and it quietly brings in new faces every week while you make coffee.
