Does a bakery really need a website?
You might think a bakery does not need the internet: locals know the way. That is true for the morning loaf. It is far less true for everything else. The newcomer searching for “bakery open Sunday”, the family who wants a celebration cake for a birthday, the office manager looking for pastries for a meeting, the visitor who wants to try the local speciality: they all start with a search on their phone.
What they find is your Google listing and, if you have one, your website. The listing gives your address and hours. The website shows what makes you different, explains how to order and reassures people about allergens. That is often where a cake order is decided, and a cake order is worth far more than a counter sale.
Why should opening hours be the first thing people see?
The question a bakery gets asked most, on the phone and on Google, is “are you open?”. Bakery hours are often more complicated than other shops’: very early opening, a midday break for some, a closing day that varies, shorter Sunday hours, summer holidays, bank holidays you may or may not work.
On your website, put them at the very top of the home page, as text (not in an image), with:
- the hours for each day, including your closing day;
- special hours for upcoming bank holidays and festive periods;
- your holiday dates, as soon as you know them;
- a temporary banner for unexpected closures (works, a broken oven).
Above all, keep exactly the same hours on your Google Business Profile. Google lets you add special hours for holidays: do it every time. A customer who finds the door locked when Google said you were open is very likely to leave an annoyed review. Our Google Business Profile guide explains how to set them.
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A QR code to place next to the card reader or on your bags: your regulars leave a review in seconds.
Which pages should a bakery website have?
A bakery does not need a big website. Five or six well-made pages beat a catalogue nobody keeps up to date.
| Page | What it should include | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Hours, address, tap-to-call phone number, one line on what makes you unique, a great photo of the shopfront or the bakehouse | A heavy slideshow that hides the hours |
| Our bakes | Signature breads, viennoiserie and cakes, house specialities, seasonal items | A full list of 80 products that is impossible to keep current |
| Orders | Birthday and celebration cakes, wedding cakes, office platters: lead times, sizes, how to order | “Orders: please call” with no other detail |
| Allergens | Allergens for your products, or clear directions to where customers can check them in the shop | Nothing at all, although customers ask all the time |
| Our story | Your story, your team, your flour and suppliers, any awards | Generic copy that could belong to any bakery |
| Reviews and directions | A selection of reviews, a map, parking, the link to your Google listing | An embedded map that does not load on phones |
For privacy and legal pages, which every business website needs, see the dedicated section of our small business website guide.
How should you present your products and specialities?
Customers are not looking for the full list of everything you sell: they are looking for a reason to come to you rather than somewhere else. Feature five to ten products that truly represent you: your sourdough, a pastry you are proud of, the regional speciality, your signature cake.
For each one, a few lines are enough:
- what it is and what makes it special (flour, fermentation, family recipe);
- when it is available: every day, weekends only, seasonal;
- the price if you wish, or at least a starting price for custom cakes.
Write these in your own words. Google reads your website: if you write “naturally leavened sourdough baked in a wood-fired oven”, you stand a chance of showing up when someone nearby searches for exactly that. A photo alone, with no text, tells Google nothing.
Seasonal bakes are a great reason to keep the site alive: hot cross buns, Christmas cakes, Easter chocolate, pumpkin pies, whatever your customers look forward to. Create a small “right now” section you update each season, and take it down when the season ends: nothing looks more abandoned than a Christmas cake still on the home page in March.
How do you take orders for cakes and celebration bakes?
Custom orders are often the most profitable part of the business, and the most painful to handle on the phone during the morning rush. A well-designed form on your website saves time on both sides, as long as it asks the right questions from the start.
What to ask for:
- the type of cake or product (with a drop-down of your classics);
- the number of portions or guests;
- the collection date and time (reminding people of your minimum notice, for example “48 hours” if that is your rule);
- allergies or dietary requirements;
- any message to pipe on the cake;
- a name and phone number so you can confirm.
“Order your cake online: choose the design, the number of portions and your collection date. We will call you to confirm the order and the price. Minimum notice: 48 hours (one week for wedding cakes).”
Be clear about what happens next: a request sent online is not yet a confirmed order. Say that you will call to confirm, or that the order is confirmed once a deposit is paid in the shop if that is how you work. It is fairer for the customer and avoids misunderstandings on collection day.
With Voxtya, the website includes a request section (the same one used for quote requests): customers fill in their details, you receive the request and track where each one stands, with your own notes. Payment then happens as usual, in the shop.
What should a bakery website say about allergens?
Allergens matter to many customers and, in most countries, you have legal duties around them. In the UK and the EU, food businesses must be able to tell customers which of 14 major allergens are in the food they sell, including food sold loose such as bread and pastries; other countries have their own lists and rules. Check the guidance from your local food safety authority for exactly what applies to you.
The 14 allergens used in UK and EU rules are: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soya, milk, tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphur dioxide and sulphites (above a threshold), lupin and molluscs. In a bakery, the most common are of course gluten, eggs, milk, nuts and sesame.
Your website is not your shop: your legal duties apply first at the point of sale. But publishing the information online is genuinely helpful: the parent of an allergic child would rather check before making the trip, and someone ordering a cake online needs a way to mention an allergy. Two ways to do it:
- list allergens under each featured product;
- or publish an allergen chart by product, updated every time a recipe changes.
Which photos make people want to come in?
A bakery has a huge advantage: its products look good. You still need to show them properly. A few simple rules:
- daylight, near a window, rather than the strip light of the display case;
- real photos of your own products, never stock images: a customer who cannot find the croissant they saw online is disappointed;
- the bakehouse and the team: hands in the flour, loaves coming out of the oven, the baker at work. That is what builds trust;
- the shopfront, so people recognise you in the street;
- lightweight images: resize them before uploading, or the site will be slow on phones.
Add the same photos to your Google listing and refresh them regularly, especially for seasonal bakes. Post them on social media too: our social media guide for local businesses has post ideas that work well for food businesses.
How do you get your bakery found on Google?
For a bakery, almost every search is local: “bakery”, “bakery open now”, “cake shop near me”, “birthday cake [town]”. The first results are Google Maps listings. Your website helps your listing rank better, but the listing remains the main front door.
What matters most:
- an accurate primary category (“Bakery” or “Cake shop”, depending on your main activity) and secondary categories for the rest;
- accurate hours, including special hours for holidays;
- your website link on the listing, and the same name, address and phone number everywhere;
- a steady flow of reviews, each with a reply.
Reviews are a special lever for bakeries: you see many customers every day, often happy regulars, who never think of leaving a review. A QR code next to the card reader or printed on your bags, and a natural word to your regulars, are enough to change that. See our guide to getting more Google reviews and our article on Google reviews for bakeries.
How do you build your bakery website, and which mistakes should you avoid?
As for any local business, there are three ways to go:
- do it yourself with a general website builder: affordable, but it takes time to build everything and think of everything (hours, allergens, order form, mobile display);
- hire an agency or a freelancer: a tailored result, but a higher upfront budget and you depend on them for every change;
- use a tool made for local businesses: ready-made sections (products, hours, gallery, reviews, request form) that you fill in and edit yourself.
That is what the Voxtya website does: it picks up your Google listing details (hours, photos, reviews) when you create it, you edit it from your phone, and it costs €29 a month with a 30-day free trial. Browse our website designs by trade to see what a bakery site looks like.
The mistakes we see most often:
- different hours on the website, the Google listing and the shop door;
- a product list in PDF or as an image, unreadable on a phone;
- seasonal products left online for months;
- an order form that asks for neither the collection date nor allergies;
- no tap-to-call phone number;
- stock photos instead of your real bakes.
The steps at a glance
The steps to launch a bakery website that brings people into the shop and makes ordering easy.
- Get your hours right. Write down the hours for each day, your closing day, holidays and closures, and make sure they match your Google listing.
- Pick your signature bakes. Choose five to ten specialities and write a few lines about each.
- Set up the order form. Ask for the type of cake, portions, collection date, allergies and remind people of your minimum notice.
- Publish allergen information. Add allergens per product or an up-to-date chart, and invite allergic customers to talk to you.
- Photograph your bakes and bakehouse. Shoot in daylight and resize images before uploading.
- Connect the site to your Google listing. Add the website link to the listing and keep the same name, address, phone and hours everywhere.
- Update it every season. Refresh the “right now” section and remove seasonal products once the season is over.
Do it without spending your evenings on it
The Voxtya website
A site designed for your bakery, in your colours, with your hours, your bakes, your Google reviews and a request form for orders. Editable from your phone. €29/month, 30-day free trial.