Pages a board game cafe's website should have

Your website is the first thing a lot of people see before they ever walk through your door. A new group wants to know what's on the shelves, whether they need to book, and if the kitchen can cope with a nut allergy. If the site can't answer, they go elsewhere.

So here's the plan. Thirteen pages, each with one job. Some take an afternoon. Some take ten minutes. Build them in the order at the end and you'll have a site that does its work while you're busy running the floor.

Purpose: Tell a stranger what you are, where you are and what to do next, in about ten seconds.

Say plainly that you're a board game cafe, and name your town in the first line. Add one good photo of your actual room, with real tables and real people playing. Skip the stock image of a chess set.

Then give the three things most visitors came for: a button to book, a link to the game library, and your opening hours for today. Put your address and a short line on how the charge works (table charge, cover charge, or whatever you set) underneath.

Add a few lines on what a first visit feels like. Do staff teach games? Can beginners walk in? Do you take walk-ins at all? Answer it before anyone has to ask.

Keep it short. The home page is a signpost, not the whole story. Every other page on this list gets a link from here.

Avoid a slideshow that hides your hours, a long welcome speech, music that plays on its own, and any wording that only regulars would understand. Avoid sending people to a booking page that needs three clicks to find.

Purpose: Show what's really on the shelves and help people find a game before they arrive.

This is the page that sets you apart from every other cafe. Treat it like it matters.

List the games you actually own. Include the title, the number of players, a rough playing time and a short plain description. Sort them in ways a person would think: quick games, party games, two-player games, big strategy games, games for families. A simple filter helps if your site allows one. A tidy list works fine if it doesn't.

Say how many copies of popular titles you hold, if you know. Say whether staff will teach a game from scratch.

Be honest about gaps. If a hot new release is out on loan or not yet in, say so. If you add titles regularly, put a "new this month" section at the top.

Keep it current. A library page that lists games you sold two years ago does more harm than having no page.

Avoid copying publishers' blurbs word for word, listing games you don't own, and photographing shelves so blurry nobody can read a spine. Avoid a giant unsorted list of four hundred titles.

Purpose: Make the cost and the booking process clear, so nobody is surprised at the till.

State your charge exactly as your venue sets it. If you run a table charge, say what it covers and for how long. If it's a cover charge per person, say that. Give the figure, the age rules for children if you have any, and whether the charge is waived or reduced at certain times.

Then say how to book. Put the booking tool right on the page, or one clear link to it. Spell out the basics: how far ahead people can book, the largest group you can seat, how long a table is held if guests are late, and what happens if they need to cancel.

Say whether walk-ins are welcome and when you're busiest. A line like "Saturdays fill early; weekday evenings are usually easier" helps people choose, as long as it's true for you.

Make sure the page matches what staff say on the phone and what's on your door. Three different prices is how arguments start.

Avoid hiding the charge until the final booking screen. Avoid vague wording like "small fee applies." Avoid a booking form that asks for a dozen details you don't need. Avoid leaving old prices up after you've changed them.

Purpose: Let people see what you serve and roughly what it costs before they visit.

Put the full menu on the page as text. Text can be read on a phone, copied, and updated in a minute. A PDF scan of a laminated sheet is hard to read and easy to forget about.

Group items the way you do in the room: hot drinks, soft drinks, beer and wine, snacks, meals, desserts. Give prices. Mark which items are vegetarian or vegan if you do that, and link each section to your allergen page.

Mention anything that suits playing. Food that keeps cards clean and fingers tidy is worth a line, and so is anything that can be eaten with one hand. That's a real selling point for a games venue.

Note when the kitchen stops serving, and whether the menu changes by day or season. If you sell alcohol, say so here and point to your house rules page for the details.

Update it whenever the real menu changes. A menu that's wrong is worse than a short one that's right.

Avoid photos of food you don't sell. Avoid prices that haven't been touched since you opened. Avoid long descriptions that hide what the dish actually is. Avoid a menu that only exists as an image.

Purpose: Tell people what's on, when, and how to join in.

List each event with a date and a start time, add a price if there is one, and finish with a plain description of who it suits. Game nights, tournaments, leagues, learn-to-play evenings, all of it. Say whether people need to book and how many places are left, if you track that.

Put the next event at the top and keep dates in order. Add a link to book directly from each listing, so nobody has to hunt.

For regular events, say what a typical night looks like. A newcomer reading "Tuesday league" has no idea whether they'd be welcome. A line like "No experience needed; we'll pair you with a table" removes the worry.

Once an event has passed, move it to an archive section. Don't delete it. A short record of past nights shows the place is active, and it saves you answering the same questions again.

If you plan a one-off event where you want to sell alcohol and your premises licence doesn't cover it, a temporary event notice may apply. Check with your local council before you advertise anything.

Avoid leaving old events at the top of the page. Avoid events with no date or no time. Avoid announcing something before you've confirmed it. Avoid a calendar that only works on one kind of phone.

Purpose: Give people the information they need to eat safely, clearly and in one place.

This page matters. Treat it with care.

Explain how people can find out what's in your food. If you keep an allergen chart, publish it. The 14 allergen groups include cereals containing gluten, milk, eggs, fish, peanuts, nuts, sesame and sulphites above 10 mg/kg. Show which of your items contain which.

Tell customers to speak to a member of staff about their needs before ordering. Make sure staff really can answer, which means training them and keeping your chart current.

If you sell prepacked food made on site, such as wrapped sandwiches, pots of soup or cakes in cling film, it may count as prepacked for direct sale. Since 1 October 2021, across the UK, those labels must show the food's name and a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised, in bold, capitals, colour or underline. Unpackaged cakes on display, food made to order and hot drinks made to order are not in that group. For loose food, check the Food Standards Agency allergen guidance directly.

Add your dietary options: vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free choices, and how you prevent cross-contamination, if you can truthfully describe it.

Avoid saying "may contain allergens" and leaving it there. Avoid claiming a dish is "allergen free" unless you're certain. Avoid an outdated chart. Avoid burying this page where nobody will find it.

Purpose: Show that you're a properly run venue and set out how people are expected to behave.

If you sell alcohol permanently, you need a premises licence from your local council, which is the licensing authority. The designated premises supervisor has day-to-day control and must hold a personal licence. Licensable activities cover the sale or supply of alcohol, regulated entertainment such as live or recorded music, dance, plays and films, and late night refreshment, meaning hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am. For anything beyond that, check with your local council.

Say on the page that you hold a licence, and state your licensing hours as they appear on the licence itself. Don't guess.

Then give your house rules in plain words. Age rules, drinking limits you apply, how you treat spilled drinks near games, bag policy, noise, whether you allow outside food and drink, and how you handle someone who's had too much.

Add a rule on looking after the games. People like knowing that a missing piece or a damaged box has a clear process. A short, friendly line works better than a stern list.

Avoid copying another venue's rules without checking them against your licence. Avoid a wall of capital letters. Avoid listing a licence you don't hold. Avoid hiding rules until someone breaks one.

Purpose: Let people turn up at the right place at the right time.

Give your full address and a postcode people can paste into a map. Embed a map if it's easy. Add a plain description of the last stretch: which side of the road, what's next door, whether there's a step or a lift.

Cover the practical bits. Where to park, which bus or train gets closest, where to lock a bike, and how step-free the entrance is. Say so honestly if the answer is "not very".

Put your opening hours in a clear list, day by day, including late openings and any days you close. Add a note for bank holidays and other changes, and update it before they happen.

Add a phone number or email for quick questions, and say when someone's likely to reply. If you only answer messages during opening hours, say that too.

Make sure every detail matches your Google Business Profile exactly. Mismatched hours are the quickest way to lose a customer at a locked door.

Avoid opening hours that live only in an image. Avoid "find us near the town centre" without a street. Avoid forgetting to update holiday hours. Avoid a contact form as your only way to get in touch.

Purpose: Explain what you offer for groups, but only if you actually offer it.

If you don't do parties or private hire, skip this page. A page for something you don't do wastes everyone's time.

If you do, say what's available. Tell people how many guests you can seat, how long the booking lasts, what's included, and what costs extra. Cover the rooms or areas you hire out, how food and drink work for a group, and whether guests can bring their own cake.

Say what kinds of groups suit you: birthdays, work socials, clubs, stag and hen groups, family gatherings. Be straight about the ones you don't take.

Explain how to enquire and how long you take to reply. A short form with date, group size and a few details is enough. Say how deposits work if you take them, and what happens if plans change.

If you plan to run an event with alcohol outside your normal licence terms, check with your local council first. A temporary event notice may be needed.

Avoid promising what you can't deliver on a busy Saturday. Avoid a page that says "contact us for prices" and nothing more. Avoid photos from a party you can't repeat. Avoid copying wording from a venue that offers something very different.

Purpose: Show that you're a registered food business and display your hygiene rating.

Anyone who sells, cooks, stores, handles, prepares or distributes food must register as a food business with their local authority at least 28 days before trading. Each site needs its own registration. This page is where you confirm that you've done it.

Keep the wording simple: that you're registered with your local authority, and which one. Don't invent details you haven't got to hand.

If you have a Food Hygiene Rating, show it. The scheme covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with ratings from 5 to 0. Showing the sticker is voluntary in England and a legal requirement in Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland has a different scheme, so if you're there, check what applies to you.

Only display the rating you've actually been given. If it changes after a new inspection, update the page quickly.

If you're a limited company, show your registered company name, registered number, registered office address and where you're registered. That's a legal requirement for a UK limited company's website. A line in the footer does the job.

Avoid showing an old rating. Avoid wording that suggests an inspection result you haven't received. Avoid leaving company details out of the footer. Avoid treating this page as a chore, because it's short and it counts.

Purpose: Keep your listing on Google accurate, because it works alongside your website.

Our own check of six activity searches in Google UK on 18 October 2026 is a small sample: one day, one place, one AI tool. It's a signal, not proof. In the one search with no town named, 1 of the top ten results was a business's own site and 9 were listing or booking sites. In searches naming a town plus an activity, businesses' own sites held between 4 and 10 of the top ten, and a map listing appeared alongside. When ChatGPT with web search was asked the same kind of questions, every answer named 4 to 8 individual venues, and the links it gave pointed to Google, not to a listing site.

What to take from that: a venue with accurate pages and an accurate Google listing has a real chance of being found by name, in near-me searches and in AI answers. Listing sites remain useful for selling tickets. Monthly UK estimates from DataForSEO for 18 October 2026 put "board game cafe near me" at 6,600. That's a national estimate, not a figure for your town.

Use your real business name, the one on your shopfront, website and stationery. Don't add keywords to it. You can't pay for a better local ranking. Keep your hours and holiday hours updated.

Avoid stuffing the name with extra words. Avoid forgetting holiday hours. Avoid copying text from the website word for word. Avoid ignoring messages sent through the listing.

Purpose: Gather real feedback and show you pay attention to it.

Put a link to your review profile on the website, ideally on the home page and in your confirmation emails. Make leaving a review easy: one link, no sign-up maze.

Ask in person, politely, when a table has had a great night. Staff can mention it as people leave. Don't offer discounts or freebies in exchange, and never write reviews yourself or ask friends to write ones that aren't honest.

Reply to every review, good and bad. Thank people by name if they've given it. For a poor review, stay calm and factual, say what you'll do, and offer a way to talk offline. Others read your replies as well as the review.

If you want to quote reviews on your site, use only ones people have actually written, and don't edit the meaning. A short, accurate quote beats a polished one that isn't real.

Check your reviews regularly. A pattern of the same complaint is useful information, whether it's about noise, wait times or a game with missing pieces.

Avoid fake reviews, deleting honest criticism from your own pages, and arguing in public. Avoid ignoring a review for weeks. Avoid copying praise from another venue.

Purpose: Tell people who runs the place and why it exists.

Keep it short and true. Who started it? What got you into games? What do you want a visit to feel like? Two or three paragraphs is plenty.

Add a photo of the people who work there. A real face tells visitors they're coming to somewhere run by humans. Name the staff if they're happy to be named, and mention anything that's genuinely part of the place: a game designer on the team, a club that meets weekly, a library you've built over the years.

Say what you stand for in practical terms. Beginner-friendly, family-friendly, quiet midweek, competitive on league nights. Be specific about what that looks like in the room.

Link to your contact details and your booking page at the bottom so the story leads somewhere.

If you're a limited company, the legal details sit in the footer, as covered earlier.

Avoid corporate-sounding mission statements. Avoid a long history of the board game industry. Avoid exaggeration about awards or press you haven't had. Avoid leaving it blank because it feels awkward to write.

1. Home page: it's the front door, so it comes first.
2. Opening hours, address and how to find us: people need to know where you are and when you're open.
3. Pricing and booking: clear costs and an easy way to reserve a table.
4. The game library: the page that shows what makes your cafe different.
5. Allergens and dietary information: it protects your customers and your business.

Everything else can follow. These five get you a site that answers the questions people ask before they visit.

Not sure which of these pages you've got covered? Seracu offers a free snapshot that shows which topics your site lacks compared with competitors. It's a quick way to see where to start.