Pages a cookery school's website should have

Most cookery school websites do one thing well: they show a nice photo of a kitchen. Then they stop. The person reading wants to know what they'll cook, how long it takes, whether it suits them, and how to pay. Miss any of that and the page has failed.

So here's the plain list. Thirteen pages, what each one is for, and what goes on it and what stays off. Some you'll need on day one. Some only apply if you offer the service. You don't have to build them all at once, and the order at the end tells you where to start.

Purpose: Tell a stranger within a few seconds what you teach, where you are, and what to do next.

Start with a plain sentence. Say what the school is and where it is. "Hands-on cookery classes for adults in [your town]" does the job. Then show your classes. Link to each type of class, with a short line on what people cook and who it's for. Beginners, confident home cooks, couples, children, whatever you run.

Put a clear "Book a class" button near the top and again further down. Add your location, a phone number or email address, and your opening or class times if they're fixed. Keep one or two real photos of your own kitchen and your own students cooking, not stock images of strangers in aprons.

Link to the pages below: what to expect, allergies, venue, reviews, about. Think of the home page as the front door and a signpost. It doesn't need to say everything. It needs to point people to the room they're looking for.

Avoid long welcome speeches, auto-playing video with sound, and a slider of six rotating banners. Avoid hiding your phone number in the footer. Avoid vague lines like "a passion for food" with nothing about what you actually teach.

Purpose: Give each class its own page so someone can decide whether to book it without having to ask you.

One page per class type. If you run a pasta class, a bread class and a knife skills class, that's three pages. Don't squash them into one long list.

On each page, say what is cooked. Be specific: "fresh tagliatelle, a ragù, and a simple tomato sauce" beats "classic Italian dishes". Say what level it suits and what experience, if any, people need. Say how long it runs and what time it starts and finishes.

Dates matter. List the next available sessions, or link to your booking page where they live. If you show a price, only do so if you'll keep it current. A wrong price is worse than no price. If prices change often, say "see the booking page for current prices" and let that page carry the figure.

Add a short note on group size, what people take home (the food, the recipes, both), and whether it's suitable for people with particular dietary needs, linking to your allergy page. Finish with a "Book this class" button.

Avoid copying the same paragraph across every class page with a few words changed. Each page needs to say something true and different about that class. Avoid out-of-date dates left sitting there. Avoid a page that reads like a brochure and never says what happens in the kitchen.

Purpose: Let someone choose a class, pick a date and pay, with as little effort as possible.

This is where people either finish or give up. Keep it simple. Show the class, the date and time, the number of places left if you can, and the price. Make it obvious what the next step is.

State your terms in plain English before they pay. What happens if they need to cancel or move date? What if you cancel? Can they swap a name if a friend drops out? Put this on the booking page, not buried in a document at the bottom of a footer.

Ask for what you need and nothing more. Name, email, phone number, number of places, and a box for allergies and dietary needs. That last one matters; it lets you plan before the day, and it links neatly to your allergy page.

Say what happens after booking. A confirmation email, a reminder, who to contact with questions. Give a real way to reach you: an email address or a phone number that someone answers.

Check the whole thing on a phone. Plenty of people will book from one. If it's awkward on a small screen, fix it.

Avoid asking people to create an account before they can buy. Avoid hidden extras that appear at the last step. Avoid a booking form that sends them to a page that looks nothing like your site, with no explanation of why.

Purpose: Calm the nerves of a first-timer and answer the practical questions before they have to ask.

Nervous people don't book. They hover. This page helps them over the line, and it saves you a stack of emails.

Cover the basics. What time to arrive, and how early. Where to park or which station is closest. What to wear, and whether closed shoes are needed. What to bring, if anything, and what you provide: aprons, ingredients, equipment, recipe cards, tea and coffee, a meal at the end.

Say how many people are in a class. A small group feels very different from a big one, and people want to know. Give the real number, or the real range.

Walk through the session in order. They arrive, meet the tutor, wash hands, cook, then sit down and eat, or box up what they've made. Say roughly how long each part takes. If they take food home, say what to bring to carry it in.

Add a line on what happens if they're running late, and how to reach you on the day. A phone number that works on the day is worth more than a paragraph of reassurance.

Avoid jargon that assumes they already cook. Avoid promises you can't keep, such as "you'll cook like a chef by the end". Avoid leaving out the boring stuff; the boring stuff is what people want.

Purpose: Explain honestly how your school handles allergies and special diets, so people know before they book.

This is one of the most important pages you'll write. Be clear and be honest. A cookery school is a kitchen where many ingredients are handled at once, in the open, by several people.

There are 14 allergen groups that food businesses need to know about. They include cereals containing gluten, milk, eggs, fish, peanuts, nuts, sesame and sulphites above 10 mg/kg. Look at the full list on GOV.UK and make sure you know it well.

Then say what you actually do. Do you ask about allergies at booking? Can you adapt a class for coeliac, vegetarian, vegan or dairy-free guests? Which classes can you adapt, and which are too built around one ingredient to change? If you can't guarantee an allergen-free kitchen, say so plainly. Many cookery school kitchens can't.

Tell people how to get in touch before booking if they have a serious allergy, and who they'll speak to. Make it easy. A short form or a direct email address works.

Avoid vague reassurance such as "we cater for all dietary needs". Avoid promising a kitchen is free of an allergen unless it truly is. Avoid putting this page where nobody will find it. Link it from every class page and from the booking page.

Purpose: Show groups what you offer and make it easy to ask for a quote. Only include this page if you offer it.

Companies, hen parties, birthdays and families all book private sessions. If you do this work, give it a page of its own.

Say what you offer. Which classes can be booked privately? Can the menu be adjusted? What group sizes can you take, at the smallest and the largest? Can groups bring their own food or drink, and what are the arrangements for that?

Explain how it works. They get in touch, you agree a date and a menu, they confirm, and you run the session. Say how far ahead people usually need to book, if there's a pattern you can state honestly.

If drink is part of the offer, take care. Selling alcohol permanently needs a premises licence from the local council. The designated premises supervisor has day-to-day control and must hold a personal licence. Alcohol, regulated entertainment such as music, and late-night hot food between 11pm and 5am are all licensable activities. Beyond that, check with your local council about what applies to you. Don't guess.

Add a simple enquiry form: name, organisation, date, group size, and a free text box. Show a phone number too.

Avoid listing prices unless you keep them current. Avoid claiming experience you don't have. Avoid copying the wording of a generic corporate events page; say what is specific to your kitchen.

Purpose: Let someone buy a class as a present, with clear terms. Only include this page if you offer vouchers.

A voucher page should answer the buyer's questions fast. What can the voucher be used for? Is it for one class, a set value, or any class? How long does it last? Is it sent by email or post? Can the recipient book any date or are there restrictions?

Spell out the rules. Can it be used against a private event? Can it be exchanged or refunded? What if the recipient can't make any of the dates? Short, plain answers.

Make buying straightforward. Choose the voucher, add a name and message, pay, and receive it. Say how quickly it arrives, so a last-minute buyer knows whether it will turn up in time. If it's a physical voucher, say how long delivery takes.

Show what the voucher looks like if you can. And explain how the recipient redeems it, step by step, so they aren't left confused with a code and no instructions.

Avoid vague expiry wording that could cause a row later. Avoid making the terms impossible to find. Avoid a voucher that can only be redeemed by phone if you're hard to reach by phone.

Purpose: Introduce the people who teach, so a booker knows who they'll be standing next to. Only include people who have agreed.

People like to know who's teaching. Give each tutor a short profile with a name, a photo and a few honest lines. What do they cook? What did they do before? What do they teach here?

Ask each tutor first. Get their agreement on the photo, the wording and what you say about them. If someone leaves, take the profile down. An old page about a person who's moved on makes a school look neglected.

Keep claims truthful. Don't invent qualifications or awards. If a tutor has trained somewhere, say where, but only if it's accurate and they're happy for it to be shown. If you're not sure of a detail, leave it out.

Say which classes each tutor teaches, and link to them. That connects the person to the page where someone can book.

Avoid long lists of credentials nobody can check. Avoid stock-style photos that don't look like the person. Avoid profiles with nothing in them but a name and a job title. Avoid naming anyone who hasn't said yes.

Purpose: Help people turn up at the right place, on time, without stress.

Give the full address and postcode. Add a map. Then add the bit the map doesn't tell you. Which door? Is there a buzzer? What does the entrance look like? Is it on a first floor, up stairs, down an alley?

Explain how to get there. Nearest station or bus stop, and the walk from it. Where to park, whether it's free or paid, and what's nearby. If parking is difficult, say so honestly and suggest an alternative.

Cover access. Is there step-free entry? Are there stairs between the entrance and the kitchen? Is there an accessible toilet? People who need that information will leave quickly if they can't find it. Give a phone number or email for anyone who wants to check before booking.

If you teach at more than one place, give each its own page with its own details. But each page must say something truly different. Google's spam policies treat many near-duplicate pages, made mainly to manipulate rankings, as spam. So don't make a page for every nearby town with the name swapped. One page per real place is enough.

Avoid a map and nothing else. Avoid directions that only make sense to locals. Avoid describing a venue you no longer use.

Purpose: Show that the school is registered and, where it applies, display its food 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. That includes temporary and mobile set-ups, and online-only sellers. If you run classes, check with your local council that you're registered correctly for your set-up.

Then there's the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. It covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with ratings running from 5 down to 0. Showing the sticker is voluntary in England and a legal requirement in Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland has a different scheme. If your school is in Scotland, check what applies to you.

If you have a rating you're happy to show, put it on this page, and say it's the current one. Only display what is true today. If it changes, update the page.

If you trade as a UK limited company, your website must show the registered company name, the registered number, the registered office address and where the company is registered. A footer line is fine, but make sure it's there and correct.

Avoid showing a rating that's out of date. Avoid guessing what applies in your area; ask the local council. Avoid hiding these details where nobody will find them.

Purpose: Make sure the free Google listing for your school is accurate, so people searching for you find the right details.

Your Google Business Profile is the box that appears with your name, address, hours and reviews. It needs to match your website exactly. Name, address, phone number, opening hours, booking link, photos, category and a short description. If any of these disagree with your site, fix them.

Use the real-world business name, the one on your shopfront, your website and your stationery. Don't add extra words to the name to try to stand out. You can't pay for a better local ranking, so don't expect that. What you can do is keep it right.

Keep hours up to date, including holiday hours. A listing that says "open" when you're shut costs you goodwill. Add real photos of your kitchen and your classes. Link to your booking page, not just the home page.

Here's why it matters. We ran a small check of six activity searches in Google UK on 18 October 2026. It was one day, one place and one AI tool, so treat it as 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, with a map listing alongside. When ChatGPT with web search was asked the same kind of questions, every answer named 4 to 8 individual venues, and the links pointed to Google, not to a listing site.

So 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. It's a small sample, but it points one way.

For scale, UK monthly estimates from DataForSEO (18 October 2026) put "cooking classes near me" at 6,600, "cooking class near me" at 6,600 and "cooking classes london" at 5,400. Those are national estimates, not figures for your town.

Avoid stuffing the name with extra words. Avoid leaving old hours in place. Avoid a profile with no photos and no description.

Purpose: Collect honest feedback and show it where people can see it.

Reviews are other people's words about your classes. Put some on your site, and ask for them on your Google listing. Keep it genuine. Real comments from real students, used with their permission, beat anything you write yourself.

Ask at the right moment. The end of a class, or a follow-up email the next day, works well. Make it easy: send a direct link, so they aren't hunting for the right page. Thank people who take the time.

Reply to reviews, good and bad. A calm, polite answer to a criticism shows you're paying attention. Don't argue. If something went wrong, say what you'll do about it.

On your site, show a handful of reviews on the home page and on the relevant class pages. Say where they come from, so they're clearly real. Keep them current; a page of reviews that all date from years ago looks tired.

Avoid writing your own and presenting them as customers'. Avoid paying for or swapping reviews. Avoid deleting every unflattering one you're allowed to remove. Avoid quoting someone without their say-so.

Purpose: Tell people who you are and why the school exists, in plain words.

This isn't the page for a grand mission statement. It's where a visitor learns who's behind the school, how it started, and what it's like to learn there.

Say when and why you began, if that's a short and true story. Say what you care about in teaching: small groups, real technique, relaxed evenings, whatever is actually the case. Keep it concrete. One honest sentence about how you run classes does more than a paragraph of fine words.

Add a photo of the real kitchen and the real team. Add your contact details. Link to your tutors, your venue page and your class pages, so a curious reader has somewhere to go next.

If you're a limited company, make sure the company details are shown somewhere on the site, as above.

Avoid a page that could describe any school in the country. Avoid empty lines like "we're passionate about great food". Avoid long life stories that push the useful bits out of sight.

1. Home page: tell people what you teach and where, and point them onwards.
2. Course and class pages: one for each class type, with what's cooked, level, length and dates.
3. Booking page: clear dates, clear terms, simple payment.
4. Allergies and dietary needs: how you actually handle them, stated honestly.
5. Venue and how to find us: address, map, access and parking.

Not sure which of these pages you're lacking, or what else is worth adding? Seracu offers a free snapshot that shows which topics your site lacks compared with competitors. It takes the guesswork out of deciding what to write next.