High Resolution Photos
This is an industry that is going to be image-heavy, so it’s important to find a website template that allows for high resolution photos. You want to show off your delicious treats and have them look as mouth-watering as possible.
Quite often macro-style photography will be used to showcase the close-up details of a particular product. You’ve probably seem them, bakery sites that have a large background header image (maybe it’s a row of muffins or shelves of cakes). High resolution photos are the key here, nothing snapped from an iphone camera. In fact, the header of this particular blog post is quite similar to what a template should use.
stock Photos
A quick note on stock photos, from sites like Shutterstock or Envato Elements, they’re okay! I’m biased of course but I guarantee you I will be purchasing based on the taste of the food vs. the style of the website photos. The high resolution photos for the site (whether taken yourself or stock photos) are what’s going to make me believe this is a reputable business that I should check out.
Services
People want to know what your bakery offers! This is where a services or ‘menu’ tab can be a great way to showcase your products. Maybe you even have a downloadable version that customers can take home (PDF download). Most WordPress website templates, bakeries included, have the capability to embed a PDF into any button for download.
Catering
Does your bakery offer catering services? If so, a template with an intake form (maybe it’s a simple pop-out button that offers the user to submit further info. Typically the website form fields will be name, email, calendar date, and a message field for further information. Any type of custom catering intake form might have additional fields such as party size, type of cake ordered, or delivery address.
Contact Information & Hours/Location
No website should be without contact information (phone, email and location if you have a brick and mortar store). A map might also be included which helps the user know exactly where they are going before they even visit the bakery. Google maps has a great integration to website’s these days (I’m biased towards WordPress and Elementor), making it easy to add your specific location and small radius.
Ecommerce
I’ve seen bakery websites that allow for the online purchase of their items. This, in most templates, is not going to be necessary and might even add an additional headache down the road. Inventory, in a business like a bakery, isn’t going to last long and the time it takes to restock might be longer than the time it takes for a user to purchase something.
Social Media Links
If your marketing strategy is on social media, Instagram is an image-heavy platform (making it ideal for a bakery) and should definitely be included in your website template. Not only does this link to potential customers (especially if you have a large following) but it also lends credibility to the business as well.
Quite often social media links, including Instagram, are embedded in the header or footer of a site template using icons. These icons are typically small and out of the way but are there for the curious individual.
About Page
This is where it’s time to tell your bakery’s story. Adding a paragraph or two about how you got started, where ingredients are sourced from and maybe even the partners that you work with. Customers like to know they’re supporting a local business or sustainable practices.
Gift Cards
If your bakery offers gift cards or certificates, adding this information on your website template is also important! Whether it’s a pop-out button that links to an external payment portal (such as PayPal) or a form for users to fill out and submit, making sure customers know about this option is essential. This doesn’t have to be anything fancy, if you’re using a POS (point of sale) system that allows for the integration of gift cards that can certainly save a step. I was spoiled back in the day with ‘Toast.’
Where To Get a Bakery Website Template
There are dozens of options out there, mostly paid downloads, for website templates. The first step is most likely going to be choosing first a bakery name and making sure the URL is available. From there I would recommend getting a good hosting provider, again I’m biased but my recommendation for what I use is the company Siteground.
Site’s like Themeforest are a great way to get ideas for what you like and don’t like. Having a custom template developed is also quite easy for a business of this size.