Six Things that Bar or Nightclub Websites Need

There are certain things that Bar or Nightclub Websites need in order to be more “sticky”. Sticky basically means that it keeps bringing people back to your bar or club website. You want your website to be sticky because it will mean you will have to spend less on your marketing efforts.

Here is a list of six things that we at Barhop Marketing have found bar and club websites need:

1. Guestbook

Guestbooks are great for people who have visited your Bar or Nightclub to leave a few comments. The only problem with guestbooks are that in the past six years or so, guestbooks have become spam attactors so you have to really monitor them.

The one we use emails the bar or club website owner when there has been a post and is not posted until it’s been approved.

2. Picture Gallery

Everybody loves to see their mug on websites — especially cool websites like Bar or NightClub Websites. This feature alone, if it’s kept up, will be plenty sticky and will keep people coming back.

Post pictures after each major event in your bar or nightclub and especially after Haloween and New Years. There are lots of picture gallery software packages out there that are relatively easy to integrate one into your bar or club website.

3. News

NightClubs and Bars have lots of things going on. It’s important to let your patrons know what’s going on. If you’re going to be closed for a night for a private party, post it in the News section.

The news section needs to be on the front page, preferrably in the first fold, and summarized in bullets. Bar and NightClub patrons are mostly an impatient bunch and dont’ want to read a lot, so bullets will help.

4. Drink Specials

One of the chief things that visitors go to a bar or nightclub website for are drink specials. Make sure you post them on your front page prominently and easy to read.

As a sidenote, we’ve had bar and club owners who didn’t want to post their drink specials as they thought it made it too easy for their competition to one-up them. I just don’t understand that as they then turn around and pay for ads on the radio, tv and newspaper. Just doesn’t make sense at all when the website is almost free.

Do yourself a favor and post drink specials on your bar’s website. It’s where your customers expect to find them.

Also make sure you update the drink specials on your nightclub website when you change the specials. There’s nothing that will cause more of a stir than to change the drink specials and a customer come in because he read about them online and it’s completely different.

5. Calendar

The next chief thing that visitors go to a bar or nightclub website for is your calendar. It’s important to post your upcoming events and keep your calendar updated. We’ve found that once you start using an online calendar, it will help streamline a lot of things in your organization.

Be sure to post your upcoming events on your frontpage as well. A small bulleted list summarizing three to five upcoming events of your bar or nightclub will help keep your customers up-to-date.

6. Blog

Blogs are extremely “sticky.” especially if you post insider-type information on it. Things like insider conversations with bands or bar gossip. You might find that a Blog will open a new style of conversation with your customers.

We use all sorts of Blog software, but find that WordPress is among the best. It’s easy to use and configure and is easy to moderate comments. It’s good to have a conversation with your clients posted, but you will want to make sure that your bar or club is not being defamed on your own website.

Conclusion

In conclusion, in our experience at Barhop Marketing, the above six things are extremely needed on bar and nightclub websites. If you include them, you’ll find that your website will soon pay for itself as you customers will be happier and more informed and will most likely be spending a lot more time in your bar or nightclub.