Weekly Website Review: The Wheel Inn, Tresillian

This week's Weekly Website Review is a little more personal, because The Wheel Inn in Tresillian is genuinely one of my favourite places to eat and drink anywhere in Cornwall.

It's a fantastic family-run, independent pub with great food, a brilliant setting beside the Tresillian River and an incredible amount of history.

The building is believed to date back around 600 years. It is Grade II listed, traditionally built from stone and cob with a thatched roof.

The Wheel Inn already has so much character in the real world. For us, the opportunity is simply for the website to showcase more of it.

Finding the Website

One of the first things we noticed was that finding the correct website through Google isn't currently as straightforward as it could be.

The Wheel Inn's current owners have since explained to us that this is due to difficulties gaining ownership of the existing Google Business Profile following the previous ownership of the pub. This means the issue is outside of their direct control while they work to resolve it.

From a customer's perspective, however, it demonstrates how important that first journey from Google to a business's website can be. Someone searching for somewhere to eat should ideally be able to find the correct website, menus and contact details within seconds.

The Current Website

Once you find the website, there is already plenty of useful information available.

The homepage introduces The Wheel Inn as family run, highlights its Sunday roasts and quality produce, and provides opening hours, contact details and its location.

The main opportunity for improvement is the overall design and usability.

The website currently feels a little dated compared with the character and quality of the pub itself. The navigation takes up a significant amount of screen space and follows you as you scroll, which can make the page feel cramped.

There are also some inconsistencies between pages. For example, when accessing the Sample Menus page, the main navigation isn't available in the same way, leaving visitors reliant on the logo to return to the main website.

These aren't huge problems individually, but a cleaner design and simpler, consistent navigation could make the website considerably easier to use.

Making Booking Easier

The homepage does display "Book a Table", but it isn't particularly prominent within the overall website or main navigation.

For a pub and restaurant, we think booking should be one of the easiest things for a visitor to find.

A clear BOOK A TABLE button, immediately visible and accessible throughout the website, particularly on mobile, could make the journey from discovering The Wheel Inn to arranging a visit much simpler.

Showcasing the Pub

Perhaps the biggest opportunity is simply showing more of The Wheel Inn itself.

It's a beautiful traditional thatched pub in a fantastic riverside setting, but the current website doesn't fully capture that visually.

Stronger imagery, particularly across the homepage, could immediately give somebody discovering the pub online a better feel for the building, setting, food and atmosphere.

Its history is another great part of its character, but it doesn't need to dominate the website. Great photography combined with a cleaner, more modern design could allow the pub itself to do most of the talking.

What Would Wiles Media Change?

We'd keep it simple.

The main focus would be making the website faster, clearer and easier to navigate, particularly on mobile.

Someone visiting the website should be able to find a menu, book a table or get the information they need within seconds.

The Wiles Media View

This one stands out to us because the real-life experience is so much better than the current digital one.

As someone who personally loves visiting The Wheel Inn, I already know why it's worth going. The opportunity is to make sure somebody discovering it online for the first time can see that too.

The current website has the important information there, but improvements to its design, navigation, booking journey and imagery could represent the pub much more effectively.

With a beautiful riverside setting, a traditional Grade II-listed building, hundreds of years of character and a fantastic place to eat and drink, The Wheel Inn already has an identity many businesses would love to have.

It doesn't need a new identity. It just needs a website capable of showcasing the brilliant one it already has.

Discover The Wheel Inn

The Wheel Inn is a fantastic independent Cornish pub and genuinely well worth a visit. The food is brilliant, the staff are always friendly and there's a great atmosphere, all in a beautiful riverside setting.

Explore their menus, opening times and everything The Wheel Inn has to offer on their website.

Visit The Wheel Inn