delicious. magazine Produce Awards - judging

The delicious. magazine Produce Awards are in their third year and going from strength to strength. I was honoured to be asked to judge entrants from the Eastern region for the third time.

This year the Awards worked a little differently, with the regional heats being judged at food festivals around the country on a fantastic stage provided by Award sponsors Fisher & Paykel.

I joined Michelin-star chef Galton Blackiston and food entrepreneur William Kendall on a sunny September day at the Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival. Our Chair was Chef Valentina Harris who’s been touring the country managing the awards. We tasted a wonderful array of produce from the East of England. Judging them based on Appearance, Taste, Provenance and Passion.

Products scoring an average score of over 30 will go through to the national finals at Borough Market in early October.

The East of England finalists are:

10 products were selected by the judges to go forward to the national final in October, to be held at London’s Borough Market, and these are:

1. Truly traceable Venison & Game pies Homemade Venison Pie

2. Cotchel Topaz & Evelina Apple Juice

3. Reliquum Reliquum Plum

4. Cotchel Braeburn  Juice

5. St Peter’s Brewery Golden Ale

6. Old Rectory Preserves  Elveden Ren Onion Relish

7. Cotchel  Conference, Topaz & Evelina Juice

8. St Peter’s Brewery Cream Stout

You can read more about the delicious. magazine Produce Awards here >

• NB as some entrants were business I have an affiliation with I stood back from judging these categories and scores were taken only from the other judges.

Why content marketing matters for restaurants

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is a way to build your community, engage with customers and provide information to your audience and influencers. Content marketing is just a term for all your communications through your website, blog, social media, video or newsletters. 

All your content across the channels must all have one thing in common - it must be interesting, relevant, genuine and meaningful.

Why does content marketing matter for restaurants?

Content marketing can be highly effective, costing on average 62% less than traditional marketing and advertising, while generating three times as many leads. Content marketing is a great equaliser putting the big fish on the same level as minnow star-ups.

Done well content marketing engages your audience and provides them with something of value that makes you stand out from the crowd and will make your audience remember you.

Customers want to visit restaurants, cafés and pubs that they know and trust, and by creating excellent and consistent content, you can stay in front of those customers while nurturing and building stronger relationships.

How does content marketing work?

1. TELL YOUR STORY

Since the dawn of time, human beings have been story tellers and we form connections through stories. Tell the story of your restaurant and your food and your (website, blog, press release or Instagram post) as if you are talking to a friend. Set the scene - a place, a time. Choose one ordinary detail that captures the essence of your story.  Be brave enough to share the emotion behind your story.

2. PAINT A PICTURE

Share photos and videos or paint a picture in words. It goes without saying that photographs of dishes and ingredients whet the appetite of hungry diners - but think beyond the obvious and give a sneak peak behind the scenes or create short videos of dishes being compiled. 

Without a good image your tweet, post or blog is invisible and while these photos or videos don’t always need to be professionally shot, take a bit of time to set up your photo, think about the light, props and styling.

3. BE REAL AND HONEST

Avoid bland corporate speak and be a real person. If you have someone looking after content or social media for you brief them about the style of language they should use, phrases to use and those to avoid. 

4. BE INTERESTING

Don’t just shout about new menus and how to book a table - these sorts of posts are fine in moderation but take your content beyond that - introduce your team, profile your favourite suppliers, feature a drink of the month and give people insight into the daily life of the restaurant or behind the scenes in the kitchen. This way you’ll gain more engagement and encourage people to share your content.

Where do I begin?

1. Define your strategy - you want to drive traffic to your website and increase new and repeat bookings. Identify your target audience and work out what they will engage with.
    
2. Build a calendar month by month and design your content around holidays, seasons and events. Join up all your channels from your website and blog, to your newsletter, pr and social media.
    
3. Develop your tone of voice - who are you and who are you talking to? Use a language, images and video that are authentic and interesting.
    
4. Drive traffic to your site - your website should be your hub - and search engines will reward sites that are regularly updated with fresh quality content. You don’t have to create brand new content for every channel but adapt it for different audiences and direct everyone to your website for the full story.
    
5. Promote your posts - promoted posts on Instagram and Facebook can be a great way to dip your toe into online advertising. For a tiny budget, you can create a campaign to a precise target audience and view the results.  Do set a clear goal and have a clear call to action - book a table, buy a gift voucher, come to an event.
    
6. Track and measure - monitor and respond to your engagement using Google analytics and insights on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to learn and adapt to what works and what doesn’t.

Content suggestions for restaurants

• Celebrate seasonal produce
• Feature producers/suppliers - celebrate the people who supply your ingredients
• Share recipes - but make them something people can try at home
• Highlight a wine/drink of the month - suggest menu pairings
• Introduce your team - give customers the chance to get to know your staff with a fun Q&A

10 Consumer Food Trends to Watch

We take a look at what trends are emerging in how British consumers shop and eat.  Are our habits changing in response to growing awareness of diet-related health? How will Brexit affect our shopping baskets? And how is social media changing our relationship with food?

1. Scratch Cooking

There is a small but significant shift towards more people cooking from scratch as we realise that it is not only cheaper than buying pre-prepared food but healthier too. 49% of consumers are driven by the ability to control ingredients when cooking from scratch. (Mintel Cooking in the Home UK May 2016).

2. Convenience and control

Our increasingly busy lifestyles mean convenience is still a major factor and there is evidence that we spend less time preparing meals than we used to. The combination of the desire to cook with fresh ingredients and convenience of the pre-prepared, is driving the demand for meal kits like Gousto and Hello Fresh, and now followed by supermarkets introducing their own brand equivalents.

The growth of 1-2 person households amongst younger and older generations is also a factor in our meal choices and shopping habits. Smaller pack or portion sizes are a key to appealing to these small households.

3. Food as self-expression

Cooking has become a leisure activity, a way to relax and be creative rather than just a functional activity.  While we might spend less time in our kitchens during the week we are likely to indulge in more creative cooking at weekends. “Eating in is the new eating out” according to the Waitrose 2016 Food & Drink Report.

We are inspired by television cookery shows like Great British Bake Off and Masterchef, as well as by social media, Cooking special meals at home, whether just for family or friends is seen as a genuine alternative to eating out and an opportunity to be creative and indulgent. Consumers will treat themselves to special and luxurious ingredients for these occasions. These consumers associate cooking with feeling confident, valued and relaxed rather than more negative feelings like stressful, boring and annoying.

For marketeers, tapping into this positive emotional aspect of cooking will increase sharing and engagement. messages that focus on the enjoyment of cooking and eating together with family and friends will win loyalty.

4. Living Well

Looking after our bodies no longer means dull diets and sacrificing flavour.  UK Consumers have recognised that eating well is about making sensible choices as part of everyday life and that the occasional treat is ok.

We seek out lighter, fresher and simpler foods - salads over sandwiches for lunch - though convenience is key we want to be healthy without having to make an effort.

5. Following the crowd

Social media, rather than traditional print and broadcast media, is driving food trends including the demand for perceived superfoods like chia, seaweed and spelt while once exotic products, like quinoa and coconut water, are now mainstream.

Consumers are turning to bloggers and influencers like Deliciously Ella and Hemsley & Hemsley for advice just as much as we listen to health and nutrition professionals. 

6. Free-from

The impact of these ‘health gurus’ has driven the demand for gluten-free foods, not for essential health reasons, but because people perceive them to be more healthy. Some retailers are reporting a tapering off in demand for gluten-free products at the same time as giving over more shelf-space to lactose-free products; demonstrating just how fast these trends come and go.

7. Rise of vegetarianism and veganism

UK consumers are turning their backs on the the traditional plate of meat and two veg and moving towards a more plant-based diet.  For many this is just a case of eating less meat and fish and choosing meat-free days; for others, younger consumers especially, it means rejecting animal products completely.  In the last decade, the number of vegans in Britain has risen more than 360% according to a survey by the Vegan Society.  These numbers are expected to grow further.

8. Anytime is snack time

We are seeing a blurring of boundaries between traditional meal times with big increases in snacking between meals especially between lunch and breakfast.  This pattern emerges as we try to fit more into busy lifestyles and make less time to sit down and eat - and households are less likely to come together for a meal. 

We eat breakfast on the go and lunch at our desks and brands are responding to this with new categories like breakfast drinks and formats such as snack-sized packs.

9. Conscious consumption

Consumers are more curious than ever before about where food comes from.  A third of us care more about the environment and society than we did five years ago and two thirds of us consider where food is sourced some of the time (Waitrose 2016 Food & Drink Report.) 

Millennials especially recognise how they have an ethical and environmental responsibility when making choices about what they eat and are conscious about what the brands they buy say about them with two thirds of 25-34 year olds saying they ‘want to buy food & drink products that reflect their attitudes and opinions’

For brands this means creating credible and convincing messages about your product and brand and communicating those credentials through all channels from packaging and point of sale to social media.

10. Looming food inflation

Food constitutes just 12% of disposable income in the UK, an all time low after three years of deflation, according to analysts Sanford Bernstein. However, the fall of sterling following the 2016 referendum to leave the EU and continued uncertainty is starting to affect food prices. While UK farmers and food producers warn of rising prices due to increasing labour costs with a shortfall in the number of European seasonal labourers working here. 

Analysts predict that UK consumers will swallow these price rises up to a point, bouyed by intensifying competition between retailers for shoppers’ pound. But consumers are being warned to brace themselves for price rises – perhaps by as much as 8% on those products for which Britain is almost solely reliant on the EU.

How to be heard on social media

How to be heard on social media

Social media is unavoidable these days - even as I type they're discussing its influence on the radio.

For small businesses or your own personal brand it's a high impact and low investment way to raise your profile.  It's an opportunity to reach new audiences, develop fans and be seen by buyers, journalists and potential customers.

But it can be overwhelming - Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube where do you start? And how do you avoid making social media a full time job in itself?

Here are my top tips for getting started on social media:

1. Don't spread yourself too thinly. You don't have to be on every single platform. It's better to focus on one or two and do it really well.

2. Keep it personal. My old mantra is 'People tweet not businesses' and the same goes for the other platforms. If you're a tiny business use a picture of yourself in your profile rather than your logo so people get to know you as an individual.

3. Think about your tone of voice - social media is just a new way to chat and gossip with friends - so don't come across as corporate or monotone - you need to sound genuine, authentic and interesting with a variety of content.

4. It's not a one way street - continually plugging and pushing your own products or services will be counter productive and put people off, like a pushy second hand car salesman! It's ok to slip in the occasional plug but mix it up with behind-the-scenes insights, sharing other news or links to press articles and blogs you think would engage your followers.

5. It's all about conversation - listen to and engage with other people, comment on their posts, ask questions and don't forget to reply to people who talk to you.

6. Sometimes things you find mundane about your work can be fascinating to others. Behind-the-scenes content is always popular - people like to be nosey and have an insight into your daily life or the process of making your product. 

7. To find people to follow (and hope they follow you back) look at some of your competitors followers - if they're interested in one gin-distiller or cheese-maker chances are they'll be interested in you too.

8. Twitter and Instagram are particularly strong and useful in the food and drink. Instagram is growing hugely but is still a relatively small community so it's easier to get noticed here than Twitter or Facebook.

9. To be noticed on Instagram you do need to use good quality photos. Photos taken on your phone are fine but perhaps spend a bit of time editing them before uploading, cropping, or brightening. Don't use the Instagram filters - they won't do your photo any favours.

10. You can automatically share your Instagram posts on Twitter and Facebook - but don't bore your followers with the same content on all platforms all the time.  If you tweet from Instagram your followers won't see the image only a link to click through so I would recommend posting images separately on each.

11. Don't be intimidated by hashtags! They seem to be being used less on Twitter these days but they can be really useful for increasing reach on Instagram. Don't clutter up your post with loads of hashtags, but you can put in a few paragraph returns and hide them below the fold. There are lots of websites out there that will tell you the most useful hashtags in food and drink. But have a look at what other people are using and find the ones that appeal to you.  

12. If you're more confident with words than images stick to Twitter. Use it to join conversations and demonstrate your knowledge and expertise in what you do.

13. On Facebook you will need to create a business page and make sure you put useful business info and some photos in. But Facebook has made it harder to get reach and engagement without paid for content and I'd suggest if you're new to social media focus your efforts elsewhere at least to start with.

14. Facebook wants people consuming content so will reward brands creating engaging content and penalise those that aren’t by limiting their reach. While once it was better to post something every day now it’s more important to focus on quality.  

If you need help getting set up on social media or just to reboot your presence and get more followers give me a shout >

10 PR Tips for food & drink brands

PR is a powerful and effective way to raise awareness of your brand or products, to build loyalty and to drive sales. But with so many people fighting for so few column inches, how do you make sure your story makes it to the top of the page?

Here are 10 Tips for a winning PR campaign:

1. Be organised

Sounds obvious, I know, but really:

Do your research. Buy papers and magazines and read the online ones so you know exactly what they each cover - and just importantly what they don’t. Does your story fit?

Make a list of the editors and writers covering the most relevant sections - you can often find their contact details in the magazine or contact pages on their websites. You can always pick up the phone to the switchboard and ask who is the right person to contact.

Keep a record of all of the journalists, bloggers and writers you want to approach and a note of what you’ve sent them, when, and how they responded. This will help you next time you want to contact them.

2. Be timely

Build a PR plan or calendar including at all the news stories you have coming up ahead - for example, product launches, new distributors, new locations or events. What are the most important and interesting news stories how do you time it so you don't have three stories going out in the same month?

Remember that monthly magazines work to long lead times - often six months ahead. This means if you have a Christmas product you need to get the story out in June or July to be confident it will get picked up in the Christmas magazines.

Dailies and weeklies work to shorter lead times but don’t expect to send out a release one day and get coverage the next. 

Think about the wider context - seasonal events and trends like healthy or dry January; big news stories (food & Brexit); or new research finding and link your story to those events.

3. Be yourself

Tell your brand story with confidence - what is special about your business or product and why should journalists listen. Imagine you've got just a few seconds to get your readers' interest - practice telling your story in words and writing until you are happy with it. Then, try it out on friends and family until you've got it down to a tee.

Think about the language you use or 'tone of voice'. How you write a press release, tweet, blog or speak to a journalist has got to be consistent with who you are and your brand values. Whether your brand is fun and playful or considered and corporate - make sure you have one voice across all your communications. There's no need to adopt a bland impersonal tone in your press release.

4. Be interesting

You have seconds to get a journalist’s attention, just as you do with a consumer browsing the shop shelves.
 
Journalists receive dozens of emails a day and many will go unread so make sure you get a compelling heading in the email subject line.  Make your email personal, greet them with their name and tell them why you think your news story is relevant to them..

5. Be concise

A press release shouldn’t be more than a few paragraphs long and fit on one side of A4 (and this doesn’t mean size 8 font!). Make it easy to read with 1.5x or 2x line spacing. You can add more detailed notes on a second page. Don’t forget to include your contact details!

Include the key points of your story in the covering email: and don’t forget the what, where, why and when.

Copy the main content of the press release into the body of the email, don’t rely on your attachment getting opened.

6. Be visual

Photographs are crucial so make sure you have high-quality photographs to accompany your story. They need to be high resolution (minimum 2mb) to use in print or online. Think about what photographs are relevant - a product pack shot, a lifestyle shot or a team line up. Remember to label photographs clearly and state any credits or acknowledgement that needs to be given to the photographer.

Include one or two photographs in the press release and either attach a high-resolution image to the email or create a folder of a few images on Dropbox or Google Drive and share the link in your email.

7. Be relevant

A scattergun approach doesn't work. Think carefully before sending your news - is it relevant to that person or publication - what’s your hook, where does it fit in their publication.

Have several angles of your story up your sleeve - what’s relevant to a monthly consumer food magazine isn’t for a weekly grocery trade newspaper - tweak your story for different audiences.

8. Be factual

A press release is not a sales pitch and journalists will not respond well to over exaggerated claims and hyperbolic language. Write objectively (but not without personality see Number 3 above.)

Journalists like facts and data - is there research to back up your claims.

9. Be opinionated 

You are an expert in what you do so share that knowledge to build credibility and authority with the media.

10. Be tenacious but not a pain in the a**e!

Silence doesn’t mean rejection - journalists are busy and often inundated. If you don’t receive a response it’s fine to follow up after a week or two, but don’t over do it - it’s a sure way to make sure your next story ends up in up in the junk folder!

I have years of experience of food and drink PR, so get in touch for advice or to find out how I can help you.  Contact Polly Robinson food and drink PR >

Examples of successful PR campaigns I've worked on:

Top digital Shopping Trends in 2017

Technology is changing how we shop.

We go online for inspiration for what to cook and eat; the web is the go-to place for product information and it is increasingly where we buy our groceries. Almost half of UK consumers shop online for groceries now with younger shoppers more likely to choose online over in-store.

For brands it is crucial to understand how consumers are using online anytime and any place to buy their groceries, and to ensure that their products are front of mind and interest is converted into sales.

Researching products

The web is the go-to place for product information and comparison.

61% searched for a product online, but for brands and retailers this creates a challenge as shoppers flip between sites comparing prices and availability.

Price is the priority but other factors hold sway, including access to detailed product information and ingredient labels with 25% of online shoppers saying lack of details drove them to shop elsewhere.

Brands must optimise how products appear online especially on a small mobile screen - shoppers expect larger images, close ups and 360 degree views (if relevant) and engaging and informative copy with all the facts they’d expect to find when picking a pack up in-store.

Shopping

Online grocery is set to top £11bn sales in 2017 as more shoppers turn away from the weekly supermarket trip but how we shop online is shifting too, away from desktop to mobile, with 40% of all grocery purchases made online in the UK being via mobile phones. Consumers are now more comfortable with mobile commerce as conversion rates improve and basket values increase.

Shoppers enjoy the convenience of online grocery shopping. Click and Collect is one of the major drivers in the growing online grocery market along with more flexible delivery slots.

Consumers typically shop from archived baskets or use auto re-ordering. This makes it difficult for new products and brands to get seen. Brands need to support their products online to ensure greater visibility. Using paid search, sponsorship or cross-selling on retail sites can draw attention to products on the crowded online shelf, where shoppers otherwise have a very narrow field of view.

Top digital Shopping Trends in 2017.

• 48% of Brits are online grocery shoppers
• 11% do all their grocery shopping online
• 12% do most of their grocery shopping online
• 19% 25-34 year olds now do all their grocery shopping online
• 24% of Brits have never bought groceries online and have no interest in doing so
• 38% over 55s have never bought groceries online and have no interest in doing so
• 29% of UK online grocery shoppers are shopping for groceries online more than 12 months ago
• Why are we doing more online grocery shopping?
• 60% shop - it’s more convenient than visiting stores.
• 33%  - it’s easier to track how much they’re spending.
• 32%  - increased delivery slots available.

What stops us grocery shopping online?

• 38% its lack of control of choosing fresh products
• 26% high delivery charges
• 25% shopping more at discount retailers.

Mintel Report: Online Grocery Shopper 2016

The importance of mobile

• 40% of online grocery purchases are made on mobile phones (
• 40% used mobile to find the best prices (within last 6 months)
• During the 2016 Festive Season, more shopping was done on mobile devices than desktops.

Criteo Browsing & Buying Online Survey 2016. criteo.com

The Connected Consumer - Going Online for Inspiration

Today's consumers are constantly connected. The mass adoption of smartphones, tablets and social media result in an always switched-on culture. Online has overtaken cookery books as our primary source of inspiration for what to buy, cook and eat. 

For brands it is crucial to understand how consumers are using online anytime and any place and be part of the dialogue. So how are consumers using the web in their kitchens:

1. Online Inspiration 

Over half of people say they have searched online for recipes or ideas for what to eat. 

Instagram as well as other social media channels inspire people and drive trends - think avocado on toast with nearly half a million tagged posts. One in five Brits have shared a photo of food on social media or with friends in the last month (according to the Waitrose Food & Drink Report 2016)

The impact of bloggers, vloggers and other influencers is significant with 20% saying they would take advice from them about a product - this rises to 34% among the under 35s. Once in the kitchen we turn to YouTube and other video sites to find and follow recipes.

People will follow brands they like on social media and say they will buy a product as a result of seeing a social media post. Brands must engage with all social media channels including creating video content and remember to include direct calls to action to shop now.

1. 61% will search a product online in the last month
2. 56% searched for recipes
3. 45% liked or followed a brand they like
4. 22% said they’d buy as a result of seeing a social media post.
5. 20% said they’d take advice from vloggers & bloggers rising to 34% month under 35s

Savvy, shopper survey of 1000 UK households April 2017.

Where do we turn to for recipe inspiration?

2 in 5 people say they’re looking to increase their repertoire through trying new recipes. Food website have overtaken cookery books as a source of inspiration - so where do we turn for new recipes:

1. Food Websites- 41%  (43% of 18-24s but only 29% 55s+)
2. Cookery Books 39%
3. TV 18%
4. Tend to come up with myself 17%
5. Food Magazines 15%
6. Friends 14%
7. Parents 13%
8. In store leaflets 13%
9. Other family members 11%
10. Celeb chefs 10%

YouGov AHDB Consumer Tracker April 2016

Why video matters.

1. 23bn view of food videos online in 2015 - 170% rise on 2014. Nearly all on YouTube or Facebook
2. 70% share of that audience in 18-34 age range.

Food becomes key ingredient for digital media groups, Financial Times.

Tips for planning your website

If your business isn't online, it doesn't exist. 

Whether you're starting a new business or managing an established brand you know it's vital to have a website - but where do you begin?  What is involved or what is it going to cost?

Have a cunning plan

Before you start to design a new website you need to have a plan. This is just as true if you are revamping an existing website or starting from scratch. Answering these questions will help you to put together a brief to work to or pass to a developer. Here are my top tips for planning your website:

1. What's the purpose of your website

First ask yourself the purpose of your web site. This might be:

• To sell products online.
• To raise your personal or business profile
• To tell customers and potential customers where your bricks & mortar shop or restaurant is.
• To share news about product launches.
• To get people to book events, tables or workshops.
• To publish a blog or journal about what you do, your recipes, your travels etc.

2. Who is your audience?

• Consumers and customers 
• Other businesses
• Journalists and the media

What do you know about them?  Are they in the UK or do you have an international audience? How old are they? Are they digitally savvy or not? Are they adventurous or more conservative?

As with all marketing, the more you know about your customers the better, to enable you to communicate with them in a relevant and engaging way.

3. Why do you need a new website?

Are you launching a new business or revamping an old website? If you already have a website make notes about what is good about it and what isn't. How does it work for you and your team to manage and keep up-to-date.  If you have any details available (like Google Analytics) find out what content is popular. If you sell stuff online how smooth is the process for shoppers - how many steps are there to complete a purchase. You could even ask a friends or customers what they think of the site and what improvements they'd suggest to the user experience.

4. What's your style?

A good place to start here is to have a look at websites of similar businesses and competitors or other websites you use in a different area - make a note of the elements that you like or dislike and why.

5. What's your brand look and feel?

Do you have a strong brand identity already or do you need to build one? Do you have a logo, and colour scheme that you use in packaging or brochures?  If not think about what colours you like that fit your product or style.

6. What photographs do you need?

All websites need good strong photography - especially if your product is food. What photography do you have already or do you need more?  Be warned poor photography can let your brand down and there is nothing less appetising than bad food photography. A professional photographer is well worth the investment.  

Video is also a great way to engage people with what you do. If you have any video think about how you use it on your site.

7. What key content do you want to include?

Once you've worked out your objectives, what you're trying to say and to whom, then you can start to think about how you say it. If you have a website already resist the urge to just replicate the layout and existing content; it's much better to stand back and start with a blank sheet of paper.  Things you will probably want to include:

• A welcome page to introduce who you are and what you do
• About Us - a more detailed page telling your story
• What you do/What you sell - details of your products or services
• Contact information and your social media links

Extra pages and elements to consider:

• An online shop
• A blog or news section to keep people up to date
• Event listings
• A list of stockists - perhaps searchable by location or on a map.
• Sample menus
• Tips & Expertise - share content to establish you and your brand as experts at what you do, this might be recipes
• A newsletter sign up box

8. What layout or navigation do you want?

Plan what content you want to appear where and how it's structured. What do you want to show in the header or footer of each page? Try to draw a map or family tree showing the pages you want to show in the main navigation and any sub-pages.

9. Get a domain name?

Your domain name is your website address or URL. You need to claim or register your domain and it's important to choose the right one from the start. No matter how your business changes or if you redesign your brand or your website, your domain name should be consistent.

Obviously your first choice would be your brand/business name but if this is unavailable you may need to be a bit creative either by creating a compound name like EatBrand (for a restaurant) or WeAreBusiness. A dot com is the most popular domain level, especially if you are setting up an online shop or targeting an international audience, or co.uk if you are UK-focussed. But there are lots of other options available like .co, .net, .london to consider.

Make sure your domain name is short, relevant and recognisable. Although these days most people use a search engine like Google to find any website now rather than remembering a URL and typing it out from scratch. Spend some time looking at what domains are available and playing with different variations

There are many services available for buying your domain and checking availability - 123.reg, names, nominet. I like 34.sp and GoDaddy. You can also buy your domain through Squarespace and Shopify if you are using those platforms to build your site.

10. Do you need a web host?

Yes. Think of website hosting as paying rent for your space on the worldwide web, like rening a physical building as your home or shop, your web host houses your website files. There are many options for hosting, if you're building your own website in Squarespace, Shopify or similar, hosting is included in the package and you don't need to buy separate hosting. If not you can buy hosting through your domain provider but don't choose it on price alone. You need to look at their level of service, security, and uptime - here are some detailed tips on choosing your web host. If you are using a developer they will be able to advise you further on this.

11. How much does it cost to build a website?

This is a 'how long is a piece of string' question! It can cost next to nothing if you build it yourself, or a thousand or several thousand pounds if you want a complex, bespoke, ecommerce website built by a specialist developers.

It's important to set yourself a budget before you start speaking to developers and give them a ballpark figure of what you are prepared to spend so that they can propose a solution to fit your budget.

12. How much time do you have to work on your site?

Ask yourself early on how much time do you have to manage your site, will you be doing it yourself or someone in your team or do you need someone to manage it for you? Are you confident about using websites or does the idea send you into panic? Will you have time to upload all the content on the new site or do you need someone to do that for you? This will impact how the site is built.

13. What platform or CMS should you use?

If you have a limited budget and are confident about managing a website (or even just a computer), then I recommend using one of the DIY web platforms like Squarespace (for a content /marketing site or blog) or Shopify for an online shop. They come with a wide range of ready built templates so you can create a beautifully designed website for very little money. It puts you in full control and they are incredibly easy to manage and keep up to date.  Here's why I love Squarespace.

If you like the look of these options but don't have the confidence to do it all yourself there are freelancers who will build a site for you in one of these platforms. If you need help with Squarespace I'd love to help you, or Shopify have a list of their recommended developers here. A specialist can help to make the standard templates look more unique to you.

Alternatively you may need to bring in a specialist developer to to build your website for you. Start by asking friends or contacts in your business network who they would recommend locally. Put together a detailed brief covering all the points above and send it to two or three developers asking them how they'd approach the project including their costs. It is worth meeting any potential developer in person as it's important to find someone you like, trust and can work well with.

Make sure you've agreed a detailed plan with them upfront as if you decide to make last minute changes it can end up costing you a lot more time and money.

Please don't let developers talk you into using their exclusive content management system (CMS) that are unique to their business, it can be very expensive and very restrictive.  Go for something opensource (i.e. available to everyone) like Wordpress, Magento or Umbraco.

14. Pull it all together

It makes life easier if you pull everything together before you start. This includes writing all your content, collating a list of products or events, writing a few blogs (and/or recipes).  Create a file with all the photography you want to use (and remember to crop and resize if necessary before uploading it to the site).  You'll also need your logo, and a scaled down version to use for the favicon, the little icon that appears in the tab of your web browser. If you're an existing brand do you have guidelines about the colours and fonts you use - make sure you share these with the web designer.

15. Set yourself a deadline

Whether your building your own site or working with a developer agree a date when you aim to launch the site. Even if you don't hit the deadline, it's good to have goal to work towards!

16. GO!

Why Squarespace is great for small business websites

When I launched Food Safari back in 2008 I knew I needed a website and I knew what I wanted it to look like, but like so many small and start up businesses I didn't really know where to start. I spoke to designers and web developers and had to learn a whole new language, and I'm not talking about HTML, just web developer talk. My basic website became the biggest investment in starting a business.

Eight years on I no longer find websites intimidating, I've learned the lingo, I understand the basics, yet when I speak to other people (from start-ups to established brands) the topic of websites is always greeted with a nervous sigh. But things have moved on a long way in the last few years and I don't think people need to feel so daunted by building a new website, even a full ecommerce site needn't cost thousands and take months of work.

Before you start do ask yourself what is the purpose of your website and who is your primary audience?  (See more of my tips on planning a website on the separate bog). Do you want to sell stuff online? What's your budget and timeframe - yes this is a 'how long is a piece of string' question but it will help you decide the best way forward.

If you have complex requirements and a generous budget then I recommended speaking to a couple of web developers to get different views on how to approach your project. But what are your options if don't have lots (or any) money to spend on a developer?  The answer lies with the arrival of DIY platforms like Wix, Weebly, Squarespace and Shopify it's possible to build a website or online shop yourself.

Shopify is the way to go if you need an online shop and offers sophisticated ecommerce, customer management and stock-management that only few years ago businesses would have paid thousands of pounds for! But if you just want a simple information site or blog, I don't think you can do better than Squarespace.

All these sites provide lots of "How to' instructions as you go along and you'll find plenty of blogs too with tips and comparisons between all of these options so I'm not going to cover that here.

Here's why I love Squarespace:

1. Great design

Squarespace has a growing portfolio of beautifully designed templates for you to build from. The designs are contemporary and fresh giving you a site that looks as good as one that has cost thousands of pounds.

2. Easy to use

The simple WYSIWYG editing is really easy to use - if you've used Word or anything else on a computer in the last ten years you'll be able to work it out. You can add blocks for images, galleries, video, social media and many other things just by right clicking the grey teardrops that appear when you hover your mouse over the screen.  You can then drag and drop them to where you want them.

3. Secure and stable

Squarespace is a self-contained platform and which enables you to create a web property and hosts it on the worldwide web - one account, one payment. You don't need loads of plugins and widgets as you do with a Wordpress site. Nor do you need to update it regularly as you do on Wordpress - so your website is always secure and stable.

4. Mobile and tablet-friendly

Mobiles have been the most popular way of getting online since 2015 - smartphones are now responsible for a third of internet access, up from 2014, so if your website doesn't look good on a mobile, if the text is too small to ready or the buttons impossible to navigate you will loose customers. Not only that but Google changed its search algorithm in 2015 and if your website is not mobile friendly it will negatively affect your rankings. You can check whether your website is mobile friendly by using this simple Google test > Squarespace templates are 'responsive'. In other words they automatically adjust for a mobile user, retaining your overall brand look. You don't need to do a thing.

5. Easy Search Engine optimisation

SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is a term you'll hear buzzing around a lot! Essentially it's about making sure that search engines - Google, Bing, Yahoo etc - find your site and drive traffic there.

Squarespace has all the elements you need built in and easy to set up: site descriptions, page titles, custom URLs. The automatically generated built-in sitemap that helps Google to crawl, understand, and ultimately, rank a website. 

6. Make it your own

Some people will tell you to avoid a template website so you don't end up with a generic site design that looks the same as everyone else has but remember there are a huge number of Squarespace templates with new ones regularly released.... play around with templates you can build a few pages is one template to see how it looks and then preview it in another template to see which works better.

Once you've chosen your template, don't forget to play with the Style Editor. Here you'll find options to change the look and feel of the site - typography, colours, button shapes and sizes. If you have a standard font that you use for your business you may find it already in Squarspace or at least find a webfriendly font that is close to it.  

7. Affordable

You get a 2 week free trial during which you can build your site, you only need to start paying after that.  After that there are options for a personal, business or ecommerce site ( wouldn't recommend Squarespace if you need an online shop. A personal site is adequate for most people and only costs $12/month if you pay for 12 months up front. This includes hosting the site, which in the old days you would have had to pay separately.

If you pay monthly there is no contract so you can move your website anytime without incurring a penalty. You can also upgrade or downgrade your plan at any time if your business requirements change.

In summary, I love Squarespace as a platform to build small business websites on, there really is no need to spend a lot of money with a developer. If you have more bespoke requirements Wordpress may suit you better, if you want an online shop try Shopify or Wordpress with a WooCommerce plug-in. But if you just want to build an online presence for your website start here.

If you would like to discuss your website requirements or need help building a website do get in touch >

Read my tips on planning a new website >

Delicious Producer Awards

I was really honoured to be invited to be a regional judge for the inaugural Delicious Magazine Producer Awards. There are numerous food and drink awards these days including the ubiquitous Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards which receives tens of thousands of entries every year seeking the recognisable gold stars to adorn their products.

But there were no national awards which truly celebrated the best best artisan food producers, small scale farmers or makers, recognising their dedication and skill as well the provenance and taste of their products. Back in January 2016 the magazine asked readers to nominate their favourite dairy farms, fishermen, butchers, bakers and farms - 650 nominations were received.

I was asked to judge entries for the East of England alongside far better qualified judges, food writer Thane Prince and chef Galton Blackiston. We spent an entertaining couple of hours reviewing all the entries to the area from tiny producers of chutneys and cakes available in a few local markets to some of East of England's most well known products from oysters to rhubarb. The process was rigorous scoring each entry on a number of criteria and Thane kept us all focussed and impartial! 

Our shortlist duly submitted to the final panel that included Prue Leigh, Peter Gordan and Sophie Grigson as well as Delicious editor, Karen Barnes and we all had to wait patiently until October when the winners were announced in the October magazine.

I'm delighted to say that one of our favourite entries from the region went on to win the From the Earth Category - Hodmedod's Organic Quinoa was praised by the judges who said "We love the fact that it's grown in the UK. Plus the flavour is excellent: buttery and nutty, with a texture that pops in the mouth."

You can see the full list of winners on the Delicious Producer Awards Winners.