December’s Website of the Month winner was Mad About Pies, an online and offline pie shop based in Gloucestershire. We caught up with Phil the Pie Man to find out more…

Tell us a bit about your working background and how Mad About Pies came about.

I came to the UK from Dublin in 1989 and purchased my main business, The Farmers Boy Inn in Longhope, Gloucestershire in September 2000.

Due to continuing success, I started MadAboutPies.co.uk in early 2011 and over the past year the success has continued to grow, having gone from selling online to now distributing too many top Football and Rugby teams and many catering distributors. All of our pies are cooked on our own facilities and we take pride in the quality of the pies.

You worked with Clear Web Services to develop your website, what were you looking for in a web designer/developer and how did you decide who to hire?

I have used the guys at Clear Web Services for a few web design and marketing projects previously, so they were my first choice for MadAboutPies.co.uk. They offer everything I want from a company I need to trust to deliver.

You will always speak to one of the MD’s, Ian or Will, rather than just getting through to someone you don’t know, which means they always know me and my business. They deliver fantastic results, are quick to make the changes I need and above all, are just a local company that continue to deliver results that I would expect from a large national agency, so I am delighted to be with them.

What did you set out to achieve with Mad About Pies’ site design?

I wanted a stunning site and I wanted it to be different from anything else online in my industry and I think we achieved it! It had to be sleek, product focused and feature enough information without being overloaded.

How does your website relate to your physical business and how do you advertise it?

For MadAboutPies.co.uk I have used Cost Per Click to really promote the business, but I am discussing some SEO plans with Clear Web Services and will probably go down that route as the year goes on.

MadAboutPies.co.uk is part of my umbrella of businesses, which all relate to each other but are totally separate in many ways. I have vans on the road, promotional material everywhere and I promote my business via social media outlets and the Internet. I think outside the box.

What are the benefits of having a website to help sell your pies?

It makes my business national. When you are online you can sell anywhere, any when and to anyone, which takes my business from a Gloucestershire business to a national business and possibly a global business when we start to sign our European contracts which we should achieve this year.

The Internet allows my business to be accessed by millions of people, rather than just a local or niche group that I would have to target my advertising towards.

What advice would you give to someone looking to sell physical products (particularly food) online?

Front everything yourself. I am the face and image of my business which means people trust my business because they trust me. It also makes things more personal and my customers want to trust me and therefore trust my products.

It is also vital that you make sure your products have amazing images and good descriptions, because online you have only seconds to make a sale and the two biggest factors are images and of course price.

Why did you choose to host Mad About Pies with Heart Internet?

The company I choose to do all of my web design and web marketing, Clear Web Services, have recommended you guys for years on end and I of course wanted to keep my sites with Clear Web Services, which meant hosting with Heart.

They have been hosting all of their sites with you for many years and I have been very impressed with the stability and efficiency of the hosting, especially when I was featured on TV show Four In A Bed and had a spike of traffic which resulted in issues, which Clear Web Services and Heart sorted quickly and very efficiently.

How did you go about asking people to vote for your site in the contest?

Between myself and Clear Web Services, we utilised Twitter and Facebook to tell people that we were up for an award and to ask them to vote for us.We also have thousands of loyal and happy customers, which means that we had a great base of happy people that were willing to help us win this award.

Social media is great for many things and spreading the word about this award was no different to advertising a new pie or special offer. As long as you have a good customer base, these are the people who will help your business become successful in so many ways.

What’s the future for Mad About Pies (both the business in general and the website)?

We are continuing to expand our range and offer new pies and gastro food items all of the time. We have recently signed a few exciting and massive contracts with independent retails and distributors that will see our pies hit the high streets in a big way throughout 2012. We never stand still and are always moving forward, with a large European contract also looking quite good for the year ahead.