July’s Website of the Month winner was award-winning dressings company Little Doone. Run by husband and wife team Colin and Tanya, Little Doone’s unusual and handmade dressings have won numerous Great Taste Awards from the Guild of Fine Foods. We caught up with them to find out more about their website and business.

Tell us about yourself and the history of Little Doone.

Little Doone was established in the spring of 2007 and has grown rapidly supplying stores all across the United Kingdom, therefore creating a website was the natural way forward to give people easy access to more information about us and about our products. It is the quickest way for people to find out about their nearest stockists, to find out about the new flavours and they can also buy online. It is important to have an online presence as more and more people are searching online for products it is also a much easier way for people to get in touch and discover what we do.

What challenges did you face in getting your product to market?

It was more of a challenge keeping up with the demand for the product rather than getting it to market, as it is a family business run by husband and wife team, Colin and Tanya, the popularity and demand were quite overwhelming at first but once things were under control the next step was to take the business online. There were complications with getting the proper VAT for the different types of bottles and flavours but everything has worked out perfectly.

What advice would you give to someone looking to create their own products to sell online?

We would suggest getting the product right first of all. If you have a unique product or have found a niche in the market it is much easier to attract the attention of suppliers. Through hard work and determination you can expand and grow. Once you have a foundation you can work closely with designers to brand your product and get it online. Don’t be afraid to tell designers what you want your product to represent. If it doesn’t feel right tell them as you need to get it right. Once a customer knows your logo or brand you don’t want to be changing it. Keep it simple and you will be onto a winner!

Which do you think is most important aspect of a website: concept, content, design or promotion?

I think the content is the most important part of a website but you need all three to work in conjunction with each other to have a great website. There is no point in having a fancy website if people don’t know what your product is and vice versa. If you have a great product but the website hasn’t been designed well then people will be put off and the reputation of the product could be tarnished. That is why the process is essential and a well thought out plan is needed right from the start.

What did you have in mind for the design of the Little Doone website and how did you go about achieving the look you wanted?

The product is the essential part so the website would always be image driven and have good visuals of each product displayed clearly. The overall design was to be in the theme of a rustic deli, a real homemade feel about it but also clean and easy to use. The design process went through a few stages from initial concepts through development and end visuals before a finalised design was chosen. A lot of work and effort was put in from both sides collaborating closely to get the perfect result.

Why did you choose to host Little Doone with us?

Heart Internet was chosen to host the Little Doone website because they provide a great customer service. Any questions or queries we had were answered quickly and clearly, it is very user friendly and there have been little or no problems since we have set up the account. Sleek Media use Heart Internet for all their web and domain hosting and thoroughly recommend them.

How did you go about asking people to vote for your website?

We used social networking sites such as facebook and twitter asking people to visit our site and if they liked it to vote for it. We also put the “vote for us” button on the website itself so that any stockists or people purchasing could vote if they liked it.

What would you like to see for Little Doone in the future?

We hope that Little Doone will continue to expand attracting more stockists through the website, more people purchasing online and possibly new seasonal flavours being added. We are currently used by some of the finest hotels and restaurants, including Michelin starred, and hope to add more of these to our list. We also hope to win more awards through our hard work as the Scottish Government selected Little Doone Dressings as an example of fine Scottish produce for Scotland Week celebrations in New York and Canada in the spring of 2011.