Lead the home page with a dated list of what came in this week, with prices by weight. Then add a season page, simple cooking and storage guides, a holiday order form and a page for restaurants.

What the site is actually for

Fish for dinner is usually decided late in the day, on a phone, often on the way home. The shopper wants to know what is fresh, what it costs and whether the shop is open.

A fish market's stock changes with the boats, the season and the weather. A site that shows the same list all year cannot answer the main question, which is what came in.

The site's job is to turn that question into a visit: this is here now, this is the price, this is how to cook it, and the counter is open until six.

What a customer checks first

A visitor to a fish market's site is usually planning one meal or one occasion, and looks for answers in roughly this order:

Many fish market sites answer the third and stop there. The first two are what bring someone to the counter on an ordinary Tuesday.

Fresh this week, with a date

Put a short list near the top of the home page: what arrived this week, and when. Halibut on Tuesday, oysters on Wednesday, salmon smoked in the shop on Thursday.

Give it a date, and keep it to what is actually on ice. A list of everything the shop has ever sold reads like a menu where nothing is available.

Make it quick to update from a phone or the counter computer, and decide who does it and on which mornings, so it changes when the stock does.

Prices by weight, shown plainly

Show a price for everything on the fresh list, per pound and per kilogram, since customers think in both. Use a per-piece price where that is how it sells, such as a whole crab.

When prices move with the catch, say so and update them with the list. A page that says "market price" for everything sends a cautious shopper to a shop that shows a number.

A line such as "a fillet for two is about three-quarters of a pound" helps people who rarely buy fish turn a price per pound into a dinner.

In season, and when to expect it

Seafood follows the calendar. A page on what is in season, month by month, tells regulars when to watch for halibut, spot prawns or local crab.

Keep it honest: describe the usual timing rather than promising dates, and update the fresh list when the first of the season actually arrives.

The season page also answers people searching for a particular fish in a particular month, which a weekly list cannot do on its own.

Preparing and storing fish

Plenty of customers would buy fish more often if they were sure how to cook it. A short guide for each common fish, with one or two simple methods, removes that doubt.

Cover storage too: how long fresh fish keeps in the fridge, how to freeze it and how to thaw it, written the way the counter staff explain it.

Photographs help, especially a whole fish beside the fillets it yields, or a crab being cleaned. They answer questions customers are shy to ask at a busy counter.

A worked example

A fish market near a harbour on the Sunshine Coast sells fresh and smoked fish, shellfish and a few prepared items, and supplies several local restaurants.

Its site had a welcome page, a photograph of the counter, the hours and a long list of every species the shop had ever carried. Nothing on it changed from month to month.

Staff spent part of every afternoon answering the same calls: whether the halibut was in, what the crab cost, how long smoked salmon keeps.

The new home page leads with a dated fresh list and prices, updated by the morning manager from the counter computer as deliveries are checked.

A season page, short cooking and storage guides and a holiday order form sit one tap from the list. Restaurant buyers have their own page with delivery days and cut-off times.

The question the phone used to answer, what came in today, is now settled before anyone picks up the phone.

Holiday and large orders

Before the December holidays and other big weekends, customers want whole salmon, crab, oysters by the dozen and platters. A simple order form with pickup dates and a cut-off keeps the counter manageable.

Say plainly how orders are confirmed and paid, and when the form closes. A form that accepts orders the shop cannot fill causes the worst kind of holiday call.

Restaurant and wholesale orders

Restaurants buy differently: by the case, on a schedule, with invoices. A separate page with delivery days, cut-off times, minimums and how to open an account saves both sides time.

Keep wholesale prices off the public site and send them to buyers directly. The page's job is to show that the shop supplies restaurants and to put a buyer in touch with the right person.

The counter-case

A small stall at a farmers' market, or a shop whose regulars follow its Facebook page for the day's catch, may not need a fresh list on the website at all.

For them, the site's job is the stable facts: hours, location, the season page, storage guides and how to order, with a clear link to wherever the daily update lives.

But someone deciding about tonight's dinner still needs to know what is fresh, so the home page should say it, or point straight to where it is said.

What to build first

  1. Put a dated fresh list at the top of the home page.
  2. Show a price for everything on it.
  3. Choose who updates the list and on which mornings.
  4. Add a season page arranged by month.
  5. Write short guides for cooking and storage.
  6. Build a holiday order form with a cut-off date.
  7. Give restaurants their own page.

Step two is the one fish markets hesitate over, because prices move. A price that changes weekly is still more useful than none, as long as it carries a date.

A price only helps if it can be read at a glance, and a handwriting font used for every paragraph shows how decorative script lettering gets in the way.

Frequently asked questions

What belongs at the top of a fish market's home page?

A dated list of what came in this week, with prices by weight or by piece, followed by today's hours and the address.

Should prices be shown if they change weekly?

Yes. Show them with the date and update them with the fresh list. A dated price is more useful to a shopper than "market price" or no price at all.

Who should update the fresh list?

One person, on set mornings, using a short form from a phone or the counter computer when deliveries are checked. Without an owner the list soon goes stale.

Are cooking guides worth adding?

Yes. Customers who are unsure how to cook a fish often skip it. One or two simple methods per fish, with storage and thawing advice, answer that doubt.

How should holiday orders work?

Through a simple form with pickup dates, a clear cut-off and an explanation of how orders are confirmed and paid, closed once the shop is fully booked.

Should wholesale prices be on the site?

No. Give restaurants a page with delivery days, cut-off times, minimums and how to open an account, and send prices to buyers directly.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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