A Case For Chips: Hartley’s Potato Chips

On occasion, a member of the Thrivepoint team will look online for a product that he or she has a close connection with and provide some unsolicited advice. Maybe it’s a favorite childhood food. Or maybe it’s great smelling candles from back home. It could be just about anything. This time we have chosen Hartley’s Potato Chips. And unless you grew up in Lewistown, Pennsylvania (or know someone who did), you probably haven’t heard of them.

The potato chip market is a $15+ Billion dollar a year industry. There are a few leaders, such as Lays, Pringles, Cape Cod, Zapps and Wise, but there are also a lot of smaller companies out there that have a distribution range of a hundred miles (if that). These companies can use the Internet to increase their sales and distribution.

People who grew up in Lewistown have a fondness for Hartley’s Potato Chips. If you meet someone from there and ask them what their favorite food is, there’s a good chance they’ll say “Hartley’s”. And also take into consideration that there are potato chip aficionados (you think only cigar’s have them?) who are always looking for a new chip to try, and you can see how expanding beyond your area code can really help to spur sales.

We evaluated Hartley’s website and would like to start by saying “Nice Site”… BUT…. It could use some help with regards to driving more traffic, more sales and generating a customer base that can help them expand their distribution footprint. This exercise is not intended to critique the look and feel of a site (except with regards to how it affects the user experience). This is a good looking site. If you’ve ever seen a bag of Hartley’s, you’ll feel right at home with this site.

META TAGS
One place to start with ensuring that people “find” your potato chip company’s website (hartleyspotatochips.com) is with the meta tags. The text of the organic search listing is disorienting to people and could be improved by using a company description in the page’s meta tags. Something along the lines of “Since 1935, Hartley’s Potato Chips have been the favorite kettle cooked potato chip of Lewistown, Pennsylvania” as an example.

FLASH
The Flash intro file used to load the company logo loads slowly (it can take more than minute to load on some computers). No call to action for visitor to follow that indicates how to enter the website. These are little things. But they matter. A simple “click to enter” on the bag would help. An optimized Flash file would help speed up the load as well.

Of course, some SEO purists would insist that Flash will greatly diminish your chances of showing up on a search engine at all. We agree. But people like Flash. It’s here to stay. An HTML / Flash hybrid would have a lot more success showing up on search engines while still providing the desired user experience. So be sure that the page loads quickly and the navigation path is clear for the visitor.

WEBSITE NAVIGATION
Currently the homepage defaults to news page with small font. And the news is not up-to-date. (this is probably due to the fact that the site is all Flash and you’d need a Flash programmer to make the update.)

It is best if the homepage has a welcome message, possibly in the form of a message from the Hartley’s team. A brief message, with some keyword-rich content along with a specific next step (shop) would probably help to improve your online sales.

Hartley’s should also consider including an email subscription or Facebok link to start building a dialog with existing and potential customers who can buy online, tell others about Hartley’s and ask their local stores to start carrying Hartley’s Potato Chips. The link to buy online should be more prominent (you have to click “Products”.)

The store is a little hard to navigate. Unless you looked at the demonstration in the “Products” section, you may not know how to add products to your shopping cart. There are many “Off the shelf” shopping cart tools. It might be worth exploring.

A few final thoughts: Why not have a Facebook page? And link to it directly from your site. People (like me) would become a fan. Then my 800+ friends (many of whom have heard me rave on about Hartley’s Potato Chips) would see that I’m a fan and become fans as well. Not all. Not even most. But some. And then some of their friends will see that they became a fan and become fans. And so on. Of course, this means you’ll need to have something to say. But I’ve spent a lot of time in Lewistown, PA, and I can tell you this. Nobody is ever at a loss for words.

What does this all mean for you? Well, if you’re a potato chip company, look at what we’ve said and see where your site stands. If you’re any other kind of consumer goods company, think about how we can help. We focus on all points of entry and with turning visitors into customers. Then turning those customers into evangelists for your brand.

Read more market analysis or case studies from Thrivepoint or contact us to discuss your business’ needs.

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