The US Potato Board is the nation’s potato marketing and research organization. The organization represents more than 2,500 potato growers and handlers across the United States. The US Potato Board was established in 1971 by a group of potato growers to promote the benefits of eating potatoes. Today, it is the largest vegetable commodity board and provides a global reach for its constituents.
Specific Project Goals & Challenges
- Develop an expanded recipe search which would also be effective on mobile devices
- Increase the number of Weekly Recipe Email sign ups
- Increase number of recipe reviews
- Effectively reach each of their main target audiences (Home Cooks, Nutrition Professionals, Schools, Professional Chefs, Food Developers, Media Professionals)
- Home Cooks – Get potatoes on the table one more night a week, provide creative recipes that are easy for busy families to make.
- Professional Chefs – They want new ideas and variety to keep their menu creations exciting and fresh.
- Nutrition Professional – Consumer friendly nutrition information, facts, many resources.
- Food Developers – Resources and reference materials for the Food Developer community. Help make frozen potato options more desirable.
- Schools – Teaching tools, many helpful resources for professionals in the schools.
- Media Professionals – Information for the media, press releases, electronic press kit, ad campaigns, editorial images, sign up for media updates.
- Customization content and imagery for each target group
- Showcase Potato Growers from around the country
- Create a user friendly, easy to navigate Website design
Website Solutions Provided by Webolutions
This Website has the following Features and Functions:
- Clean and simple overall design of mobile website and desktop website which makes navigating the site very easy.
- Site search allows users to search all content in the site, including recipes
- Facebook, Pinterest icons featured prominently on the site, above the fold
- RSS feed
- Social Sharing on the site makes it very easy for users to share content on their social networks or via email
- Blog called “Hot Potato News” with categories created for specific target audiences
- Home page image slider that links to any type of content within the site (recipes, specific recipe search criteria, video, blog posts, etc)
- Prominently featured ‘Meet a Potato Grower’ section. The potato growers are a very important group to highlight / showcase on this site. Without their hard work, we wouldn’t have any potatoes to enjoy! On the back end, potato growers are treated as their own content type (independent of pages, posts, or recipes)
- All content can be easily modified via a simple admin for the mobile site
- Potato “How To” and “Chef Demonstration” videos makes it easy for users to browse through helpful videos all in one place
- Recipes
- Users can share recipes via social media, email
- Users can rate / review recipes using a star rating system
- Search by keyword, course / dish type, prep time, ready time, prep method, potato type, cuisine, special requests (dietary restrictions – gluten free, low sodium, etc)
- Search results can be organized by rating, relevancy, prep time and ready time
- Customization allows for saving / linking to particular search criteria (i.e. Soups)
- Recipes can be selected to show in the Consumer or Foodservice categories
- Simple and advanced recipe search options
- Mobile Website Design
- Highlight one featured recipe on mobile home page
- Search recipes right from the mobile home page
- Weekly Recipe Email sign up is prominently featured on the mobile home page
- Ability to create custom content for the mobile site using WordPress admin
- Ability to add any page to the mobile Website
- Simplified design for better mobile consumption
- Link to view the full site
- Target Audiences
- Main navigation menu item ‘Just For You’ expands to show each target group, so users can self identify, but still access each section of the Website if they so choose
- Created custom landing pages and sections of the Website which target each group specifically. Each section can be customized with its own header image, links to pages in the site, custom sub navigation
- Created custom blog categories for each of these groups so we could pull them into their respective parts of the site
- Promo box area available on the right hand side of each page underneath the ‘Join the Conversation’ and ‘Weekly Recipe Email Sign Up’ calls to action
- Forms
- Weekly Recipe Email (prominently placed on each page of the site to increase conversions)
- Share Your Feedback form – located in the utility navigation. This feedback form allows users to quickly provide feedback, offer suggestions or ask a question.
- Get Creative eNews – Sign up to receive the eNewsletter created for professional chefs
- Media Updates – Sign up to receive the latest media updates
- Stay Up to Date – Receive nutrition information right to your inbox
- Recipe Review – Users have the ability to rate / review recipes. Can add a star rating, choose a number rating 1-5 and write comments, suggestions, modifications, etc.
