Pages a Polish shop's website should have

Your Polish shop already has a way of working. Regulars know where the pierogi are, which sausage you only get on a Friday, and who to ask about the good rye bread. A website has to do that job for people who haven't walked in yet.

So here's the plan. Eleven pages, each with one clear job. Build only the ones that match what you really do, and skip the rest. A short site that tells the truth beats a big one that doesn't.

Purpose: To tell a stranger, in a few seconds, what the shop is, where it is and what to do next.

Start with the words on your shopfront. If the sign says "Polish delicatessen", say that. If it says "Polish supermarket", say that. Shops may trade under any of those names, so use the one your customers see when they walk past. Match it exactly.

Then say where you are, in plain terms: the town, the street, the nearest landmark if you like. Add your opening hours near the top, or a clear link to them.

Next, a short list of what you really stock. Think of the things people ask for most: bread, cured meats, dumplings, pickles, sweets, drinks. Link each one to its category page. Add a real photo of the shop front and one of the shelves, taken on a normal day.

Put your phone number and address where nobody has to hunt. If you serve Polish-speaking customers, you might add a Polish-language version of the key pages. That's your choice, and a sensible one if it suits your customers.

One more thing. Keep the page short. It's a front door, not the whole house.

Avoid stock photos of food you don't sell, vague lines like "quality products for everyone", long welcome speeches, and any claim you can't back up on the day someone visits.

Purpose: To show what's on your shelves, grouped the way a customer would look for it.

Make one page for each real section of the shop. Bread and bakery. Meat and charcuterie. Frozen dumplings and ready meals. Jars and pickles. Sweets and biscuits. Drinks. Whatever you genuinely carry, and nothing else.

On each page, list the main products by name. Use the name on the pack, and add the English if your customers need it. Say what the product is in one plain line. "Kabanosy: thin, dry-cured pork sausages, eaten cold as a snack." Nobody needs more than that.

If something is only in sometimes, say so. A seasonal item, a weekend delivery. Anything that sells out fast. Honest beats optimistic.

Add a line on allergens where you can. The 14 allergen groups include cereals containing gluten, milk, eggs, fish, peanuts, nuts, sesame and sulphites above 10 mg/kg. If you're unsure what's in a product, read the label and don't guess. If you can't confirm it, say "ask in store" and leave it there.

Photos should be of your own shelves and products. Prices are optional, but only list them if you'll keep them current.

Avoid listing products you don't stock "just in case", copying descriptions from a supplier's catalogue word for word, and making pages for categories with two items in them. Thin pages help nobody. Fold small ranges into a bigger page instead.

Purpose: To answer the question customers keep asking you, in one place, so they don't have to phone or turn up to find out.

You already know the questions. "Do you have proper twaróg?" "Where can I get żurek starter?" "Is there a gluten-free version of this?" Each one is a page waiting to be written.

Pick the products people really ask for. Write one page per product, and make each page worth reading. Say what it is, what it's used for, and which dish it belongs in. If you have a simple recipe note or a serving tip from the staff, add it. Then say plainly whether you stock it, and where in the shop it sits.

Be straight about availability. If you have it every day, say so. If it's only in on certain days, say that. If you don't stock it, say that too, and don't pretend. A page that admits a gap is more useful than one that wastes a trip.

Keep each page to one product or one tight family of products. Two or three short paragraphs is plenty. Add a photo of the real item on your shelf.

Link each page back to its category page and to your opening hours. Someone who reads about the product should be one click from knowing where to find you.

Avoid making near-identical pages for every product with only the name swapped. Google's spam policies treat many near-duplicate pages made mainly to manipulate rankings as spam. If a page doesn't say something genuinely different, don't build it. Also avoid claims about health benefits or "authentic" origins you can't prove.

Purpose: To make it easy to turn up, on the right day, at the right time, without a phone call.

This is the page people need most and the one shops most often get wrong. Give it its own address on the site, and link to it from every page.

List your full postal address. Give the opening hours day by day, and include bank holiday and Christmas hours as soon as you know them. If the hours change, change the page the same day. Wrong hours cost you a visit and a bit of goodwill.

Then add the practical bits. Where do people park? Is there a car park behind, a side street, a pay-and-display bay out front? Which bus stops or station are closest? Is there step-free access? Is the entrance round the side, or up a ramp? Say it in plain words.

Add a short note on how to spot the shop: the colour of the sign, the shop next door, the name on the window. A clear photo of the front helps more than a paragraph of directions.

Include a phone number that someone actually answers, and say when. Embed a map if it works well on a phone.

Avoid hiding the address in an image, listing hours that differ from your door or your Google listing, and giving directions that only make sense to someone who already knows the area. Check this page against your sign, your door and your online listing every few months.

Purpose: To be clear about what's on the pack, who's responsible for it, and what customers should know before they buy.

Much of what you sell comes from Poland or through a wholesaler. That's the point of the shop. But labelling rules apply to what's on your shelves.

Prepacked food labels must show the name and address of the business responsible. From 1 January 2024, prepacked food sold in Great Britain must show a UK address for that business, or the UK importer's address if the business is not in the UK. It has to be a physical postal address, not just an email or a phone number. Prepacked food must also list ingredients, with allergens identified.

Here's the part that catches shops out. If you relabel or repack imported goods, that responsibility is yours. Put your own name and address on the pack, and make sure the ingredients and allergens are right.

On the website, a short page can explain how you handle this. Say that you check labels on imported lines. Say that allergen information is on the pack. Say who to ask if a customer has a question about an ingredient. Keep it factual.

Because the detail depends on your products and your set-up, check anything you're unsure about with your local council or the relevant regulator. Don't rely on a supplier's say-so.

Avoid saying "all our products are fully compliant" unless you've checked, writing allergen claims from memory, and leaving the question of who is responsible vague.

Purpose: To show that the shop is properly registered and to give customers its hygiene rating.

Anyone who sells, cooks, stores, handles, prepares or distributes food must register as a food business with their local authority at least 28 days before trading. Each site needs its own registration. Temporary and mobile set-ups such as stalls and vans must register too, and so must online-only sellers. If you run more than one shop, each one needs its own.

You don't need a long page for this. A short, calm section is enough: the shop is registered with its local authority, and here is the council name. Don't invent a registration number or quote anything you haven't got in front of you.

Then the rating. The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and ratings run from 5 to 0. Showing the sticker is voluntary in England and a legal requirement in Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland has a different scheme, so if you trade there, check with your local council.

If you have a rating you're happy with, show it on the site, using the current one. If you get re-inspected, update the page. A stale rating is worse than none.

If your business is a UK limited company, show the registered company name, registered number, registered office address and where it's registered. A footer on every page works well.

Avoid showing an old rating, implying a rating you don't hold, and guessing at registration rules. If you're unsure, ask your local council.

Purpose: To explain how people can get your products without a trip to the till, and exactly what it costs and when it happens.

Only build this page if you really offer the service. If you don't deliver, don't hint at it. If you only do click and collect, call it that.

Say what you offer, in order. How does someone place an order: by phone, by message, through a form? What can they order? What's the cut-off for same-day or next-day collection? Where do they collect it, and from which door?

For delivery, say which areas you cover, in plain terms. Name the towns or postcode areas you really serve. Give the days you deliver and the usual time window. Say what happens if nobody's home.

Be honest about the limits. Chilled and frozen items need care, so say how you handle them. If some products can't be delivered, list them.

If there's a minimum order or a delivery fee, put the actual figure on the page, and only if it's current. If you'd rather not publish prices, say "ask us for a quote" and give a phone number.

Add the same contact details as everywhere else, and a clear next step. One button, one phone number.

Avoid promising delivery times you can't hit, covering areas you don't serve, and leaving the cost vague until checkout. If the service stops for a while, take the page down or say so at the top.

Purpose: To give each shop its own clear, accurate page, and to make sure each one says something the others don't.

If you run more than one shop, each one deserves its own page. Every site is its own registered food business, and each has its own hours, address and way in. Customers need those details separately.

On each branch page, put the full address, the hours, the phone number, parking, and a photo of that shop's front. Then add what's different. Does this branch have a bigger bakery counter? A longer deli range? A different delivery day? A particular member of staff people ask for? Say it.

This matters beyond tidiness. Google's spam policies treat many near-duplicate pages made mainly to manipulate rankings as spam. So each branch, area or service page must carry something genuinely different. If two pages differ only by the town name, they're not doing their job.

If you have only one shop, skip this page. Your home page and your how-to-find-us page cover it.

Link each branch page to the main site, and link the main site's contact page to every branch. Keep the branch names consistent with the signs on the doors.

Avoid copying one page and swapping the place name, listing branches you've closed, and creating pages for towns where you have no shop. A page for a place you don't serve only confuses people.

Purpose: To make sure the details people see on Google match the real shop, and stay that way.

This isn't a page on your website, but it belongs on this list because it works alongside it. Treat it as a second front window.

Use the real-world business name shown on your shopfront, your website and your stationery. Don't add extra words to the name to try to stand out. Google's guidelines are clear that keywords shouldn't be added to the name. And you can't pay for a better local ranking, so don't believe anyone who says you can.

Fill it in properly. That means:

1. Name, address and phone number, matching your website exactly.
2. Opening hours, including holiday hours, kept up to date.
3. The right category for the shop.
4. A short, honest description of what you sell.
5. Real photos of the shopfront, the shelves and the counter.

Add a link to your website, and to your opening hours page if you can. If you run more than one branch, each needs its own profile with its own address and hours.

Check it regularly. Hours change, phone numbers change, a photo gets old. Set a reminder and look at it once a month.

Avoid stuffing the name with extra words, listing a different address from the one on your door, and leaving holiday hours blank. A mismatch between your listing and your door is the quickest way to lose someone's patience.

Purpose: To show what real customers say about the shop, and to show that you read it.

Reviews are other people's words, so treat them with care. You can't write them, and you shouldn't edit them.

Give reviews a spot on the site. A short section on the home page or the about page can work well, with a link to your Google listing where people can read more. If you quote a customer on the site, get their permission, and quote them exactly. Don't tidy the grammar or trim the awkward bits so it reads better.

Ask for reviews in a natural way. A small sign at the till, a line on the receipt. Or just a polite word when someone says they've enjoyed something. Ask everyone, not only the people you expect to be happy.

Reply to reviews, good and bad. Thank people for kind ones, and keep it short. For a poor one, stay calm, say sorry where it's fair, and offer to sort it out in person or by phone. Don't argue in public.

Keep a note of what comes up more than once. If three people mention the same gap on the shelf, that's useful.

Avoid buying reviews, writing your own, getting friends and family to post them, or deleting the ones you dislike where you have the power. And avoid copying a review from one place to another and calling it new. Use what's real.

Purpose: To tell people who you are, why the shop exists and who they'll meet when they walk in.

This is the page where the shop becomes a place with people in it. Write it plainly, in your own voice.

Say who owns the shop and how long it's been there, but only the parts that are true and that you're comfortable sharing. Say why you opened it. Maybe it began as a way to bring familiar food to people who missed it. Maybe it was a family business. Whatever the story is, tell it simply and keep it short.

Add a photo of the owner or the team, if they're happy to appear. Real faces do more than a paragraph of description.

Then say what the shop is for. Who comes in: locals, Polish families, people curious about the food? What would you like a first-time visitor to try? That gives them a way in.

If you're a UK limited company, include the company details here or in the footer: the registered company name, registered number, registered office address and where it's registered. Keep them accurate and in the same place on every page.

Finish with a clear way to get in touch, and a pointer to your hours and address.

Avoid grand claims like "the best in town", invented history, and a long life story nobody asked for. Plain and true is more than enough.

If you're starting from nothing, build in this order:

1. Home page: the front door, with your shop's name, location and what you stock.
2. Opening hours, address, parking and how to find you: so people can actually turn up.
3. Product category pages: one for each real section of the shop.
4. Registration and hygiene rating: the basics that show the shop is above board.
5. About the shop: who you are, and why you're there.

The rest can follow as time allows. Delivery, branch pages and product pages come later, and only if they fit what you do.

Not sure which of these pages you've already covered, and which you've skipped? At Seracu, we offer a free snapshot. It shows which topics your site lacks compared with your competitors. Start there, then build the pages that matter most.