you’ve been goosed: analysing food & drink brands

Food and drink company websites are there to leave you feeling hungry, with a tasty tone of voice and mouth-watering imagery, brands throw everything they have at their site to ensure potential customers come running into stores or online to buy their products.. 

When it comes to website copy, not only do you want it to leave readers wanting to try your products, you also want Google to be able to interpret it correctly. A few simple optimisations of your existing copy can help you strive to be at the top of the SERPs.

Looking to optimise your food and drink website’s content? You don’t have to wing it! In this blog post, we show you how we can help take your food and drink content to the top. 

Our Not So Secret Tool – Goose

We have an abundance of all-singing, all-dancing marketing tools that our Flaunt Digital team loves, especially the ones that we made ourselves. One of our favourites is our content optimisation tool, Goose. Yes, years of industry knowledge and experience guides our path when content writing. BUT, as we write for a range of clients across all industries, it’s key we ensure Google loves our copy just as much as we do. 

Using Google’s Natural Language Processing engine, Goose analyses your content to establish how Google interprets it – because no one likes a guessing game! Goose is able to give us a classification analysis, letting us know what topic search engines think the content is referring to and also picks up the most prevalent keywords. If the content doesn’t match the topic you are writing about, it’s time to tweak it. 

How Are The Top Food And Drink Brands Performing?

Many food and drink brands love to entice the reader with scrumptious language and a tongue-tingling tone of voice, but can Google tell whether your ice cream based content is talking about food or does it actually link it back to a sunny beach holiday? 

Mr Kiplings

Currently sat on Mr Kiplings’ home page is an opening introduction that makes you want to cosy up on the sofa with a brew and one of their famous cherry bakewells – what’s not to love? 

“Forget the big birthdays and milestones… It’s the everyday things, the little things, that’s the stuff we really cherish most. Like that Friday evening Viennese Whirl, that says: “Disengage brain, switch off the week and welcome to pyjama town”. A night in, with a cup of tea and Cherry Bakewell, that has the power to dry a teenage tear, and ease a broken heart. Mr Kipling knows that sometimes it’s the smallest things that can have the greatest meaning. Yes, when it comes down to these small details that make a big difference, Mr Kipling has an exceedingly good eye.”

But does Google really think this copy is talking about delicious bakes and cakes? Sadly not, the topic it thinks this much-loved brand is talking about is special occasions – birthdays and milestones – not a single mention of scrummy evening treats. Not only does it think the brands are raving about special occasions, it’s ranking for keywords such as ‘stuff’ and ‘things’ that really don’t highlight the brand’s tasty treats. 

You’ve Been Goosed: Small Changes We Made So Google Truly Knows It’s All About Cake

With a few small changes, the team at Flaunt have managed to create an intro which Google puts into the dessert topic and ranks for tasty keywords, such as ‘cake’, ‘viennese whirls’ and even ‘raspberry jam’. Could this be Mr Kiplings’ new home page introduction?

“Don’t leave the cake for the big birthdays and milestones… It’s the little things, that’s what we really cherish most! Treat yourself on a Friday evening to the fruity raspberry jam and smooth creme filling of a Viennese Whirl, that says: “Switch off the week and welcome to pyjama town”. Find a plate of Cherry Bakewell’s round at Grandma’s house on a Sunday morning, the light pastry cases and a hand-placed cherry have the power to dry a teenage tear, and ease a broken heart. Mr Kipling knows that sometimes it’s the smallest things that can have the greatest meaning. When it comes down to these small details that make a big difference, Mr Kipling has an exceedingly good eye and sweet treat ready for any occasion.”

Wagamamas 

Wagamamas opening content fits into the topic of cooking and recipes, but highlights keywords such as ‘philosophy,’ ‘business’ and ‘consumption choices’ – not words that put hearty bowls of nourishing noodles and katsu curry front and centre.

“since the first day our noodle canteen opened for business, our philosophy has remained the same, true nourishment from bowl to soul

we believe that the quality of your life is greatly determined by the quality of your food + by the consumption choices you make. which is why it pays to be fussy about your food. because when you eat positively, you live positively

Picture this…

a base of noodles or rice to give you energy

quality protein + good fats to sustain you

an abundance of fresh crunchy vegetables to nourish you

spices, sauces + steaming broths to ignite your taste buds”

When it comes to the food and drink business you want your copy to stand out, be different and, of course, entice people to eat your food, but at the same time Google needs to be able to understand it too. 

You’ve Been Goosed: Making Oodles Of Noodles The Talking Point

From changing the sentence structure to talking about tasty food and bowls of noodles from the get-go, we can ensure Google knows Wagamamas is talking about food and delicious bowls of noodles. Small tweaks within your copy can make all the difference! 

“Our food philosophy is unchanged from the day we served our first noodles: true nourishment from bowl to soul. We believe quality of life is greatly determined by the quality of your meals + the choices you make. That’s why it pays to be fussy about the food you consume – when you eat positively, you live positively 

Picture this… 

a delicious base of egg noodles or sticky rice to give you energy

 quality protein + good fats to sustain you

 an abundance of fresh crunchy vegetables to nourish you,

and flavour-packed spices, sauces + broths to ignite your taste buds.”

Walkers

Walkers is not only taking the snack industry by storm, but it is already out-performing rival brands on Google rankings and indeed our Goose tool. You can’t fail to love their introduction copy – fun, exciting and makes you want to run straight to the snack drawer! 

“When you look at a potato, what do you see? Probably just a potato, right?

Well, in 1948 Henry Walker saw Potential.

With a bite of positivity he turned his humble spuds into irresistible Walkers crisps.

Since then, our crisps have been providing moments of delicious crunchiness and smiles to everyone in Britain.

So, when life gives you potatoes…”

With Goose being 88% sure they are raving about snack foods and picking up keywords such as ‘potato’, ‘crisp’ and even ‘Walkers’-  is there much room for improvement? 

You’ve Been Goosed: Or Have You? 

As you can see from the above stats, the Walkers brand has pretty much hit the nail on the head with their copy. The above copy is especially effective at telling a story which is great for improving a brand’s yummy tone of voice. Our natural language processor is 88% confident that the text is about snack food, which means Google will send queries about crisps straight to the Walkers site. On this occasion, the brand has been very successful in conveying a strong tone of voice, brand story and subsequently appearing in Google for all the right things. Well done Walkers!

Little Moons

Next up is Little Moons, a company that took the world by storm during the recent pandemic, especially on TikTok. Yet they could be pulling more people in with their website content according to Goose. Take the opening paragraph on their about us page, for example. Google currently thinks they’re talking about cooking and recipes rather than their much-loved ice cream ball desserts. Picking up keyworks like the ‘moon’, ‘parts’ and even ‘puffer jacket’ – not the best keywords to be going after… 

“Little Moons are made of two parts. A deliciously sweet, soft and chewy rice flour dough. This dough is steamed, pounded and gently wrapped around a centre of gelato ice cream, like a soft, snuggly puffer jacket on a cold day. Eating it is a unique experience. A delicious bite-sized mochi ball of perfection. They’re unlike anything you’ve ever tasted before, but then again, they’re ice cream from another world.”

You’ve Been Goosed: From Cooking and Recipes to Mochi and Desserts 

We’ve used our brain power to intensify the opening paragraph, sticking with the indulgent tone of voice and drawing not only people in, but search engines too. Now talking about desserts and food, and Goose picking up prevalent keywords, such as ‘mochi ice cream balls’, ‘gelato ice cream’ and ‘mochi dough’ – it really shows how our tool, Goose, can drive the most powerful foodie content. 

“Taste the deliciously sweet, soft and chewy rice flour dough before biting into the gorgeous gelato ice cream. These two flavoursome ingredients are what make Little Moons mochi balls the perfect dessert. The mouth-watering mochi dough is steamed, pounded and gently wrapped around a yummy scoop of gelato ice cream. Eating these delicious bite-sized balls of perfection is a unique experience. Our mochi ice cream balls are unlike anything you’ve ever tasted before, but then again, they’re ice cream from another world.”

Philadelphia 

Home to some of the best creamy, spreadable cheeses, Philadelphia is a brand that can easily be out-ranked by the American city in the SERPs. Taking a look at their original best selling product, Goose told us that it was ranking for not only food but cooking and recipes, as well as keywords such as the place ‘Philadelphia’, ‘milk’, ‘cream’ and ‘Philadelphia Original’. Already ranking for words they will be wanting to rank for, can their product copy be working even harder?

“Made with milk and real cream, Philadelphia Original’s distinct fresh and creamy taste makes it a delicious soft cheese for the whole family to enjoy. Philadelphia is fantastically versatile, whether you are using it to bake an indulgent cheesecake or spreading it on a classic bagel topped with Smoked Salmon. Philadelphia works well with both sweet and savoury dishes, and is available in a range of flavours to match your tastes. Philadelphia Original is also available in Mini Tubs, which are a great alternative if you want to enjoy your Philadelphia at work or as a snack.”

You’ve Been Goosed: The Smallest Changes Can Make All The Difference

By simply restructuring the first sentence and adding additional keywords, Google now knows that the copy is definitely all about food. Not only does it now rank for keywords such as ‘cheese’, ‘cream’, and ‘milk’, it also picks up on branded keywords such as their famous product, ‘Philadelphia Original’. Is it time for Philadelphia to tweak their content so Google knows what it’s about from the get-go? 

“Philadelphia Original, made with milk and real cream, has a distinct fresh and creamy taste making it a delicious soft cheese for the whole family to enjoy. Philadelphia cheese is fantastically versatile, whether you are using it to bake an indulgent cheesecake or spreading it on a classic bagel topped with smoked salmon. Philadelphia Original soft cheese works well with both sweet and savoury dishes, and is available in a range of flavours to match your tastes. Philadelphia is also available in Mini Tubs, which are a great alternative if you want to enjoy your Philadelphia at work or as a snack.”

Why Did We Make The Natural Language Processing Tool, Goose? 

We asked Flaunt Digital’s CEO, Lee Fuller, why the team built the tool and what he thinks it truly does for clients: 

“We built Goose to get a better understanding of how Google interprets the copy we write for clients. Not only does Goose give us a higher degree of certainty that we are getting it right but it saves us time when it comes to measurement and optimisations. If we know that a piece of content is going to land right the first time we can focus on the results rather than having to tweak a piece after it’s gone live. We have seen some fantastic results from using Goose and it has become a tool that the team uses on a daily basis.”

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