The Winery Web Site Report

Tell Google About Your Winery Logo

This is a slightly geeky post, but Google has published a method for telling them about your logo.

The benefit is that it will enable Google to display your branding along with search results from your site.  This is actually a fairly big deal, and a way to stand out from the crowd -- at least until every other winery is doing it, which (given the glacial pace of technological innovation in the wine biz) will be a while.

Pass this along to your webmaster.  They'll know what to do with it.  I expect the nice folks at Vin | 65 and eWinerySolutions are already on it.

Long Time, Same Story

I've had this blog for a long time (April 2005, nearly 8 years).  I'm sure I've written posts about why wineries should have a blog (in fact, the topic of my second post ever).    I used to actually make regular posts about new winery blogs.  I even have a category for blog posts on the topic of winery blogs.

Some wineries actually do have blogs, although the percentage is still miniscule in terms of the 6,000-odd US wineries.  I'd like to think that such wineries are more successful as a result, but there's no data to support or deny that hope (since wineries are notoriously quiet about their actual sales and profits).

The fact is, most wineries don't blog.  It's just surprising that more don't, notwithstanding Paul Mabray's belief that there are other things wineries should do first (with which I agree).

Anyway, I was reading my Twitter search results for "winery blog" (which is one method I used to keep track of new ones), and came across Why Every Winery Should Have A Blog which does a good job of beating the dead horse of winery blogging one more time.

Comments from wineries, both pro and con on the question of winery blogs, are welcome.

 

 

SEO for Wineries: a 10-minute video

I watched this 10-minute video on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) today, aimed at sites with less than 50 pages, which probably describes most winery websites.  A very clear explanation of basic SEO for small sites.

 

If you haven't already done it, sign up for Google Webmaster Tools.

Does Your Winery Have Balls?

A lot of wineries cite concern about the possibility of negative comments when asked why they are reluctant about using social media like Twitter and Facebook.

Here's a company in an industry which is easy to hate (insurance) that let's it all hang out on their Facebook page: Esurance.  The comments are unmoderated, so you see complaints with praise.  There are two things that make this page work in favor of Esurance:  they actively participate in responding to customer comments, and they seem to care.

And yes, this takes time and effort on their part.  Social media benefits are not free, or even cheap.

Social media for wineries takes balls.

Additional reading:

Esurance commerical which talks about their Facebook presence (they're "in a relationship"):

 

Article: Hitch Your Boat to Customer Advocacy (also mentions failed Twitter campaigns from McDonald's and RIM)

 

Lazy Sunday: How to Pronounce Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    

More at The Pronunciation Guide.

2 Things To Do *Before* You Waste Time With Google Analytics

From this brief-but-insightful-article at Search Engine Guide:

1. what needs to happen on your site to get your business where you want it to be, and
2. identify which metrics will tell you if what you want to happen is happening.

Simple to state, but it requires you to think more deeply about your business.

Is Your Winery a Priest or a Coaster?

If your winery sells wine online (doesn't everyone these days?), this analysis of online wine store growth patterns is relevant.  The money quote:

Repeat business is where your investment online becomes truly viable, but without new customers you will never reach your full potential online.

Of course, you have to have the data about your web visitors to decide where you stand.

Free Winery Video Critique

If you're a "green" winery, then this may be of interest to you:

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Winery Videos Critic offered at Green Wine Summit  

Do you ever wonder why some wineries get more attention and press than others? It could be the way you are delivering you message, whether in print, with photos or through video clips. Wineries are invited to submit marketing videos for critical review and counsel on how to maximize messaging and reach through extremely impactful video channels.

Wine Industry marketing panelists will offer critical feedback as well as best practices tips:
Mimi Gatens, Winery Marketing Consultant, Moderator
Michael Duffy, Principal, Michael E. Duffy & Associates and WineryWebsiteReport.com
Laura Levy Shatkin, President, L Squared Productions
Lisa A. Walter, Principal, Adams Walter Communications

Upload videos to the YouTube Green Wine Summit Channel by November 15, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/user/GWSVIDEO

Info and tickets for the Green Wine Summit can be found at www.greenwinesummit.com
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(disclosure: I am speaking at The Green Wine Summit)

Heimoff on "The Biggest Mistake Most Wineries Make"

Love him or hate him, wine critic/blogger Steve Heimoff hits this particular nail on the head:

The biggest mistake most wineries make online is to establish a website, put some stuff up, and then let it molder for months if not years. I routinely get tasting samples in the mail ...So I’ll go to the website for info, only to find that the vintage hasn’t been updated for two years!... when you deliberately go to a website expecting something new and useful, only to find a bunch of old, boring stuff, it’s an insult. You actually feel resentment to the company for being lazy and uncaring and unprofessional. Not good.

(from An example of how social marketing works for a winery -- maybe).

The top error for winery websites remains a lack of freshness, from home pages which haven't changed in years, to a lack of information about new vintages, to "News" pages where the last update was more than a year ago.

A related mistake is to throw out the "old, boring stuff" on your website wholesale, instead of archiving items which have long-term value to visitors.  Disk space is cheap and search engines are your friends.  Someone just might want to read about that 10-year-old vintage they pulled from the cellar for tonight's party.  Ideally, your website has information about every vintage you've every produced.

E-Commerce Innovation

Your winery could do this: pre-fill a shopping cart for returning customers, based on their previous purchases.

Jeez, this is brilliant.  If you want e-commerce lessons, study the people who spend lots and lots of money to make sure it's optimized (e.g. Amazon.com, Wine.com).  

I wouldn't call it "Guess My Order," though.  I think this copy is particularly confusing.