As of 2019, over 90% of Americans use the Internet. In 2021, that number has only increased. Factor in online shopping, bookings, and virtual experiences, and you’ll notice users are engulfed in the digital world. Wine consumers are no different. They spend time online shopping for wine, booking tasting experiences, and exploring club memberships. Long story short, every winery needs a website – and a good one too.
How a Website Will Grow Your Business
Be Found Online by New Customers
Having a website means having a place on search engine result pages. Google processes over 3.5 billion searches a day. Just think about how many Google searches you performed in the last few hours. Wine lovers are doing the same. They’re searching for wineries to visit on their trips and new wines to buy or gift for the holidays. Quality wine web design matched with strong SEO strategy can help your winery website rank on Google and other search engines so consumers can find you.
Sell Online 24/7
The most obvious way a great winery website can grow your business is if you sell online and increase DTC revenue. Profit margins with distributors range from 20-40%, while DTC is 60-80%. An ecommerce wine website literally pays off. Our agency has integrated various winery software systems into websites to create a seamless online shopping experience for users, as well as an easy-to-manage backend for clients. Need help integrating an online wine store? Our team is happy to help – just reach out.
Create the Perfect Landing Page for Marketing
Whether you’re running advertising or email campaigns, you need a landing page. Ideally, that page is on your website so you can accumulate website traffic (which will help you rank higher on Google) and consumer data (which will help you retarget users).
When users click on an ad or link in your email campaign, they expect to see consistent branding and a modern and trustworthy winery website that reassures them they are in the right place. You can customize your site to guide users towards the goal once they land on the page – whether it’s to shop, join your wine club, or book a tasting.
Make it Easy to Book Tastings, Join Your Wine Club, and Chat
Think beyond an online wine store. Consumers like the ease of making online reservations, signing up for wine club digitally, and chatting with staff. The best wine website can offer all of these.
Often, consumers will plan to go wine tasting at odd hours of the day. If your winery is closed and there’s no one to answer the phone, do you expect customers to leave you a message and wait until the next day to hear back? They can easily find a competitor who offers online reservations and book them without having to wait. Joining wine club should be easy online too. Just like online shopping, you’ll want them process to be effortless. And finally, a website gives you the option to offer online chat. Online chat has grown tremendously over the last few years. It’s convenient for both users and staff as it provides the opportunity to quickly answer questions without long phone calls or delayed emails. Users can get the info they need immediately and make their decisions quickly.
Build Trust and Authority
Your website isn’t just a selling tool – it’s a wealth of information. Or it should be. Having great content and even a blog highlighting your winemaking process, history, and passion helps you build trust and authority in your industry. Your winery website design should look stunning and modern with testimonials, list of credentials and awards, and sufficient content to help users feel comfortable and safe as they browse.
Now think about your own winery. Do you have a website? Does it provide the right tools and assets to grow your business? Analyze what it’s like for a user to browse your website and become a customer. If the process is challenging, it’s time for an overhaul. Our team at NextGen Wine Marketing can help you build the best wine website that drives business growth and success. Contact us today.