Building Meaningful Winery Web Sites

Here are 7 tips on building for meaning from Seth Godin, with some notes from me.

1. Use numbers and bullets. (is your site "built to scan"?)
2. Give people a place to go. (I really endorse this one - remember, users have a Back button)
3. Use pictures. (of your wine bottles, not your vineyards)
4. Have an opinion. (I'd prefer to say, "Have a personality")
5. Don't be afraid to compare. (and it's not necessarily to your "competition")
6. It's a brick wall, not a balloon. (unfortunately, most wineries lay a few bricks and stop)
7. It's okay to be long, if you're chunky. (this can be a big "if")

Seth's post has more detail, and I encourage you to read it for yourself.  A great winery Web site will stand out, because most winery Web sites are pretty much the same.  But you've got to think like a visitor, not like a marketer.

Comments

[Mathew Thomas]

Great list. I would argue that a good marketer does think like a visitor.

That said, different wineries have different agendas - it's not always moving product volume. If a brand is selling a sufficient percentage of the annual volume and that volume/quality are not variables, it may be a good move to increase the perception of scarcity to protect or increase price. I've seen wineries actually devolve their sites to look more "1.0" - and undiscovered by the masses.

[Google Page one Ranking]

Before doing any thing hasty I recommend my clients begin by using a website template , as opposed to spending hundreds of dollars embarking on any projects from scratch, these ready made web designs are affordable, well organized and can be quickly customized to adapt to what will ultimately be a unique and high quality website. On the other hand the esthetic characteristics of your design alone, which Google’ s ranking mechanism by the way ain’ t too keen on, will not drive visitor to your site.

[Udi Barone]

Wine is super hot on social networks and there are already hundreds of small winaries profiles. Some are doing great job in refreshing their content and developing long lasting relationship with their fans community.