Modales Winery Website by Bauerhaus Design
Did you know your company’s website has the power to influence buying decisions for 97% of consumers?
Having a successful website for your winery requires more than
- Captivating design
- Compelling copy
- Beautiful photos
- User-friendly layouts
These are critical parts of an effective website but not the complete picture.
From our experience helping winery and spirits businesses thrive, we’ve put together a list of the top 7 winery website must-haves you might’ve forgotten.
1. Strategic headline: your brand in one sentence
We’ve touched on this before but bring it up again because it’s so important yet often forgotten.
Many times when you go to a winery’s website you see photos of vineyards, hosted events, glasses of wine glistening in the sunset, and a box for location and hours.
Your homepage is a place for you to stand out. To catch attention. To create curiosity and desire for your (potential) customers to want to know more.
This is where a strategic headline comes in. A one-sentence summary of your brand.
Think about your target audience, what’re they looking for? How do you solve their problem?
Your strategic headline is the ideal place to answer this question and hook your audience. Create the feeling of wanting to know more.
If you need help figuring out exactly what to say, Bauerhaus Design works with our clients to create the perfect strategic headline.
2. Show how you’re unique
Once you have a potential customer viewing your website and starting to scroll, you have to keep their attention.
Your potential customer is looking for wine to buy or a venue to host an event. They most likely don’t care who they buy from. They’re looking for a business that meets their needs: the right taste, amenities, ambiance, perceived value, price point, etc.
These needs vary based on the person, which is why you must narrow down your ideal customer. This will allow you to appropriately address their needs and wants.
Make sure your website highlights your unique features and appeals to your target audience. Don’t make them go digging to see if you have what they’re looking for, showcase what makes you special (and deliver what they’re looking for) upfront.
For example:
- Location – is it an easy drive from the city or do you offer a complimentary transportation service
- Varietal – no other local wineries have the same offerings
- Special Events – do you host live music every Friday and trivia on Mondays?
3. Hours. Hours. Hours.
You probably have these listed under a ‘location’ tab. You figure interested new customers will click on the location to see how to get to your winery and find out the hours.
But from our experience, we assure you that making your hours easy to spot will make your (and your employee’s) life much easier.
List your hours in multiple locations throughout your website. Your homepage, about us, location, events, etc.
You’ll get fewer phone calls and fewer frustrated individuals.
4. Call to action: Where do you want people to go?
A call to action (CTA) tells your viewer what to do next.
Sounds easy enough, but a shocking 70% of businesses still don’t have a CTA on their businesses’ homepage. Let alone effectively placed CTAs throughout their website.
You work hard to bring prospective customers to your website. You don’t want to let that website traffic go to waste.
Even if the person viewing your website is interested in what you’re selling, or the experience you’re creating, there’s a big chance they have multiple tabs open in their browser looking for the perfect winery for them.
This is where a CTA can make all the difference in securing this person’s business over your competition. You need to get them to act now. People are also more likely to follow through with something (like booking a visit to your winery) if you directly tell or ask them.
Think of what you can offer (and what someone in your target audience actually wants). For example, if you’re trying to draw in the younger millennial crowd and have narrowed down they tend to get overwhelmed, your CTA might be to sign up for a virtual mini class to learn about different wines.
For more information on nailing down your target audience, click here.
5. Don’t underestimate your email list
Speaking of CTAs, a must-have is directing your potential customers to sign up for your email list.
On average, it takes 7 touchpoints to get someone to buy from you or visit your winery.
We naturally feel more comfortable and certain about products that we’re familiar with. You need to build familiarity by following up with people that came to your website.
One way to do this is through digital remarketing (a strategy that displays your ads to anyone that comes to your website on other sites they visit, such as Facebook). Another is to follow up through email. This strategy can be highly effective because with the right funnels in place, you can target the information you send based on their interests/point of entry.
If you need help with either of these marketing strategies, Bauerhaus Design specializes in helping wineries effectively follow up with their interested prospective customers.
6. Display your wine bottles
Perhaps obvious but surprisingly forgotten, is to proudly display photos of your wine bottles, packaged and labeled on your website.
The viewer may recognize the bottle as one they’ve seen in the store or at a friend’s wine and cheese night. This plays into the “7 touchpoints” and reinforces you’re a familiar and trustworthy brand.
Even if they aren’t familiar, a well-designed label can spark interest and perceived value. The colors, typography, and images you use convey a message. When done right, that message converts prospects into customers and elevates the price of your bottle.
Did you know Bauerhaus Design also designs wine labels? If you want trusted experts to create (or redesign) your label design, you can easily contact us here.
7. Tell your story
People buy from people.
Sure, this concept may not apply to average day-to-day products such as dish sponges or monopolized products like Kleenex tissue papers (which is another story altogether), but for a winery and spirits business like yours, you can’t underestimate the power of telling your story.
Most people would much rather buy from a brand that they connect with.
As a winery, you’re not just selling wine or a venue, you’re selling an experience. A feeling. A place and product that makes special moments feel even warmer and anticipated. You want to think about how hosting an engagement party, 15-year class reunion, or retirement send-off is a milestone. How bringing your bottle of wine to Friendsgiving makes the moment better.
But beyond telling your customers the story of how your product and venue make their experience better, you need to show them your own story and how that makes you able to anticipate their needs.
Tell your story by showing pictures of your location. What inspired your design? What kinds of moments do you hope to bring to life?
Show off your key employees. Explain how their work makes your customers’ experience come together. You can also elaborate on what makes you unique and what you envision your brand to bring into your customers’ lives.
If you’d like professional help crafting your story, Bauerhaus Design works with clients to pull out the important details that connect with your audience. Book your free 30-minute discovery call here.
And remember, at the end of the day, your website is about your customer, not you. Make sure your design, copy, and what you feature displays that.