The document outlines strategies for local search engine optimization (SEO) to help drive traffic to a winery's tasting room. It recommends fully optimizing listings on sites like Google+, Yelp, and local business directories. Specific tips include using keywords and the region name in web content and images, adding schema markup to business addresses, and monitoring local discussions on tools like Hootsuite. It also suggests claiming the Google Places page to run local search ads through AdWords Express and target visitors searching for terms like "winery". Tracking results will allow improving local SEO efforts over time.
5. 10% rise in both value and volume DTC shipments of
wine over past twelve months.
Rose, Sparkling Wine and Pinot Noir saw the greatest
increases in volume and value of shipments in 2012
CA dominates as a destination for shipments, receiving
32%. NY, TX, IL, and FL combine for another 30%.
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7. In Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat,” he provides ten key events
in history, such as the collapse of the Berlin wall and the IPO of
Netscape, that created a level playing field in terms of commerce.
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8. “We decided back in 2007 for our @1000 case Sonoma County Pinot
Noir Winery to forgo distribution all together, and place our bet on
direct sales, starting primarily through a prime location (Tasting Room ,
on the Healdsburg Plaza Square)
This allows us to build our sales base in a linear fashion (albeit from
zero!) meet all of our customers in person, and of course retain 100%
of the sale price.
It also allows us to spend more on our product (as necessary), that the
50% of retail (FOB) that we would get in the three tiered system, we
don’t have to worry about getting paid from an out of state stranger,
licensing issues are minimized,channel management is simplified and we
have a way each time to reconnected with our customers, since we’ve
virtually met them all!
It’s a slower pace for sure, but a steady one.”
http://www.steveheimoff.com/index.php/2011/05/26/dtc-sales-helpwineries-rebound-study-suggests/
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9. Drive traffic. Get leads. Make sales.
But first, make sure you have a decent
website.
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20.
Focus on using keywords in titles, headings, images, and
page URLs.
Write descriptive meta descriptions for each page.
Focus on creating a clean product page that guides the
customer’s experience.
Test and revise small elements to increase conversions.
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21.
41% lift in revenue per visitor for wine retailer
Google webmaster tools
Free on-page SEO audit
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23. I don’t really “do” SEO anymore.
Instead, I build brand awareness, positive perception, and
market share by shaping experiences to be found and used
by people.
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39. Crowdsourced content = minimal
effort on your part, big engagement.
Take a photo at winery, or while
drinking wine. Pretty simple.
You can do better.
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54. Google delivers
search results specific
to your location, as
shown in the “local
listings” to the left. If
you type “winery” it
will show you nearby
wineries in this area.
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57.
Get listed in the Big 3 (Google,Yahoo, Bing)
Each business listing needs to use a uniform name,
address and phone number.
Encourage visitors to leave reviews on sites like
Tripadvisor, Fodors, Google+, and Yelp. There’s a strong
correlation between user reviews and local search
rankings.
Fully optimize your Google+ Local business page
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58. If you’re looking for a clever and easy way to help optimize
your website for your local region, use these easy tactics.
Use the ALT tag
The image ALT tag gives search engines a description of
the image.
<img src="http://example.com/images/logo.gif" alt=“Your
Winery, Willamette Valley Oregon">
Image filename
Nobody searches for “logo” so instead, name your image
something relevant like, “oregon-winery.jpg” and it will
show up in image search results for those terms.
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60. Every major wine region has at least a few websites dedicated to promoting the area, and sharing
information about the local wineries. Tourists often use these sites to learn about the different
wineries and plan their visit.
Consider building a presence on these sites:
http://www.oregonwine.org/
http://www.sorwa.org/
http://willamettewines.com
http://www.travelportland.com/directory/
http://www.localwineevents.com
http://www.wallawallawine.com/
http://www.oregonwinecountry.org/cities/
http://www.oregonwines.com/
http://sipwithme.blogspot.com/2012/01/latest-list-of-top-10-favorite-oregon.html
http://www.eugenechamber.com
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61. Be sure to update listings beyond your website to gain
more exposure.
http://www.oregonwines.com/calendar/
http://www.localwineevents.com
http://www.winesnw.com/CalendarOR.htm
http://oregonwinepress.com/event
http://www.oregon.winecountry.com/events.html
https://plus.google.com/events/create
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62. Google displays local search results using business Places listings as the primary
results.
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63. It’s absolutely crucial to have a
Google+ Local/Places page
claimed and optimized for
your business.
1. Listing is claimed and 100%
complete.
2. Use Adwords Express to
show your listing to local
searchers.
3. Create an offer, such as a
“2-for-1 tasting” to attract
visitors.
For a great overview of
Google+ Local, check out
“Google+ Local Bible for
SMBs”.
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64. Suppose you notice that a certain winery always shows up when you
search for “wine tasting”. Copy their address, and then search for it in
Google. King Estate ranks well for a lot of regional searches and if you
search for "80854 Territorial Hwy. Eugene, OR 97405" (with quotes)
you will find all the websites that list their business. Canvas these sites
to create your own business listings.
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65. It’s important to consider how your website content reflects your region. Do you have
a unique page describing the vineyards where you source fruit? What about a useful
map of the area? People often search for things like “Willamette Valley map” and it’s
pretty easy to rank for phrases like that if you use them in your website.
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66.
Include regional terms in page titles and descriptions. For example, your
homepage might use “Extraordinary Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ”. The
description should include one or two short sentences about your winery
while also mentioning the region.
Create a unique page on your website for each vineyard.
Use descriptive image names, for example “willamette_valley_winery.jpg” is
much better than “39848_DCP.jpg”. Also be sure to include a descriptive
ALT tag when using images on your website.
Format your business address with local schema markup. Schema markup
provides search engines with extra data about your website content.You
can use this free tool to get the proper HTML code that you can paste on
your site: http://www.microdatagenerator.com/local-business-schema/
Use internal site links that point to relevant regional pages or products. For
example, if you have a map of the area, you should link to that page anytime
you use a phrase like “map of Willamette Valley”. The same applies to
product, where any mention of “Willamette Pinot Noir” should be linked
to the relevant product page.
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67. Be sure to include relevant
keywords and phrases in
your page titles. As you see
here, when searching for
“Oregon wine tasting” the
Pyrenees Vineyard website
ranks high in organic search
results.
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68. Ubersuggest.org
Type a phrase in the search box, and
Ubersuggest will scrape every single
Google autocomplete suggestion for
the phrase. This is a great way to get
ideas for content, and understand what
people search for.
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69. Consider monitoring terms
like “wine tasting,” and “winery
recommendation.” Make a
habit of checking to see
whether you can lend some
advice to any relevant
conversations that pop up.
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71. Notice how adwords express helps you gain visibility for nonbranded terms like “winery”. These are highly targeted visits
from likely wine tourists.
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72. Any local business looking to increase foot traffic through their door
needs to take advantage of the increasing amount of local-oriented
searches.
Claim your Google+ Local page, and add as much content to it,
bringing it to 100% completion. Do the same at sites like Yelp,
Citysearch, and Yellowpages to name a few.
Build a presence on regional websites, which often provide a
directory of businesses.
If you notice a competitor ranking for a lot of search terms, try
searching for their business address to explore where they’re getting
listings.
Use Hootsuite to search for real-time discussions taking place near
your location. Monitor phrases like “wine tasting” and “winery
recommendation” to find ways to engage with interested tourists.
Use advertising, like Adwords Express, to gain visibility for search
terms that you would otherwise not rank for organically.
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Want to begin by exploring some of the trends behind ecommerce wine sales. Explore the opportunity.
I think in many ways, being small and agile is better, and provides more flexibility. Competing with big multi-brands is not hard.
A website is one of the most important elements of a business, and central to online strategy. It’s your brand’s face, personality. Whether you’re looking to build a new one, or improve an existing one, these tips will help.
Longtail keywords = less competition, more demand, conversions
Body content – aim for at least 400 words per page, more is always better
Use keywords and phrases before brand name. Keep it short and descriptive.Write for your audience, not search engines
People routinely search in Google images, and it’s quite easy to rank using a few basic strategies.
Link to pages within your site using contextual keywords. Helps users and search engines find more relevant information.
First impressions are important. Far too many winery websites look like they were built ten years ago and do a poor job of representing the brand.
When I visit the “Our Wines” page, there were descriptions about the “Reserve” wines but no links to the product page. We added links to product pages to help guide visitors, but it’s still a complicated mess.
Schema markup includes HTML code that tells search engines a little extra about your content. In the context of products, it can show things like current price, sale price, product thumbnails, star ratings/reviews, and availability.
Test simple elements of your website. Does a bigger call to action for the discount/sale help, or does it maybe distract visitors from reading about the wine and viewing the video?
Search queries section of Webmaster tools provides great insight into keyword rankings, impressions, clicks, and overall SEO health.
At the broadest level, we create content to drive brand awareness within our target market. Your videos, blog content, social media presence represent most trustworthy outlets in customer’s eyes.
TIP: use social media to track discussions on your subject
Prospects want content that relates to their interests. Think beyond your wine, and connect with a broader lifestyle.
High engagement rates, people eat it upDirect appeal with fans through humor and clever interactionI had a Rusty growing up – some of you might too. Wouldn’t it be cool to see your dog with Rusty on the label?
There are huge amounts of opportunity for creative approaches to adwords, which you can leverage to gain awareness for your brand at a low cost.
Probably the single best thing you can do to improve your website content and market your brand. Use WordPress for a SEO friendly platform.
Use services like textbroker to hire writers for cheap to create content.
Use a tool like this plugin for Firefox, or LastPass to quickly fill out forms for your business.
It’s important to consider how your website content reflects your region. Do you have a unique page describing the vineyards where you source fruit? What about a useful map of the area? People often search for things like “Willamette Valley map” and it’s pretty easy to rank for phrases like that if you use them in your website.
Be sure to include relevant keywords and phrases in your page titles. As you see here, when searching for “Sonoma wine tours” the Benziger website ranks high in organic search results.
Search and monitor twitter for certain phrases, like “winery recommendation” or “visiting (yourtown)”
Segments give you deeper insight into your data. For example, you might look for traffic sources that sent visitors who spent more than $400 on a purchase. Or, you may want to segment visitors from New York because you just ran an ad campaign there.
Quick breakdown of traffic sources, with acquisition, behavior and ecommerce data
Note the “not provided” which has risen to about 75% of keywords since Google encrypted searches for logged in users.
Bounce Rate is an excellent diagnostic tool. It tells you the percentage of traffic in which the person left your site or app after viewing only a single page. Normally, a high bounce rate is a sign that the offsite information that caused people to click through to your site doesn’t match what they find on the landing page. If you can make the landing page more relevant, you’ll keep more users and gain more value from your traffic. Sort by bounce rate, and then choose “Weighted” sort.
You can use the Page Value metric to see which pages drive revenue. Page Value is calculated by adding up all revenue from the sessions in which that page was viewed prior to a purchase or goal conversion. Locate good pages with high values, which you can use to drive visitors for landing pages.
Choose “Page title” as primary dimension to make it easier to understand. Alternatively, look at the bounce rate and % exit metrics to find unpopular content.
Identify major goals:Sales (transactions,avg order value, top sources/channels)Engagement (time on site, pages/visit)Newsletter signupsWatching a video
Easy way to see which traffic sources contribute to sales.
Example: You send an email campaign, and it drives 10k revenue (last click conversion). Later that night, people visit your site directly, and make a purchase, after first visiting via the email. A “Direct” visit gets the last click conversion, but your email is credited with an assisted conversion.
Group key data for things like:General site usage (visits, time on site, bounce rate, top pages, time on site)Ecommerce (high converting keywords (branded/non), top selling products, source/avg order value)Local search (cities, local traffic sources, google places)Email marketing Social mediaCheckout health (cart>checkout>order funnel, abandonment rates)
Very cool new tool that lets you find all sorts of great dashboards, segments, custom reports and more. One click add them to your GA profile.
Oldest and most effective form of marketing. Opt in = permission based (i.e. something the consumer wants). Studied data from wineries and proves to be top performer. At best, 50+ open rates and 40-50% conversion rates. But those are exceptions…far and few between.
Very cheap to do. Easy to test. Easy to measure.
Comparison A/B campaign, with one winning.
Which one do you think converts better?
Avg 5000 new emails/year from websiteMost not nearly that.Give customer a nudge, offer, “call to action”
What we will cover
Effective at driving sales. Create promo.Mix with personal message.Limit a special product avail for 2 weeks for them, create urgency
Mix informative with soft sells
Don’t do this. Anything would be better.
Those lost people on your list…How to reach them?
Segment lists, deliver catered message to audience
From the story you tell in your email, to the landing page you send them to, you should be gently nudging them through to the checkout. Minimal distractionsAbove the fold
Subject lines are easy to A/B test, huge differences
4x more clicks1/3 more total opensHigher open rateSubject is short, easy to
Email design can be trickyRendering across lots of browsers and email clientsUse premailer and a prof service
Lots of questions about buying listsThose people don’t opt inHOWEVER, consider trading lists/promos with friendly wineries.
Profiled 200+ newsletters/mailingsLots of mistakes, low quality.