Last Updated on January 18, 2021 by Drew Thomas Hendricks
Wine Wisdom: 12 Reasons Why Your Winery Website Needs to Be Redesigned
Looking for 12 reasons why your winery site needs to be redesigned? If that’s the case, you’ve come to the right place!
In 2018, wine sales reached $40.2 billion in the United States. Based on these numbers, it’s safe to say people love drinking wine. If your winery website design is not where you think it should be, you came to the right place. By updating your winery site, you will increase sales, improve conversion, and create more awareness.
Read on to get started.
1. Bounce Rate
If your winery website has a high bounce rate, it means it’s time to redesign it. A bounce rate means clients don’t have a great visitor experience, and they leave your site.
You can get your winery site’s bounce rate by getting Google Analytics to measure everything related to your website. The average bounce rate is 40 to 50 percent , which means if your bounce rate is higher than that, you need to do some work.
If your bounce rate is higher than the average, you should aim to get it in around that happy medium.
2. Long Loading Times
How long does it take for your winery site to load? On average, people expect websites to load on 3 seconds or less.
If it takes longer than 3 seconds for your webpage to load, you could be losing out on visitors. Having a slow website, is a great sign; you need to make some changes.
3. No Optimization
If you have not optimized your winery site, you could be missing out on organic traffic. When you step up your SEO game, visitors will be able to find your winery site, simply by searching on Google or other search engines.
You will need to put in some work to make your site SEO ready. Although you can improve your SEO yourself, you can also hire an expert to do it for you.
To improve your SEO, you need to have the right keywords, internal links, external links, optimized images, meta descriptions, and the use of keywords in your URLs.
For an in-depth look at the latest best practices for winery, SEO take a look at our article on the top trends in SEO that every winery website design should incorporate.
4. Lack of Exciting Content
When was the last time you created a blog post or added new images to your winery site? If you can’t remember the last time you added something new to your site, it’s time to spruce it up.
By adding new content, you can keep your winery site always updated. For example, if your visitors subscribe to your mailing list, you can notify them when you add new content.
You can also create a blog and add weekly articles that relate to your wine business. Having new content on your site will also help you attract a new audience.
5. A Secured HTTPS
If you don’t have a secure HTTPS, it could hurt your winery site. Due to internet hackers and privacy breaches, more and more people are conscious of only using secure websites.
When visitors don’t think their information will be safe, they will avoid visiting your website. If your winery site uses the HTTP label, it means it’s not a secure browser. You will need to switch to an HTTPS label to make it secure.
6. Mobile-Friendly
Did you know 3 out of 5 people perform internet searches on their mobile devices? If your mobile visitors do not have the same experience as your desktop users, it’s time you update your site.
You need a responsive site that will provide those viewing in their mobile devices with the same experience as those using their desktop or laptop. If people try to access it on their mobile devices and the site is not responsive, they will not stick around.
7. Not User-Friendly
Is your winery site user-friendly? When a website is not user-friendly, visitors have a really hard time finding pages and navigating the site.
To make your website user-friendly, start by keeping it consistent. Make sure your visitors don’t get distracted by the change in content and how you deliver the information.
You should also focus on having clearly divided categories. Focus on having different sections, and sub-categories to make it easy for users to find what they’re looking for.
Make sure you also make most of the elements of your website into clickable links. This will help your visitors navigate your website.
8. Broken Links
Having broken links on your winery site will also interfere with the user experience. If you suspect you’re guilty of having broken links on your site, it’s time you update your site.
When a visitor clicks on a link and gets a 404 error message, it will mess with the experience. Make sure you go through every link on your site and identify any broken links.
9. Matching Website
If your winery website no longer matches your brand, it’s time for a website redesign. Your brand colors , logo, and mission is how your clients identify your winery.
If your website no longer reflects those elements, it could be quite confusing for your visitors. You should feel encouraged to give your website a makeover if your site no longer matches your brand.
10. Over 5 Years Old
It’s a fact that technology evolves fast, so if it’s been over five years since you updated your site, it’s time to spruce it up. Having a site that’s a few years old means you’re missing out on some of the best practices other sites are implementing.
11. Your Competition is Ahead of the Game
As with any business, your winery site has competitors. It’s a good idea to take a look at your competitors’ websites; if you notice a big difference, it’s time you update.
Keeping up and staying ahead of the competition is a big part of businesses.
12. Calls to Action
Having effective calls to action will help you increase conversions and improve your business. If your site lacks effective calls to action, it’s time you spend more time experimenting with them.
Effective calls to action encourage visitors to click on other links , contact you, or subscribe.
This is the Time to Update Your Winery Site
Now that you know it’s time to update your winery site, you can take your business to the next level.
You know it’s time to update your site when your site is over five years old, you lack calls to action, your site is not user friendly, and more.
Are you ready to take your winery site to the next level? Contact us today.
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Barrels Ahead is a wine and craft marketing company. We grow DTC sales for wineries, breweries, cideries, and craft distilleries by developing custom strategies to boost online sales, increase club membership, and retain existing club members.
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