Digital Marketing For Wineries: Wonderful Website Design

Getting the wine flowing: How to keep punters on your website

Regardless of the kind of operation you run, your wine website is going to hold an important place in your digital marketing plan. You might rely on it for support in getting people to your cellar door, convincing distributors to come on board, or as your primary sales avenue. No matter what purpose it serves, your website is not going to be able to do its work if you can't get people to stay and look at it.

What could keep people away?

Most people assume that once they get the customer on the page their work is done. Not so. Research has long established that once you have someone on your site, you've got around two seconds (or less – the stats show that people are getting more impatient) to convince them to stay. Not only that, you have to keep convincing them, again and again, as they get deeper into the site.

Why do you want people to stay on your site?

The obvious answer is that you want them to buy your wine, but there's far more to it than that.

The reason most digital marketers will tell you is, in short, Google. The more time people spend on your site, the better your chances are of getting a good spot in the rankings.

The reason you should be more concerned with, though, is the job your website has to do. Your website is there to provide information, get sales, and create loyal customers. If people click away from the site, none of these jobs are getting done.

The things that make people stay:

1. Design. The way your site looks is the first factor in keeping people on page. Too clunky? Old-fashioned? Takes too long to load? Lots of things can put people off – particularly in an age of mobile web usage. In fact, mobile design is so important even Huffington Post is talking about it.

2. Content. Think about your own activities on the net. You're primarily looking for specific content. Even when you're simply checking out a website, it's the content that will draw you in, it's exciting. There's a lot to think about when it comes to content, but the main rule is: keep it interesting. (Buzzfeed's continued existence is clear proof of this.)

3. Personality. Speaking of Buzzfeed... This is one area of a website quite a few people overlook, even marketers. Think about the websites you go to again and again. The information they provide is just one part of the attraction. After all, why don't you go somewhere else to see the same info? It all comes down to personality – the tone of the site, the writing and the brand consistency.

Does your website have the advantage with these three elements? To find out, conduct a review of competitors and get some outside perspective on your own site.

Further reading:
*This is a good beginner's guide to shaping content for an online audience, from Inc.
*Marketing Land has covered the reasons people leave websites, with tips on how to fix the situation.

*Our own investigation into the value of a website for wine companies, coming up next week!