The number one way to drive revenue for your winery is by getting people to purchase wine in your tasting room. In order for people to get to your tasting room they need to be able to find you. The first place most of us go to search for something is the Internet. In order to be found on the Internet you need to have a solid SEO strategy in place for your online presence.
But, what is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It means that any content you have created on the Internet (aka your website and blog) is optimized for Google (Bing & Yahoo) to be found and placed in the top SERPs or search engine results pages. SERPs are what Google (or Yahoo or Bing) turns up when a user searches for a keyword or a keyword phrase.
When hoping to sell more wine direct to consumers, you're going to want to turn up in popular searches on page 1. In fact, you're probably going to want to turn up in the top 3 listings. The first three listings on Google get 61.5% of the clicks. (That's not including ad listings.)
So, how do you get to page 1?
It is not easy and it doesn't happen overnight. So don't try to cut corners by hiring someone who tells you they can get you to page 1 in a few weeks. It's highly unlikely to happen.
Take a quick look at this chart that SEO leader, Moz, produced. These were the most important ranking factors for Google in 2015:
Right, but what does ^ this ^ mean. Here's what it comes down to:
- Get popular, trusted websites to link back to your website.
- Create a unique keyword strategy.
- Create consistent content that uses that keyword strategy.
- Create engaging meta descriptions and page titles for that content you produce.
- Be social.
BACK LINKING
Points 1 and 2 in Moz's infographic above have to do with people linking back to your website or content you produce. If you've heard this or the term "back linking" in a negative context when it comes to SEO, that's probably because people used to try to trick Google with back linking from empty urls.
A back linking strategy can be legitimate, and like most legitimate things, it takes hard work. The best way to get links is to get your website out there! People can't link to what they don't know exists, right?
Share your content/website with people you think will find it useful. Find these people by searching for popular wine bloggers and influencers. Share it with people on Twitter having conversations about the topic. People are talking about wine on the Internet everywhere. Get creative on how you find them. Remember, the more popular the website the higher the authority the more influence the link has on your overall SEO.
In addition to proactive outreach about content you've already written, you can also work with your customers, partners, vendors, etc. on creating new cross promotional content. Write a guest blog post for them that links back to your site and your content.
KEYWORD STRATEGY/PRODUCING ENGAGING CONTENT
Before producing any content or optimizing your website pages, you should create a keyword strategy. What search terms do you want to be found for? "Napa Winery," right? Right. But you're competing with a few other wineries out there.
Get creative with your keyword strategy. Remember that a "keyword" doesn't have to be one word. In fact, 70% of searches on Google are "long tail keywords," aka keyword phrases. For example, "What are the best Zinfandel wineries in Napa."
What makes your winery unique that someone might be searching for? What types of wine do you specialize in? Do you offer something other wineries don't, i.e. vineyard tours. In the example above, "Zinfandel wineries in Napa" or "Best Napa Zinfandels" are terms that a bit more specific.
Once you have a keyword strategy in place, you need to create meaningful content that wine-goers will enjoy. In addition to producing consistent blog content, you might want to consider creating special landing pages for those big keyword terms you want to be found for.
Lastly, when creating content, it's incredibly important to add the finishing touches. Is your URL, your page title and your meta description engaging. (Here's a key for when you do a Google search: Page title- blue, URL- green, meta description- grey copy.)
SOCIAL MEDIA
Over the past year or two, social media sharing has played a much more significant role in SEO. You need to get your content shared on social. Make sure that your content is easily sharable from your blog. Also, make sure the content you post on social media is share/re-tweet/re-gram worthy.
In addition to sharing your content on social media yourself, encourage others to tag/engage you on their social channels. This is where having an exceptional tasting room experience is important. You constantly want to be asking yourself what you can do to make the experience more "sharable," aka memorable.
The takeaway? In order to raise awareness about your winery, put strategies around cross promotions, keywords, content production and social media.
SEO can be scary and knowing where to start can be paralyzing. You're not alone! We can help. We'd love to talk with you about the best way to implement an SEO strategy for your winery.