Your website might look amazing, but is it up-to-date or even fully functional?
A lot has changed in the last few years such as privacy laws, accessibility expectations, online shopping behavior, analytics and, of course, AI.
Here are five things wineries should be looking at right now:
1. Cookie Consent & Privacy
That cookie banner isn’t just an annoyance everyone clicks through.
California privacy requirements continue to evolve. CCPA, and more recently litigation involving CIPA, California’s anti-wiretapping law, have put more attention on what information your website sends to third parties before a visitor gives consent.
If your cookie setup hasn’t been reviewed lately, now is a good time.
2. ADA Accessibility
Installed an accessibility plug-in a few years ago? It’s time to check under the hood.
Accessibility also involves things like color contrast, video captions and descriptions, navigation, readability and whether someone using assistive technology can actually use your site.
Every time you update the website, you can introduce new accessibility issues.
When it comes to ADA compliance think ongoing maintenance, not one-and-done.
3. Your Checkout Process
A consumer putting wine in their cart isn’t the finish line. Checkout is where you can still lose them.
Go through the entire purchase process on your phone. Is anything confusing? Are there unnecessary steps? Too many shipping options? Are drop-downs easy to use? Does your log-in, or even your design choices, create friction?
And if your platform supports Apple Pay or Google Pay, make sure you’re offering them.
The fewer barriers between “I want this wine” and “Order confirmed,” the better.
4. Your Analytics
Google Analytics is installed. Great. Is it actually working?
Can you accurately track product views, add-to-carts, purchases and revenue? Can you tell which emails, ads and campaigns are driving sales?
If the tracking is wrong, the conclusions you’re drawing from it probably are too.
Before you trust the data, make sure the data is trustworthy.
5. SEO and Now GEO
You’ll always find that one person in your organization who says SEO doesn’t matter anymore. It does. And now there’s another audience trying to understand your website: AI.
Tools like ChatGPT are changing how people discover wineries, plan trips, and research wines.
Your website should make it incredibly easy for search engines and AI platforms to understand who you are, what you make, where you are, and why someone should care.
Your winery website doesn’t need a redesign every year. It needs a regular tune-up.
Photo: Kelly Sikkema