What is Local SEO for Wineries?

Local SEO is how customers find you when they're looking up information pertaining to a location, such as:

• "wine tasting near me"

• "wine tasting in Walla Walla"

Even wine brands without a physical location can benefit from local search results, including searches such as:

• "wine club near me"

• "wine club Woodinville WA"

How do you make sure customers are finding you for your tasting room, wine club, etc. instead of your competitors?

Your Google Business Profile (GBP)

Your Google Business Profile (what shows up on Google Maps) is your best way to achieve maximum visibility in local searches.

That isn't to say this is the only way of showing up for "near me" searches but it is one of the key factors!

Google Business Profiles typically show up ahead of all other search results on Google. You can think of it as your free advertising!

How to Become #1 on Google Maps?

First and foremost, Google wants to know that its sending Googlers to a legitimate, operational business.

Google needs consumers to trust its platform, or consumers will use another search engine, and Google will lose out on ad revenue.

If you haven't taken the extra steps to show Google that your business is still around, your winery or wine brand will be buried in search results.

This includes optimization techniques such as:

➤ Filling out your Google Business Profile completely.

➤ Posting Photos or Videos 1x per week.

➤ Posting Posts 2-3x per week.

➤ Posting Offers at least once per quarter.

➤ Posting Events often.

GBP Winery Posts

GBP posts don't need to be elaborate or long. A short paragraph works just fine, similar to an Instagram or Facebook post. Be sure to include your keywords and any key locations you want to rank for!

GBP Winery Offers

Again, these don't need to be much. Offers don't even need to be steep discounts. It can be something as simple as "Enjoy fall colors at our winery." 1-2x per quarter is sufficient.

GBP Winery Events

Events are one of the best ways to get your brand in front of more people. Again, Google prefers brands that are active and what better way than to share events?

This is one area where larger wineries excel, with regular events such as:

• Winemaker dinners

• Cellar tour

• Vineyard tour

• Farm-to-table dinner

• Wine club tasting

But, it's also an area where tasting rooms & smaller wine brands often have room to improve.

Think about common events at local bars:

• Trivia nights

• Local musicians

• Paint & sip

• Game night happy hour

• Singles mixer

Wine tasting rooms often have fewer events, which means less visibility in Google search.

The good news is that it just takes a little creativity to start ramping up your events. Even with the no-location, wine brands we've worked with, we're usually promoting tasting nights at local wine stores or other wine events on their GBPs.

Common GBP Mistakes

One of the most common issues I see with Google Business Profiles for wineries is that they simply aren't filled out entirely!

At the bare minimum, you should:

➤ Fill out a business description of close to 750 words.

➤ Add as many Categories & Services as you can. (See more info in "How to Use My Google Business Profile" below.)

➤ Fill out all business info (parking on-site, wheelchair accessible, etc).

➤ Add photos or products (such as merchandise) to your profile.

To learn more about how to optimize your Google Business Profile, download KC SEO's complete checklist, including tips on how to set up your Google Business Profile.

How to Use My Google Business Profile (GBP)

A common area of confusion is the Categories & Services section.

GBP Categories

To some extent, Google uses Categories to determine if it should display your profile to a Googler looking for a wine bar, for example. If you don't have "Wine Bar" listed as a Category, you'll lose out on wine bar traffic to a local competitor.

Common winery & wine brand Categories include:

➤ Winery

➤ Wine club

➤ Wine cellar

➤ Wine bar

➤ Wine store

➤ Event venue

➤ Gift shop

➤ Restaurant

➤ Corporate gift supplier

➤ Tourist attraction

GBP Services

Services are intended more for consumers, so you want to make this section as clear as possible to the average consumer.

Each Category will contain your own custom Services underneath, such as:

➤ Wine Delivery

➤ Limited Wine Releases

➤ Gift Wine Sets, etc.

How to Rank for "Winery in [city]?"

Your Google Business Profile is a great start to ranking locally but Google likes to see this information reinforced on your website, including:

• Include your GBP information on your website footer. If you have a physical presence but want to emphasize that you have national or global reach, include a line like, "[address], Napa, CA. Also shipping across the continental United States."

• Make your website menu match your GBP Categories & Services as much as possible. This means that if you have the GBP Categories of "Winery" and "Wine Club," you better have a webpage for each of those Categories!

• Embed your GBP map on your Contact page.

Ready to go one step further?

• Include multiple locations in your footer and link each to its own unique page. Ideally, these will match your locations on your Google Business Profile.
  

That all may sound like a lot to do (on top of your social media updates and - oh yeah - running a business!)...

...but take it one step at a time & watch that Performance tab to see how Google gives you a boost when you update your GBP information or starting posting consistently!