Rustle Hill Winery

Website OptimizationJRNL 307Nanu Iyer

Lisa StraitDiana WrightErin Kressner

Kristina Kaganer

Executive Summary

Our client is Rustle Hill Winery located in Cobden, Illinois. The winery offers a vine-yard, wine, beer, cabins, food, and an amphitheater. Rustle Hill Winery has a lot to offer to visitors of the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail. Now in the 21st century, having a well designed website to draw in a business’s target audiences is a part of marketing. Many consumers check out companies’ websites before purchase or visiting a place of entertainment. Through looking at Rustle Hill Winery’s website and utilizing Google Analytics, we have discovered the challenges of the website and we have created viable solutions for website optimization. This proposal will allow Rustle Hill Winery to optimize their website and create more web traffic.

Rustle Hill Winery

www.rustlehillwinery.com

8595 US Highway 51 NCobden, IL 62920

618.893.2700

Table of Contents

I. Introduction ............................................................................... 1

II. Situation Analysis .................................................................... 2

III. Strategy and Tactics ............................................................... 6 Appendix ...................................................................................... 9

References ................................................................................... 15

1

Introduction For this project we will utilize the knowledge we gained through research andtools such as Google Analytics to provide solutions for a local business to optimize their website. Our client is Rustle Hill Winery, located in Cobden, Illinois, off the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail. From meeting with the owner, John Patrick Russell, we discovered that his primary objective is to have us observe his website and use statistical tools to suggest possible changes in order to bring in more visitors and to make the website moreefficient overall. His more specific goals include higher placement on Google searches,better web design, to obtain more sites that link to the Rustle Hill site, as well as better reach of the local target audience. After meeting with Russell, we created our own objectives to help meet his expectations and goals:

I. Our first objective is to utilize Google Analytics to evaluate and optimize the Rustle Hill website.

II. Our second objective is to assess the website layout in order to give suggestions for better information architecture and usability.

III. Our third objective is to create better localization through email list-serves and social media.

IV. Our fourth objective is to acquire more business partnerships in order to gain reciprocal linking to the Rustle Hill site.

2Situation Analysis

Aesthetics and Design

At first glance, we found the aesthetics of the Rustle Hill Winery’s website to be pleasant but lacking. The logo at the top is welcoming, the color is appropriate for a winery, and the font is fittingly elegant. The rest of the homepage, however, is not as appealing. Aesthetically the website is outdated and resembles websites that were set up a decade ago. Color use is plain and non-existent. It looks very impersonal and business-like rather than serene as a winery website should be. Pictures used on the homepage are cluttered and unclear. The resolution of the pictures is poor and the contrast is far too bright.

The design of the website strongly indicates the use of a template. It is very rudimentary and boxy. Like the aesthetics, the website design is outdated compared to current websites. The very basic design is perpetuated by the nominal navigation. By having two static sections, the top banner and side bar, in combination with the moving center of the page amplifies the fact that there is minimal amount of design. The additional mixing of sans serif and serif fonts on the website is also a basic mistake in website design.

Information Architecture and Usability

Captivating information has creative and logical architecture. Unfortunately, Rustle Hill Winery’s website is primitive in its information architecture. The hours of operation and contact information are out of place in the header of the website. Also, the credit card symbols are awkward under the links on the side bar. During our meeting with Russell, he said that the history of the winery was interesting and important to him, but this information is currently not present on the website. On the homepage, there is no pertinent information about Rustle Hill Winery. The rest of the information provided on the website can be found in the expected, self-explanatory, and exhaustive links.

As far as the information given, the website is very user friendly. Even though the design is lacking, the information is extensive and adds to a positive user experience. For a test run of usability, we used the task of finding out information about renting a cabin located on Rustle Hill Winery. From the side bar, we clicked on the link: Rustle Hill Cabins. On the “Rustle Hill Cabins” page, there is information about the dimensions of the cabins, how much it costs to stay there and where they are located in relation to the winery. From that page, we selected the “Check Cabin Availability” link, which brought us to an excel sheet that shows their bookings for 12 months. There is no booking option online, from that page; Rustle Hill Winery asks that a person call for reservations. As shown through this exercise, the website is easy to use.

3Google Analytics Report

To further assess the Rustle Hill Winery website, we turned to Google Analytics. Fortunately for us, we learned upon meeting with Russell that he had already installed the application on his website, but he had not taken the time to use or interpret the data. The first thing we noticed from the data was that in one month, his site had acquired 1,542 visits to his site. Of these, 1,235 were unique visitors. This seemed fairly good for a local business website. It also shows that majority of visitors are coming to the website for the first time. It is good for a website to have a lot of unique visitors, however, for Rustle Hill Winery, it would also be beneficial to have more updated content and a more pleasing site to keep visitors coming back for additional visits.

We also noticed that the average page view count was 5.86, with an average of 2 minutes and 57 seconds being spent on the site. Since the website has a set of 8 links on the sidebar to information about the winery, the concert schedule, etc., we can assume that the visitors coming to the site are generally clicking through several of these pages before leaving. This could mean that they are normally interested in the winery and are searching for more information before leaving. An average of 2 minutes and 57 seconds could be a good sign for the site, since most of the information about the winery and upcoming events can be found in seconds. If the average time spent had been less than 30 seconds, we would know that visitors were getting to the site and leaving immediately. However, visitors do appear to be staying and clicking through a few pages before exiting the site.

Also, the bounce rate for the site is only 3.44%, which is pretty low. Most users are staying and looking around. However, since this number is so significantly low, we can assume that most of the visitors coming to the website are direct visits, from users who know the winery already. The Traffic Sources section seems to back up this theory, reporting that 95% of users are direct traffic, with only 0.65% coming from referring websites and only 4.35% coming from search engines. In addition, the search keywords that are most often getting users to the site are ones such as, “Rustle Hill Winery” or “Russell Hill Winery”. This shows us that users are seeking out the website directly, not stumbling upon the site such as when searching for wineries in Southern Illinois.

Also, we found it very interesting that only 0.65% of visitors are coming from referring websites. This is somewhat concerning, since Rustle Hill is part of the Shawnee Hills Wine Trails, an organization of 12 of the wineries in the area. The organization is meant to tie the wineries together in an effort to create more business and help consumers find all that the area has to offer. Though Rustle Hill links to all of these other wineries as well as 16 Bed and Breakfasts, we found that none of these sites link back to the Rustle Hill website. Reciprocal linking could be very beneficial to the site, allowing more visitors to find the site as well as possible bump up Rustle Hill’s placement on search engines.

4 Observing the Google Analytics Report was very helpful in evaluating the website and its traffic. The website is doing well in terms of visitors; however, there are still some definite weak areas. Several of these issues can be improved very easily, through search engine optimization and encouraging reciprocal linking. With additional changes, such as a more pleasing layout and better navigation, there is definitely good potential for growth through the implementation of our recommendations.

Consumer Analysis

Rustle Hill Winery has a lot to offer to the Southern Illinois area. The winery is part of the Shawnee Hills Wine trails, a group of wineries in the Shawnee Hills region. The wine trails are popular tourist attractions, offering wine enthusiasts and vacationers alike the ability to tour the area wineries as a day trip or spread out as a weekend activity, making use of the many local Bed and Breakfast locations.

According to Russell, the main target market for the winery is middle-aged couples that come to tour the area wine trails. The primary ages that Rustle Hill targets are in the 35 to 50 age bracket, with some additional Baby Boomers. These couples could be empty-nesters, or just people looking for ways to relax and activities to enjoy in the Southern Illinois region. The winery’s amphitheater also brings in crowds, every weekend scheduling various bands and musicians. The music offered is a variety, but consists mainly of classic rock, blues, bluegrass and folk. Though people of all ages can enjoy the live music, the perfor-mances mainly cater to those above the age of 35. The product offering is also geared towards an older crowd, as wines are usually priced as some-what of a luxury product. Therefore it is only natural that the winery will target older age segments, in which more consumers are settled down with steady jobs. Additionally, these are couples whose children are at least somewhat grown, giving them more free time to spend outside of the home.

5Competitive Analysis

The first competitor is StarView Vineyards. Aesthetically their website is pleasing and classy. The colors used fit the theme of the vineyard, and colors are complimentary to each other. Design of the website is cohesive and creative but also complex. StarView is lacking information on their website, such as the history, owners, and features of the vineyards. The information architecture is simplistic. There is only one top bar that lists all the links. Usability is simple and easy to use. Unfortunately, the online shop cannot be accessed by the main navigation link, and to get to the online shop you have search forthe link within the wine list page. The second competitor is Von Jakob Vineyard. This site did a good job of correlating the building colors with their website, but could have used more colors. Also, the font of the titles on the homepage is a bit hard to read. However, for the most part, the design is uncomplicated and easy to follow. In addition, Von Jakob effectively presents an extensive amount of information while still maintaining a user-friendly usability.

The third competitor is Alto Vineyards. The main block of the website is pleasant on the eyes, although, the background color clashes with the rest of the page. However, though the colors are awkward, the overall presentation still looks professional. Design of the website is appropriately basic. Alto has also included many innovative features on the website, such as streaming video and a press kit. Like Von Jakob, Alto’s website presents a substantial amount of information in an easily accessible manner.

The fourth and final competitor is Blue Sky Vineyard. The look and feel of the website is similar to a travel agent website, such as travelbyjen.com. The colors used on the website are pleasant and do not take away from the readability. However, the wine bottle placed on the homepage is ostentatious and uncomfortable. The design is crowded, busy, and hard to follow. Users that access the page will be overloaded with information that is disorganized. Information can be found in multiple areas on the website, which creates confusion. Overall, the website is not user-friendly.

SWOT

Strength• Easy navigability• Simplistic

Weakness• Lacking• Plain• Outdated• Primitive

Opportunities • More up to date• Easier to look at• More functional• More keywordsThreats• StarView• Von Jacob• Blue Sky• Alto Vineyards• recession

6Strategy and Tactics

Targeting Approach

The most logical targeting style choices for Rustle Hill are geographic and contextual. Geographic targeting will ensure the reach of people in the area of the winery: Southern Illinois. Contextual targeting will help us establish contact with people who are interested in wineries. The combination of these two approaches will be sufficient for reaching prospective customers.

Site Layout and Design

The website, in general, is in need of a renovation. The best ways to make the site look more up-to-date are to change the navigation and layout.

Display Advertising

Rustle Hill’s website currently has no display advertising. The site would majorly benefit from implementing this approach.

Search Advertising

We feel that Rustle Hill will not benefit from using search advertising. This tactic is best for larger companies with more income. Since Rustle Hill Winery operates on a smaller level, investing in search advertising will be a waste of valuable resources.

Search Engine Optimization

According to the Google Analytics report, most visitors access the site by direct traffic rather than search engines. Increasing search engine optimization will be an opportunity to reach more people. We need to find ways to increase traffic through search engine use.

Social Media Solutions

Rustle Hill has a Myspace profile but lacks presence on Facebook. These are two of the more prevalent social media tools in the area. While Twitter is gaining much recognition in the rest of the country, it is not a wise choice for a website that does not get updated with great frequency. Myspace and Facebook are adequate tools for Rustle Hill to reach consumers and potential consumers.

7Recommendations

One way to improve the site navigation is to implement c-navigation with a larger font than what is currently used. Easy navigation contributes to a positive user experience and enhances usability. Contact information and payment options are best located at the bottom of the page. Other similar sites with good layout have a large box in the center of one page with content within as the homepage. Rustle Hill should use this format with rich color use rather than white space. The format should be used on other pages for consistency. On the present homepage, the main box contains multiple pages of pictures. These would be better served in a slideshow or picture gallery. The Rustle Hill website has links to other wineries on the trail that have display advertising. It would be a good idea to have advertising on these sites. Other possible advertising partnerships include: The Palace Pizzeria, The Davie School Inn, Keith Cotton Photography, and Pinch Penny Liquors.

To increase web traffic through search engines, we recommend adding more keywords such as “Southern Illinois wineries” and “Southern Illinois outdoor venues”. Diversifying the terms will bring in more traffic. Updating the site regularly and adding copy to the wine page will increase the likelihood that search bots will pick up the website. The site also needs to add meta-tags since it does not have any at the moment. Reciprocal links will bring in more visitors from other websites as well as give Rustle Hill a higher placement on Google organic searches.

Rustle Hill has a profile on Myspace, but it needs changes. Fortunately, the theme is similar to the website, but the opacity is too weak to see the text. A great advantage of Myspace is the number of local bands that use the medium to share music. Rustle Hill should capitalize on the bands that play at the amphitheater by placing banners on their pages. Since Facebook is becoming increasingly popular with older audiences, this would be another good way to reach consumers. Though Twitter is gaining recognition across the country, this would be a bad tool for Rustle Hill because the site is not updated regularly enough to be followed.

Evaluation of Goals

To evaluate whether the implementation of our ideas is successful, we plan to continuetracking Google Analytics to see if there are any significant changes. We expect that the rate of traffic coming from other sites and search engines will increase after our recommendations are followed through. Additionally, we will track the click-through rates from organic searches. We will also conduct a survey which will be distributed through the mailing list to evaluate how users who track the site feel about the changes.

8Sample Website

Wente Vineyards, located in Livermore, California, has developed a website that is a great example and template for website design and layout. They have used c-navigation: top menu bar, side menu bar, and bottom menu bar. The search option is place in the top right corner, which is where most people look for the search option on a website. Wente Vineyards’ website usability is simplistic and there is a wealth of information presented for users. Aesthetically the website is pleasing and uses the colors well without it being too much. In all, this website is a good sample for website development.

This website’s domain is: www.wentevineyards.com.

Appendix

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www.rustlehillwinery.com

DashboardMar 21, 2009 - Apr 20, 2009

Comparing to: Site

40

80

40

80

March 23, 2009 March 30, 2009 April 6, 2009 April 13, 2009 April 20, 2009

Visits

S ite Usage

1,542 V is its

9,038 P ageviews

5.86 P ages/V is it

3.44% B ounce R ate

00:02:57 Avg. T ime on S ite

74.90% % New V is its

V is itors Overview

35

70

35

70

March 23, 2009 March 30, 2009 April 6, 2009 April 13, 2009 April 20, 2009

Visitors

V is itors

1,235

T raffic S ources Overview

Direct T raffic1,465.00 (95.01%)S earch E ngines67.00 (4.35%)R eferring S ites10.00 (0.65%)

Map Overlay world

Visits

1 1,533

C ontent Overview

P ages P ageviews % P ageviews

/Home%20Page.htm 2,115 23.40%

/Contents.htm 1,670 18.48%

/Rustle%20Hill_header.htm 1,575 17.43%

/Concert%20Schedule.htm 954 10.56%

/Rustle%20Hill%20Cabins.htm 739 8.18%

1 Google Analytics

10

www.rustlehillwinery.com

V is itors OverviewMar 21, 2009 - Apr 20, 2009

Comparing to: Site

35

70

35

70

March 23, 2009 March 30, 2009 April 6, 2009 April 13, 2009 April 20, 2009

Visitors

1,235 people vis ited this s ite

1,542 V is its

1,235 Absolute Unique V is itors

9,038 P ageviews

5.86 Average P ageviews

00:02:57 T ime on S ite

3.44% B ounce R ate

74.90% New V is its

T echnical P rofile

B rowser V is its % vis its

Internet Explorer 1,014 65.76%

Firefox 394 25.55%

Safari 109 7.07%

Chrome 16 1.04%

Opera 4 0.26%

C onnection S peed V is its % vis its

Cable 475 30.80%

Unknown 403 26.13%

DSL 398 25.81%

T1 181 11.74%

Dialup 76 4.93%

2 Google Analytics

11

www.rustlehillwinery.com

T raffic S ources OverviewMar 21, 2009 - Apr 20, 2009

Comparing to: Site

40

80

40

80

March 23, 2009 March 30, 2009 April 6, 2009 April 13, 2009 April 20, 2009

Visits

All traffic sources sent a total of 1,542 vis its

95.01% Direct T raffic

0.65% R eferring S ites

4.35% S earch E ngines

Direct T raffic1,465.00 (95.01%)S earch E ngines67.00 (4.35%)R eferring S ites10.00 (0.65%)

T op T raffic S ources

S ources V is its % vis its

(direct) ((none)) 1,465 95.01%

google (organic) 54 3.50%

msn (organic) 5 0.32%

yahoo (organic) 4 0.26%

aol (organic) 3 0.19%

K eywords V is its % vis its

russell hill winery il 23 34.33%

rustle hill winery 10 14.93%

russell hill winery 7 10.45%

breeden, bradley & maze 4 5.97%

russell hill winery illinois 2 2.99%

3 Google Analytics

12

www.rustlehillwinery.com

Map OverlayMar 21, 2009 - Apr 20, 2009

Comparing to: Site

Visits

1 1,533

1,542 vis its came from 9 countries/territories

Site Usage

V is its1,542% of Site Total:

100.00%

P ages/V is it5.86Site Avg:

5.86 (0.00%)

Avg. T ime on S ite00:02:57Site Avg:

00:02:57 (0.00%)

% New V is its74.97%Site Avg:

74.90% (0.09%)

B ounce R ate3.44%Site Avg:

3.44% (0.00%)

Country/Territory V is its Pages/Visit Avg. Time onSite % New Visits Bounce Rate

United States 1,533 5.87 00:02:58 74.89% 3.33%

Brazil 2 3.50 00:00:46 100.00% 0.00%

Japan 1 5.00 00:00:30 0.00% 0.00%

Canada 1 6.00 00:00:34 100.00% 0.00%

Czech Republic 1 3.00 00:00:00 100.00% 0.00%

Greece 1 1.00 00:00:00 100.00% 100.00%

Italy 1 1.00 00:00:00 100.00% 100.00%

Austria 1 3.00 00:00:00 100.00% 0.00%

U.S. Virgin Islands 1 6.00 00:01:23 100.00% 0.00%

1 - 9 of 9

4 Google Analytics

13

www.rustlehillwinery.com

C ontent OverviewMar 21, 2009 - Apr 20, 2009

Comparing to: Site

250

500

250

500

March 23, 2009 March 30, 2009 April 6, 2009 April 13, 2009 April 20, 2009

Pageviews

P ages on this s ite were viewed a total of 9,038 times

9,038 P ageviews

6,952 Unique V iews

3.44% B ounce R ate

T op C ontent

P ages P ageviews % P ageviews

/Home%20Page.htm 2,115 23.40%

/Contents.htm 1,670 18.48%

/Rustle%20Hill_header.htm 1,575 17.43%

/Concert%20Schedule.htm 954 10.56%

/Rustle%20Hill%20Cabins.htm 739 8.18%

5 Google Analytics

14

References

Alto Vineyards - www.altovineyards.net

Blue Sky Vineyard - www.blueskyvineyard.com

Google Analytics - www.google.com/analytics/

Rustle Hill Winery - www.rustlehillwinery.com

Shawnee Hills Wine Trail - www.shawneewinetrail.com

StarView Vineyards - www.starviewvineyards.com

Von Jakob Vineyard - www.vonjakobvineyard.com

Wente Vineyards - wentevineyards.com

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