Advice on Creating a Website

Based on the thousands of wine selling websites listed on Wine-Searcher, we have assembled this short check list.

• Use a designer who understands website usability and keep your pages simple. People will not use your site for entertainment; they want to see what you have to sell in the minimum possible time. Do not use flashy images, or non functional introduction pages. Your home page should allow customers to access all the most important pages directly.



• Show your physical address and phone number. You will find that many Web related sales will not be through the shopping basket, but over the phone. To help cut down on spam, do not show your email address - use a "form" that hides the address while still allowing people to contact you.



• Where at all possible, tell people where you deliver to, how long it takes, and what the charges will be. These will be the most common questions you get asked, so make it obvious.



• Stay current. Do not show events, special offers, etc. unless you really are going to remember to remove them after they have finished. "Click here for our summer sale" when it is autumn indicates a website customers will not trust.



• Endeavour to keep the stock you show on the Internet accurate by ensuring that can update as easily as possible from whatever you use for tracking your inventory. Every out-of-stock item listed wastes your time with un-necessary enquiries, every wine you do have that is not listed, is a missed sale opportunity.



• If you have more than 200 wines - have a search function. Customers want to be able to quickly find the wines they are interested in, and typing in a wine name in a search box is the quickest way.



• As well as being able to search, allow every wine to be located by clicking alone. That way search engines will be able to find, and list, all your wines.



• Do not use "frames" (a technical term your Web designer will understand). If you do, your site will be less visible to search engines (Wine-Searcher included).



• Get your friends to try out your website and act on their advice. Any website can be improved with usability testing.



• You will sell wine over the Web, so make a start. It is less expensive and easier than you think.



• List on Wine-Searcher, we generate very good traffic.



• Monitor your emails, people judge businesses on the tone of replies and on response times.

We frequently get asked questions about listing on the site, here are the answers to the most common:

How much does it cost?

A basic listing on Wine-Searcher is free of charge.

How can I list my wine inventory on Wine-Searcher?

All you need to do is complete our contact form. When we've received this we'll be back in touch to discuss the best way for us to collect your price list.

How can I advertise my store on Wine-Searcher?

Our sponsorship offer is extremely cost effective advertising for wine merchants. For details, see our sponsorship pages.

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