MAWBY uses SEO to uncork its online wine shop

If you’re a sparkling wine lover or live in northern Michigan, then you’re probably familiar with MAWBY.

This iconic winery and vineyard, nestled in the hills of Leelanau Peninsula’s Suttons Bay, has roots spanning decades when winemaker Larry Mawby planted his first vines in this ideal grape-growing region.

Unlike other wineries in the Grand Traverse area, MAWBY has carved a niche in naturally fermented sparkling wines (not to be confused with artificially carbonated “sparkling” wines).

A lot goes into these sparkling wines; the finished product is a testament to an incredibly talented team that has truly mastered its craft.

It’s no wonder why MAWBY’s sparkling wines have exploded in popularity, igniting an online sales model to cater to non-local customers.

Selling more sparkling wine via search

MAWBY has created a captivating brand that’s hard not to love. Its products have simple yet meaningful names that align with each wine.

For instance, its bestselling rosé “Sex” is a delightfully pink bubbly I consider a go-to beachgoer. Another favorite is “Detriot,” a sweet party-friendly sparkler, or “Redd,” a brighter berry display.

Not only do I enjoy MAWBY’s sparkling wine, but I’ve been friends with some of its staff for many years. When the new online wine shop launched, they recruited my SEO help to grow its traffic.

Wine SEO that makes sense

pete and mike are sparkling wine makers at MAWBY — Peter & Michael Laing are friends and co-owners of MAWBY

MAWBY has two SEO angles: local SEO for those seeking wineries in Suttons Bay, Traverse City, and the general northern Michigan area and eCommerce SEO to generate online wine sales.

While the former is a bit more intuitive, the latter eComm component is a bit more interesting.

Using the wines above–Sex, Detroit, and Redd–the strategy hinged on figuring out what non-branded searches reflect those products.

For Sex, the relevant searches are “Sparkling Rosé” or “Sparkling Brut Rosé.”

For Detroit, the searches are “Sweet Muscato” or “Sweet Sparkling Wine.”

And for Redd, the keywords are “Sparkling Lambrusco” and “Sparkling Red Wine.”

Span this across all of MAWBY’s products, and we greatly expand the opportunity to reach new customers organically.
As of publishing this, we’re only about a week into launching all the new SEO work onto the site. So, it’s early to share any results (although we’ve already seen about a hundred new keyword entries in the last few days). Stay tuned for an update. Til then, visit the Suttons Bay winery.