A brewery website that brings people to the taproom
A brewery site does not need to be clever. It needs to answer the questions a visitor has on a phone, in a hurry, with a friend waiting.
The questions a visitor asks
Someone looking you up on a phone wants to know four things. Are you open now? How do I get there? What is on tap? Is there food or can I bring my own? If your homepage does not answer these without scrolling, a competitor's will.
Put them at the top, in plain text rather than in an image. Search engines and screen readers read text. They do not read pictures of text.
Opening hours and the map
Opening hours are the most common thing a brewery gets wrong. Keep them in one place and update them on the same day as any change, including holidays. Add the address as text and a link to a map service so that visitors can navigate in one tap.
Say how to arrive: nearest public transport, parking, whether the venue is step-free. Tourists in particular plan around these facts. If your guests come from abroad, add a short line in the other languages that you meet most.
What is on tap
A live tap list is the page people return to. Give each beer a name, style, strength and one sentence on flavour. Mark what is new. Mark what has sold out as soon as you can, because a visitor who arrives for a beer that has gone feels cheated.
If updating this by hand is too much, a simple shared document that your team edits and your site displays does the job. Decide who owns it. Write that name on the whiteboard in the brewhouse.
Events and a reason to return
List events with a date, a start time and a price, if any. Quiz nights, tap takeovers, brewery tours and food pop-ups all give a visitor a reason to come on a specific day. Remove past events so the page never looks abandoned.
Add a plain sign-up for a mailing list with a clear promise, for example one email a month. Collect addresses only from adults and with consent. Where alcohol advertising is restricted, an email list is one of the few channels you own. See marketing beer where alcohol ads are restricted.
Age and legal pages
Many places expect an age notice. Some expect an age gate. Rules differ by country, so check with your regulator. Include a responsibility message and your licence details where required. If you sell beer online, shipping alcohol is regulated separately in most countries, so confirm what is allowed before you add a shop page.
Pair the site with a profile on Instagram or the social platform your customers use. Keep addresses and hours identical everywhere.
Write for search as well as people
Most people find a brewery by searching for the place or for words such as brewery near me. Use your town, the neighbourhood and the word taproom in page titles and headings where they are true. Claim your listing on the main map services and keep it identical to the site.
Photographs need a short description in text, which also helps visitors who use screen readers. Reviews on those map listings carry weight, so reply politely to each one, good or bad. Staff who answer reviews do more for a taproom than a redesigned homepage.
Keep one person in charge
Websites decay because nobody owns them. Name one person who checks the hours, the tap list and the events page every week. Name a back-up for holidays. Put a recurring reminder in their calendar.
Give that person access to the site without needing a developer for text changes. If every edit takes a week, the page will be wrong most of the time. A site that is plain and correct beats a beautiful one that is out of date.
Speed, phones and the basics
Most visits come from phones. Test on an older handset on a mobile connection. Compress pictures, because a brewery's photographs are large. Use readable type and high contrast so that glare in a car park does not defeat it.
Check once a month: click every link, read the hours aloud, search for your own name and see what appears. Fix what is wrong that day.
Making a site that persuades, rather than merely informs, is a marketing skill. Our digital marketing course for breweries walks through site structure, search basics and the metrics that show whether visits are rising.
Common questions
What is the most important page on a brewery website?
The home page, with hours, location and what is on tap visible without scrolling.
Do I need an online shop?
Not necessarily. Alcohol sales and shipping rules differ by country, so check with your regulator before adding one.
How often should I update the tap list?
Whenever it changes. A visitor who arrives for a beer that has sold out will remember it.
Do I need an age gate?
Many places expect some form of age notice. Check your national rules.
