More Than a Facelift: How a UX-Driven Redesign Increased Online Sales by 80% for a Rioja Winery
Client: a historic, family-owned winery in Spain's Rioja region, known for its premium wines and rich heritage.
Project Duration: 12 months (Ongoing)
Services: Web Design & Development, User Experience (UX) Audit, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), SEO & PPC Integration
Project Duration: 12 months (Ongoing)
Services: Web Design & Development, User Experience (UX) Audit, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), SEO & PPC Integration
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Executive Summary
A prestigious Rioja winery had a story to tell and world-class wines to sell, but their digital presence was letting them down. Their outdated website, though receiving decent traffic from their brand recognition, was slow, difficult to navigate, and failed to convert visitors into customers. It was an online cellar gathering dust.
Studio.351 undertook a complete, UX-driven redesign focused on one thing: turning website visitors into loyal customers. By combining immersive storytelling with a frictionless path to purchase and a high-performance technical foundation, we transformed their digital storefront.
The new website not only captured the soul of their brand but also became a powerful sales engine, increasing direct-to-consumer (DTC) online sales by 80% year-over-year and dramatically improving the efficiency of their SEO and PPC campaigns.
Studio.351 undertook a complete, UX-driven redesign focused on one thing: turning website visitors into loyal customers. By combining immersive storytelling with a frictionless path to purchase and a high-performance technical foundation, we transformed their digital storefront.
The new website not only captured the soul of their brand but also became a powerful sales engine, increasing direct-to-consumer (DTC) online sales by 80% year-over-year and dramatically improving the efficiency of their SEO and PPC campaigns.
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The Challenge: a Beautiful Story Trapped in a Dated Website
- Poor User Experience (UX): the homepage was cluttered, the navigation was confusing (separating wine types like 'Crianza' and 'Reserva' was difficult), and there was no clear, compelling call-to-action to guide users towards a purchase.
- Painfully Slow Loading Times: the unoptimized, image-heavy site took over 8 seconds to load on mobile devices, causing a high bounce rate and frustrating potential customers.
- Broken Mobile Experience: over 60% of their traffic came from mobile, yet the site was not fully responsive, leading to a clunky and frustrating experience for the majority of users.
- Abysmal Conversion Rate: the combination of these issues resulted in a direct-to-consumer conversion rate of less than 0.4%. Their paid ad campaigns were driving traffic, but the leaky bucket of a website meant the investment was largely wasted.
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The Solution: a Design that Sells
Our solution was to create a website that was not just beautiful, but also a highly efficient sales tool. The strategy was built on four pillars:
- A Story-Driven, Visually Immersive Design: to bring the beauty of Rioja and the heritage of the winery to the screen, creating an emotional connection that justifies a premium price.
- A Frictionless Path to Purchase: to re-architect the user journey, ensuring a customer could go from discovering a wine to completing a checkout in as few clicks as possible.
- A Mobile-First, High-Performance Foundation: to build the new site on a modern, lightweight framework that would be lightning-fast and flawless on any device.
- SEO & PPC Synergy: to design the site from the ground up to enhance search engine visibility and maximize the ROI of their paid advertising spend.
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Our Process: a Detailed Breakdown of the Transformation
Phase 1: Discovery & UX Audit
We started with a deep dive into the data. We analyzed their Google Analytics to identify high-traffic pages with high exit rates. We used heatmaps and session recording tools to visually see where users were getting stuck and frustrated. A competitor analysis revealed best practices in the luxury wine e-commerce space.
Phase 2: Architecture & Wireframing
Based on our audit, we created a new site map and low-fidelity wireframes. We simplified the main navigation, designed a powerful filtering system for the "Shop" page (by vintage, grape, rating), and prototyped a streamlined, single-page checkout process to reduce cart abandonment.
Phase 3: Visual Design & Storytelling
This is where the brand came to life. We developed a visual language using earthy tones inspired by the Rioja soil, elegant typography, and professional, high-quality photography of the vineyards and cellars. We integrated the family's story throughout the site, not just on the "About" page, to build trust and authenticity.
Phase 4: Development & Performance Optimization
The site was built on a modern platform with a focus on speed. Key technical optimizations included:
Phase 5: SEO & PPC Integration
A beautiful new site is useless if no one can find it.
We started with a deep dive into the data. We analyzed their Google Analytics to identify high-traffic pages with high exit rates. We used heatmaps and session recording tools to visually see where users were getting stuck and frustrated. A competitor analysis revealed best practices in the luxury wine e-commerce space.
Phase 2: Architecture & Wireframing
Based on our audit, we created a new site map and low-fidelity wireframes. We simplified the main navigation, designed a powerful filtering system for the "Shop" page (by vintage, grape, rating), and prototyped a streamlined, single-page checkout process to reduce cart abandonment.
Phase 3: Visual Design & Storytelling
This is where the brand came to life. We developed a visual language using earthy tones inspired by the Rioja soil, elegant typography, and professional, high-quality photography of the vineyards and cellars. We integrated the family's story throughout the site, not just on the "About" page, to build trust and authenticity.
Phase 4: Development & Performance Optimization
The site was built on a modern platform with a focus on speed. Key technical optimizations included:
- Implementing "lazy loading" for images so pages loaded almost instantly.
- Optimizing all images to next-gen formats like WebP.
- Minifying code (CSS, JavaScript) to reduce file sizes.
- Setting up server-side caching for rapid repeat visits.
Phase 5: SEO & PPC Integration
A beautiful new site is useless if no one can find it.
- SEO: we worked with their SEO team to create a comprehensive 301 redirect map to ensure all existing link equity was passed to the new pages. We ensured all on-page SEO elements (meta titles, headings) were correctly migrated and optimized. The huge improvement in Core Web Vitals gave them an immediate ranking boost.
- PPC: we created new, dedicated landing pages for their ad campaigns that were perfectly aligned with the ad copy. The improved site speed and user experience instantly increased the Quality Score of their ads.
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The Results: from a Digital Brochure to a Sales Powerhouse
- Over 80% increase in direct-to-consumer online sales compared to the previous year.
- Conversion Rate rose by 175%: from 0.4% to 1.1%.
- Bounce Rate Reduced: decreased from 75% to under 40%, showing a significantly more engaged audience.
- PPC Results Revolutionized: the PPC conversion rate increased twofold, and the Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) fell by 45% as the traffic was converting significantly more effectively.
- Enhanced SEO Indicators: Google recognized the exceptional user experience. Time spent on the page rose by 60%, and the site's Core Web Vitals ratings shifted from "Poor" to "Good."
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FAQ
Isn't a complete website redesign just a big expense?
We see it as an investment in your most important salesperson—one that works 24/7. As this case shows, a strategic, UX-driven redesign doesn't just "look better"; it directly increases sales, improves the ROI of all your other marketing channels, and strengthens your brand.
Will I lose all my Google rankings if I redesign my site?
This is a common and valid concern. However, our process is specifically designed to prevent this and, in fact, improve your SEO. We perform a meticulous SEO migration, including a comprehensive 301 redirect plan, to ensure Google understands the new structure and passes all your hard-earned authority to the new pages. The improvements in speed and user engagement that follow almost always lead to better rankings.
How long does a project like this take?
A full redesign project of this scope typically takes between 1 to 3 months, broken down into key phases: discovery and strategy, design and prototyping, development, and launch.
Do we need to provide all the photography and text for the new site?
It's a collaborative process. We provide the strategic framework, the design, and the technical build. We strongly encourage our clients to invest in professional photography, as it's the single most important element for a visual brand like a winery. Our copywriters can then work with you to craft a compelling story, using your team's expertise to ensure every detail is authentic.
What happens after the new website is launched?
The launch is just the beginning. We continuously monitor the site's performance using analytics and heatmaps. This allows us to identify new opportunities for A/B testing and iterative improvements, ensuring your website continues to evolve and perform at its peak.
Our brand has a unique heritage. How do you ensure the new design reflects our story and isn't just a generic template?
This is the most important part of our process. The very first phase, "Discovery," is dedicated to immersing ourselves in your brand. We conduct workshops with your team, study your history, and define your unique value proposition. We never use templates. Every design is a custom creation, architected to tell your specific story in a way that resonates with your ideal customer.
How do you measure if the new design is actually better?
We are data-driven. Success is measured against the concrete goals we set at the start of the project. We track key performance indicators (KPIs) before and after the launch, including:
What platform do you build on (Shopify, WordPress/WooCommerce, etc.)?
We are platform-agnostic, which means we recommend the best technical solution for your specific business needs, not just the one we're most familiar with. For a DTC brand like a winery, we often recommend platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce for their powerful e-commerce capabilities, but the final decision is always made based on your long-term goals for scalability, inventory management, and marketing integrations.
We see it as an investment in your most important salesperson—one that works 24/7. As this case shows, a strategic, UX-driven redesign doesn't just "look better"; it directly increases sales, improves the ROI of all your other marketing channels, and strengthens your brand.
Will I lose all my Google rankings if I redesign my site?
This is a common and valid concern. However, our process is specifically designed to prevent this and, in fact, improve your SEO. We perform a meticulous SEO migration, including a comprehensive 301 redirect plan, to ensure Google understands the new structure and passes all your hard-earned authority to the new pages. The improvements in speed and user engagement that follow almost always lead to better rankings.
How long does a project like this take?
A full redesign project of this scope typically takes between 1 to 3 months, broken down into key phases: discovery and strategy, design and prototyping, development, and launch.
Do we need to provide all the photography and text for the new site?
It's a collaborative process. We provide the strategic framework, the design, and the technical build. We strongly encourage our clients to invest in professional photography, as it's the single most important element for a visual brand like a winery. Our copywriters can then work with you to craft a compelling story, using your team's expertise to ensure every detail is authentic.
What happens after the new website is launched?
The launch is just the beginning. We continuously monitor the site's performance using analytics and heatmaps. This allows us to identify new opportunities for A/B testing and iterative improvements, ensuring your website continues to evolve and perform at its peak.
Our brand has a unique heritage. How do you ensure the new design reflects our story and isn't just a generic template?
This is the most important part of our process. The very first phase, "Discovery," is dedicated to immersing ourselves in your brand. We conduct workshops with your team, study your history, and define your unique value proposition. We never use templates. Every design is a custom creation, architected to tell your specific story in a way that resonates with your ideal customer.
How do you measure if the new design is actually better?
We are data-driven. Success is measured against the concrete goals we set at the start of the project. We track key performance indicators (KPIs) before and after the launch, including:
- Conversion Rate (the most important metric);
- Average Order Value;
- Cart Abandonment Rate;
- Core Web Vitals (speed scores);
- Bounce Rate and Time on Page.
What platform do you build on (Shopify, WordPress/WooCommerce, etc.)?
We are platform-agnostic, which means we recommend the best technical solution for your specific business needs, not just the one we're most familiar with. For a DTC brand like a winery, we often recommend platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce for their powerful e-commerce capabilities, but the final decision is always made based on your long-term goals for scalability, inventory management, and marketing integrations.
