Lecturing at Sonoma State University’s Wine Business Institute
Over the past year, I have taken on the role of a lecturer at Sonoma State University’s School of Business (SBE). During this time, I have led a few webinars and an immersive on-site workshop focused on digital marketing within the wine industry. This experience has been incredibly rewarding, allowing me to share my expertise and engage with students and professionals in a hands-on learning environment.
Successful Workshop Series for the New York Wine & Grape Foundation
I recently concluded a series of five workshops for the New York Wine & Grape Foundation. These webinars, each lasting an hour and a half, were well-received, with attendance ranging from 20 to 35 participants. The series covered essential digital marketing strategies for wineries
Workshop Overview
- Google Merchant Center: A Gateway to E-Commerce Success
- Offered a thorough understanding of Google Merchant Center’s role in e-commerce.
- Participants learned to list products for free on Google and integrate them with Google Ads.
- This hands-on, interactive session was especially beneficial for newcomers or those facing challenges.
- SEO Optimization: Elevating Your Winery’s Online Presence
- Covered key strategies for enhancing website rankings on Google.
- Utilized the 80/20 rule for maximum impact with minimal effort.
- Included practical examples and insights into Google Search Console.
- Google Analytics: Deciphering Data for Business Growth
- Focused on the latest version of Google Analytics (GA4).
- Simplified analytics terminology and concepts.
- Introduced efficient tools and techniques for analytics monitoring, including a brief overview of Google Tag Manager.
- Maximizing Sales with Google Ads Performance Max Campaigns
- Explored the advanced, AI-driven advertising approach of Google Ads Performance Max campaigns.
- Covered campaign building, budget allocation, and the integration of Google Merchant Center.
Growth in Affiliate Websites
I’ve been actively working on my affiliate websites and have seen significant organic growth, particularly with dflybackpacks.com. Recent improvements in HTML to text ratio, sitemap optimization, URL structure optimization, and load speed have resulted in an increase from 215 pages indexed to over 550 pages indexed.
My other website, discgolfdojo.com, is also continues to progress nicely, averaging over 80 clicks from organic search. However, I have noticed that pages specific to individual discs have seen a decline since last year. My hypothesis is that this is due to Google pushing product sales (Google Merchant Center products) more prominently in organic search results. Since this website is more informational and contains links to purchase sites rather than having an e-commerce shopping cart, this shift might be impacting individual disc pages. Despite this, I am seeing great growth in the branded disc type pages. I have also made a few design additions and added new discs to keep the momentum going.
Transition to a Home Office
At the end of May, I closed my office in Napa and have since been working from my home office and an agency in San Rafael. This transition has been very positive, allowing me to get more work done without the need to commute.
Keeping an Eye on SearchGPT
One of the trends I’m currently watching is the advent of SearchGPT from OpenAI, which is expected to be an interesting competitor to Google search. This development could have significant implications for digital marketing, and I plan to stay on top of it and experiment with its capabilities.
These updates reflect my ongoing commitment to professional growth and staying at the forefront of digital marketing trends. I look forward to sharing more exciting developments with you soon!
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or if there’s anything I can help with.
Best, Ryan
