Name of your website?SonomaUncorked.com
Your name?
John Wood
Your Location (city, etc)
Santa Rosa, CA 95409
Please give us a short summary of your website?
100% original content. Over 200 video clips, over 500 pictures. Writers have written for the LA Times, SF Chronicle and Wine Country This Week.
We have all Sonoma County Wineries listed as well as video interviews with wine makers, videos of annual events. 3 blogs and much more.
Basically it is a definitive guide on things to do in Sonoma County - California Wine Country.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
There were no good site about the whole area. Our out of town friends and family would constantly ask us where to go and what to do when visiting. There was no good sites to point them to. We hope we have filled a need.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
This is our first site. We launched it 2 months ago.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
We wanted a fun name that represented the laid back feeling you get when you are in Sonoma County. "Uncorked" is sort of like we are revealing the area to the user.
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
We have 100% original content. Hundreds of videos and pictures. We also have an interactive map that shows nearby places. Just click on the tabs of the bottom of the map and you can see what I mean.
We also are trying to video tape all the annual events which will takes us some time to do. But we are getting there. All the blogs talk about insider stuff, that only locals know about.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
Right now it is a labor of love. We need to build up traffic in order to consider it for a revenue stream. We just had twins and are hoping to eventually supplement our income.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
It is way to early to tell. After 2 months we have a page rank of 3 and many of our listings are showing up on the front page of google.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I wouldn't change a thing.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
We are prepared for lots of traffic. Our server can handle it. We are hopeful ; )
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
none
What has been your biggest challenge?
Getting links to our site. ; ) Marketing of the site. We have no budget, we are reying on organic searches at the moment.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
SEO
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I was hoping more people would be linking in and that word of mouth would spread faster. It's happening, but taking longer than we thought.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
It's only been up 2 months. We will keep it up regardless of popularity. We like what we are doing and have fun adding new content.
What are you most proud of about your site?
My wife and I really think it is a good representation of the "feel" of Sonoma County. It's sort of an eccentric goofy place. Videos of the Sonoma County Harvest Festival and Olivepolooza are good representations of this goofyness. Also we like the many panoramic banners we have on the top of the pages.
What is your website address?
SonomaUncorked.com
