Why Keeping Your Website Fresh Is Still Vital

It seems in the digital world a year runs a lot quicker, almost to the point where a website refresh seems needed almost the moment it goes live.

In its first refresh since 2013, Harpoon Brewery debuted a new look recently and the VP of Marketing, Chris Bonacci, talked with Brewer about why the changes were made.

Bonacci said along with wanting to give its UFO family of beers its own site, the new-look website evolved to clean up around the edges and as a site, not be ignored by consumers.

“We had some pieces of the user experience that we wanted to fix, some things that had grown outdated, some things we thought we could improve from a clarity of communication standpoint,” he said. “That quickly evolved into more of a wholesale change – we weren’t going into it planning for that, but we love where we ended up.”

The brewery wanted to be able to combine visuals in a more impactful way, and streamline the information about individual beers. Making sure it was more mobile friendly was also key.

“Between general trends and visitor traffic at both our breweries, it’s increasingly important for us to provide the best mobile experience we can,” Bonacci said.

Along with mobile, social media has become such an important function for a brewery, but the two — website and social media — can still work together.

“Ideally the two work as a pair – the site is a great place for people to spend some time with our company. Social is a great way to stay updated,” Bonacci said.

Harpoon worked with a local partner, Get Fused, to help build out the back end while its in-house digital team led the process with the team at Get Fused along with the brewery’s house creative and design team to mold the project.