My goal is to educate you, stimulate your thinking, and get your Internet marketing in tip-top condition. If your Internet marketing is currently a 3, let’s get it to a 6 or 7. If it’s a 6, let’s get it to a 9 or 10 – in the next 45-90 days!
Inspiration: Promotional Rack Card
I love rack cards. They give you more room than a post card and give you plenty of room to include key unique value propositions as well as extra testimonials. They are inexpensive to produce in short runs (100-200) at places like VistaPrint.
Tools: Easily Create Call-To-Action Buttons Online
Here is a great online tool that will help you to VERY EASILY create a call-to-action button for your website or blog. Put another way, now there is no reason to not have a CTA button at the bottom of your website pages!
Run Special Offers at Facebook & Instagram
Social media “exclusive” promotions, particularly boosted posts at Facebook and Instagram, are an inexpensive way to advertise special offers. For as little as $10.00, you can run a boosted post for a day or two.
Claim Your Yelp! Business Listing
Yelp! has a reputation for bogus reviews and hyper-aggressive sales people. That said, I have consistently seen Yelp! as a good source of website traffic and increased online visibility for wedding businesses.
Claim & Optimize Your Google My Business Listing
In many ways the foundation of your visibility at Google starts with your Google My Business listing.
Consider Adding Online Chat to Your Website
Online chat tools, that give your website visitors the option of “chatting” with you online real-time, are becoming more and more popular. You’ve probably used them yourself for online banking or to get online support from your website hosting company.
5 “Must-have” Free Google Internet Marketing Tools
The right tools make any Internet marketing you do easier and more effective. These are “must haves” tools and they are all free from Google.
You have probably seen infographics on the Internet, they are eye-catching, usually fun and informative. Not many people use them in the wedding industry so if you create one it will make your business stand out.
Create a Fun & Informational Whiteboard Video
Whiteboard videos are eye-catching, fun, and informative at the same time. Not many people use them in the wedding industry and if you create one it can make your business stand out.
Does Your Website Pass the Google Mobile-friendly Test
Does your web site pass the Google mobile-friendly test? Here is how to find out.
Create and Post Video to YouTube
By creating and posting videos, or informational video slideshows, you will be creating more online visibility for your company, brand, website, and creating a long-term traffic generating machine.
Showing support for the LGBTQ community, and marriage equality, is an important business and marketing strategy. Do you have a statement of support showing your business is open to the LGBTQ customer on your website? Here’s an example and ideas for where you can use it.
Invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Good search engine optimization, and the resulting top rankings, last a LONG time, which will lead to hundreds of high-quality leads over time.
Review (or Optimize) Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
A Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is a key factor in getting the engaged couples who visit your website to make inquiries, and ultimately book your company.
Avoid Discounting: Offer Add-on Specials or Multi-purchase Packages
I hate discounting and if you are a professional, and experienced, and deliver outstanding products and services, as well as outstanding customer service, you should not be discounting.
An Engaged Couple’s Favorite Radio Station: WIIFM
Engaged couples, millennials or not, are human beings and most human beings buy something largely based on “What’s in it for me?” and not necessarily price.
The right tools make a challenging job easier. Here is my favorite tool to use with social media. It saves me a lot of time managing my Facebook and Instagram social feeds.
Conversion: Use Reviews to Generate More Inquiries & Sales
Reviews are one of the most powerful ways to convert engaged couples who find your brand into inquiries and sales. Here are 10 ways to use reviews and testimonials that have BIG impact and consistently deliver GREAT results.
Popular Wedding Planning Facebook Pages (for Brides & Grooms)
Keeping your finger on the pulse of what brides (and a few grooms) are talking about and exposed to online is basic marketing intelligence. Here are some of the big wedding planning Facebook pages, measured by followers or “Likes.”
Join These Wedding Industry Facebook Groups
There are dozens of Facebook groups focused on the business of weddings. Here are a handful that are definitely worth checking out.
Create and Have Ready a Website Disaster Recovery Plan
Public Service Announcement: Even if your hosting company tells you they are backing up your website, create your own backups.
Regularly Monitor Your Online Reviews
Online reviews can literally make or break a company’s reputation. Of course the best thing to do is to avoid, if at all possible, getting a poor review. But there are some nutty people out there, and getting a poor review can happen to even the best.
You Might Find Hiqh-End Engaged Couples Using This Website
Unfortunately, this website is often overlooked to increase online visibility and reach more “high-end” couples by people and businesses in the wedding industry.
Secured Website Hosting (https://)
Does your website have “secured” end-to-end encrypted hosting, the type with https:// security and certification? If not it WILL adversely impact your conversion and may impact your Google rankings.
Facebook Content Quality Checklist
Improving your Facebook content, and social media content in general, will deliver better results, drive more traffic to your website, and generate more inquiries and sales!
Test Your Website at Google Safe Search
Checking your website from time to time to make sure it’s in good standing with Google is an Internet marketing best practice. Here is how you do it.
The Testimonials Most People in the Wedding Industry Forget About
I think we all know the power of testimonials from brides and grooms – happy clients. But what about …
Long inquiry forms with too many fields usually do not create the most mobile friendly user-experience and may result in fewer inquiries.
11 High-Impact Facebook Post Ideas
11 High-impact Facebook post ideas that are guaranteed to get an engaged couple’s attention.
Google Tools: Google Bounce Rate
If you use Google Analytics (GA), and you should be, one of the tracking points is called “Bounce Rate.” Bounce rate is an indication of how many REAL people came to your website and left after visiting just one page.
Facebook Best Practices (4 of 4)
Does your post include/use a call-to-action? Are you monitoring and measuring key metrics using Facebook Insights? Facebook Best Practices part four of four.
Facebook Best Practices (3 of 4)
Does your post properly reflect your expertise? Does someone reading it say “Wow, this person/business really knows their stuff.” Part Three of Facebook Best Practices.
Facebook Best Practices (2 of 4)
More techniques and tips to get better results from your Facebook business page. Part Two of Facebook Best Practices.
Facebook Best Practices (1 of 4)
When I speak to a lot of people they tell me that they don’t get very good or consistent results from Facebook. In most cases the reason is they are not using it properly. Here are some of the BEST PRACTICES I use when managing a Facebook business page for a client.
Get An Objective Outsider to Review Your Website & Internet Marketing
Get an outside and objective review of your website, as well as your overall Internet marketing strategy. Don’t look at this as an expense, instead look at it as an investment that will help you book more weddings.
Start Blogging (if you aren’t already)
Blogging has many benefits, but my favorite is that it promotes you as the expert that you are – and that leads to more sales more easily. It also can give your business a solid competitive advantage.
Create a “Friends of” Page at Your Website (i.e. Virtual Networking)
“Friends” pages show you are active in the marketplace and others you link to are more likely to do the same for you, thereby creating a SEO-friendly INBOUND LINK to your website.
Create a FAQ Page at Your Website
A frequently asked questions (FAQ) page at a website is a double win. First, it answers the commonly asked questions that couples have when thinking about hiring your company. It also acts as a powerful sales page to qualify engaged couples.
Change Your Company Instagram Feed to a Business Account
Instagram gives you the option of changing a personal account into a business account and it’s a good thing to do for your business Instagram feed. It is still free.
Consider Using an Auto-Responder for Quick Follow-ups to Inquiries
An auto-responder can be a very powerful tool that allows you to automatically and quickly respond to the engaged couples that make an inquiry at your website.
Create Social Media Posts Using Your Reviews from WeddingWire or The Knot
Social Proof is one of the things engaged couples are looking for at your website as well as your social media touch-points. They want to see reviews, testimonials, awards, and membership in professional associations.
Does your website properly promote your brand and communicate an upscale, professional, worth-the-investment wedding business? Does it communicate “Tiffany’s,” or does it communicate “BJ’s Wholesale Warehouse?”
Easily Review Your Current Rankings at Google
Tracking your search engine rankings manually can be a time-consuming task. It’s not the most effective way to track your rankings – or use your time.
Post More Video at Facebook and Instagram
Videos undoubtedly get more organic non-paid reach when compared to simpler text with image posts, at both Facebook and Instagram.
Takeaways work great for a variety of reasons, but I’m going to guess that most of your competition does NOT use them and that immediately gives you tremendous competitive advantage.
Use Social Media to Promote Your Expertise
You’ll get better results and more ENGAGEMENT from your social media posts if you post high-quality helpful wedding planning information. When you do this you automatically become THE EXPERT.
Review Your Competition Online (at least twice a year)
It’s important to keep tabs on what your competition is doing. You don’t want to find yourself at a competitive disadvantage six months after the fact.
Exchange Website Links with Other Local Vendors
Exchanging website links with the other wedding vendors you work with is a great way to get more online visibility, build traffic to your website, and book more weddings. Inbound links to your site will also help your rankings at Google.
Monitor Your Website Hosting 24/7/365 with Pingdom
It’s impossible for engaged couples to learn more about your website and make online inquiries if your website is down. Plus, a “website unavailable” error message never leaves the right impression.
Email Signatures Can Help You Book More Weddings
An often overlooked yet powerful way to promote your products and services and drive traffic to your website.
Should You Advertise at WeddingWire or The Knot?
Unfortunately, there is not a yes or no answer to this question. If you work with a thin margin, advertising at WeddingWire or The Knot is probably NOT going to go well for you.
Install Google Analytics, Configure Auto-Reporting
Why do you need to measure everything? Because if you don’t know that something is broken, you won’t know that you need to fix it.
Optimize Your Listing at WeddingWire & The Knot
I like both WeddingWire (WW) and The Knot (TK) as places where you can increase your online visibility, build your brand, and reach more brides and grooms. Both of these websites have significant reach into the business of wedding planning.
Fine-tune Your Social Media Hashtag Strategy
Using the appropriate hashtags will help you reach more couples in your geographical marketplace who are planning a wedding. Hashtags increase your social findability and social visibility.
Studies show that the first company to follow-up on a web -based inquiry has an immediate and significant competitive advantage. Companies that are the first to “help a customer along their buying journey” are 72% more likely to get the sale.
(10 of the Most Popular Wedding Hashtags) The right hashtags will make your social posts more “findable” for engaged couples who are searching for content related to those hashtags.
WeddingWire World is an educational and networking event currently held twice a year and put on by the folks at, you guessed it, WeddingWire.
Questions That Help You Close the Sale (and Book More Weddings!)
While there are dozens of questions you might ask a couple that you are speaking with, here are 10 questions that are proven to build rapport and get the ball rolling in the right direction.
“Pop-Up” Boxes Improve Conversion & Generate Leads
You may hate them, and I do too, but the hard-cold facts are that pop-up boxes work! They increase conversion and they generate leads.
Use Your Reviews More Effectively (here’s how)
Reviews and testimonials are “social proof.” They increase conversion and will help you book more weddings. Here are 10 ways to use reviews and testimonials more effectively.
Improve Conversion Using an Announcement Bar
Conversion is really what Internet marketing is all about. Your website is ultimately responsible for turning visitors into some type or form of action. In most cases, the action you want an engaged couple to take after visiting your website is filling in your inquiry form.
Give Couples the Option of Text Messaging You
Giving couples the option of text messaging you will help you book more weddings.
Where Should You Focus Your Social Media Marketing Efforts (for the best ROI)
So many choices and so many shiny objects! The problem quickly becomes that you simply don’t have the resources to chase them all. Nor do you need to.
How Often Should You Post to Social Media (Facebook & Instagram)
How often should you post to Facebook and Instagram? Properly, effectively, and aggressively using social media marketing will help you build your brand, drive traffic to your website, and book more weddings.
Create or Update Your Frequently Asked Questions Page
A Frequently Asked Questions page is one of the most powerful pages you can put on any website. After a Pricing page it is almost always one of the most visited pages at any website.
Use Your WeddingWire & The Knot Reviews More Effectively
Using the reviews you’ve received at WeddingWire or The Knot at your website and across your social media channels will help you book more weddings more easily!
Review Your Website for Basic SEO
When you rank well at Google you’ll get more high-quality website traffic and better inquiries – you’ll book more weddings. I could argue that Google traffic is better quality traffic and more likely to turn into an inquiry and sale than traffic from WeddingWire or The Knot.
“Dusty” brands are not only at a significant competitive disadvantage, but typically they can’t command premium pricing for their services in any competitive marketplace.
“Packages” Will Help You Book More Weddings
Generally speaking, when making a buying decision, people like packages. Packages will help you book more weddings.
Sales: Don’t Quit on Inquiry Follow-ups So Easily
Sure, it’s frustrating when couples don’t return your follow-up to their initial website inquiry, email messages, phone calls, or text messages – but don’t give up so easily (and don’t take it personally).
Perform a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis on your current situation, with a focus on Internet marketing.
Very Carefully Integrate Your Online and Offline Advertising & Marketing
Print advertising is NOT dead, but for print advertising to be cost-effective it now requires very careful integration with your Internet marketing.
First Impressions & Creating the “Oh Yes” Moment
Brides are planning the most important day of their lives. They want the very best and your website absolutely must make a great first impression. Any weakness here and you are at a competitive disadvantage.
The #1 Reason Brides & Grooms Leave Websites
Slow loading pages are the number one reason brides and grooms will leave your website. People these days simply don’t have any patience, brides probably even less.
Google Hates Slow Loading Websites Too
If slow loading pages and “bridal bailout” isn’t enough to convince you to choose high-performance website hosting, maybe this will. Google now uses page load times as a ranking factor.
More Problems With Cheap Hosting
Cheap hosting isn’t saving you money. There are all kinds of issues. You might think you’re saving $20/month but really losing THOUSANDS of dollars in lost sales.
Attend The WeddingMBA Convention
Each Fall in Las Vegas thousands of people who work in the wedding industry attend the Wedding MBA at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Improve & Optimize Your Calls-to-action
Effectively using calls-to-action throughout a website has been shown in study after study to improve conversion and increase inquiries.
Get More Google Reviews (Create a Google Review Link)
A lot of businesses in the wedding industry get reviews at The Knot or WeddingWire, but what about Google Reviews, the reviews that show up with your Google My Business business listing?
Resources & Recommendations Resources & Recommendations mentioned in my book “100 Things You Can Do To Reach More Brides & Grooms, Get More Inquiries From Your Website, and Book More Weddings.”
