There is a lot of competition in just about every category and every marketplace these days. One of the things that makes a big difference when it comes to reaching engaged couples and getting SERIOUS inquiries, is your website. The question today is: Is your website working FOR you or against you?
All of these things HURT YOUR BUSINESS and will get a bride/groom to BACK OUT of your website faster than you can blink your eye.
Slow Loading Website
The #1 reason brides or grooms leave websites is because of slow loading pages. First, people don’t have patience these days. Secondly, the Internet has made us all want everything INSTANTLY. People may also think something is wrong or your website is doing something to their computer (i.e. loading malware or a virus). The savings you think you’re getting with your slow, cheap hosting may actually be costing you thousands of dollars a year in lost sales.
Non Mobile-Friendly Responsive Website
It’s not unlikely, actually, it is very LIKELY, that a bride or groom will visit your website from their mobile device. A poor experience is a poor reflection on your business. Mobile-friendly can be different from mobile-responsive, the later meaning your website “responds” properly and renders properly for the type of device your visitor is using.
Typos
You may think that typos aren’t a big deal, but they are. A bride is planning the biggest day of her life and she’s looking for a professional, an expert, and someone who pays attention to DETAIL. Typos throughout your website scream out you don’t pay attention to detail, and THAT can kill you in the wedding business.
Poor Grammar
Like typos, poor grammar, or sentence structure that is difficult to comprehend, is also a huge problem when it comes to turning the brides and grooms who visit your website into inquiries and then sales.
Poor Marketing Message
This is where I see a lot of websites fail miserably. You might be a great wedding DJ, you might be an incredible wedding planner, or you might be an all-star honeymoon travel agent, but if you don’t know how to write ONLINE marketing copy your website is like a car with only one tire!
Social Proof
Testimonials, ratings, reviews, professional accreditation, and membership in wedding industry associations are all a form of social proof that couples consider when comparing one company to another.
Poor Website Design
How you see your wedding business is probably VERY different than how an outsider sees it, in this case, a bride or groom. Websites that deliver the best results have a strategic logic behind them. Poorly designed websites directly lead to poorly performing websites that fail to generate leads and sales.
Poor Visuals
Images that are fuzzy, improperly sized, or look like they were taken with a shaky smartphone, often don’t communicate the right message. Take the time and effort required to put clear, crisp images on your website. You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression!
Weak or No Call-To-Action
Are you using an appropriate eye-catching call-to-action (CTA) throughout your website, particularly at the bottom of each page? Look at the CTA we used at the bottom of this page! Websites that make people have to think underperform those that create a “no-brainer” experience.
Poor Quality (or No) Traffic
Even the best designed websites need quality traffic. Are you waiting for brides and grooms to find you online, or do you have an effective traffic building strategy? Driving high-quality traffic to your website is going to cost money or time and effort. I’m sorry to say, but the days of “free” QUALITY traffic are in the history books!
Stale Dated Blog Posts
If you blog and your last blog post is dated over two months ago it might create a problem. It can create doubt in the mind of a bride or groom visiting your website that you are an active business. Even worse, it might make them think you are out of business altogether.
Questions? Email me at chris@bookmoreweddings.com
