How to Make Your Website Shine this Engagement Season

Your website is one of the first impressions someone is going to have of your wedding business. So, with that in mind, is it making a good one? How does it look from an outside perspective? What message is it giving to your users? Is your website actually costing you business?

In our latest webinar, author and WeddingPro educator, Alan Berg, answered these questions and more. Below are some of the main takeaways on how to improve your website so it works overtime to pull in better leads, attract more of the right audience, and, ultimately, help grow your business.

1.   Takeaway 1: Users decide if they want to spend time on a website in a matter of seconds. 

According to Dynatrace, 53% of users abandon a session if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load. There are a lot of factors that go into page load speed (so much that we won’t go into them today), but the major takeaway of that statistic is that users will click off of a page if it isn’t meeting their expectations. 

Users expect pages to load quickly, have a modern design, and give them clear direction on what they need to do. Additionally, they are comparing your website to every other site they visit–not just other wedding businesses–so it’s important that yours keeps up with the current trends. If you don’t, they will click off and most (79%) will likely not give it a second chance. 

Pro Tip: If you’re not sure where your website stands up against others, try following this website review checklist, along with the tips Alan mentions in this webinar, so it can start working better for you.

2.   Takeaway 2: Make your services offerings abundantly clear to couples.

Because users are quick to decide if they want to spend time on your website, it’s important that you make your service offerings clear immediately. From your photos to your copy to your calls to action, it should be obvious what kind of wedding business you run and how any potential clients can get in touch with you to learn more about it.

Here are five questions your site should answer:

1. Who are you? – Along with your logo, write your business’ name in your copy. You want people to know your business’ name from the get-go
2. Where are you? – List your location and physical address prominently so your potential clients won’t have to search for it
3. What do you do? – Again, make your service offerings abundantly clear throughout your site. Include images, copy, and testimonials that point to your service
4. What action do you want users to take? – Be sure that your copy and buttons guide your potential clients to take whatever action you want them to take. Whether it’s signing up for more information or reaching out to book your business for their upcoming event, create a natural pathway that leads them to that next step
5. Does it look and feel modern? – No one wants to dig through cluttered pages, so embrace a simpler, more modern design so important information can stand out  

Pro Tip: These aren’t the only considerations you need to keep in mind when reviewing your website; there are other things that could be turning away potential clients. Be sure to review these items so you can fix them right away.

3.   Takeaway 3: You need to think in a mobile-first approach…but don’t only rely on that from a design perspective.

Now more than ever, people are browsing the internet on their mobile devices. In fact, according to Dynatrace, 93% of users are only using mobile browsers. Additionally, Google uses mobile-first indexing, so it prioritizes websites in searches that do the same. 

Alan did provide a word of caution, however – mobile-first is not mobile-only. One of the best things you can do is to make sure that the template you used to build your site is responsive, meaning that it gets larger or smaller depending on the screen size it’s viewed on. You’ll find that each view will show certain elements in ways you might not expect. 

So, be sure that your website looks great on a mobile device first, then check how your pages will render on different devices so the images, pop-ups, or other pieces of content you use will translate correctly across every one of them.

4.   Takeaway 4: Focus on user experience (UX) first, then SEO.

We all know that SEO is important, but user experience is just as, if not more, important. UX basically points to how easy it is for a user to browse through your website. So, having a good UX means that people can easily navigate through your pages, learn more about your services, and take the action you want them to take without much friction. A bad UX, on the other hand, is the opposite–and that can cost you.

Alan mentions that SEO can get people who aren’t aware of your business to your site, but UX is what keeps them there. He went on to give reasons why someone would click off of your website:

• They don’t get what they expect (this goes back to them comparing your site to every other one they browse)
• The site isn’t usable 
• The user doesn’t know what to do (aka there isn’t a clear call to action)
• The user suspects that you aren’t being genuine
• You don’t impress or inspire the user to reach out 

Keeping UX at the forefront of your redesign process will solve all of these problems because you’ll be changing things around with the user in mind, which will only give them reasons to stay (and want to learn more about you!)

Pro Tip: Alan also urged pros to add photos to their website that point to what they do for weddings, specifically. So, for example, if you’re a DJ, add photos of parties dancing during a reception. For other ways to incorporate user experience best practices onto your site, check out this blog about how to make your website your top salesperson.

5.   Takeaway 5: Add calls to action (CTA) throughout your copy and pages.

Ultimately, you want whoever landed on your page to reach out to you, and the best way to inspire them to do that is to provide a lot of opportunities for them to get in touch with you. The best way to do that is to include CTA links and buttons throughout your pages that will take them to a contact form, an email template, or even a phone number. 

Many business owners only feature CTAs at the top or bottom of their pages, but this can hinder the number of people that will actually locate and make the action. Having CTAs throughout your website gives your user every opportunity to learn more about you. Remember–the more CTAs you have, the more conversions you’ll get. 

It’s impossible to note all of the helpful tricks and tips that Alan provided during the webinar, so be sure to watch the on-demand version so you can get even more helpful takeaways. To access all of our past webinars in one place, check out our 2021 webinar hub.

Photo Credit: oatawa / Shutterstock.com