Is Your Website’s Content Strategy Helping or Hurting You?

Tips to help you plan your website content and copy 

You know your website is an important part of your business, but if we go further than that, our guess is things start to feel “out of your realm of expertise.” Because, when it comes to all the things you hear or are being told you need to do, they likely aren’t things you feel comfortable doing or even know where to start! So, what do you do? You DIY your website and hope you haven’t missed anything critical or you hire someone to take care of it for you and hope they don’t miss anything critical.

Not super ideal. 

Regardless of whether you are the person building and maintaining your website or you have outsourced it to someone with more experience, it’s important for you to have a foundational understanding of what needs to happen. Because, if you don’t, how can you be sure your website is actually helping you build your wedding business? And while there are lots of moving parts to what makes a website “do the work for you,” today we wanted to dive into one of the most foundational parts—your website’s content strategy. 

What is a website content strategy?

Don’t let the word strategy intimidate you—any strategy is really just a plan of what you are going to do, where and when. But, for those of you who like formal definitions, Hubspot defines a content strategy as “the plan in which you use content (audio, visual and/or written) to achieve your business goals.” Now, you might read that definition and think it sounds pretty broad—and you wouldn’t be wrong. As a matter of fact, you can develop a content strategy for lots of things: your marketing strategy, blog strategy, social media strategy, video marketing and your website.

Why is it important?

Having a content strategy for your website is important because your website is your corner of the internet, and you’re likely telling people to go there—a lot. Actually, let’s hit pause because we want you to take a moment to think about all the places you’ve linked your website. It’s probably linked on your Storefronts, in social media profiles, on the wedding blogs you’ve been featured in and your email signature, just to name a few. And with all this effort you’re making to drive people to your website (through marketing and advertising), you can see why it’s important to know your website is ready for them and there to help you convert potential leads into paying clients.

But when it comes to building your website, most people build one thinking their checklist is simple: build a home, about, service, portfolio and contact page. The reality? You need to think about how a potential client interacts with your website as a whole, how they move through it, what information they get (and when) as well as how each page is helping to address their concerns, communicate your value, show them you know who they are and move them closer to hitting inquire.

TL:DR: If one of your business goals is to get found on the internet, get more leads or attract better quality clients, it’s time to dig into your website’s content strategy.

What you need to create a website content strategy 

Before you think you can’t, we’re here to tell you that you can create a content strategy for your own website! So, let’s start with the basics. There are 5 components to any good content strategy. Each of these components work together and influences how people find your website, the experience people have while on it, how they receive and click-through information, whether they feel like you understand them and whether you (ultimately) convert them. 

• SEO keywords 
• Customer maps or research
• Brand voice
• Website copy
• Website design

You want to start by finding the SEO keywords you’d like to use on each page of your website (you can learn more about that here). Our advice is to focus on the core ones that describe what you do and where as well as the words you think people are most likely to search for on a search engine. Next, you want to complete customer research to make sure you truly understand what your potential clients struggle with, hope for and need to hear. After that, you want to define your brand voice, this is how you sound as you write. Then comes the big part—mapping out your content. For each page of your website, outline what needs to be communicated on that page in a way that tells a story (and also sells!). This is also where you want to incorporate your keywords and customer research. From there, it’s about bringing it all to life with your website copy and design.

Ways to improve your website

Feeling inspired to really dig into your website before next booking season kicks off? Then join Tayler Cusick Hollman at COR in September! She’ll be leading a workshop on Day 1 and teaching everyone exactly how to map out their website content so you can make updates and feel great about your website this fall and winter. Here’s a peek at what she’ll be covering.

• What content strategy is and how it impacts what information couples get from your website
• The must-have components your website might be missing
• How to write copy that makes your ideal clients feel like you’re speaking directly to them

Ready to level up and be inspired? Use the code TAYLER20 for 20% off your ticket and we’ll see you there!

Photo Credit: JLco Julia Amaral / Shutterstock.com