Welcome to part 3 of my little series of posts about blogging for your wedding business. If you’re feeling lost when it comes to SEO for your wedding business please don’t worry – you’re not alone! SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) can seem like a bit of a mystery at first, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. In this blog post I’ll explain SEO with some simple, actionable tips especially for your wedding business. No jargon, no technical overload – just practical advice you can start using today to get ahead of your competition.

I went to a brilliant wedding business networking event in the Lakes in the spring of this year. (Thanks Hannah + Tiree!) One of the topics discussed was SEO – and what struck me was the range of understanding in the room. There were SEO experts within the group, and other wedding business owners who really weren’t sure where to begin. Since then, I’ve been blogging my own wedding calligraphy business more, and had lots more enquiries and calligraphy bookings – proof that SEO does work when you give it a little love!  

What is SEO? What does it mean for my wedding business?

The reason we have websites is so people can find and book our wedding services. 

The reason we optimise our websites is so people will be intrigued and want to know more!

Having a really strong website helps people find your wedding business – and they’ll do this through Google search. So you need Google to fall in love with your website and rank it high up in search results.

That’s basically what SEO is: making a website that Google will like.

You need to understand what your potential customers and Google are looking for, and hand it to them on a big sparkly plate!

(There’s a technical side to SEO which I’m not covering here: things like site speed, health and structure, PHP versions and other stuff under the hood of your website. If you’ve learned a lot about SEO these are great to explore; but it can be overwhelming at first so I’m not going there today!)

The magic of keywords for wedding business SEO

Keywords are like playing snap online.

• Your customer types a phrase on Google.
• You’ve typed the same phrase on your blog.
• Google yells ‘snap!’ and shows that blog to your customer. (They love what they find, they read more and book you.) That’s the magic of keywords!

I’ll explain that with a bit more wedding business context!

Keywords are how you’ll find your perfect customer. There’ll be someone out there looking online for exactly what you provide. They might type “where can I hire antique glassware in Yorkshire” into Google. If you just happen to already have a web page / blog posts which mention the exact same thing* Google will show your website to that perfect customer!

* It’s great to use the exact same words in your blog posts, but it’s even better to use synonyms too: so in a blog you could talk about “wedding antique glassware hire in Yorkshire” and “vintage glasses for weddings in York” and “where to hire glasses for my East Yorkshire wedding” as well. All of these are your keywords.

How long should my keywords be?

Don’t use the same keywords as everyone else. “London wedding photographer” is really competitive and you’d have to nail every aspect of your SEO to compete with those keywords.

Using longer or more obscure keywords will make your wedding business easier to find. Instead of “London wedding photographer” you could use:

• “Alternative wedding photographer in Hackney”
• “Documentary style Battersea wedding photographer”
• “Authentic elopement photographer in South London”

There’s a good article here about finding your niche which might help you figure out what keywords to use for your specific wedding business.

If you’re not sure, go to google.com and enter some generic keywords (e.g. wedding invites Hampshire). Then scroll down to the bit that says “People also search for” and it will suggest alternative keywords.

Having a list of your keywords stuck to the wall of your office will help you blog with purpose.

User experience: wow Google AND your customers

SEO isn’t just about keywords. Google also looks at how user-friendly your website is. So, what does that mean for your wedding business site?

• Stunning visuals: For anyone in the wedding industry beautiful imagery is a must! But too many large images can slow down your site, so be careful how many images or videos you use, and how big the file sizes are.
• Simplicity wins: Make sure your site is easy to navigate and a joy to read. Short, friendly sentences are spot on.
• Don’t write like a robot: Be human, welcoming and friendly. Include personal touches and use words you actually say in real life. (I’m well aware that ‘brilliant’ is a bit… 1990s. But I say it ALL the time so it’s staying in because it’s part of me!)

Accessibility

Websites need to be usable for everyone, including people with disabilities (vision or hearing impairments and varying cognitive abilities). Having a wedding website which considers accessibility makes it more user-friendly and helps your Google search ranking.

Quick tips to improve accessibility for your wedding business website:

• Give alt tags to as many images as you can. (They’re explanations of what’s in the picture, for visually impaired people.) Usually you can add alt tags to your images straight after you upload them to your website or blog. 
• Name your images before you upload them too. When wedding suppliers submit styled shoots for publication on English Wedding, sometimes the images are named DSC0123.jpg and so on. Naming a photograph alternative-wedding-inspiration-Hedsor-House-by-Claire-Gould.jpg (for example) will make it much easier to find in Google search!
• But don’t break yourself.
  It’s confession time for me: I upload hundreds of images to English Wedding every week. I don’t have time to add alt tags to every single one. I do for as many as I can. My commitment to good SEO doesn’t override my work-life balance and neither should yours!

Use links to other wedding-related websites (and your own)

• Internal links: While you’re writing your blog, mention other pages of your website (e.g. pricing, specific venues or favourite weddings) – and include links to them so curious readers can quickly find out more. 
• External links: 
  • Providing helpful, related links gives your readers a better experience on your website. 
  • It’s also good to link to other related websites. Perhaps you mention a florist you’ve worked with, or a wedding venue open day you’ll be attending. Give your readers the option to find out more by including a link.
• Backlinks: 
  • Because Google likes links, it’s worth finding creative ways to include them. In the wedding industry, the obvious (and loveliest) way is to collaborate with your local network of suppliers. A styled shoot can give you endless options for backlinks to the amazing businesses you work with most often – and they’ll be really helpful to your potential customers as well!
  • Having other websites link back to yours signals to Google that other people like what you do. Consider guest blogging on sites like English Wedding, or swapping blogs with other suppliers in your network. 

Your simple 6-step checklist to blogging your wedding business with SEO

1. Use effective keywords in your blog post title, subheadings and paragraphs
2. Include beautiful images.
   1. Name the jpeg files before you upload them
   2. Add alt tags after you upload them
3. Write in a friendly, helpful style
4. Include links:
   1. To other pages / blogs posts on your website
   2. To suppliers in your network
   3. To other relevant info your readers might find helpful
5. See if you can write a guest blog for another website
6. After publishing your blog, share it on your social media

Wedding business SEO in a nutshell:

SEO doesn’t have to be intimidating – it’s all about building good habits and having a blogging routine which fits your life without being stressful.

If you enjoy writing a blog for your business (which you will, if you keep it simple) writing it will become easy. And an easy write for you means a pleasurable read for people who find you online. See why blogs don’t need to be essays?

Save this blog post – and bookmark this little series about blogging for your wedding business – so you can come back to it whenever you’re stuck.

Stay tuned for more tips in my next blog post where I’ll be diving into what content to write to make your wedding business irresistible!