The wedding season has come to an end. You’re about to settle into the sofa with a cocktail in hand and your new biz book when suddenly something shocks you. “Oh sh*t! I’ve got to start booking clients for next year!” Honestly, the grind of a wedding/events pro never ends.

In an ideal world, your phone would be lit up with messages like this…

“Hi! He finally popped the question, I’m getting married! And I wouldn’t want anyone else to plan my wedding. What do you say?!” 

But life isn’t a 00s rom-com, and a perfect ending doesn’t just land in your lap with the right amount of humour and kitsch— yes, I am on a rom-com hype at the moment…

My point is that to book those dreamy, noteworthy, feel-like-one-in-a-million kinds of clients, you need to lay the groundwork. And that foundation building starts now, just in time for the wedding season. 

The mission-> makes as many people aware of you now so that when they’re planning their wedding or event for 2023, you’re the first planner/provider in their mind.

You need a good wedding business website if you want new clients to reach out

If you’re subscribed to the scratching post, my weekly newsletter, you might have picked up on the note I made about one of my friends who got married last year. She’s stateside, and as we chatted about wedding planning and preparations, she told me she didn’t give businesses without a great website a second thought. And honestly, I wasn’t surprised. I wouldn’t buy from a business that had a poor website either!

—Turn browsers into bookers with your wedding business website—

Whether I’m buying underwear or booking an expensive meal, a good website is a sign of proficiency, and it makes me trust the seller. But a great website? The kind of website that stops me in my tracks because of its engaging copy and beautifully complimentary visuals? I’m likely to buy from these businesses even when I had no intention of doing so beforehand. A good website makes those interested in your services follow through. And a great website turns browsers into buyers (pretty cool, right?! Sorry, I think my inner website nerd is shining through…)

“That’s good to know…but how do I guarantee my website is standing out and ready for engagement season?”

Here’s the thing, it’s not as difficult as you think. Everything I’m going to share with you is easy to complete in the next few weeks (especially if you opt to work with a professional copywriter, ahem).

How to prepare your wedding business for engagement season

There are so many ways you can elevate + upgrade your website for engagement season. After all, you want your wedding business to stand out, and there are several ways you can achieve this. Upgrading your design, redoing your copy, and developing a visual brand are all things I highly recommend every wedding business does, but I know they’re not always possible.

In this post, I’m sharing the simple things every website needs to do— the kind of stuff it’s not cool to not have sorted in 2022 (the online world is tough nowadays!)

Make sure your website is up-to-date with the past season’s work

You’ve just finished an incredible season, wouldn’t it be such a shame not to share it?! Every year you get better; a better planner, business person, and creative— your clients deserve to see this! I bet you had a stand-out event this year that really exhibits everything you do and how hard you work. It’s time to add these stand-out projects to the portfolio!

Update your imagery to include these note-worthy weddings or write an event case study (my preferred method). Event case studies are great for SEO and provide an in-depth understanding & analysis of your skills for potential clients. You might have heard me gush over them on IG in this post.

Check your booking system is streamlined, simple, and works

You’ve sold your dream client through copy that speaks to them and imagery they can’t take their eyes off. They’re ready to book with you…but they can’t figure out how. But, if you don’t tell people exactly how to do something, they won’t do it.

People (even you and I) want everything to be easy. If I have to hunt for your service page or use an external form to contact you, I’m finding a wedding planner with an integrated booking system, in-depth FAQ and call to action that I can’t resist clicking (all the sexy things I, your potential client, want to see).

Tip: follow your system and make a booking with yourself to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Answer questions potential couples have before they ask them

Just like with your booking system, you don’t want to create friction that stops potential clients from reaching out to you. Your website copy needs to answer any questions potential clients have for you.

There are multiple ways to inform readers, but a few checklist items you can address today are:

Do your H1 headings have a purpose? Do they provide clarity on what you do & who you do it for? I love creative copy (a lot), but it’s its own place on your website and should never trump clarity.

Have you explained your booking method? A streamlined system is only half the battle, you need to talk your audience through how to use it!

Are you sharing previous experiences, projects & qualifications your potential clients may be interested in? No, I’m not saying to write a list of your five degrees! But make sure you come across as credible and qualified.

My biggest tip is to include an FAQ page—a designated for must-know information and a place readers go when they have a question (instead of automatically reaching out to you!) To craft a relevant FAQ page, consider the questions you already get asked by prospective clients. From here, you can write them out adding your signature brand voice and making your copy a lil more fun.

Improve your SEO efforts

You want as many engaged couples as possible to land on your website over the next few months. And for them to find you, you need to make yourself searchable. If your SEO is poor, now is the time to start improving (seriously, there’s no time to spare here).

Haven’t posted a blog in six months? Start researching keywords and craft a Google-friendly blog post your engaged couples will benefit from.

Increasing content output on your wedding business website is the most effective way to improve search engine optimisation. But remember to check Google is crawling your site and that all the back-end SEO bits are working too!

Engagement season is one of the most exciting periods for wedding businesses! But this season can also be incredibly competitive and stressful. My biggest advice for the upcoming season is to spend some time auditing your website (or hire a copywriter to do it for you) and check your website is discoverable, easy to navigate, and highlights your abilities.

If you have any questions about updating your wedding business website ready for engagement season, drop me an email. And if you need a second set of eyes to guarantee your website isn’t doing you a disservice (they can be rude like that!), you can book your brand audit here.