Wedding Industry Blog

Before you think this is just another post about the depressing economy, think again! If you are a regular visitor to the blog then you will know that the results that I’m seeing suggest that there is no economic problem in the wedding industry, far from it in fact!

THE number one reason your enquiries have dropped off is that your website just isn’t up to it - FACT. You may have even been getting enquiries right up until recently and then all of a sudden they’ve dried up, coinciding with the credit crunch, but I’m telling you that is not the reason - you will almost certainly find that a competitor has launched a website which is performing and they have stolen all your enquiries!

That doesn’t sound good does it, a competitor profiting from what should be your enquiries!?!?

Well I’m afraid that is the nature of the business world, if you are not up scratch, there is always someone else willing to step in to take your customers!

Fortunately there are a few quick and easy things you can do to improve your sites performance:

Look at the words on the site - are they focused on what your customer wants, or are they completely focused on what you do, how long you have been trading and why your are so great? I’ll let you in to a little secret - people don’t care how great you say you are, they will make up they’re own minds based on the information they find on your website. Let’s face it, even if you were the worst company in the world you would still say you were great wouldn’t you? Brides aren’t stupid and they now this too!

How can brides contact you? - I see so many sites viagra the contact details are hidden away on the “Contact Us” page which can be hard to find. You’re telephone number or, better still enquiry form, should be in a prominent position on every page of your website. Also, don’t be mysterious, the worst thing I see is suppliers who just put a mobile number with no address!!! I guess the thinking is “I will travel anywhere for a customer it doesn’t matter to me”, well I’ll tell you that it does matter to a bride, if you don’t have an address on your website, she isn’t going to waste her time calling you to find out where you are (that’s right, while it doesn’t matter to you how far away you are, she doesn’t want a videographer traveling 200 miles on the morning of her wedding!!!).

Can you introduce a “bribe” to trigger an enquiry? - Don’t worry, I’m not talking about underhand cash incentives in exchange for their contact details, but what if you offered a free guide on choosing the best wedding dress or 10 tips to have the best wedding day? Do you think you would get more enquiries? NB. You should have a sequence in place to follow up with these enquiries as well, but that is for another day.

How does your site look? - This is a bit harder to fix, but it will give you an excellent insight into whether you need a website overhaul. Look at your site objectively, how does it look (honestly)? Are the pictures bright? Is the design tidy? Does it look like the site of someone who is meticulous, high quality and reliable? A lot of people find it very hard to analyse their own website, so I’d highly recommend getting someone else to do it for you - I’m always at hand if you can’t find anyone, use the free consultation form to book something in with me.

If you look at your site and it doesn’t tick all the boxes above then it is time for a serious rethink on your website, and my advice, get it fixed as soon as possible before it’s too late.

Remember, your website is no longer an important thing, it’s the only thing!

Until next time.

Edward

General Marketing, Websites