She’s ALWAYS going to your website first!
There are many ways for a bride to find you. Perhaps she received a referral, saw you at a bridal show, or saw your ad in a bridal magazine. Regardless of how a bride first learned about you, she is going to check out your website before she ever contacts you or goes any further in the sales process. If she doesn’t like your website, she will move on to one of your competitors and will likely never give you another chance. Today, having a good website is basic requirement for being in business and should be viewed as an investment that is every bit as important as your investment in the tools of your trade. Quite simply, without a good website you cannot have a successful business.
Does your website portray you as a Wedding Professional or a Jack-of-All-Trades?
Flowers are one of the most beautiful elements of a wedding, yet most florists have websites that are less than beautiful. Most rely on the Teleflora or FTD template website, which means that most florist websites look almost exactly the same. Usually, there are more mentions of hospitals and funerals than there are of weddings. Consider having wedding-specific pages on your website, or even a completely separate website, with your wedding offerings.
Does your business do things other than weddings? There’s nothing wrong with that as long as the bride doesn’t find out. Being a jack of all trades can hurt you when selling to brides. If you want more wedding business, consider creating separate branding, marketing materials, and a website for the wedding side of your business. It’s a small investment that will pay off big.
Most wedding websites are AWFUL!
I recently reviewed a few thousand different websites belonging to wedding professionals. Most were amateurish at best, and many were simply awful. Keep in mind that most brides are seeing great websites every day and, right or wrong, they hold your website to the same standard.
How does your wedding marketing compare?
Spend a couple hours on Google and check out the websites of your competitors and your peers in other markets. Make sure that your website is at least a little better than the others. Designing a great website can be a fairly easy process. There are several companies that sell inexpensive website templates in which you can simply plug in your photos and copy. There is simply no excuse for having a website that turns off brides and costs you business.