Do you have a website? It sounds crazy I know. You’re thinking…why would she even ask this question? Of course we have a website. Don’t be fooled, many industry vendors may have a sad shadow of a website or nothing at all. I have received countless emails from wedding business owners who have a blog and no website. They have an email address that isn’t tied to a legitimate business name. Instead I see “company name {at} hotmail.com” gmail.com, comcast.com or even aol.com. Most of your customers are on the web and navigate websites daily. In order to have full faith in a vendor for an upcoming wedding, brides want to feel comfortable that these businesses are reliable and aren’t going to disappear anytime soon. How do you give your customer this peace of mind with no website, a blog with barely any posts, and no real email address? There is nothing more frustrating as a consumer than searching for information on the internet and not finding anything or being utterly disappointed just to be turned off by what I do find. PLUS how do you expect media to be impressed with you as “the” expert in your field, which many of you claim to be, when you have a website that is less then impressive? You may be getting all the blog coverage and link backs you could hope for from other online media sources, but if all people can find on you is a rinky dink blog or website under construction with a splash page that does more damage then even having a website at all, you will be sorry!
To all of you vendors who have the brand and logo thing down and are working on enhancing your website keep in mind: It is the only version of you most people will meet before considering contacting or booking you, therefore you must make sure it clearly communicates what you do, why you are qualified, and the manner in which you do business. Only put up the best images of your work. I can’t tell you how many wedding planners, photographers, floral designers, confectionists etc.. who do amazing work tend to showcase the less appealing details and images in their portfolios. Your brides have limited time to spend on your website before she hops on to the next medium of online inspiration. How will you keep her hooked? Don’t forget to add press, success stories if they apply, and what makes you special or an expert at what you do. Your contact information is also key, unless you want people falling in love with you, wanting to book you and losing interest after a wild goose chase looking for your email address or phone number. So if you have a website-fabulous! Does it make the kind of impression that leads to sales? To those of you are are currently without..how do you intend to capture market share in an industry with many competitors who stand out and do it right?
Below are a sampling of websites I really like! Click on the image to see more.
xo, Leila, WeddingPR
Everything you write is SO on target! I loved checking out all the sites!
Such good read! And I am one of those businesses that lack a website and a legit email addy. I know, I’m horrible! I’m ready for improvement though! Thanks, Leila!
Great post! Recently I had two client bookings, who pointed out that they were glad to see I had a website, and how disappointed they were with other planners who did not. Seemed like such a small thing but was probably the biggest reason I was able to book a consultation, hence booking the client. I have plans to improve, but I have a good start, and with my sub-par skills (html and graphic), I did the website in two full, long days… such a small time of investment for your potential clients (most of whom are very web savvy….)
This was very good information. One of the reasons why my website is still in the starter page stage is because there is a look I want and I want it to reflected as I envision it. I’m thinking that I will probably need to close myself in a room until I have the design and content done. Again, thank you for the information.
Thanks for the great tips. We recently just put our site up and it is so funny because there are already tweaks we want to make. You are so right about websites! Your site is a total extension and reflection of your brand and creates a certain level of credibility in the consumers mind! All the site examples you gave are amazing and inspiring in there own way!
wow leila, thanks for the mention! we feel that our branding is so important to us especially in terms of attracting our target marketing. thank you!
Wow, I’m quickly becoming a big fan. I had pieced together a site for the past 3 years and only in the past 2 months did we launch our professionally-designed site (and we’re still working out the bugs/final edits). I was so embarrassed by what we had up before (which people told me was good, but I knew better!) and am so happy with what we have now. I finally feel like our site is a reflection of us–but of course, that cost us money! I just emailed you last night for consultation pricing and hope that I’m able to work personally with you to have your help in taking us to the next level. I’m so glad I came across your site on Twitter (love Twitter!).
love your blog and site! So many helpful tips! Thank you x 100!
I love reading your posts! Thank you for sharing your insight with us.
You are sooo right….*sigh* …I’ve got some tweaking to do! 🙂
I totally agree with you… thanks for sharing this, Leila! 🙂
Super post it is definitely. My boss has been awaiting for this update