With so many people focused on social media, sometimes you forget to put the time and effort into your website – the tool that does most of the work for you selling and value building for your business.  While social media is great for building presence, your website has to answer their questions, and tell them why they should choose you. With some updates and these simple tips you can optimize your website and take your business to the next level:

Map out your homepage

Every bridal website should have certain essential pages – and no, I don’t mean a gallery. The number one page on your website should be your homepage. People are going to buy based on emotion and justify with logic afterwards. Your homepage will set the tone for their entire experience so, it needs to be well thought out to map their buying journey through your website. 

Your homepage is also going to be particularly important for your Google rankings and Search Engine Optimization. These tools track how many people go to your website and immediately close it down, and they aren’t basing it on your photos but, on consumer behavior. First impressions matter, not just from a sales perspective but, from an algorithmic perspective. 

Refine your About Me Page 

With so many businesses and people on social media these days, it can be hard to scroll through Instagram and see anybody standing out. Many people are copying the same hairstyles, the same makeup, and we can no longer rely on our artistic skill, style, or interpretations of what the current trends are because there is somebody out there who can copy those. What they can’t copy is the you factor inside your business. This is your opportunity to find out what your unique selling proposition is and what makes you unique as an artist and to showcase the experience you provide for your brides. 

Update your Pricing and Services Page 

Once people are drawn into your world, and liking what they see, the next question they are going to ask themselves is, “Well, how much does it cost?” Don’t gatekeep your pricing. You should be confident in what you charge and be able to relay your value through your website. Constantly answering pricing inquiries or customized proposals is going to take a lot of time and be a huge roadblock to your booking process. You should believe you are worth what you are charging, and optimizing your website will help build that value in the client’s eyes. 

Episode 44 – Website Optimization Tips 

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Be specific on your FAQ Page

If you want to cut down on a lot of back and forth and administrative time, you need to have a place to send brides to where they can get answers to their most frequently asked questions. What questions are you constantly answering? What does your bride need to know to book with you? These questions will tell you how to organize your frequently asked questions. They should be able to skim down the page and get bullet point, after bullet point of what they need to know in what order. Once they have the information they need, then you need to be able to communicate with them.

Get them to the Contact page 

While having inquiries in your inbox makes you feel good, you don’t want to waste your time with leads that aren’t going anywhere. You want to make sure that the only people that end up in your inbox are the right ones for your business and your website can help filter those inquiries right to you. If your homepage is step one, the last piece of the puzzle is the contact page. 

Optimize your page for search engines 

You may be familiar with the term SEO or Search Engine Optimization but, what does it really mean? SEO is how you get organic traffic through Google – when someone types into the Google search bar and the results pop up. While people can pay for Google ads which are the first three listings on the search page, underneath those are the organic ones. 

When you’re optimizing for search engines, you’re optimizing for the Google bots, and you want to take into account what they are looking for: 

-Bounce rate – We talked about this for your homepage – how long are people spending on your webpage? Are they opening it and immediately closing it? This is your bounce rate, and one of the factors Google considers. 

-Links from relevant sources – This means other people are linking your website from theirs – whether it be from vendors, wedding planners, bridal blogs, or others. This helps to add authority and popularity and will give your website a boost in the listings. 

-Frequency of visits – How many people are coming to your website? Do you send everyone to your Instagram to book and bypass your website? The Google algorithm is going to take your traffic into account, so making sure you promote your website through your social media is important. 

-Optimize your alt text for images - AI can’t look at your photos. What the alt text does is communicate what the picture is of – for example “Bridal updo Wichita, Kansas.” It will index those words to your website so if someone searches for “Bridal hairstylist, Wichita, Kansas” it will include your website in the listings. 

-Use keywords – The verbiage in your alt text isn’t the only thing that’s important on your website.  You want to make sure you are incorporating the key words that your brides will be searching for throughout your website pages using your headers, titles or URLs. 

If this is all still a bit confusing to you, or you need another set of eyes on your website, I offer a Website Audit service and within 2-3 business days, I will review your website and offer feedback on how to improve it. You can see more about the service I offer here.

Remember, social media will get the people to your website but, your website is what sells to the bride, and your communication process is what facilitates the booking.  Having these systems in place is what will take your bride from interested to booked. 

What's Next?

Next Level Bridal Business 3.0 is the entire system you need to start booking Dream Brides faster, easier, and without spending hours on social media or paying for online listings.