Why creating good website copy will help you market your wedding venue and stand out in a saturated market.
Think back to the moment you opened your wedding and event venue. The years prior to opening you imagined a place where people could gather and celebrate. Business plans were created. Loans secured. You restored that old mansion, built on that pristine plot of land, bought that tired building…and dreamed.
You know the magic of your wedding venue and all that went in to create it. The backstory and all the characters.
But are you communicating that magic in your venue website?
As much as you pride yourself on your customer service and great relationships with your wedding couples in person, searching couples start at your website.
Every wedding venue wants to stand out from the crowd in what is a very saturated wedding venue market. We’re going to break down five tips to create dynamic website copy that tells your story and sells your brand.
Avoid the Fluff
Is your wedding venue a “premiere wedding destination”? Does it have “picturesque views”? Are you there to make “wedding dreams come true”?
Fantastic. So is the wedding venue up the street from you.
You see, when writing content for websites or profile listings, people who aren’t professional writers often resort to buzz words that readily come to mind. And this means your wedding website reads like every single one of your competitors.
Take a step back from your current website and start freewriting. Make a list of what truly makes your wedding venue different. Special details. Unique amenities. Distinctive features.
Next, make a list of your top five competitors. Spend time on their websites learning how they do, or do not, set themselves apart.
Now you have some information on how to position your wedding venue brand to differentiate yourself.
Start with your Home page. Play around with your word choices to nail the tone and style of your wedding venue brand. You can refer back to the Home page while you rewrite the rest of your website to ensure consistency.
Include an Our Story Page
Remember that backstory we talked about? Here’s your chance to make it shine.
People connect with stories. They love to hear about the square-dancing aficionado grandmother the venue was named after. Or the unique history of a church-turned wedding venue. They’ll be amused to hear how two lawyers quit their practice to open a winery and event venue.
Don’t miss the opportunity to share that story with an Our Story page. Avoid telling your history on the About Us page (more on that in a minute), rather create a page dedicated to your tale.
Whatever aspect you choose to focus on, keep the story short and engaging. And keep it on brand. If your wedding venue vibe is folksy and charming, your story and language that you use to tell it needs to be in line. Wedding venues in the luxury market need to sound refined. Be precise in your word choice and specific in your brand.
Still, a good backstory on your wedding venue won’t be enough to secure that booking. Why? Because the story couples really care about is their own. You still need to help that couple visualize by painting that story on your website and during the site visit.
Sell your About Us Page
The “About Us” page is one of the most under-utilized pages on wedding venue websites.
Wedding venue operators and owners often mistake the purpose of their About Us page. They use that page to talk about their backstory as we described above. However, your About Us page should tell your couple’s potential story by actively selling your venue with your brand storyline.
You’ll want your About Us page to talk about the solutions your wedding venue provides, and what makes your venue unique. Consider making a list of what problems your venue solves, and tailor your message to bringing solutions to those problems.
For example, let’s say you’re a wedding venue that also has onsite accommodations and onsite activities.
You may want to include a section such as:
At La Belle Wedding Venue we can create a wedding weekend with all your details and needs in one location. We’ll work with you to coordinate guest rooms for your wedding party, each tailored to their needs. Our staff can easily review a list of onsite and nearby activities such as horseback riding or utilizing our 7,000 square foot spa for relaxation. We’ll take care of the details and provide each of your guests with a printed itinerary and transportation options, shortening your To-Do and leaving you time to relax.
See what we did there? Yes, we got a chance to mention our onsite accommodations. But we also took the time to upsell additional services, all under the guise of saving our couples precious time. Let’s break down the problem/solution scenario here:
The couple’s problem: We want to host a fun and enjoyable wedding weekend, but we are worried about the extra stress in coordinating the details.
Your solution: We’ll house your guests onsite, book additional activities, all while handling the details and communication so you don’t have to.
You’ve solved their problem in a few lines of upselling in your copywriting.
Ongoing Compelling Content
Creating ongoing, compelling content on your website is the number one way to stand out in a saturated wedding venue market.
That’s right, we’re talking about your blog.
Consistent, well-written blog content engages couples beyond your standard website pages. Creative content means they’ll spend more time on your website, and more time learning about you.
You’ll be able to showcase your industry expertise and knowledge by creating advice and how-to articles. You can share real wedding stories that subtly display how well you take care of each couple.
A well-written blog also means fantastic material for your social media accounts. Interesting content drives followers, engagement, and ultimately website traffic.
Not to mention the additional organic website traffic you’ll receive from research-driven keyword placement within your blogs to boost your SEO. And speaking of…
What About SEO?
This article isn’t about SEO specifically, though we certainly have plenty of SEO advice for you to read about.
Still, we can’t talk about websites without talking a little about SEO.
Nearly every venue owner we work with is looking for advice on optimizing their website for SEO. True, there are many SEO tips from utilizing alt-text and meta descriptions, to creating an effective backlink strategy.
However, your website copy and content play the most important role in SEO optimization.
Google awards websites that consistently post long-form content, especially with the newest update.
Keywords, such as “lakeside wedding venue in Michigan,” boosts that content even more by helping couples searching for the right wedding venue find you.
With a consistent blog, you’ll be able to utilize important keywords in an authentic way that search engines, specifically Google, will love.
If you do need help creating website content that sells or with SEO optimization, you can schedule a free consultation with our team of wedding venue experts here!