What does your website say about you and your business? Is it working for you by bringing prospective clients and guiding them to your phone number for a consult? Or is it just taking up internet real estate and collecting virtual dust bunnies while other wedding pros grab up your clients?
Your website should be so much more than a static business card and deserves a facelift – or at least a copy update – annually. Your visitors will make a decision in about two seconds whether to stay on your site or to click away so make the most of this time by creating eye-grabbing graphics and telling your future clients exactly what you do and who you are.
Ugh. That’s a lot to do in a very short amount of time, right? Don’t worry. Your girl’s got you. Let’s get started:
1. Outsource professional graphics.
Your website header, headshot, and brand colors are the first things that will catch people’s attention so make sure they are professionally done. Hire a photographer for professional headshots and brand images (time to show the wonderful work of your amazing connections). Hire a graphic designer who can design a stunning logo and help you choose colors that match your brand experience. Always use high-resolution graphics on your website and professional printed pieces to avoid blurry or pixelated images, which do not scream “professional” to your prospective clients. How can you promise them the best, when you’re not even doing it yourself? Additionally, go through your galleries and update them with some of your favorite images from this past season.
2. Edit your About page.
You have permission to write in a conversational tone on your About page– your clients want to connect with you, not with a stale persona you think sells. Let your personality and humor shine through as you relate the details of how you got started in your business and who you consider your ideal client. Some About pages are comprised of two paragraphs while others seem to go on forever. If you opt for a longer page, there’d better be a good reason for the length. Make sure that you add some humor and strong storytelling techniques so that it’s not a complete snoozefest. You want to keep your audience scrolling til the end.
3. Avoid using too much jargon.
Yes, there IS such a thing as using too many words to say absolutely nothing. Often this happens when you’re trying to use too many buzzwords or industry jargon. Get to the point quickly by explaining in as few words as possible what you do and who you serve. Of course, you can get into more detail when you describe your services or when you start to correspond with prospective couples, but on your website you want to get those points across quickly.
4. Is your website design or theme easy to navigate?
Ultimately you want prospects to schedule a call or initial consult, so look at your website design and determine if those two options are placed prominently. Make it as easy as possible for possible clients to reach you. If they have to click too many times or their clicks lead them to some random place that they didn’t want, they will click away and become someone else’s client. Consider using a pop-up that appears before people leave your site and also hire a professional designer who can make these changes much faster than you can.
5. Is your site safe from hackers?
Hackers definitely have too much time on their hands and no business is too small to avoid a hacker’s wrath. Check your website backend to be sure your WordPress is up to date as well as your plugins. Now delegate this task to your VA to do on a monthly basis to avoid serious problems. Consider upgrading your security plugin to a paid version for even more protection. These upgrades may not be a visible part of your website facelift but they sure will help improve the foundation of your site.
These are all easy things that you can do to make sure your website is So Fresh and So Clean for 2020 and all the amazing holiday engagements that are coming your way!
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