10 Cost-Free SEO Tips for Wedding Pros

As a wedding pro, you’re probably aware of the tricky concept of oversaturation. It seems like nowadays, everyone is a wedding photographer/DJ/event planner, etc., right? Especially during the pandemic, so many people thought, “Well, wedding professionals get paid a lot, right? I’ll go and be a wedding photographer! How hard could it be?”

While time has already weeded out some of those sweet summer children, there are still some that cut their teeth on the anxiety and stress, and enjoyed the taste. Meanwhile, you’ve been at the wedding stress buffet for ten years! 

So how on earth do you compete in this overwhelmingly saturated market? Focusing on wedding SEO tactics that will win long-term. The best thing about SEO is that a lot of tactics are free! That’s right! FREE! 

But there’s also a lot of misinformation out there, so let’s go over the top 10 actionable SEO tips that you can use for your wedding company. 

Tip #1 – Revamp Your Home Page

This might seem like a no-brainer, but if you look at your website’s homepage right now, how many times do you mention where you’re located? Generally, this is one of the most overlooked parts of a wedding professional’s website, strangely enough. Is your city and state even in the footer? 

You’ll also want to make sure that at least one locational keyword is in a header, preferably an H1 header at the top of the page. So something like, “Home of the Greatest Wedding Photographer in Atlanta, GA!” is a great starting point. 

Also read: Best SEO Keyword Research Tools [2023]

Tip #2 – Optimize your Google Business Profile 

Another thing that might seem like a, “yeah, duh…” moment, but actually isn’t. When was the last time you went and looked over your GBP? Updated the hours? Added photos? 

I’m sure you’ve searched for companies and the Local Pack pops up either on the right or in-line with the other search results. Except this does not happen automatically! You have to register with Google Business Profile and optimize your company’s info. Set a service area, mark any available services, accessibility features if you’re a wedding venue, etc. Google wants and needs to see that you actually give a damn about your company, before it will give a damn about you. 

Tip #3 – Ask for Reviews on Google

Sure, reviews on The Knot and WeddingWire are great, but for SEO, reviews on Google are more important. First, not every engaged couple will look on wedding planning/vendor sites. On top of that, engaged couples are doing more research than ever before and Google reviews go a long way. 

Plus, you can put these reviews on your site! So email all of your past clients that you’re positive didn’t dislike their service in any way and ask for a review. Some people just might never even respond—don’t take it personally. Not everyone is comfortable with writing reviews, but it doesn’t mean you sucked. 

But every review you get will go a long way! 

Also read: How To Display Google Trusted Store Reviews in Adwords

Tip #4 – Write Blogs and Link Back to Wedding Vendors

Content is where it’s at and if you don’t have an active blog, you’re going to be left in the dust. Okay, it’s not entirely that black and white, because there are other factors at work, but content is vital to building what’s called Topical Authority. 

But instead of trying to woo Google, think about how you’re wooing potential leads. When they visit your site, what kind of content are they ingesting? Are they learning from you? How do they know you actually know what you’re talking about???

Even if you post something just once a week (2-3 would be preferable, though), it shows not only Google that you’re continuously invested, but it shows potential clients that you are active as well. 

Also read: Web Design Blogs Accepting Guest Posts

Tip #5 – Post on Social Media 

Most of us aren’t actually fans of required social media posting. What do you say? What do you post? While this article isn’t about social media skills, it’s important to research ways to engage potential clients and current clients. 

Driving traffic to your website is always at the forefront of importance, and social media is a great way to do that. Write blogs and tell people to visit. Post photos people really want to see. 

Also read: 5 Ways To Use Social Media To Help Small Business

Tip #6 – Add Your Website to Google Search Console

Along with Google Business Profile, this is very important! First, you need a way to track your SEO progress and GSC doesn’t track website traffic progress until you register with it. Before you start any optimization, make sure you do this first! That way, you can track whether Action A or Action B made the difference in progress. 

And it’s pretty easy to do this! Don’t let it intimidate you. Generally, it will just let you login into your domain host and do the majority of the work for you. It’s super user-friendly. 

Also read: Page Experience Report In Google Search Console [Guide]

Tip #7 – Examine Competitors on the SERPs

Examining competitors doesn’t mean just looking at their sites and social media. It means look for them on Google. What headers are they using to get on Page 1? Look at the page that’s ranking and examine any obvious keywords.

Also read: Why Is Google SERP Position Checker Important? 

Tip #8 – Avoid Keyword Cannibalization

This is one SEO problem for wedding pros that isn’t talked about enough. Sometimes, a wedding company wants to be found for “Wedding Caterer in Miami, Florida,” and makes that keyword their website’s entire personality. 

But think of keywords as hobbies. Is anyone interesting with just one hobby? It’s easy to burn out on a hobby and then eventually regress on skill. 

Keywords are the same way. When you focus on just one keyword, it can actually cause a plateau and, eventually, you might stop ranking for it all together. Instead, each page of your site should focus on a keyword. 

Also read: 5 Brilliant Keywords Research Strategies You Should Try Out

Tip #9 – Ask for Backlinks

Ah, backlinks. Still considered the #1 SEO tool required to rank, gaining backlinks as a wedding pro is difficult as all get out in some ways. But also, event pros have content built right into their job as well, through photographers! 

If they’re good wedding photographers, they’re going to send you galleries. They might even write blogs and link back to vendors. Another recommendation for more backlinks is to either offer to submit a wedding to be published or offer to write a blog for them. It’s hard for people to turn down free done-for-them content! 

Also read: How to Get High-Quality Backlinks in 2023

Tip #10 – Post on Free Vendor Listing Sites

Last, but not least, find different vendor listing sites. Websites like The Knot or WeddingWire have free options. So do others! You can find them by either doing backlink research on competitors or just Googling different business listing websites. It’s a bit annoying, filling out info again and again, but it’s worth it in the long run. 

Conclusion

SEO for wedding pros can be more difficult, but it isn’t impossible. For a lot of it, the biggest investment is time. Granted, if that’s a tight commodity for you as well, hiring an experienced wedding SEO pro can help lighten that load and utilize expensive tools to dig even deeper. They can create strategies with more intention as well. 

So sit down and start working on this ASAP, because booking season is on the way!