Let Your Updated Website Work For You

[00:00:01]
 Thank you for tuning in to WedPro Business Solutions. I'm your host, Kristina Stubblefield. I have done websites all the way back to the AOL community. So to say, I've lived through many additional digital ages. That's a true statement if you haven't already heard me say that before in websites.
 
 [00:00:23]
 I feel like this is a topic that we really need to discuss more because with social media and all of the different platforms and opportunities that are out there to market your business, I think sometimes people forget about their website and they may not intentionally do it. But time passes quickly and your services, your pictures, your videos are out of date. Now, before we get too far into this episode, one thing that I would like to have a discussion about briefly, our website is still important. Well, I have a pretty strong stance on this and I have said for a long time that your website is the foundation of your business. I stand behind that statement and here's why.
 
 [00:01:20]
 Where we're at with how engaged couples and really anyone out there is doing research before they're making buying decisions. They're going out on the Internet, they're using Google, they're using social media platforms, and they are doing their research before they pick up the phone and call someone, before they schedule a meeting or an appointment. They've done a lot of research without you even knowing. So let's just say somebody find you because of Instagram reels or photos you put up on Instagram and they go to your link and bio. Where does that take them?
 
 [00:02:04]
 For a lot of people, you're probably going to say, well, my website and I think that's my point. No matter where engaged couples are finding you, the likelihood that they end up on your website is pretty good. And if it's not the engaged couple, is it the parent or grandparent that possibly is helping with the wedding or part of the wedding party? And I'm even going to take this a step further. Are you utilizing your website to schedule appointments or for people to check out different services you offer to pick from?
 
 [00:02:45]
 If you really think about it, are there times that you're directing people to your website with maybe not even fully realizing it? And that brings me back to my point is I stand behind your website is the foundation for your business. And I've had people over the years, I've done it for a long time. We used to do several page websites. A page for this, a page for that.
 
 [00:03:15]
 The next thing you know, you're 50 pages in on a website. And this topic today is not to dive in how many pages you should have on your website and what it should look like, and all this, that and the other that is a couple of episodes rolled in right there. But what I want to talk about is the importance of making sure your website what you do have out there, whether it's a landing page, a lead page, a several page website, whatever your website is, is making sure it's up to date. This is a small item that could end up making a huge difference. So let's go through a couple of things.
 
 [00:04:00]
 Number one, I do feel like it is something that at least a few times a year I'm not saying that is the best for somebody that was coming to me and say, christina, what do you recommend with my website? How often should I update it? My answer is going to be more often than a few times a year. But I'm wanting to speak to everyone out there. When you're listening to this or watching this, you may not be able to update it every week or every month.
 
 [00:04:32]
 So just take what I share with you and implement it how you can in your business. In a perfect world, I would say at least once a month. Update your website, pictures, video, that kind of information. Now, you should audit your own website probably a couple of times a year to make sure that the links that you have there work. You would not believe how many times I go to websites, not even in the wedding industry websites as a whole.
 
 [00:05:06]
 And there are broken links on their main links. So when you make changes to your website and things with your pages, sometimes you can forget the buttons or the calls to action and where they link to. So just making sure what you have on your website works. If you have a video that's not playing, take it off your website. Don't leave it on there because you don't want broken links.
 
 [00:05:35]
 You don't want videos that don't play, just remove it.
 
 [00:05:41]
 It looks better in the grand scheme of things that everything works. It's in functional order. This isn't rocket science I'm talking about here. Think about it from a common sense standpoint. You have something out there, you want it to work.
 
 [00:05:55]
 It's that simple. The other thing is, obviously I mentioned updating your pictures and your video. That is something as wedding professionals, I've said it many times, I feel like wedding professionals have the most content available at their fingertips. It's up to you whether you capture it and utilize it. So pictures and video, I think, is something that should be updated and time does slip away.
 
 [00:06:21]
 A month goes by, the next thing, three months have went by. I totally get it. I'm in the same boat with you. But as we talk about solutions, I need to make sure that I mentioned these are some things that probably need to get put in your calendar that you get a reminder about ever so often. Maybe it's quarterly to start with.
 
 [00:06:47]
 I'm not asking you to just constantly add to your plate, because what I focus on is saving you time and money. What I don't want to have happen? Is there's people going to your website and they're clicking off because your links don't work? You haven't made updates in a couple of years. Are you still in business?
 
 [00:07:06]
 Your copyright at the bottom is three years ago. That is one of the smallest things to update on a website and I see it time and time again. Three years ago is the copyright date. And these are things that you may not look at, you may not be thinking about, but you have to put yourself in your client or potential clients shoes when they're evaluating your business or you as a whole. So making sure your stuff works updating your pictures and your videos.
 
 [00:07:37]
 I mentioned calls to action while ago. This is something that people do not use. A lot of you get traffic on your website. What the hell do you want them to do? Are you directing them to the next step so many times?
 
 [00:07:53]
 Well, I guess they'll reach out if they want to talk to me or they're interested in my services. Lead them down the path. What step do you want them to take if they're on your website? Calls to Action people do not utilize them enough. So that's why I'm so adamant about this.
 
 [00:08:13]
 This is one small change you can potentially make on your website and get noticeable results in a quick period of time. If you're thinking about your client journey as a whole, they're doing research and stuff and they land on your website. Do you want them to call you? Do you want them to send you a message? Do you want them to book an appointment online?
 
 [00:08:34]
 If you're a venue, do you want them to book a tour? Do a call to action, a button that calls attention to itself as they're scrolling down your home page. Oh, I'm interested. This is what they want me to do. Common sense.
 
 [00:08:50]
 Let's not assume they're going to automatically know what to do. Or if it's not right in front of their face, I'll jot them down or I'll save this website and maybe come back to it. Get them moved to the next step. So calls to action are really important. When I talk about websites, let me say this.
 
 [00:09:12]
 I'm a big fan of video for marketing. Let's not get that confused with I'm a big fan of doing video because I'm better about it than I used to be. But I've invested a lot in myself and my team as far as getting me to that point. So video the reason that I'm so passionate about video is when you talk about saving money, video converts the conversion rates compared to photos or words on the screen. It's a no brainer.
 
 [00:09:50]
 So having video content on your website is really important. If you put a video up there about you or your business, it allows a person to connect with you. They want to do business with another person and most of the time, wedding professionals, you are your business. So it allows people to get to know you, your personality. All of that just helps it really come together.
 
 [00:10:20]
 Then the other part with video, of course you can use video on different pages of your website, but just having a video on the homepage, that could be like an overview type of video. The best thing right now that's really changed for the better for small businesses is short form video. But also how authentic video has gotten less produced results with the lights and the high end cameras and the hose set and all of that. That's not necessarily connecting with people, especially in the wedding industry. So there's a time and a place for more commercial based videos.
 
 [00:11:04]
 That's what I call those, the highly produced or higher produced videos. Of course there's a time and place for that. But for right now, you can use your cell phone, your smartphone. Most of them record excellent video resolution. You just need to make sure your lighting is good.
 
 [00:11:24]
 I didn't even say great. I just said good. So you can use your phone to record that video content for your website. So just an overview, video sharing a little bit about you, your business, what you offer, doesn't even have to be salesy. Let people know what solutions do you offer, what experience do you offer for your clients or your engaged couples?
 
 [00:11:51]
 The other part about video is video testimonials. And I've recently done another episode about this and having video testimonials on your website or your social media is yeah, I can't even hardly put into words. I mean, they are gold. I think I named that episode. Video testimonials are gold.
 
 [00:12:14]
 So you can go check out that other episode. But my point is having those video testimonials embedded or linked on your website, for people that are out there doing research before they ever talk to you or meet you in person or anything like that, if they can't hear it straight from you, the second best thing is hearing from someone that's done business with you or that you've helped with their wedding or event. So video testimonials can really help with conversion rates for traffic on your website. And again, this episode wasn't about should you have a website, should you not have a website? Because as I said, my stance on that is websites, as far as I'm concerned, are part of the foundation of your business.
 
 [00:12:59]
 And we can debate on how many pages should it be? Should it just be one page, should it be five pages, how in depth should you go? Should you list out all your services? Should you include pricing or not? That's not what this episode is about.
 
 [00:13:16]
 I do have conversations with people a lot of times about this. And this is something that if you have questions about your website, this is something I work with a lot of people about specifically one on one, discussing actually going and doing an audit of their website to give them feedback, honest feedback on where their website stands. In the grand scheme of things. Of course, you can use search engine optimization, having good keywords, industry keywords as part of your website. Absolutely.
 
 [00:13:56]
 Should it be mobile friendly? That's not even a conversation anymore, of course. But what I find is people don't even go and really look at their own website on a computer, tablet and a phone. 75% to 80% of your traffic is going to be on a mobile device. And most of the time they've built their website on their own and done it on a desktop or laptop and not really even looked at it on a phone or they've had someone build it for them, but they may have just previewed it on a computer or a laptop.
 
 [00:14:31]
 So that's why I say it's important to know how your website looks to traffic, to engaged couples that are coming there. You may catch some things that you didn't realize how they looked on those devices. And if that's where the bulk of your traffic is coming from, it may look wonderful on desktop and it may look like not very good on mobile. And if seven or eight out of ten people are using mobile, that's something that needs to be addressed. The biggest takeaway I would like for you to have from this episode is keeping your website up to date.
 
 [00:15:13]
 And however that fits in your schedule and you're able to manage that monthly, quarterly, however often it fits for you. This is something that I think just briefly talking about can make somebody go, you know, I was going to do that six months ago. Times got away. I was going to a couple of months ago. There were some things I wanted to go in and change.
 
 [00:15:39]
 And this goes without saying, if you make changes to your services that you offer, your products, your pricing, any of that stuff, of course it should be updated on your website. Your website is such a powerful tool to have in your toolbox. I've said many a time before, there's no magic wand to the marketing puzzle. I wish there was. But your website is a piece of the marketing puzzle and making sure it's up to date helps you in the grand scheme of things.
 
 [00:16:12]
 You have traffic coming to your website. You want the most up to date information to help people consider you as a vendor for their special day. I hope that you find this episode helpful. Remember, at any time you can visit my website and get access to previous episodes. If you're not part of the Facebook group, I encourage you to join.
 
 [00:16:39]
 Just go to my website, Christina Stubblefield.com, and you will see a link on there. As I mentioned in this episode, if you need someone to do an audit of your website or to help you with any part of your website needs, you can always reach out. Go to my website and you can schedule a consultation. Until next time, take care.