SEO. Most people are either fascinated by it or are confused by it. And, yes, while SEO can be an overwhelming topic, it’s not one that you want to ignore. Applying the correct SEO principles to your wedding website or blog gives you the best chance to get more visitors to your site better allowing you to meet your marketing goals. So, buckle up and keep reading for 8 steps to help you optimize your wedding blog!

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What is SEO?

First things first, what is SEO? SEO stands for “search engine optimization”. It is a series of processes and strategies that focus on getting as many visitors to your site as possible. Good SEO allows your website or page to rank higher on search engines (aka Google), making it easier for people to find you and engage with your content. 

Think about it – when you research information online, most likely you click on the first 1-3 articles that pop up. You may scroll and browse some of the links below, but do you ever scroll to page 2 or 3? My guess is not very often.

That is why SEO is so valuable. By improving your strategy and adhering to SEO best practices, you are allowing your website to rank higher on search engines allowing it to be seen by more people.

*Pro Tip – One big thing to note about SEO is that it is not a quick fix. You cannot jump to page one overnight. Rather, it takes time and consistency for your page to move up in the rankings so don’t get discouraged if you don’t see results right away. It can take anywhere from 4-12 months for you to start seeing a measurable difference in website traffic and leads, but be consistent and continue creating high-value content that follows SEO best practices, and the results will pay off and continue to grow.

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How to Optimize Your Wedding Blog

Know your audience

Before you start writing about your topic you need to understand what your audience is searching for and why. What problem are they trying to solve or what pain point do they have? Are they looking for inspiration or information? You must first understand this important piece so you know what type of content to create and what your audience is most interested in engaging with.

Start with keyword research

After you understand what your audience needs, it’s time to conduct keyword research.

What are keywords?

Keywords are one of the most important pillars of good SEO. A keyword is any word, phrase, or term users enter into a search bar (ie – easy dinner meals, pottery class near me, how to elope, etc.). Your keywords will be used throughout your blog, so you want to choose a keyword (or keywords) that are relevant to your blog topic and easy to rank for.

What makes a good keyword?

A good keyword is relevant to your blog post topic, has a high number of monthly searches, and has low competition.

How to find keywords

Keyword research is the process of finding and selecting popular search terms your audience is likely to use when looking up information about your business.

If you’re not sure where to start or what keywords to look for, a great place to start is on Google itself. Once you’ve identified the topic of your blog post, come up with a list of words or phrases that you might look up about that topic. Keywords can include locations, venues, colors, details, etc., and can also come in the form of questions.

Once you have a couple of ideas, start entering them in the search bar. As you begin typing, Google will auto-populate other search queries in the drop-down list below. These phrases are the most popular terms that other people are currently searching for and are great keywords to add to your list of ideas.

Once you’ve gathered a list of keyword ideas, you can check their strength or popularity using SEO keyword research tools. There are free tools like Google’s Keyword Planner and paid tools with more in-depth features like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Yoast SEO. All of these sites have different features, but all will tell you how many monthly searches a keyword gets as well as how hard it will be to rank for that word or phrase.

Optimize Your Photos

Did you know that text isn’t the only way to optimize your wedding blog? Search engines scan not only your written content but also your photos looking for information about the post. This is why it’s important to also make sure your images are optimized for SEO.

How to Optimize Your Wedding Blog Images

Rename Your Photos To Include Keywords

Optimizing your photos for SEO begins before the photos are even uploaded to your site. The first step is to rename your photos with your focus keyphrase. “DSC9821.jpg” is not an SEO-friendly file name, whereas “seattle-wedding-florist.jpg” is. By including your keyword in your image titles, you are helping search engines gather more information on what your image is about, effectively improving your keyword ranking.

Add Alt-Text Keyword Descriptions

Alt-text is the text that is added to your image settings. It describes the image details so that the image can be read if:

• the image cannot be displayed due to an error or page load issue
• the user has turned off images or is using a screen reader (a feature often used for those with visual impairments.

Alt-text should be added to every single image on your webpage and should include your SEO keyword(s) as well as a brief (but detailed) description of what is in the image so it can be ready by both search engines and humans. The more detailed and relevant your photo information is, the more search engines will deem it important and rank it higher allowing more people to see your content.

Utilize Keyworded Captions

Utilizing captions is also very important when optimizing your photos. People tend to scan headings and captions when they read and, according to SEO expert Neil Patel, “Captions under images are read on average 300% more than the body copy itself, so not using them, or not using them correctly, means missing out on an opportunity to engage a huge number of potential readers.”

While it is important to include captions, there is such a thing as over-optimizing so only add captions where it will be valuable to the reader.

Add headings to provide structure to your post

You’ve now reached the point where it’s time to start writing your written page content. A very important aspect of this is your page headings. Headings give structure to your blog post. They allow readers to easily scan and understand what your article is about.

Long paragraphs or lines of text can be overwhelming. Readers prefer content that is scannable and if they can’t understand what your blog post is about early on, they are more likely to leave your site. This can hurt your SEO score and overall ranking, so you want to organize your post in a way that encourages readers to stay on the page as long as possible. You want to lay out your content in a way that is clear, easy to read, and guides your reader through the information in an organized way.

How to optimize your wedding blog headings

So, what should you include in your headings?

First and foremost your headings should be informative and include some of your keywords…no surprise there! 🙂 Your headings should explain what the following paragraphs are about and include your keywords.

*Pro Tip – You do not have to use your keyword(s) in EVERY heading. Just include it in a few where it makes sense.

How you structure your headings is also very important. There are several levels of headings, H1, H2, H3, H4, and so on. Each heading is considered a subheading of the previous one. Think of your headings like you would a book.

Each webpage should only have one H1 which serves as your title. Your title should be specific and explain what readers can expect to read about in your post while also including the primary keyword you wish to rank for.

Your H2s are very similar to chapters in a book. They separate the main topics while H3s are subheadings within those chapters that dive deeper into what the “chapter” topic is about.

Add both internal and external links

When it comes to linking on your website, there are two types of links – internal and external. Both are extremely important and can help your page rank higher on Google.

What Are Internal Links?

Internal links are links that send the reader to another page of your website. They can link to your main pages (such as your pricing or contact page) or specific blog posts with related information.

For instance, if you are writing a blog post about a wedding or elopement at a particular venue/location, consider linking to another blog post you have from the same location. This is a great way to encourage readers to click around your site which helps boost your SEO.

According to Yoast SEO “Internal links also connect your content and give Google an idea of the structure of your website. They can establish a hierarchy on your site, allowing you to give the most important pages and posts more link value than other, less valuable, pages. So using the right internal linking strategy can boost your SEO!”

What Are External Links?

External links are hyperlinks that link to any other webpage outside of your website or domain. The link to Yoast SEO in the paragraph above is considered an external link.

External links are one of the most valuable forms of ranking because they are essentially “votes” that the content is worth reading. It may seem counterintuitive to include links on your website that lead your audience away from your site, but by linking to quality, trustworthy material, Google will start to see you as an authority on the topic. It will also help search engines know how to categorize your content for SEO purposes. Win-win!

Create a unique meta-description

Going back to our book analogy, your webpage meta description is a summary of what your book (aka blog post or web page) is about.

Meta descriptions are typically around 155 words and are created in your blog post settings. The meta description should contain your primary keyword or phrase and tell people what your post is about. This description will appear in search results below your page title and is a great opportunity to inform as well as encourage them to click on the link with a CTA (call-to-action.)

Rename URL slugs

Your slug is the part of your URL that comes after the last backslash. URL slugs are auto-populated whenever you create a new blog or webpage, but they should always be updated to something custom before publishing your blog or webpage.

For instance, this blog post’s URL slug is “seo-tips-for-wedding-websites” but originally the auto-populated slug was “2rw73v0mxoc7uikvhpmhu19erv3nuk”. The first slug is much easier to read than the second one and matches the content within this blog post. The second slug is not readable and won’t help Google or other search engines know how to find this page. Updating your URL slug is a simple step that will help you optimize your wedding blog.

Create valuable content

All of the above steps won’t mean anything if your website isn’t providing valuable content to your readers. Anytime you write a blog post or create new marketing content, you want to provide value.

But creating value doesn’t just mean educating your audience. You can provide value by sharing a story, relating to where they are in the process, inspiring them by showing some of your beautiful work, and more!

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SEO is a long game and you won’t see results overnight. By following these tips to optimize your wedding blog, your posts will begin to rank and be seen by more of your ideal customers.

If these SEO tips sound like they will require more time than you can give, I offer blogging services that include all the steps above for you (and more!). Don’t push off starting or maintaining your blog, reach out so we can create a plan for you.

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Check out some of our other SEO marketing resources