Blogging is a great way to earn a little disposable income, whether it’s something you do on the side or it’s your full-time profession. If you have a passion for event planning, elegant nuptials, flowers, gowns, and other wedding details, it follows that weddings would be the focus of your blog. Your top priority should be to advance your wedding blog.
As a wedding blogger, you’ve already defined your niche with a specific audience in mind. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be an instant success. Every wedding blogger must have a few tips and tricks up their sleeve.
Here are some expert tips to advance your wedding blog.
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Find a way to differentiate yourself.
The most profound way to attract more readers is through your unique point of view. Every blog post you write or question you answer should be done in a certain tone or style that defines your blog.
Try to take a different angle on weddings. “You don’t need to reinvent the wheel when writing,” advises Bri Swatek, a DJ and blogger that specializes in weddings. “Just express your own unique knowledge, experience, and point of view, so that your readers (your customers!) can get a sense of who you are and what expertise you will bring to their wedding day.”
A great example of a blog that differentiates itself from the competitors is Our Organic Wedding. It’s all about how to plan a wedding that’s eco-friendly and organic. They’ve clearly defined their target market, and their content attracts a very specific target audience.
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Follow other wedding bloggers.
You can’t write your content in a bubble without recognizing other published content on the same subject. By subscribing to other wedding blogs, you’ll get a sense of what’s popular, what’s been overdone, and what’s missing. You can learn a lot about your place in the wedding blogosphere from those who have gone before.
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Use SEO and marketing tactics to get your name on top.
A few blogs have made it big with very little marketing, but the majority need certain search engine optimization and digital marketing tactics to gain popularity. Bloggers rely on the basics of SEO to gain online attention and beat the competition.
“Include the keywords that the brides and grooms in your local market are searching to find your type of service in your page titles, blog posts and website copy,” recommends Stephanie Padovani of Book More Brides. “Avoid the dangers of over-optimizing your website and don’t cram in as many keyword phrases as possible; make sure all the words you use are relevant and natural for real visitors.”
Good SEO takes practice. There’s a certain learning curve that you’ll develop over time, but always start with the basics.
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Invest your money wisely into your business.
All businesses require investing and re-investing. Starting a blog is one of the more affordable business platforms, but you’ll still need a little cash for your domain, website template, maintenance, advertising, and other business basics.
Marketing is a chief blogging cost. Be careful with your money, here. You might read about the hottest paid marketing tactics, but understand how they will fit with your business before you shell out the cash. Some tactics might not have any place with your blog. Do your research thoroughly and aim for guaranteed ROI before spending anything.
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Post often enough to keep readers engaged.
It’s best to create a schedule for how often you’ll post and the kinds of content you’ll share. The frequency is up to you, but it’s best to post at least once a week or you’ll risk your readers losing interest. Wedding blogging is a saturated industry, so being too “absent” with posting might encourage readers to replace your blog with another. Regularly scheduled blog posts – say every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, for example – will fulfill readers’ expectations.
If you’re having a hard time keeping up with your blog schedule, consider writing articles in advance. “One of my best tips is to queue posts,” says Dorian Smith-Garcia of the blog The Anti Bridezilla. “I have to be efficient with my time and can’t always post every day. So I pick specific days to blog and I write enough content to post for multiple days. Then I schedule them over the week so that my blog stays relevant and up to date.”
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Choose the right blogging platform.
There are several blogging platforms available, and the one you choose largely depends on your personal preference. WordPress is among the most popular for its ease of use, high support, and vast library of elegant templates that would be perfect for a wedding blog. Blogger and Typepad are also popular options for this type of blog.
If you’re doing a basic blog, it doesn’t really matter what blogging platform you choose, as long as you like it. One of the best ways to narrow your options is to browse the library of templates for each website builder. If you find a template you fall in love with, choose the accompanying platform.
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Network with others in the industry.
It’s wise to generate a few contacts in the wedding industry before blogging. Experienced bloggers could act as mentors for your business plan. You might also reach out to florists, wedding planners, photographers, and others in the wedding industry for insights and ideas.
For example, every good wedding blogger has a few wedding photographers in their network. The wedding industry is obviously very visual, and stock photos won’t cut it. Reach out to a few photographers who would be willing to sell or exchange publication of their photos on your blog for free marketing.
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Be an online social butterfly.
Social media is ideal for building your tribe of followers. Shared content on your social profiles is ideal for spreading the word about your blog and developing a strong following. You can post content regularly, ask questions, respond to comments, answer queries, and so much more, creating stronger bonds between you and your target readers.
You can also elicit a number of shares by including social media buttons and feeds on your blog. Then, connect the networks to create a strong social presence.
“Link your social media accounts and send full articles, microblogs, and/or images between them,” suggests DJ Bri Swatek. “For example, my WordPress blog feeds Facebook and my Facebook and Instagram accounts often feed my Twitter and Tumblr. Choose your main vehicle and feed other social media platforms from it.”
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Know what you’re talking about—show your experience.
If you’re not a credible author, your readers will know it, and they’ll stop reading. As a blogger in a narrow niche, you should be able to share your expertise.
“Always keep a running list of blog topics or ideas, and when you need to blow off steam, get your head out of a wedding budget, or clear your brain after a particularly difficult client call, stop and blog,” says Sandy Malone, wedding planner and blogger. “Biggest timesaver – WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT. Research is great, but experience is far more valuable to your readers. Write what you know. Not what you think you know.”
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Cater content to your target audience.
Do you know who your target audience is? As a wedding planner, defining that audience is relatively simple. You’re obviously targeting brides and occasionally grooms who are planning their upcoming nuptials.
If you’ve taken the advice of number 1 on this article, you’ll also have discovered a way to differentiate your content, which will influence your followers. Our Organic Wedding, for example, has a very specific target audience of brides and grooms who are vegan, environmentally conscious, health conscious, or otherwise interested in organic products.
As a result, their content primarily revolves around organic content. They use keyword phrases, photos, and advice to answer the needs of their organic audience. The same can be applied to any niche-specific wedding blogger.
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Make your content as useful as possible.
Some readers will tune in simply because they love all things wedding. However, the vast majority will subscribe to your blog because they have a specific problem that needs to be solved. Your content should be loaded with unique actionable tips and advice.
“Don’t write fluff,” suggests Ariane Fisher of Storymix Media. “When you write about the things you are most passionate about in your field, the writing comes easy. The WeddingMix blog [for example] focuses on offering readers invaluable tips and tricks for capturing priceless wedding moments through video. My favorite way to do this is to interview our real couples’ about their love story and feature their wedding highlights videos. In addition, the blog also offers our thought leadership about advancements in affordable wedding tech trends through our wedding-focused infographic series.”
You don’t have to follow this advice exactly, but you should work on making your content as user-friendly as possible.
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Invite guest bloggers to your site.
You don’t have to be the only voice on your blog, and inviting others to share words of wisdom in your niche can effectively add extra interest to your blog. It’s also a great way to give yourself a breather without missing out on your schedule.
Invite others to write for your blog. Many will do it for free if you allow them to put a link to their own blog in the content.
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Make your blog visual too.
Words will not be nearly enough in this highly visual field. “The single most important strategy for attracting brides is to create highly visual content,” says Marta Segal Block, blogger for the event marketplace GigMasters.
Try to avoid using too many free stock photos. If you can’t take the high quality photos yourself, solicit photos from wedding photographers who want free marketing for their business. Your blog should be visually elegant, and the right photography will provide that look.
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Select a strong domain name.
A good domain name should be easy to remember, easy to spell, and should reflect the purpose of the blog. The domain name OurOrganicWedding.com, for example, says exactly what the blog is about, it’s easy to spell, and consumers shouldn’t have a hard time remembering it. Any wedding blogger’s domain should be that simple.
You’ll also want to run it through a domain checker to screen for duplicates. When you plug it into the algorithm, it will also hint at the strength of the domain. If it’s weak or will be difficult to remember, the algorithm will let you know, and you can choose a different name.
Success in the wedding blogging business doesn’t have to be a far-off dream. With careful planning and the right ideas behind your content, you’ll be well on your way to a popular blogging presence.
