Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO, can be somewhat daunting for new wedding planners. However, it is an essential part of running a website or blog. We all want our websites to be popular and easily found by clients, and as a wedding planner, this is a necessity for growing your business.

You can certainly hire an SEO specialist for wedding planners to implement a comprehensive SEO plan for you. However, this may be a cost-prohibitive option at this point for your business. The exciting news is that with a few simple steps you can get the ball rolling yourself and learn the art of Search Engine Optimization.

This journey starts with understanding keywords. Keywords are what search engines look for to determine what your website/blog is all about. You want your keywords to be as specific as possible to the content of your site. These keywords have to be chosen carefully as they are an essential part of SEO.

These keywords form part of a search that your clients are looking for on search engines like Google. For example, as a wedding planner, you would absolutely include the keyword ‘wedding planner’ into the text of your website. These words can be inserted into blog/page titles, articles/posts, and even image captions.

Now, think of how many wedding planners there are collectively in the United States alone. ‘Wedding planner’ is what is known as a high competition keyword that everyone uses. A major mistake would be to only focus on generic, highly competitive search phrases. As your site is new to SEO, it will appear at the end of a very long list on Google, if it even shows up at all. Your position on this list is known as ‘page rank’. Your site will have a page rank for each unique keyword or search term.

While your page rank for ‘wedding planner’ may be nonexistent, you could rank well for a more specific keyword. Instead of focusing on a highly competitive keyword, a more effective keyword would be ‘Wedding Planner in Manhattan’ or ‘Day of wedding planner in San Francisco’. Adding a location is one of many ways to narrow down the competition.

There are hundreds of keywords that you could use to describe your business. Do you plan elaborate ballroom weddings? Or eco-friendly barn events? Are you a destination wedding planner? Or do you stick to the bustle of the big city? Fortunately, thanks to a free tool from Google, you can easily research these all-important keywords to see what potential clients are searching for.

The Google Keyword Tool allows you to search for keywords you think may be a good descriptor of your business. It will let you know how competitive your keyword phrase may be as well as how many monthly searches exist for that keyword. You are ideally looking for low competition keywords because they’re less difficult to rank for, and in turn, you’ll be more easily found on Google. You do not want to waste your time ranking for a very specific keyword that no bride is searching for. The sweet spot is highly searched, but not highly competitive keywords. The Google Keyword Search Tool is an invaluable free tool for SEO.

The ultimate goal of SEO is to drive more traffic to your website. It is an ongoing, ever-changing process. Once you rank well and feel the momentum from your SEO work, don’t sit back. Consistency is key to keeping that highly coveted page rank. Keep in touch with the current keyword trends and adapt your strategy accordingly. As technology changes, take the time to read the latest SEO updates and avoid these common SEO mistakes wedding planners keep making.