Why you should blog to increase wedding venue bookings
An active online presence for your hotel wedding venue is more important than ever. With the majority of couples beginning their research online, being seen and standing out above your competitors is fundamental. You might wonder what blogging has got to do with this? Essentially it is the most effective way to get your quality content in front of your target market and increase your online ranking, grabbing bride's and groom’s attention early in their planning process.
We have looked into just some of the ways blogging can increase wedding venue bookings. If you’re not blogging for your venue already, now’s the time to start!
Increase website traffic
By frequently publishing blog content, you are creating more indexed pages on your website for Google and other search engines to check. This in turn enhances your opportunity to show up in search engines when brides and grooms search for hotel venue criteria which match what you can provide. You can also drive traffic to your website by sharing your blog posts on social channels. Also by encouraging users to interact, comment and share your content on their profile, you can reach a whole new audience of potential customers that may not have otherwise known you existed.
Establish authority
Use your blog to answer common questions and topical issues relevant to your target audience. If you can provide useful information on recurrent queries that couples tend to have, they will have more trust in you from their initial introduction to the business. Linking to other vendors or experts throughout your blogs is worthwhile in the hope that they will do the same for you in return. These referral links are highly valuable to your venue and will gain you credibility amongst your potential customers.
Developing relationships
The art of blogging allows you to form connections with those that are interacting with your website, be it new or existing customers. Leaving an opening for your viewers to like, comment or share, initiates a conversation and allows for you to get valuable feedback. This process is crucial to gaining an insight into what your customers are looking for and to make changes where necessary.
Guest blogger
Featuring a guest blogger from the industry is fun and something your readers will love! (As well as giving you a well needed rest from creating the content yourself!) A photographer for example, can give expert tips that the soon to be wed will love, while also reaching out to an even wider audience who may not have otherwise known your venue existed. As well as sharing the post on your website and social platforms, there’s a chance your guest blogger will share with their followers too!
Lasting effect
Upon the first few days after publishing a blog you may get 150 views and 25 leads and perhaps 15 more views and 3 leads the following day. Things will probably slow down after that, but don’t feel like your efforts have a short life span. In fact, according to HubSpot, over half of traffic to their blog comes from content published from previous months. Although this may not be the case all the time, don’t lose heart if you don’t see the instant results you had hoped for once you hit the post button.
TIP: Optimising old content by making tweaks to make it more current can also increase traffic and leads for your venue.
Connect people to your business
Blogging is a great way to show a more personal side to your business and those that work there. Featuring staff Q&A sessions and background stories of your venue will show your personality and the overall culture of the business, letting potential and existing customers feel a part of who you are.
If you’re looking for motivation as to why blogging can increase wedding venue bookings, the above points should be enough to push you to get started!
