Calling all my wedding industry pals: bookings have been WEIRD as hell this year, right??
I’ve heard very similar things from a lot of my wedding clients recently (photographers, planners, florists, etc.): social media engagement is down, AI is changing things faster than I can keep up with, what the fuck am I supposed to post on TikTok right now. . .
The marketing game continues to evolve what seems like every single second of every day, and honestly, it’s overwhelming to try and keep up with.
But one thing has NOT changed: if you want to get in front of couples who are getting married at venues you love to work at, then you need to be blogging about them.
➡️ (if you’re feeling extra nervous about AI, pause real quick & go read these 6 reasons to keep blogging even if AI takes over Google!)
When a couple is searching for the perfect wedding venue or a place to elope, it’s very likely that they’re still in the early stages of planning where they don’t have yet many vendors. They’re still in that initial phase of searching for ideas on their own, setting a budget, and maybe even narrowing down a date—meaning it is the perfect time for you to swoop in, get your name in their head, and connect with them at the very beginning of their wedding journey.
I mean, just imagine that YOU show up at the top of the search results when they look up a location they’re considering for their big day 👀 How cool would that be??
This is a time when they haven’t quite nailed down all the details, and are likely feeling overwhelmed by the massive undertaking that is planning a wedding. If you can show up on Google the moment they type in a search related to the venue they’re looking at, you IMMEDIATELY build that brand trust, familiarity, and position yourself as an authority on the subject.
If you can show up near the top of Google for the locations your ideal clients are searching for, you have *such* a better chance of grabbing their attention + demonstrating your expertise than any other photographer they were considering who, well, didn’t show up in the same way.
Not only is blogging about venues + locations you love amazing for showing couples that you have experience working at this venue, and proving that you know your shit: it also shows Google that you’re a subject matter expert.
In a time when AI overviews are becoming increasingly important in the Google Search Results, you need to show Google now more than ever that you are a trusted source who provides searchers (couples) with clear answers to their questions + solves their problems.
This demonstrates to Google that you’re someone who should be recommended (aka positioned higher in the search results, or featured in AI overviews), therefore increasing your chances of showing up on page 1 for venue/location-related keywords.
Now, shall we talk about how to actually do this?!
For the sake of simplicity and clarity, I’m going to focus specifically on wedding venues in this next section—but know that every one of these steps also applies to elopement locations that are not traditional venues (e.g. national parks)!
I recommend starting by blogging about a venue you’ve already worked at, and would LOVE to work with on a more regular basis. This will give you the upper hand compared to other wedding vendors who may show up on Google, but don’t have firsthand experience there—especially if you have photos to show for it!
Now if you want to blog about a venue that you want to work at, but haven’t yet, you absolutely can—but I do recommend adding a disclaimer somewhere in your blog post. This isn’t a requirement, but I personally value honesty and transparency with clients, and believe they should be fully informed about your experience with a venue before reaching out to you! They might prefer somebody who has worked with their specific venue before, and that’s totally fine.
If you want to go the extra mile to prove that you COULD do an amazing job even though you haven’t worked a real wedding there yet, there are a couple things you could do:
Here’s an example: “I haven’t gotten the chance to work at this venue myself just yet, but a few of my good photography friends have shared the in’s & out’s with me—so I’ve got the inside scoop on how to plan a beautiful wedding here.”
(only if that’s an accurate statement, of course!)
Since you likely won’t have any of your own photos to use, there are a few ways you can go about sourcing photos:
If you can’t find a way to get photos of the venue, you can simply use generic wedding photos without any location-identifying features (e.g. detail shots, portraits, etc.).
⭐ If you work in multiple markets and aren’t sure how to prioritize your blog content, I recommend checking out this blog post, where I go through how to target a variety of locations through blogging!
Be sure to include your target keyword—aka the venue name, plus the word “wedding” or “elopement”—in your title!
Here are 3 ways you could phrase your title to target couples who are searching for the venue you’re writing about:
Headers are SUPER important not only for SEO, but for helping your readers easily navigate your blog post. You’ll want to use H2 tags for your main topics, H3 for subtopics, and so on.
Learn more about the importance of header tags in my Free SEO Guide!
Here are a few sections I’d recommend including, if they make sense with your chosen venue:
Time to sit down and write! Be sure to include your personal reccs + expert tips—because anybody can compile basic info about a venue, but what firsthand experience & recommendations can YOU provide as an expert?
This might include details such as. . .
If you find yourself running into good ol’ writer’s block the moment you sit down to write, I’ve got just the thing for you: a comprehensive Venue Feature blog post template where I walk you through exactly what to write.
Inside the template, you’ll find:
⭐ Recommended topics + sections to include
⭐ Header suggestions
⭐ Extensive prompts + ideas to guide your writing
⭐ Full sample blog post outline to take inspiration from
This template is truly the key to fast-tracking your venue feature blog posts, and taking out 90% of the hard brainstorming effort to make sure you never have to stare at a blank Google Doc again. Grab it now for just $47!
At the end of your blog post, don’t leave your readers hanging: take a moment to introduce yourself, your brand, and touch on your firsthand experience at this venue.
Make sure you also link to any blog posts you might have featuring work at this venue, and include a link to your contact page to encourage an inquiry! You want couples to stay on your website as LONG as possible to boost your SEO, build brand trust, and encourage action—so the more guidance you can give them for an easy, clear journey through your website, the better.
Finally, be sure to post a link to the blog post on your social media accounts—and tag the venue in stories/posts, if you can! They might re-share it to their audience, which could encourage their followers & couples to go take a look 🙂
Don’t forget to check back in your Google Search Console 1-2 months after publishing to see how your post is performing!
Rinse & repeat this process with any other venues you love, and eventually, you’ll have a KILLER library of venue reccs for your couples to browse through. You can absolutely follow the same structure for every one, especially if you’re following along with my Venue Feature Template that’s already optimized for SEO!
Plus, you’ll increase your chances of showing up on page 1 of Google for searches about that venue, and getting in front of potential clients early on in their planning process 🙌🏼 Win-win!
Now go get to blogging about all the places you love & show couples who the expert is!! 🫡