A few months ago, I made a vow to review the website copy of 100 wedding planners websites in 100 days. I am honoring my commitment — with 98 more days to go (after today).

 

Here’s contestant #2.

Website #2

Page: Home

The good: “Let’s Make Your Dreams Come True” sounds as if the wedding planner is speaking directly to a bride or groom. She is making it sound like they are a team working together — her, the bride + groom — to make their wedding dreams come true.

The bad: The copy is ALL about the planner + really has nothing to do with the bride + groom. Almost every single sentence is “I this…” + “My that…”

It is appropriate to say “I” and “my,” but it is important to twist what you are saying to show why the client should be working with you.
The ugly: Her copy also fails to let couples know what it is that she does. She never once says that she is a wedding planner. She refers to her services, but she doesn’t come right out + say that she is a planner, so if a prospective couple lands on this page, they either have to hunt down what her “services” are on another page of her site.

 

While I blanked out the name of the business, I should add that even the business name does not solve this mystery for the shopping bride + groom, so…

Another huge failure is a call to action. She also fails to tell the couple what to do once they finish reading the copy.

 

A few months ago, I made a vow to review the website copy of 100 wedding planners websites in 100 days. I am honoring my commitment — with 96 more days to go (after today).

Here is contestant #4.

Website #4

Page: About

The good: This About Page is almost on the road to perfection. The planner does a WONDERFUL job of taking the couple on a journey — a journey of what their wedding (+wedding planning process) is going to be like if the couple chooses to work with this planner.

The bad: The spacing, capitalization, and layout need a little work. For example, she has spaces before and after punctuation that doesn’t belong there and words capitalized that shouldn’t be.

The ugly: Her call to action (The Contact Me Today above is clickable), clicks to a bad page. ARGHHHHHHH!!!!

A few months ago, I made a vow to review the website copy of 100 wedding planners websites in 100 days. I am about to make good on my commitment.

Over the next 100 days, I’m going to review 100 website pages of wedding planners from around the country (+ maybe even from around the world).

I’m going to review one page per day + share:

• The good
• The bad
• The ugly

when it comes to their web copy. From time to time, I might chime in on other aspects of the page (such as design or marketing technique), but mostly I’m going to stick to showing you good copy, bad copy + great copy, so you can use it as a MODEL (not to copy) for your own website copy.

So let’s get to it.

Here is the first contestant.

Website #1

Page: Services

The good: The copy is personable — in that it sounds as if the wedding planner is speaking directly to a bride or groom. She is using “I” + “you,” which brides + grooms eat up with a spoon.

The bad: The page is missing one major element — an engaging headline. Her headline now is Wedding Services. This is not a headline, but simply the name of the page.

A headline that really grabs the attention of a bride or groom + creates a need or desire for them to work with this planner can mean the difference in them checking out the rest of the page or just closing out of the page + moving on to the next wedding planner.

The ugly: The ugliest part of this page copy is that it is MISSING a call to action at the end. She totally leaves the brides + grooms hanging after they read this page because she doesn’t tell them what to do next. Worse, she doesn’t even link her three packages/services to a page where they can read additional info on the service they think they want.

Because she doesn’t link to a new page for each service, she also fails to create a need or desire for each package with the copy that is here. She lists out features of the package, but never really tells brides + grooms how it benefits them to hire her for this particular package.

Feature: From finding a wonderful location for your reception to setting your wedding budget and securing the perfect team of vendors for your event, I am with you every step of the planning process to help orchestrate your perfect day. 

To this, I (+ brides + grooms) say, “So what!”

Benefit: While in no way is it a comprehensive list of everything I help you do, we start with setting your wedding budget, so you know exactly how much money to allocate to each aspect of planning your wedding (+ so we can stay on the right financial track as we proceed with planning your big day.)

We can then move on to securing the perfect team of vendors for your event — the best in town that fit your budget and your style — so we can turn the vision you have in your head into your dream wedding day.

Blah, blah, blah…

I think you get the idea.

 

 

A few months ago, I made a vow to review the website copy of 100 wedding planner websites in 100 days. I am honoring my commitment — with 90 more days to go (after today).

Here is contestant #10.

Website #10

Page: Services

The good: It is great that this planner has the Services Page broken down into three packages/options. It is also great that she briefly describes who best benefits from the package and then they can click on the photos to take them to a page about the individual package. She speaks directly to the bride, which is the way to do it.

The bad: She uses the word coordinate in two of the three package options. Coordinate is more of industry term than a bride/groom term. I’d find another way to describe “coordinate” and I’d make these package descriptions a little longer — just enough to give them some highlights on the benefits of the package, so you can get them to click to the full description.

The ugly: Missing a call to action. There is not one call to action on the page. Some will assume they have to click on the photos to get more info, but some won’t (trust me on this one).

It can be as simple as saying, “If this sounds like you, find out more.” OR “Go under the veil for the details.” Doesn’t matter what your call to action is. Just have one.

A few months ago, I made a vow to review the website copy of 100 wedding planner websites in 100 days. I am honoring my commitment — with 92 more days to go (after today).

Here is contestant #8.

Website #8

Page: Services

The good: The great part about this copy is that the planner gives the brides and grooms three different package options. This is spot on (This is slightly more marketing than copywriting, but three choices is the right direction — a low-end, middle of the road, and high-end option).

It is also FABULOUS that she throws in call to action (Contact us) right after she intros the two roads clients can choose from — full planning or event design.

The bad: Brides and grooms do NOT understand the difference between a planner and an event designer. This copy does NOTHING to explain to them what the difference is and definitely doesn’t sell them on the benefits of choosing a planner or choosing a designer (or choosing both).

The ugly: Each package is just a LONG list of features. LIST. THE. BENEFITS. “Organization and management of wedding ceremony rehearsal” means nothing to them. Twist and tweak it to make it a benefit: “We run the ceremony rehearsal, so everyone knows exactly what is going to happen and when it is going to happen, so you float down the aisle instead of fumble down the aisle.”