From a web designer

These are the three most common mistakes I see venue owners making on their websites.

I’ll get straight to the point because I know you’re busy

1. Inconsistent and confusing photography
2. Contact form or phone number as the only booking method aka no instant tour booking or call now buttons
3. Unclear pricing and packages

Are you having one of those whoops that might be me moments?

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The good news is these are mostly easy fixes and even better news when you do fix them you will be pleasantly surprised at how many more bookings are going to be coming through your website! *Cha-Ching!*

Inconsistent And Confusing Photography

I have yet to find a wedding venue with truly bad photography on their website or marketing materials probably because of all the professional photographers that seem to be lurking around venues on the weekend but just because the image is high quality doesn’t mean it’s doing anything to help you book more events.

“But Shelby, the pictures I have of my venue are really nice!” 

Yes, I bet they are but a good quality image is just one part of getting the right images for your venue’s website. It’s natural for you to take advantage of all the beautiful wedding photos that are shared with you from the events happening at your space, but when you get have images from 12 different weddings shot by 12 different photographers you are going to get 12 very different looking images of your venue. 

Eventually, this conglomeration of different photographers and decor comes off as confusing and unprofessional. 

Let me show you an example of how having consistent images can totally change the feel of your venue on your website.

This venue has nailed consistency in its images and has an elevated, luxurious, and intimate look and feel. They are also doing an excellent job of creating some variety in their offers! 

Here is an example of the photography I commonly see on a venue website. Notice how these images are all from different events and have drastically different moods? We are going to ignore that rose background for now… 

So you’re saying I can’t show images that come from weddings hosted at my venue?

Definitely not! Showing potential brides how others have used your space and what an amazing event they had is an amazing tool for showing how your space can suit many different events and styles

But

These images should have their own gallery preferably in a testimonial or reviews page where customers will expect to see a wide range of styles and events.

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Some Quick Tips On Your Venues Photography

• Hire or collaborate with vendors and photographers in your area to get a styled photoshoot done (make sure you get permission to use these images in your marketing)
• Photos of happy brides and couples are great but don’t forget people want to see what your VENUE looks like, make sure you get beautiful shots of your venue’s best features
• The devil is in the details. Wide shots of the whole room are essential but detailed shots help create mood and let people really picture themselves there.
• Use images from the same photoshoot or event on each page and make sure that are edited to fit your own brand. (aka don’t use bright cool toned images if your brand is warm and moody)
• Make sure your images are not loading down your website (2650px wide for full width images, 1500px wide max for everything else and under 500kb where possible)
• PS If I catch you using stock photography on your website I’m reporting you to the Venue Owner police!

Clunky Contact Forms (No Book A Tour Button Or Call Now Button)

NEWS FASH!

It’s not 2010 anymore and you are making both you and your client’s life harder by not having an automated booking process. 

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There are so many great options for allowing clients to automatically book a tour without having them go back and forth with you over email and without you taking work calls in the middle of dinner to stay afloat.

How many times have you had to drop whatever you were doing to answer a call?

You HAVE to take that call because that one call could pay your overhead for the month. But what if customers could just book a tour with you automatically without you having to do anything?

I can promise you that your customer probably doesn’t want to wait patiently by the phone for a call to see your venue or spend 2 days over email working out a time that works for both of you.

The easier you make it for someone to take a particular action, the more often they will take it.

The easier it is to book a tour, the more tours you will book! Sound too simple to be true?

I dare you to make the change and see what happens.

Some software I recommend for automatic bookings:

• Honeybook (25% off your first year with this link)
• Calandly
• Acuity Scheduling (integrates with Squarespace)
• Google Calendar 

All of these options will allow you to set your availability and have options to automate your communication with the client. 

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Unclear Pricing and Packages

I have a question for you. How many times a month do you get asked about pricing and what’s included in your packages? 293957? I thought so.

Here’s another one for you. How many times do couples cite “budget” as a reason for not booking? I’m betting it’s one of the top reasons people are turning down your venue. 

One easy change could save you and your couples countless hours of back and forth and all that wasted time spent on giving tours to couples that don’t book. 

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Proudly and plainly display your pricing. So many businesses (not just venues) fall into this trap of “if I display my prices, my clients will get sticker shock and go somewhere cheaper” and I’m going to bust this outdated tactic for you and encourage you to think about it differently.

Assuming you are not a master salesman then the strategy of touring first and giving the quote later is a dead end game. Back in the olden days of yesteryear, it was a solid strategy to get people into a sales call, or sales pitch before telling them the price following the logic of “I’ll sell them on the space, thing, car, fax machine, and then once I’ve convinced them that this is the place, thing, etc that they need I’ll tell them the price and they can’t say no” 

The problem with this strategy is that not everyone can actually afford what you’re selling and after decades of being stuck in sales situations like this, your average consumer is prepared to say “No thanks I can’t afford that” more than ever before.

What’s more, not having your pricing displayed is a red flag to anyone browsing the market that your venue is expensive. So expensive that you don’t want to tell people how much it is. 

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Rather than get stuck in one of those high pressure sales situations I described a second ago, or risk being embarrassed by admitting that they can’t afford your venue, they will just look somewhere else.

Now, if you’re scared of underquoting an event or your pricing is variable depending on things like the number of guests, rooms used, etc, you still need to give a range of pricing. 

For example:

Premium package starts at $2500 with an additional charge of $100 for every 20 guests over 200

Premium package ranges from $2500-4000 with add on services available

Packages start at $4000

Side Note: You should also be transparent about any booking deposits and cancelation policies.

Now you have three solid ways to improve your venues website *yay!!* I’m hoping that at least one of these was helpful for you to learn about. If you implement these strategies in your venues website I’d love to hear about any impact it made on your booking rates. 

Email me anytime with questions at tamedjackalope@gmail.com or book a free website audit here if you’d like some more personalized suggestions on how to upgrade your venue’s website. 

If you are interested in booking more brides through your website you may like this article about The Easiest Way To Get Found On Google.

Wishing you many new bookings! 

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