COVID-19: how should you be updating your website?

With all the chaos you have been facing over the past couple of weeks, we’re sure that updating your website has probably not been at the forefront of your mind. However, it is important to ensure that your website communicates how you are operating during the coronavirus pandemic, and reassures your future business prospects. 

To help you get started, we have shared some quick tips on effectively updating your website to support your business during COVID-19. 

1. Your home page – can you add a pop-up?

If you are able to add a pop-up to your homepage, this is a really great option. It won’t distract from your beautiful website, but it will quickly assure your visitors that you are handling the situation appropriately. 

You’ll need to decide what angle you want to take with your copy. You could create a ‘status update’ to reassure prospective couples, for example: “We are absolutely still taking bookings for late 2020 / 2021, please get in touch and we can arrange a virtual show round / video meeting”. 

On the other hand, this would be a great place to communicate with your booked couples, and simply reassure that you are following Government advice. For example: “At [VENUE NAME] we are closely monitoring the situation and are following all Government guidelines. If you have booked a wedding with us, we will get in touch if this is likely to affect you.” 

Bridebook has also built a COVID-19 status update tool that you can use on your profile – update your status HERE. 

2. Your weddings page – what are you offering?

Revise your copy on your dedicated wedding pages to assure couples that you’re still open for business. Make sure you are offering a variety of options for different couple needs at this time: 

• Couples who have booked you already: Add a line to reassure your booked couples that you will be here to support them and help to reschedule their events as smoothly as possible. 
• Couples who are having to find a new venue: Some couples may have sadly lost their venue booking. You could add some empathetic copy, showing you are here to support any couples who are looking for a new venue.
• Couples who are looking for a wedding venue: If you have late availability, you could attract some couples looking for a last minute wedding on this page. Do you have an elopement package, for example?

3. Your enquiry / contact page – set expectations and reassure.

Whilst it is still crucial to be replying to new business enquiries as efficiently as possible, there may be an understandable delay at the moment, due to dealing with postponements etc. 

We’d recommend adding a short line or two in your ‘contact us’ page, to set expectations on your reply time. Do remember to keep it as friendly and enthusiastic as possible – their wedding enquiry is still very important to you, you are just spinning lots of plates handling COVID 19 repercussions so may not reply as efficiently as usual. 

For example, use cheerful phrases such as “Huge congratulations on your engagement, we are so pleased you are considering [VENUE NAME] for your special day” and set expectations with: “Due to recent world events / repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, our team’s response time is slightly delayed. Please allow us 48 hours to get back to you”.

4. FAQs – get ahead of the COVID questions!

Whether you have a pre-existing FAQ page or haven’t yet created one, we strongly recommend creating a ‘COVID-19’ section. This will allow you to get ahead of the questions you’ll be asked frequently by couples, for example: “Are you open?”, “How can I view the venue?”, “Can I still book with you?”.

An effective FAQ section will ideally provide you and your team a little more time to handle the influx of calls and emails coming your way, and allow you to prioritise the urgent postponements.

We know this is the most difficult time in our industry any of us have had to face. If you need any support from Bridebook on website copy advice, please don’t hesitate to message us in the UK Wedding Venues Slack group and we will be happy to help. Have a read through our founder, Hamish Shephard’s advice for handling postponements.