Being a wedding blogger can be a competitive business. After all, everyone’s after finding the best venues and vendors as much as they are giving key insights into the industry. And if your wedding blog has been struggling to gain traction, maybe it’s time to consider a few changes to your approach. That’s why I’ve provided a few helpful tips to consider when looking to vary up your strategy. Check them out below:

Cover More Personal Stories

Although it’s not going to make for the flashiest headlines, covering the real people who are getting married can be an excellent route to gaining more traffic. Not only does this give you a sense of community by showcasing those who genuinely love your product, but you’re additionally providing an element of social proof via the customer’s perception. Which, as noted by Optinmonster, with people willing to trust reviews 12 times more than they do product descriptions, this is a surefire addition you should make to your wedding blog.

Start looking through your current materials and see if there’s anyone you can follow up with that possibly might make for a good interview. Additionally, these couples don’t have to be the flashiest out of the bunch, in fact, the more real, the better. An excellent example of this strategy is the wedding dress company Azazie, which showcases actual people getting married in their dresses. All-in-all, see what type of stories you can dig up from your current or previous customers, as this is one marketing tactic you’ll gain a larger audience from in no time.

See What Type of Budget You Can Afford

 Although the majority of marketing for your blog will be free, setting aside a little bit of cash or credit to experiment with just might be the investment you need. While I know it sounds like a long-term commitment, if you’ve been planning on either bringing further partners along with you or launching a new media channel, then doing some promotion can be an excellent investment. The name of the game here is ROI, which while it’s going to take a little bit to get used to, can showcase some amazing returns.

A great example of marketing ROI is something like SEO. According to Search Engine Journal, approximately 93 percent of online experiences begin with a search; which while that might be true, paid advertising at the top portion of search gets ignored 70-80 percent of the time. So, what would be the wiser investment: paid advertising, or dedicating more time to developing SEO? While the latter is going to take more time, that investment is going to be worth it in regards to the type of traction you could see. Think about things in terms of this cost/benefit model, and try to account for everything involved to truly maximize your efforts.

Study Case Studies

 If you find yourself stuck or running slow on some marketing tasks, then it might not be a bad idea to start conducting some research as to how you can improve. As there have been thousands (if not millions) of campaigns before yours, I’m certain there are examples you can pull from to improve upon your next efforts. For example, as noted by MarketWired, 82 percent of brides-to-be are communicating with brands on social media, it’s important to study how that relationship works, as well as how you can capitalize.

Let’s say for example that you recently wrapped up a promotional video for a city’s tourism board that’s trying to attract more weddings. As video isn’t your specialty to promote, it might be wise to consult with a brand whose company is entirely dedicated towards video. For example, looking at how the independent movie People You May Know and how they promoted their trailer on social media. Overall, use this chance of studying to truly maximize your efforts, taking from what others have done in expanding on your own.

Don’t Forget About Mobile

 Finally, while it sounds like a simple point, making sure that your blog is optimized for mobile is absolutely crucial to the amount of traffic you get. According to BGR, 51.3 percent of internet usage comes from mobile,  which if your website isn’t responsive, then you’re potentially missing out on quite a bit of traffic. Check out your website on mobile, including if any glaring errors could be improved upon. Study the flow of it, as well as what the experience is like to read a few articles (especially with your visuals, which the wedding industry is huge on). While this might not be perfect, with gradual improvements over time, you can have your mobile experience be top-notch.

What are strategies you’ve implemented to increase the traffic on your wedding blog? Comment with your insights below.