Did you know that 25% of engagements happen over the festive season*? That’s a huge number of potential new customers who will all be starting to search for their dream wedding dress.

Christmas and New Year is a busy time for all of us but there are a few simple tweaks you can make to your website and your social media to catch those brides that head to the internet to start their wedding dress search.

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Prepping Your Social Media

The great thing about newly engaged brides is that they are so excited and eager to follow lots of wedding related social media accounts - make sure your facebook and Instagram pages are in good shape and ready for all these excited potential customers.

Facebook - Make sure all your details on your facebook page are up to date - especially your contact details and your opening times. If you have been meaning to update your photos then make this be the push that makes you do it.

Instagram - Take a look at your Instagram page and decide if you think it looks appealing to new brides. Again make sure you have up to date contact details and a link to your website.

What to Post on Social Media

Some days you might have so many ideas for social media posts and other days you will hit a complete blank - don’t worry, it’s normal! As well as sharing the dresses you stock, make sure you also post pretty pictures of your shop and all the little details, along with romantic quotes and congratulatory and celebratory messages to newly engaged couples. Also - especially on Instagram - make sure you use relevant hashtags so your posts can be found, including the below:

#weddingplanning

#wedding

#weddingdress

#weddingdresses

#bridetobe

Read more: The latest digital trends impacting the fashion industry

Prepping Your Website

With lots of newly engaged couples, there will be an increase in people googling things such as ‘bridal shops in XXX’ and looking online for wedding inspiration. Even just a few tweaks to your website can help make your shop more appealing to those looking online.

If you have a blog or news section on your website then add a welcome post - saying hello to all those newly engaged couples and explaining how they can get in touch. Those small personal touches allow you to connect with your readers and makes them more likely to get in touch.

Also step back and look at your website as a whole - if you were coming to your website for the first time can you find your location, contact details and the designers you stock easily? If you can’t then it is a good time to make some changes.

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You may also want to take a look at the main content on your website - it’s a good idea to have at least 350-500 words on each page so that search engines can understand what your website is about. It may be worth hiring a professional to write this SEO-friendly copy for you if you want to really make the most of your website. It might sound overly technical but SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) friendly simply means that your website is easy for search engines like Google and Bing to understand and increases your chances of showing up in search engine results.

If you are looking to get your website and social media ready for proposal season then you can claim your Proposal Season Survival Guide which is free to all Bridal Buyer readers - simply email me - Caroline@sorellaandco.co.uk and include Bridal Buyer in the subject line of your email.

Read more from Caroline - she explained why it makes sense to treat your website as well as your shop window.

*Proposal stats from The Wedding Network’s 21st Century Bride Survey