The wedding planner SEO checklist you can implement this week

This checklist is built for wedding planners who are ready to implement SEO but don't need to hire an agency yet. It works whether you're launching your first website or auditing an existing one that isn't generating leads from Google.

If your website is already ranking on page 2-3 for local wedding keywords and you have 50+ organic sessions per month, this checklist will still help you identify quick wins. If you're on page 5+ or generating fewer than 20 organic sessions monthly, this checklist is the right starting point before considering professional help.

The tasks are organized by impact (what moves the needle fastest) and effort (what you can tackle first). You don't need technical SEO experience — each section includes the exact steps.

High Impact, Low Effort (Do This Week):

• Claim and complete your Google Business Profile with high-quality couple photos, service area coverage, and wedding style categories
• Write or rewrite title tags and meta descriptions for your home page and top 5 service pages
• Add H1 tags to every page (one H1 per page, include your primary keyword naturally)
• Create 3-5 local service area pages (e.g., "Wedding Planner in [City]") if you serve multiple neighborhoods

High Impact, Medium Effort (Do This Month):

• Build internal linking architecture — every service page should link to your home page and 2-3 related services
• Audit page load speed on mobile using Google PageSpeed Insights and fix the top 3 issues
• Create a wedding timeline template or budget checklist as downloadable content to generate email leads
• Set up Google Search Console and fix any crawl errors or indexing issues

Medium Impact, Low Effort (Ongoing):

• Post 2-4 Google Business Profile posts per month (venue spotlights, planning tips, seasonal themes)
• Generate and respond to couple reviews within 48 hours
• Update your FAQ schema markup to appear in Google's "People Also Ask" section

Title Tags & Meta Descriptions:

• Home page title includes primary keyword and location (e.g., "Wedding Planner in [City] | Luxury & Boutique Events")
• Service pages use pattern: "[Service] in [City] | [Business Name]" (e.g., "Elopement Planning in Denver | [Your Name]")
• Meta descriptions 120-155 characters, include call-to-action (e.g., "expert wedding planning for intimate celebrations")
• No duplicate title tags or meta descriptions across the site

Header Structure & Keyword Placement:

• One H1 per page, includes primary keyword or close variant
• H2s break content into logical sections (problem, solution, next steps)
• Service pages have at least 300-400 words of keyword-relevant copy before the first CTA
• Keyword appears in first 100 words of body copy

Internal Linking:

• Home page links to all primary service pages
• Each service page links back to home page and 2-3 related services using descriptive anchor text
• Blog posts link to relevant service pages using contextual anchors
• No orphaned pages (every page reachable from navigation or internal links)

Content Depth:

• Service pages answer: What is it? Who needs it? How much does it cost? What's the timeline?
• Wedding type pages (e.g., "Elopements," "Destination Weddings") include at least one high-intent lead magnet
• Include schema markup (LocalBusiness, Service, FAQPage) for rich snippets

Mobile & Speed:

• Mobile viewport meta tag present in site header
• Page load time under 3 seconds on mobile (test via Google PageSpeed Insights)
• Images optimized for web (under 100KB per image, lazy-loaded if below the fold)
• No CSS or JavaScript blocking initial page render

Indexing & Crawlability:

• XML sitemap created and submitted to Google Search Console
• robots.txt allows Googlebot access to all public pages
• No noindex tags on pages you want to rank
• Canonical tags present on all pages (self-referencing for most pages)

SSL & Security:

• HTTPS enabled sitewide (green padlock in browser address bar)
• All internal links use HTTPS, not mixed HTTP/HTTPS
• SSL certificate valid and not expired

Structured Data & Rich Snippets:

• JSON-LD schema for LocalBusiness markup (name, address, phone, service area)
• Service schema for each wedding service offered
• FAQPage schema if you have 4+ Q&A pairs
• Review/AggregateRating schema if pulling reviews from Google or third parties

Site Architecture:

• Logical URL structure (e.g., /services/wedding-planning, not /pages/23456)
• Breadcrumb navigation present on all pages
• No redirect chains (A → B → C should be A → C)

Service & Wedding Type Pages:

• Create dedicated pages for each wedding type you specialize in (elopements, micro-weddings, destination weddings, LGBTQ+ weddings, etc.)
• Each page includes the wedding type keyword in title, H1, and first 100 words
• Include 1-2 specific lead magnets (e.g., "elopement budget guide," "destination wedding checklist")
• Add 3-5 customer testimonials or case study snippets

Local & Service Area Content:

• Create service area pages for each neighborhood, city, or region you serve
• Title pattern: "[Wedding Service] in [Location]" (e.g., "Full-Service Wedding Planning in Brooklyn Heights")
• Include neighborhood-specific details (venues, vendors, neighborhoods you know)
• Link to your GBP post about that area

Blog & Resource Content:

• Publish 1-2 posts monthly addressing planning questions (budget templates, vendor selection, timeline frameworks)
• Each post targets a long-tail keyword (e.g., "how to find a wedding venue" instead of just "wedding venues")
• Include relevant internal links to service pages
• Repurpose high-performing posts into downloadable guides

Google Business Profile Content:

• Publish 2-4 posts per month: venue spotlights, planning tips, seasonal themes, client spotlights
• Add high-quality photos from recent weddings (couples' permission required)
• Use all available wedding-related categories (ceremonial, event, etc.)
• Update hours, services, and service area as business evolves

FAQ A step-by-step framework covering on-page optimization, technical fixes, [content strategy](/resources/wedding-planners/wedding-planner-seo-faq), and local SEO — organized by priority and effort.:

• Identify 8-12 questions couples actually ask (review your email, DMs, and client calls)
• Common FAQ themes: pricing, timeline, services included, cancellation, vendor selection, budget
• Write answers in 100-150 words — enough depth to answer but scannable
• Publish FAQs on a dedicated FAQ page or sprinkle 2-3 per service page

FAQ Schema Markup:

• Use FAQPage schema if you have a dedicated FAQ page (8+ Q&A pairs)
• Use Question schema on individual service pages (2-3 Q&A pairs per page)
• Format: Question text, Answer text (no images or videos in schema)
• Test markup in Google's Rich Results Test to confirm no errors

Optimization:

• FAQs target long-tail search queries ("how much does a wedding planner cost?" vs. "wedding planner")
• Answers include your primary service keyword naturally, not forced
• Update FAQs every 6 months based on new questions and search trends
• Monitor "People Also Ask" section in Google for new question variations