Wed Sites: How to Make a Website For Your Wedding
Planning the perfect wedding is bound take up a lot of time and energy — though, no more so than when finding the perfect partner! Your wed site is much more than a digital invitation: it’s a smart way to make sure it all goes to plan. This is your chance to immerse guests in all the buzz and excitement ahead of the event. And when the big day arrives, everyone will appreciate having all the event info right at their fingertips. Gone are the days of sending out carrier pigeons to announce your nuptials. Paper invitations hold a timeless charm, but they can only convey so much information. Creating a wedding website is a fantastic way to provide your guests with all the details they need in one easy-to-access place. Your website can be a space dedicated to your love story, captivating visitors with the journey that brought you to this moment. Plus, all the practical stuff — like maps to the venue, and even recieve those RSVPs online. By including a QR code on the invitation, guests will be able to access your website with just a quick scan of their phone. Blending something old and something new, those tangible invitations still make wonderful mementos. Going digital also gives you a way to communicate up-to-the-minute updates (“We’re moving the ceremony indoors!”, etc). After the “I dos” the website becomes a virtual guestbook, where friends and family place messages and photographs. Your domain name is forever yours (if you like), so your wedding website has the potential to stay a lasting reminder of your time together — there to update with anniversaries and other special moments as the years go by. Step 1: Start with a domain Choosing a good domain name can be an exciting step in the planning. There’s lots of options available, so you’re sure to find one that reflects your personality and the theme of the event. Many couples opt for a wedding domain based around first or family names. This adds a personal touch and helps guests easily remember and access your website. If your names are long or hard to spell, nicknames might be a fun solution. Thankfully, these sorts of name combos are often cheap and available, even with the popular “.com”, “.uk” or “co.uk” endings. And yes — you can even choose a “.wedding” domain name, if you so wish! If you can’t find what you’re looking for, there are hundreds of alternative domain name extensions to choose from, from “.love” to “.vip”. You might even find a location-specific option that’s right for the venue location, like “.london” or “.scot”. Recipes for romance: ♥ [name]and[name]Example: elizabethandjames ♥ [name]and[name][year] Example: rachelandmike2024 ♥ [name]together[name] Example: noeltogetherliam ♥ [name]always[name] Example: sophiealwaysdaniel ♥ [name][name]wedding] Example: thomasvanessawedding ♥ The[lastname]s Example: thesmiths Do’s and don’ts when choosing a wedding domain: Before getting your heart set on a domain, do make sure it’s not already taken. You can use hyphens (a “double barrel”, if you prefer…) but don’t use special characters. Do make it short and memorable. If you’re linking your wedding website with a QR code on paper invitations, though, the length may be a little less important. Don’t put the full six or eight digit date in the domain. Even if you’re confident about it, using too many numbers can make web addresses confusing. Finally, do connect your wedding website to a QR code for guests! Once you’ve got your URL, head to a free QR code generator, like QRCode Tiger or QRStuff. Paste your link and create a scannable code that you can download and include on your invitations and save-the-dates. Step 2: Choose the perfect wedding template Your wedding website is a reflection of you as a couple, setting the tone for the day. With an elegant design, you’re certain to leave a lasting impression on your guests. Of course, you’ll want to start with the basics: date, start time, venue. And the happy couple. 123 Reg’s Website Builder makes life easy with an intuitive interface and dozens of pre-built templates at your disposal. Personalise your site with your own photos, videos, and colour scheme, to add that special touch. If your wedding has a particular visual theme, you can create a website with colours and shades to match, whether it’s a beach celebration, or chic city soirée, or a rustic barn bash. Think of it as setting the stage. You may even like to place a live countdown for the big event. A mobile-ready (“responsive”) website is essential — even more so when it comes to big events like weddings. Most guests will be accessing the website on their smartphones and, as the big event approaches, they’ll appreciate having all the info there. With Website Builder, your wed site is certain to look good on mobile, tablet, or desktop. Step 3: Tell your love story Start things off with a warm and elegant or witty welcome message that gets guests excited to celebrate with you. You might like to share a story about your first encounter. Was it love at first sight? A chance meeting at a coffee shop? Paint a vivid picture of the moment you said “yes” and the joy and excitement that followed. Highlight key milestones and ambitions for the future. A digital toast! Now might also be a good time to introduce the wedding party with a few photos and personal details — their names, roles, and how they’re connected to you. You’ll want to let guests know who’s standing by your side on the day. Perhaps you haven’t had a chance to gather all of your photos and videos yet? Website Builder offers a rich selection of free images to complement wedding themes and styles. You can create stunning visuals even before you have personal content to share. Step 4: Add the key details You’ve shared the date and roundabout location for the event, but now
Why you should be using Google’s New Data Highlighter
Google is constantly trying to improve its search engine results and help users find exactly what they’re looking for and fast. Now it has released a Data Highlighter tool that allows site owners to create structured data, currently only for events and only in English. Soon enough it will extend the functions for this tool to other data types and languages. By using the Data Highlighter on your site, Google will be able to show rich snippets in its search results for your future events, concerts, exhibitions, etc. In other words, if you have a site where you list events such as upcoming concert dates, sports events or exhibitions you can use this great tool to have your events and general info about them listed on Google’s search results page. The great thing about this new tool is that it’s so easy to use that you don’t have to be tech-savvy to use it on your site. You don’t even need to edit any code. You only have to click, drag and highlight the data fields and name them (for eg. Date, Address, Location, etc). Getting started with Data Highlighter To get started, go to Google’s Webmaster Tools and start tagging. Watch this short video that explains exactly what steps you need to follow to get started with Google’s Data Highlighter tool: Another great thing about this tool is that if you use a specific format to list all your events, Google will crawl your site regularly for new event listing and will automatically add them to its search results. Google says that “5 or 10 manually tagged pages are enough for our sophisticated machine-learning algorithms to understand the other, similar pages on your site.” However, it also mentions that using the Data Highlighter to add events data does not guarantee that your events will always show up in Google’s search results. “Each product applies its own rules when deciding whether and how to display the data. For example, Google search results will display as rich snippets only for events that are in the future and that appear to be legitimate events,” Google mentions. All things considered, this should not stop you from using it as it can only benefit your business. What do you think about Google’s new Data Highlighter tool? Will you be using it for your business?
#GEWUK Entrepreneurs creating the conversation
10 million people are expected to take part in this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week which begins today, 40,000 events in 104 countries have been organised, suggesting there’s quite a few committed to addressing the current global economic crisis by getting out there and just doing it themselves. “Every business starts with a conversation. Start yours today.” is the slogan heading the UK campaign, aiming at creating a “national conversation about entrepreneurship” the aim is to help people connect, share and act upon ideas that may have been lingering in minds for months even years. It is all about action and positivity. Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy but if you can learn from the downs and rise on the ups there is every chance of success. As one weekend tweeter put it “Make yourself a promise to increase both ‘who you know’ & ‘what you know’ by Friday!” Here at 123-reg we believe entrepreneurship is a desire, not a science, a commitment not an art. With online business on the constant increase and set to offer a bumper Christmas there’s never been a better time to give it a try. Whether creating a website for an offline offering or going for a full-on ecommerce solution we can help you get your business up and running quickly and efficiently. Global Entrepreneurship Week is the perfect way to find inspiration. The conversation this week is set to be lively on Twitter and on the hashtag #GEWUK. Have a look at what events are taking place near you too and get involved.