I think that we have already established that today’s brides are doing most of their research online. The question is where. To answer that, you need to figure out how they are doing their research.

From what I have looked at, here is my drill down.

1. Image search
2. Planning research
3. Community
4. Local Search
5. Reviews and Community Referrals

Let’s take these one at a time.

Image search.

The first thing they do is go look at all the pretty pictures. I know it sounds trite but that is just the way this generation is. They are very visual. What this means to you is that you need to make sure that your images come up in a Google image search. The best way to do that is to be sure you have done a good job of tagging your shots when you put them on your website. For more information on just how to do this, read Labeling Your Images for SEO Gold. Now mind you, this won’t make them call you, in and of itself, but it will start the process of making them familiar with your name.

Planning Research.

Trust me, the newly engaged are completely clueless when it comes to planning a wedding. So they hit the internet for planning tips and tools. You know as well as I do that there is enough info on this topic on the internet to fill a good sized library. Most of it is bullshit, some of it is down right scary, a lot of it is worthless marketing junk and a tiny bit is of real value. The problem is, it doesn’t come color coded, so a bride is likely to mistake the garbage for gold.

You know what I am talking about. How often have you sat in a client meeting and wondered where they came up with such a harebrained scheme. She got a tickle of an idea in the back of her brain and then found some source to support it. ~sigh~

Which brings us to our next destination…

Community.

This is in reality where brides that spend the most time online will be: in the forums and bulletin boards of places like WeddingBee.com and WeddingWire.com.

According to a recent report, the only sites in the top 10 that didn’t lose ground are the ones that support community. Even the venerable Martha Stewart Weddings took a hit. The comments on Bee and the forums on Wire are very heavily trafficked. What our brides are doing is talking about their wedding with other brides and learning from them. They have become the primary authority on all things wedding. God help us. It is like kids that learn all of their sex-ed on the playground.

The other place they are finding community is on Facebook. They may notice your page there but that isn’t why they are there. They are there to socialize.

Local Search.

Now we are getting down to it. They start looking for you. Notice I did not say that start looking at the ads on the Knot, or any other site for that matter. They go straight to their favorite search engine. Ok, so ya, Google, but there are others too, at least that is what I hear. Something else you need to know, these ladies are really good at search. They don’t type in “DJ in New Jersey” they type in “DJ,Trenton NJ, Not Cheesy”. They don’t type in “Wedding Dress, Bellingham WA” They type in “2Be Brides by Gavin Michaels Style No. G233916S + WA”

As you can see, they have already decided what they want and know how to search to find it. That is the reason that you need to put as much information on your website as possible.

Reviews and Community Referral.

Now that they have found you and looked over your website, they still aren’t ready to contact you. They want support that they are making a good choice. For they they go back to their community and ask if anyone knows anything about you. Once comfortable that you are who they think you are, they will check your review on Wedding Wire and Yelp. Save them the step and put the WeddingWire.com Review widget right on your website. Something else the net savvy bride will do is type in “{your name}+complaints”.

Now, maybe, if you have come out on top on all this, they might send you an email.

As to the original question, “Where are brides online?” the answer is search. They aren’t paying attention to banner ads or paid listings, they are doing their own research. When they finally hit your website, it had better be top-notch. It might be the only shot you get.