Surely there are some obvious things like the colors, navigation, logos and other technical cues, but what really separates them? Last year, as we were getting ready to launch reviews on WeddingChannel.com, I had the daunting task of having to look at over 2,200 entertainment company websites (over about 5 week's time) to determine whether they were Bands or DJ's.

I had been able to separate thousands of other companies by their names, which included the word "band", "orchestra", "DJ", "disk jockey", or some similar word or phrase. But here were 2,200+ companies with names like "XYZ Entertainment" or "Fantasy Productions". As with so many other businesses, you just can't tell what they do from their name.

So here I was with the task of clicking through to these 2,200+ sites with the sole purpose of determining what they do. Other than the sheer volume of sites, you would think it would be a relatively easy task. So each evening I would take my laptop, sit in front of the TV, and click from site to site. I would then mark on my spreadsheet which of three categories they should each go in: Bands, Disk Jockeys or Ceremony Musicians. I figured if I did a bunch each evening, I would knock this project off in a few days, maybe a week. Boy, was I wrong!

While some of the sites came up quickly and were clear about who they are and what they do, so many of them had, shall we say... issues. The first issue was how long it took for the site to load. Had I not been on a mission to see what they do, I certainly would have abandoned many of these sites before they even loaded.

The next issue was being sent to MySpace or some other third party site, instead of their own website. I can understand why some touring and club bands would want their presence on MySpace, but not for weddings. Your mission is to get her to your site, not a site with tends of thousands of other bands on it.

My biggest surprise, and frustration, was the hundreds and hundreds of sites I visited where I still couldn't tell what they did, even when I was looking at their homepages! They were using all of this generic wording like "The finest in entertainment for your wedding", or "Fantasy Productions is your full-service entertainment resource". A few times I actually yelled at the screen "Just tell me... What do you do?"

Not only didn't I know what they do, brides and search engines don't either. Search engines are reading the text on the page and if you don't use the keywords "Disk Jockey" you're not very likely to come up in a search for a "Disk Jockey". More than that a bride that's looking for a DJ is likely to leave, quickly, if she doesn't think she's on a DJ's site.

That brings me full circle to my original question: What separates your website from your competitor's sites? If your sites all look like rearranged versions of each other's sites, how is a bride supposed to tell you apart? I'll tell you how... branding and marketing. It has to be crystal clear on every page of your site who you are, what you do, what's in it for your visitors (the brides and/or any other target audiences for your site) and what action you want them to take.

Let's break these down, one at a time: Who you are: you need to have text, not just graphics, that say your company's name. The top of every page needs to be consistent, with the same header, with your company name, logo and phone number. The look, feel and design should be consistent with your branding.

What you do: there should be no doubt as to what service you're offering. If your name doesn't already do that (i.e. Embassy Wedding DJ Service) then you must include that text on your homepage and in as many other places as you can, as part of the natural text. So, on your About Us page, be sure to mention that you're a wedding DJ.

What's in it for your visitors: here's where you need to tell them why they should hire your company specifically and what it will mean to her and her guests. You don't need to educate them on why they should hire a professional DJ, photographer, videographer, wedding planner, etc. over an amateur. That's the job of the ADJA, PPA, WEVA, ABC, etc. You need to tell her why she should hire your company specifically.

What action you want her to take: this is where so many sites drop the ball. You get her to your ads, then to your site, but she leaves without contacting you. Why? More often than not it's because you don't ask her to take any action. Listing your phone number is not a call-to-action. Saying "Call or email Fantasy DJ's today for an appointment to discuss your wedding entertainment, 732-555-1234" is a real call-to-action.

Putting relevant calls-to-action on every page is the key to getting more brides to contact you. It's called Conversion and I've done a webinar on this very topic. The free recording is listed on The Knot Market Intelligence website, along with dozens of others and articles on sales and marketing topics for wedding pros.

The best part of all of this information is that you don't need to scrap your site to benefit. It applies to your current site and the changes are mostly just text, so they'll probably cost you little, or nothing but your time to fix. Don't think you have to tackle your whole site at once. You can do this one page at a time, just make a plan to do it. Even if you do only one page a week you'll be done before you know it.

So, which page are you going to change tomorrow?