My fiance and I are considering whether we should design a personal wedding web site using one of the many vendors out there, but are somewhat concerned about the visibility of these sites via google and other search engines. I have a very unusual name, and if you google it, you find me right away on pages ranging from my professional profile at my law firm to reported cases and other professional activities. My fiance's name is much more common, but both of us are professionals and are mindful of our online presence and reputation.
Has anyone tried using google or another search engine to find your wedding website hosted by a private provider like eweddings.com or weddingwindow.com? If so, is it easily visible? Does password protection on the site keep it from coming up in a search engine?
I'd be interested to hear whether this is a concern for other brides and, if so, whether you've chosen to make a website for your wedding and how you've protected your online rep. Thanks!
I pulled ours for the same reasons that you're concerned. (My boss also mentioned it when he found I had designed one). We figured better safe than sorry. I don't need opposing counsel reading how I met my fiance!!
Good luck in whatever you decide. (Maybe BIL Bee knows about it?)
EXACTLY! So if you're foregoing the website, how are you conveying information about venue, events, etc. to guests, particularly out-of-towners?
We are considering making a CD to include either with the save the date or the invitation itself (or a companion mailing), since 80% or more of our guests will be coming from California or Upstate NY to our wedding in Annapolis, and a fair amount of my family members (the Californians) have never been to the east coast!!
We used ewedding.com, and it's still up so I tried some searches. No matter what I searched by, including picking a bunch of text from one of the pages, it didn't come up in Google at all.
It may have something to do with the web design? I only say that because from the reverse end, I've been working on a web site design and researching how to make it come up in search engines, and they've gotten a lot pickier about it in recent years.
I've searched for ours several times and in several different ways (I also have an unusual full name, and if you google me, no other person shows up), and I haven't been able to find it. We used weddingwindow which comes with top-notch security.
Is it possible to make the site without using your last names? Have Jack and Jill’s wedding website instead of Jack LastName and Jill LastName’s wedding website. Password protect the intimate details like location and time but still leave out your last name. Your guests will know who you are based on the URL you provide to them and any pictures you post.
Thanks Julya, but it is my first name that is unique and what I'm most concerned about. So leaving off our last names, which we would do in any case, won't help us too much.
Thanks, nigelsbride and kleverkira, for the information on eweddings and weddingwindow. I'll have to check them out.
I just tried to find ours via a search engine. I tried FH's name and nothing - same with mine. I even tried typing in one of names and 'wedding' as well as both our names together. No matter what I tried, our wedding website would not come up. Our website is with weddingannouncer.com
We sent save the dates to out of towners with the venue names and city/state so they knew it was not nearby. I just put the hotel info in the invite (pocketfolders- cardsandpockets.com).
I don't think you need it all to go with the save the date, and the hotel may not want to offer a reduced rate that far in advance either.
Consider an inexpensive out of town bag with local info for those who stay. Miss Lemon did one, and Miss Jelly Beans too, check those out for inspiration. Plus, I'm sure when they get the save the date, you'll get phone calls and e-mails. Maybe have a form e-mail typed up to cut and paste to those who contact you with links about the area.
Our wedding website is also with WeddingWindow and it doesn't come up under google.
An option for wedding window you may like is that you can password protect your website. You can do this at various levels. You can protect certain pages only, or you can protect every single page. You dictate what gets protected and what doesn't. You set your own passwords. It's awesome and I really recommend it.
This will take care of all your concerns. Only those you give the password to can access it. Not only that, it shouldn't be google-able anyway. :) HTH
We're using Wedding Window and so far, I haven't been able to find our website using a search engine. Then again, our last names are nowhere to be found on the website. We also password protected it, which makes us feel a lot better about privacy/security issues. I highly recommend Wedding Window-- everyone has been really wowed by our website and it's so easy to use.
Our website is password protected and doesn't mention either of our last names. Even if somebody found it, they'd have to guess the password (which isn't easy).
also, something you can do (which i do for e mail addresses to reduce spam or fishing) is any time you use your real/full name on your website, use a jpeg of it rather than a text writeout of it. That way search engines cant pick it up! if you want a (lousy) example, e mail me at penguin@weddingbee.com
there also isnt really any need to have your last names included in your personal wedding website :) I dont use our full names in ours, since you assume your guests already know your names, and if they dont (for registry purposes) of course its on your printed invitations!
Great thread. We don't have any detailed info on ours yet, but oops! It's the second entry when I Google our first names! (My fiance's first name is rare.) We're using wedding window, too. Not sure why ours is appearing while others' aren't, but it may be because we purchased a domain name and attached that to the wedding window website we built (so the address isn't names.weddingwindow.com - it's firstnameandfirstname.com). I'd rather not password protect the site, but it looks like we may have to do some variation of that....
I have a last name that is very unique as well but I'm in graduate school for healthcare. My fiance is a law enforcement officer but has a common name. So we have a similar situation. We just don't want any crazies he has arrested showing up on our wedding day. So we decided not to put our last names on the website because the people that will get the address will know our last names because they know us and if they are parent's friends they will know our names from STD's and invitations. So we are just simply Mike & Michelle for the wedding website, both in address and in name. ;)
Also, brides.com and theknot.com have password protection so only invited guests can get into the site with the password.
We used wedding window and it easily comes up in google...we have common names as well BUT our site is password protected, so all u get is the front page and we have a note saying if you forgot the password to contact "Jane or John" but no contact info. So yeah u can see our picture but as far as "vital" information you can't get it.
As a side note for any brides I highly recommend password protection. I can't even begin to tell u the number of wedding albums I've broken into b/c it was easy to find the bride or grooms last name. I was using my power for good (usually just wanted to see photos of my site, or flowers my florist had done, etc) but someone could very well use the power for evil.
We were concerned about "visibility" too; our first names aren't very remarkable, so we went with the first-names-only option. Also, I didn't put very many details of the event, just advice for traveling, etc.
I did do a personal, set-to-private-invitation-only, blog at blogspot.com (which is the same as Google's "Blogger"). That's where we put all our pix, etc. The thing that's a PITA about that is that you need to "invite" people (register their email in your preferences) otherwise they cannot log in. I got around this by creating an Excite email account and "inviting" that email; then I passed around that email and password on all our wedding communications. It's a hassle, but it does keep our stuff private. The good thing is that even if your name comes up in a search (which I think it's not supposed to if you set the private function), no one can read it w/o having a valid login account that you've authorized. Another con, though, is that it's a blog -- it's not a traditional website, so you can't really do things like set pages for different things ("how we met," "event details," "registry") -- it will look like WeddingBee -- a series of blog posts.
Keep in mind my advice is only on free sites (I didn't want to pay for hosting or anything like that since a relatively tiny number of our guests are e-savvy); I'm sure there are options out there involving $$ that let you do whatever you want!
My fiance and I are considering whether we should design a personal wedding web site using one of the many vendors out there, but are somewhat concerned about the visibility of these sites via google and other search engines. I have a very unusual name, and if you google it, you find me right away on pages ranging from my professional profile at my law firm to reported cases and other professional activities. My fiance's name is much more common, but both of us are professionals and are mindful of our online presence and reputation.
Has anyone tried using google or another search engine to find your wedding website hosted by a private provider like eweddings.com or weddingwindow.com? If so, is it easily visible? Does password protection on the site keep it from coming up in a search engine?
I'd be interested to hear whether this is a concern for other brides and, if so, whether you've chosen to make a website for your wedding and how you've protected your online rep. Thanks!
posted by EastportBride 9 months agoI pulled ours for the same reasons that you're concerned. (My boss also mentioned it when he found I had designed one). We figured better safe than sorry. I don't need opposing counsel reading how I met my fiance!!
Good luck in whatever you decide. (Maybe BIL Bee knows about it?)
posted by MJ 9 months agoEXACTLY! So if you're foregoing the website, how are you conveying information about venue, events, etc. to guests, particularly out-of-towners?
We are considering making a CD to include either with the save the date or the invitation itself (or a companion mailing), since 80% or more of our guests will be coming from California or Upstate NY to our wedding in Annapolis, and a fair amount of my family members (the Californians) have never been to the east coast!!
posted by EastportBride 9 months agoWe used ewedding.com, and it's still up so I tried some searches. No matter what I searched by, including picking a bunch of text from one of the pages, it didn't come up in Google at all.
It may have something to do with the web design? I only say that because from the reverse end, I've been working on a web site design and researching how to make it come up in search engines, and they've gotten a lot pickier about it in recent years.
HTH! :)
posted by nigelsbride 9 months agoI've searched for ours several times and in several different ways (I also have an unusual full name, and if you google me, no other person shows up), and I haven't been able to find it. We used weddingwindow which comes with top-notch security.
posted by kleverkira 9 months agoIs it possible to make the site without using your last names? Have Jack and Jill’s wedding website instead of Jack LastName and Jill LastName’s wedding website. Password protect the intimate details like location and time but still leave out your last name. Your guests will know who you are based on the URL you provide to them and any pictures you post.
posted by MissJulya 9 months agoThanks Julya, but it is my first name that is unique and what I'm most concerned about. So leaving off our last names, which we would do in any case, won't help us too much.
Thanks, nigelsbride and kleverkira, for the information on eweddings and weddingwindow. I'll have to check them out.
posted by EastportBride 9 months agoI just tried to find ours via a search engine. I tried FH's name and nothing - same with mine. I even tried typing in one of names and 'wedding' as well as both our names together. No matter what I tried, our wedding website would not come up. Our website is with weddingannouncer.com
posted by AmandaRyan 9 months agoWe sent save the dates to out of towners with the venue names and city/state so they knew it was not nearby. I just put the hotel info in the invite (pocketfolders- cardsandpockets.com).
I don't think you need it all to go with the save the date, and the hotel may not want to offer a reduced rate that far in advance either.
Consider an inexpensive out of town bag with local info for those who stay. Miss Lemon did one, and Miss Jelly Beans too, check those out for inspiration. Plus, I'm sure when they get the save the date, you'll get phone calls and e-mails. Maybe have a form e-mail typed up to cut and paste to those who contact you with links about the area.
posted by MJ 9 months agoOur wedding website is also with WeddingWindow and it doesn't come up under google.
An option for wedding window you may like is that you can password protect your website. You can do this at various levels. You can protect certain pages only, or you can protect every single page. You dictate what gets protected and what doesn't. You set your own passwords. It's awesome and I really recommend it.
This will take care of all your concerns. Only those you give the password to can access it. Not only that, it shouldn't be google-able anyway. :) HTH
posted by JCM9608 9 months agoWe're using Wedding Window and so far, I haven't been able to find our website using a search engine. Then again, our last names are nowhere to be found on the website. We also password protected it, which makes us feel a lot better about privacy/security issues. I highly recommend Wedding Window-- everyone has been really wowed by our website and it's so easy to use.
posted by jasmine 9 months agoThanks, everyone!!
posted by EastportBride 9 months agoOur website is password protected and doesn't mention either of our last names. Even if somebody found it, they'd have to guess the password (which isn't easy).
posted by amysue 9 months agoalso, something you can do (which i do for e mail addresses to reduce spam or fishing) is any time you use your real/full name on your website, use a jpeg of it rather than a text writeout of it. That way search engines cant pick it up! if you want a (lousy) example, e mail me at penguin@weddingbee.com
GL!
posted by penguin 9 months agothere also isnt really any need to have your last names included in your personal wedding website :) I dont use our full names in ours, since you assume your guests already know your names, and if they dont (for registry purposes) of course its on your printed invitations!
posted by penguin 9 months agoGreat thread. We don't have any detailed info on ours yet, but oops! It's the second entry when I Google our first names! (My fiance's first name is rare.) We're using wedding window, too. Not sure why ours is appearing while others' aren't, but it may be because we purchased a domain name and attached that to the wedding window website we built (so the address isn't names.weddingwindow.com - it's firstnameandfirstname.com). I'd rather not password protect the site, but it looks like we may have to do some variation of that....
posted by SarahL 9 months agoSarahL, we did the domain name option as well for an additional $15.
posted by JCM9608 9 months agoI have a last name that is very unique as well but I'm in graduate school for healthcare. My fiance is a law enforcement officer but has a common name. So we have a similar situation. We just don't want any crazies he has arrested showing up on our wedding day. So we decided not to put our last names on the website because the people that will get the address will know our last names because they know us and if they are parent's friends they will know our names from STD's and invitations.
So we are just simply Mike & Michelle for the wedding website, both in address and in name. ;)
Also, brides.com and theknot.com have password protection so only invited guests can get into the site with the password.
posted by babagrlshell 9 months agoWe used wedding window and it easily comes up in google...we have common names as well BUT our site is password protected, so all u get is the front page and we have a note saying if you forgot the password to contact "Jane or John" but no contact info. So yeah u can see our picture but as far as "vital" information you can't get it.
As a side note for any brides I highly recommend password protection. I can't even begin to tell u the number of wedding albums I've broken into b/c it was easy to find the bride or grooms last name. I was using my power for good (usually just wanted to see photos of my site, or flowers my florist had done, etc) but someone could very well use the power for evil.
posted by BaghdadBride 9 months agoWe were concerned about "visibility" too; our first names aren't very remarkable, so we went with the first-names-only option. Also, I didn't put very many details of the event, just advice for traveling, etc.
I did do a personal, set-to-private-invitation-only, blog at blogspot.com (which is the same as Google's "Blogger"). That's where we put all our pix, etc. The thing that's a PITA about that is that you need to "invite" people (register their email in your preferences) otherwise they cannot log in. I got around this by creating an Excite email account and "inviting" that email; then I passed around that email and password on all our wedding communications. It's a hassle, but it does keep our stuff private. The good thing is that even if your name comes up in a search (which I think it's not supposed to if you set the private function), no one can read it w/o having a valid login account that you've authorized. Another con, though, is that it's a blog -- it's not a traditional website, so you can't really do things like set pages for different things ("how we met," "event details," "registry") -- it will look like WeddingBee -- a series of blog posts.
Keep in mind my advice is only on free sites (I didn't want to pay for hosting or anything like that since a relatively tiny number of our guests are e-savvy); I'm sure there are options out there involving $$ that let you do whatever you want!
posted by princesskittyHI 9 months ago