Battle for the Top: Media Giants vs. Small Publishers in Wedding Music Searches
Discover insights into the holders of the top 10 positions in Google search for popular wedding music searches.
I am Matt Campbell, the owner of a wedding songs planning website (My Wedding Songs). In an effort to put any biases aside, I decided to conduct a case study of the types of Google search results for the most popular wedding song searches.
Yes, I do realize AI will change the way we discover information. New applications, software, etc. will be more readily available for general public use very soon. I can talk about that later. For now…
To understand what Google is rewarding in top search positions, I analyzed 10 of the most popular wedding music searches. Google is constantly making changes to its algorithm of how it ranks websites (see Google’s updates dashboard). The prior 2 years had 10 Google core algorithm updates and we are currently in the midst of its 9th Google core algorithm update of 2023.
Let’s get started!
The popular keyword phrases in this study (USA):
wedding songs (40,500 monthly searches)
father-daughter dance songs (33,100 monthly searches)
mother-son dance songs (33,100 monthly searches)
best wedding songs (12,100 monthly searches)
wedding entrance songs (12,100 monthly searches)
first dance songs (9,900 monthly searches)
country wedding songs (9,900 monthly searches)
wedding recessional songs (9,900 monthly searches)
wedding dance songs (8,100 monthly searches)
wedding processional songs (6,600 monthly searches)
The total average number of combined monthly wedding music searches equals 175,300.
*The monthly search data is from Google’s Keyword Planner on November 4, 2023, from the prior 30 days.
Note: Wedding music searches are seasonal. See wedding music search trends.
Who Gets the Clicks?
According to First Page Sage:
Search Position 1 39.8%*
Search Position 2 18.7%**
Search Position 3 10.2%
Search Position 4 7.2%
Search Position 5 5.1%
Search Position 6 4.4%
Search Position 7 3.0%
Search Position 8 2.1%
Search Position 9 1.9%
Search Position 10 (if present) 1.6%
* If snippet, then 42.9%; If local pack present, then 23.7%
** If snippet, then 27.4%; If local pack present, then 15.1%
User Intent and Content Types
I assume people conducting these searches are looking for song suggestions. This could be music videos, curated listicle playlists, video playlists, and song reviews.
However, many searchers are looking for songs that match their personality, wedding theme, desired genre, mood, and lyrics that describe their love story.
Search Result Visibility Fluctuations
Google’s rankings of websites will fluctuate based upon many factors including user engagement metrics such as click-through rates or time spent on pages to determine the effectiveness of different types of content.
Search Results Trends
This is the first report of its kind (that I am aware of). Therefore, no historical data to reference is available
It is unknown if Google has voice search data incorporated into the Keyword Planner.
Mobile Search Data (All Results)
According to Oberlo, 63% of all searches are completed on a mobile device.
What is shown in search results from the above popular 10 searches on mobile devices?
Google Widget Sections in Google search for wedding music searches
The below results were shown 29 times - 29% of 100 search result possibilities.
The number of times the below sections were in the top 10 search results:
People Also Ask section - 10/10 searches
YouTube videos block - 10/10 searches
People Also Search For section - 4/10 searches
Short Videos - 3/10 searches
Discussions & forums section - 1/10 searches
Visual Stories carousel - 1/10 searches
Media companies in Google search for wedding music searches
46% of wedding music search results in our study showcase a large media company.
We have all seen news companies and media conglomerates in search (whether you realize it or not). How strong is their foothold in top positions?
You may be asking yourself - why are large companies at the top of search results? The biggest reason is that big brands are recognizable and instantly seen as trustworthy by searchers. A niche publisher is more of an unknown risk. Google will show who gets more clicks at the top* (among other factors).
The biggest showings come from these companies:
TKWW The Knot Worldwide - 19 listings (19%)
TheKnot.com (11)
WeddingWire.com (4)
Hitched.co.uk (4)
Dotdash Meredith - 13 listings (13%)
Brides.com
Hearst - 4 listings (4%)
CountryLiving.com
ThePioneerWoman.com
HarpersBazaar.com
DMG Media - 3 listings (3%)
OneFabDay.com
Townsquare Media - 2 listings (2%)
TheBoot.com
TasteofCountry.com
Who is The Knot Worldwide? It is In 16+ countries across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Their brands include The Knot, Wedding Wire, Hitched, The Bump, The Bash, and Bodas.net. TKWW has the largest platform for wedding vendor reviews.
Who is Brides? Brides is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family. Dotdash Meredith is promoted as America’s largest print and digital publisher. Its brands include People, Better Homes & Gardens, Martha Stewart, and InStyle.
SMBs (Small-Medium Businesses) in Google search for wedding music searches
(16%) 16 search results are small to medium-sized companies.
Musician Booking Agency (7) - all located in the UK
DJ (5)
Bridal Shop (1)
Dance Studio (1)
Wedding Band (1)
Venue (1)
As a former wedding DJ business owner and SEO consultant, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Do these music searches bring real business leads? The intent of the music search is to get song suggestions and typically not to hire local businesses. In addition, the searches are performed from around the USA and not in a specific service area where a business is located. Most of the clicks from searches would bring meaningless visitors to these businesses.
I understand that these businesses are trying to be seen as an expert in their industry. But I would recommend spending their time in other areas like showcasing real-life experiences of their offerings.
Informational websites in Google search for wedding music searches
Many times these websites are categorized as blogs. However, you can find legitimate licensed businesses including mom-and-pop companies that offer products and services.
Informational websites account for 5% of wedding music search results in our study.
The showings come from these resources:
WeddingForward.com - 2 listings (2%)
GreenWeddingShoes.com - 2 listings (2%)
RusticBride.com - 1 listing (1%)
What is trending in search results resulting from the October and November 2023 Google core updates?
Websites that have quick answers with only lists of songs. Gone are the days of offering meanings to songs within the content. I am also seeing a decrease in the number of results referencing lyric quotes.
Because informational websites consist of such a small percentage of the top results, in order to survive in the future, my opinion is they must build communities within their circle to remain relevant to their readers. This could include courses, paid communities, newsletters, webinars, and live consulting. Think Substack for newsletters (where this is published), Discord, Twitch, and Signal.
Where are the companies in the top 100 positions located?
(15%) 15 search results are companies located outside of the USA. The countries are UK and Ireland-based.
The companies include:
Hitched (UK) - 4 listings (part of TKWW)
Bands for Hire (UK) - 3 listings (Musician booking Agent)
One Fab Day (Ireland) - 3 listings (informational website)
Encore Musicians (UK) - 3 listings (Musician booking Agent)
Entertainment Nation (UK) - 1 listing (Musician booking Agent)
Weddings Online (Ireland) - 1 listing (informational website)
85% are located in the USA.
This tells us that even though a searcher is located in the USA, Google chooses to show authoritative websites from other countries written in English.
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Desktop Search Data (Websites only)
What is shown in search results from the top 10 searches on desktop devices?
Media companies in Google search for wedding music searches
54% of wedding music search results in our study showcase a large media company.
Let that sink in for a second. (yes, I am a bit annoyed)
The biggest showings come from these companies:
TKWW The Knot Worldwide - 22 listings (22%)
TheKnot.com (13)
WeddingWire.com (5)
Hitched.co.uk (4)
Dotdash Meredith - 13 listings (13%)
Brides.com
Hearst - 5 listings (5%)
CountryLiving.com
ThePioneerWoman.com
HarpersBazaar.com
DMG Media - 3 listings (3%)
OneFabDay.com
Townsquare Media - 2 listings (2%)
TheBoot.com
TasteofCountry.com
SMBs in Google search for wedding music searches
(23%) 23 search results are small to medium-sized companies.
Musician Booking Agency (10) - all located in the UK
DJ (8)
Bridal Shop (1)
Dance Studio (1)
Officiant (1)
Wedding Band (1)
Venue (1)
Informational websites in Google search for wedding music searches
15% of wedding music search results in our study.
The largest showings come from these resources:
WeddingForward.com - 8 listings (8%)
GreenWeddingShoes.com - 3 listings (3%)
4 websites with 1 listing
Where are the companies in the top 100 positions located?
(18%) 18 search results are companies located outside of the USA. The countries are UK and Ireland-based.
The companies include:
Bands for Hire (UK) - 5 listings
Hitched (UK) - 4 listings
Encore Musicians (UK) - 3 listings
One Fab Day (Ireland) - 3 listings
Entertainment Nation (UK) - 2 listings
Weddings Online (Ireland) - 1 listing
82% are located in the USA.
Music streaming and video links in wedding music searches?
This was the biggest surprise in the study. Individual Spotify playlists in search results had been rising in the past few years but only 1 result featured a Spotify playlist on desktop and none on mobile.
Desktop search results only showed 3 wedding playlists on YouTube. I would predict this will increase in time as Google wants to keep searchers on their properties (see above about Google widgets on mobile).
Collecting the Data
*The monthly search data is from Google’s Keyword Planner on November 4, 2023.
*The Mobile Google search results data was captured on November 10, 2023, using a Google Pixel 6a phone.
*The Desktop Google search results data was captured on November 4, 2023, utilizing the Chrome browser.
*DOJ trial against Google revealed internal documents at Google using clicks in search as a ranking signal. https://searchengineland.com/google-search-antirust-trial-hearing-updates-431977
Thank you for reading. If you have any insights or feedback, please share in the comments below or reply to this email.
Cheers,
Matt Campbell, My Wedding Songs
Great insight.
I appreciate the effort you put into the research.