Scaling an AI-Powered Wedding Platform: A Case Study in Next.js SEO Optimization for Wedlii

Mastering Next.js SEO: A Technical Case Study of Wedlii

Building a modern AI platform like Wedlii requires more than just clean code—it requires a search engine strategy that can compete in the high-stakes wedding industry. As Australia’s first AI-powered wedding planner, Wedlii needed a technical foundation that was as smart as its AI.

In this post, I’ll break down the exact steps I took to optimize this Next.js application, from restructuring the DOM to implementing advanced technical files like llms.txt.

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1. Structural Integrity: The Heading Hierarchy

One of the most common SEO pitfalls in React-based frameworks is "Heading Soup." Search engines rely on a logical H1 -> H2 -> H3 structure to understand page priority .

The Homepage Reset

Originally, the Wedlii homepage suffered from multiple <h1> tags . We consolidated this to a single, keyword-rich H1: "Your Al-Powered Wedding Planner in Australia" . Supporting sections were reorganized into a logical flow:

• H2s: Used for core features like "Getting Started," "Plan It," "Inspo It," and "Search It".
• H3s: Reserved for sub-elements like individual vendor or venue cards to avoid diluting page authority .

Portal Optimization

For the Vendor and Venue Portals, we implemented specific, high-intent H1s:

• Vendor Portal: "Find Trusted Wedding Vendors in Australia | Wedlii's Online Wedding Planner" .
• Venue Portal: "Discover Wedding Venues Across Australia | Wedlii Venue Portal".

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2. Technical Performance: Crushing Core Web Vitals

Speed is a ranking factor. To ensure Wedlii felt instantaneous, we targeted specific metrics using Google PageSpeed Insights :

• LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): Target < 2.5s .
• CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): Target < 0.1 .
• FID (First Input Delay): Target < 100ms .

Image Optimization (WebP & q=80)

To drastically reduce the LCP, we moved away from standard JPEGs. By utilizing the next/image component, we enforced:

1. WebP Format: Superior compression compared to traditional formats.
2. Quality Tuning: Setting quality={80} provided the perfect "sweet spot" between visual fidelity and file size, ensuring hero images loaded almost instantly.
3. Lazy Loading: Implemented for all large images to save bandwidth.

Image SEO

Performance means nothing if Google doesn't know what the image represents. We added descriptive Alt Text across the board:

• Hero Image: "Bride and groom planning with Al wedding tool Wedlii" .
• Vendor Portal: "Sydney wedding photographer - Wedlii vendor" .
• Venue Portal: "Beach wedding venue - Gold Coast" .

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3. Specialized SEO Files: Sitemap, Robots, and LLMs

A professional Next.js app needs to communicate effectively with different types of crawlers.

Automated sitemap.xml

We implemented a dynamic sitemap to ensure every new vendor and venue is indexed immediately, supporting the site's structure .

Controlled Crawling with robots.ts

We utilized a robots.ts file to guide search engines, ensuring they prioritize the public discovery pages while maintaining security across elements .

Future-Proofing with llms.txt

As an AI-centric platform, it was vital to provide a clean context for LLM-based crawlers. We added an llms.txt file to the public directory, providing a high-level summary of Wedlii’s tools to ensure AI models represent the brand accurately .

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4. Schema Markup: Speaking Google's Language

We implemented JSON-LD structured data to give Wedlii "Rich Snippet" potential in search results:

• Organization Schema: Defining Wedlii as a formal entity .
• Local Business & Place Schema: Applied to specific venue and vendor pages to help them appear in localized Australian searches .
• Website Schema: Helping Google crawl the site structure more effectively .

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Conclusion: The Results

By combining Next.js’s technical strengths with a rigid on-page SEO strategy, Wedlii is now positioned as a leader in the Australian AI wedding space. We didn't just build a site; we built a discoverable, high-performance ecosystem.

Key Takeaway: SEO in 2026 isn't just about keywords; it's about structure, speed, and providing clear data to both humans and AI.