People use your website to see who, what and where your business is. if they cannot find it they may well just google another salon in the area. Can you really afford to be passing these clients onto your competition? When is the last time you looked something up in an encyclopedia or browsed the yellow pages for a number? What makes you think your clients will either?
This might all seem a little overwhelming and people often ask us what they need to do to make their website work for them. These 6 easy steps will ensure your salon is present online and generating appointments for you...
1. Think about layout... Your website should be user friendly and it shouldn’t be hard to find information. Don’t crowd it out with unnecessary information and use useful links to sections of longer text. This means that your client doesn’t get lost in a guide to how laser treatments work, when all they wanted to know was how long the treatment takes and what condition their skin should be in before coming into the salon.
2. Online bookings... we are telling you this for your own good. Every industry is now online and your clients are used to the convenience. Give your clients the option to search for their treatments on your website and then click to book online. We want to make it easy for clients to book treatments... so easy that they don't even have to pick up the phone.
3. Testimonials... Client testimonials are great for your website - people like real clients and real results. Where you can add photos of the client. This adds credibility to the testimonial.
4. Display Your Prices... Clients use the Internet to do price comparisons and research products and options. Make sure your price list is available for them to view or download as not having it there will put clients off. They may think your prices aren't there because they are really expensive or they might feel embarrassed about having to ring up and inquire.
5. Make sure you website is search engine friendly... We all know that google has the answer to everything and that includes beauty queries. You need to ensure that you use the correct key terms on your website to increase your visibility. Make sure that you think of simple phrases to describe what you do...so that if you have tanning beds in Surrey and someone types “tanning salon surrey”... you come up. Use this free tool by google to find out the best keywords: Keyword's Tool
6. Link all your online sites... Link your website in with your social media sites...Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Google+. If you’re not using all of these...there is no need to panic! It is better to use one correctly than spread yourself thin over multiple social networks.
