In the last few years, Hair Salon and Hairdressing websites have begun to take seriously the huge audience available online. Especially the Google search audience.
Given the excellent return on investment, a first-page position in Google can give you, many Salons are searching for ways to stay ahead of the competition.
These brief Hair salon SEO and Web Marketing Strategies are designed to give your Hair Salon website a boost in search engines and improve the level of engagement from people who come to your site looking for the purchase your services.
Below I have reviewed some specific web marketing strategies from a professional SEO point of view. These are the kinds of rank boosting strategies you can begin to apply to your search engne optimisation plan today.
While I have focused on a Hair Salon, they can be added to any small business web design.
On Page Marketing and SEO for a Hair Salon
Some Initial Planning Questions
The better you know your Salon customer, the easier it will be to find them online and the easier it will be to speak their language. Here are some key questions. Grab a pencil and some paper and write down your answers.
- Who are your Hair Salons Target Audience?
- What are their Interests?
- Where are they Located?
- How Can you reach them?
I live in a community with only 7,000 people. Most are in their mid-fifties. If you run a salon in that kind of neighbourhood it is going to mean a different clientèle to those you might serve in an inner city street.
It is going to impact where you are likely to find them online and what their interests are too.
For example, if your audience is a younger couples crowd, then perhaps wedding bells are common. A place to hang out with them online might be around wedding, florist and cake sites, blogs and forums.
For an older crowd, it might be Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram.
Whatever your target audience, you absolutely must have an optimised Google Local Page and it must be optimised for SEO and updated regularly.
You can find out more about localising a Google Local or Maps page here.
Web Design for a Hair Salon
Choosing a good small business web design for your salon or hairdressing business is an important part of your marketing and SEO strategy. Google uses your design elements as a ranking factor. If you want to improve search results and boost your position consider the following suggestions.
- Use a Content management System Like WordPress
- Use the Genesis Framework
- Ensure it is it well coded and fast
WordPress is free and one of the most popular tools for building and maintaining a Google Friendly Website. There are an enormous range of Themes you can choose from.
We recommend using Studio Press Themes which are all Word Press themes built on something called the Genesis framework.
If you are going to build the site yourself, here is the link to their site.
Creating Content
Content is all the things you publish on your site – and off your site. Google favours high quality and original content. So do your prospective clients and customers.
Here are some of the things you are going to want to know about:
- Content Marketing Plan
- Keywords, Tags and Titles
- Content Hubs and Internal Linking Strategies
- Enriching your Content with with Audio Visual Media
Your content marketing plan is the who, what and why of your websites marketing strategy.
It is going to help you determine what your keywords are and how you are going to speak to your audience. Most of your content creation and web marketing should be centered on the concept of Content Hubs.
Content Hubs are a way of organising your material so that your articles, video’s. images, etc are all pointing to your most important pages.
Content Linking Example
Think about ways to add value to your site also by using video, how to infographics and rich images that show case your services and your expertise.
- Create a Youtube Account
- Show Case How-to Video’s
- Upload light-hearted “day in the salon” video’s
- Show before and after images on a Pinterest Board
And include all of these things on your own site and in your own articles and web pages.
Off Page SEO and Marketing Strategies for a Hair Salon
Forming Partnerships
Who else in the business world works with your clients?
- Wedding Photographers
- Cake Makers
- Florists
- Car hire
- Beauty Salons
- Fashion and Modeling
How can you team up with these businesses to cross promote your services? Maybe you can engage a car hire business to drive your clients around as part of a contest.
Put out some press releases that provide the car hire business with some free advertising in exchange for a free car service offer once a month to a lucky hair salon client who books a group hair treatment.
You could also look at providing an article or other good quality content to one of the above sites to book your external links (which in turn boost your ranking in Google).
This last idea leads into the next.
Contributing Content to Others
Google uses links that point back to your site as an indicator of how valuable your Hair Salon site is. There are a number of sites you can contribute your work to in order to draw attention to your business, boost traffic and increase your position in the Major Search Engines.
- Use Infographic sites, like Visual.ly to publish your images
- Upload short how-to or humour video’s to Youtube
- Use Slideshare, Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest to showcase before and after shots
Find Forums, Blogs and other sites that either deal with your subject (hair and beauty) or are complimentary to yours (Wedding Planner sites) and offer to contribute an article, image, video, etc that is relevant and of benefit to both you and them.
Developing a Social Media Strategy
You have a good number of options here to get the word out and start a following through social media. People love images, short video and how-to content.
People want to know how to solve hair problems, how to choose styles and what’s hot in the hair and fashion industry.
Consider How you could use the personality and brand of your Hair Salon to increase traffic and time on site with:
Time on site and traffic are indicators that tel Google your site is worth ranking on it’s first page. The challenge is for you to decide the angle that is going to appeal to your target audience.
Are they likely to respond to:
- Humour (Hair Blunders)
- Celebrity Culture
- Simple at home hair care
- Hair Product reviews
Think about creative ways you can engage your audience on social media. Find an angle that comes natural to you and is consistent with your brand and reputation.
Hair Salon Web Marketing and SEO Best Practice Review
- Know your Customers
- Consider Creating Content Hubs
- Use Keyword Title and Meta Tags
- Create Rich Media
- Form Strategic Partnerships
- Develop a Social Media Strategy
See a subject we haven’t covered? Contact Us and let us know what you would like us to write about.
Hey, maybe you could write it for us!
He says he strongly believes there is no cookie cutter
system for every business.
Hi Forbes,
It’s very true. Yet, the same algorithm applies to all sites equally which means there are going to be a set of standards which all sites need to work on. These standards can further be applied to certain industries in ways that are relevant to that industry. The hair salon and beauty industry being one example.