LOR Blog

One of the best ways to advance your salon or spa and gain credibility is to promote it online. Here are the top 15 ways to get your business noticed in the digital world.

Sign up for online listings — If your salon or is not listed on NAP (stands for name, address, phone) listing sites such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, Google Maps, etc., your business is missing out on the opportunity for free marketing.

Ask for online reviews — Reviews are an excellent way for your clients to give you and your business some online love and tell about their great experiences. Potential clients search for online reviews long before trying something new, so reviews are especially vital for service-oriented businesses. Many channels offer a means for your clients to produce a review of your business. Yelp and Google reviews are great places to start. Ask your most loyal clients to step up with an online review.

Step up social media efforts — Today, social media is more about engagement versus just the number of followers. However, to engage others, you have to provide relevant and interesting content and make an effort to interact with people. It’s advised to set aside enough time each day or several times per day to answer questions, respond to comments, and interact with your followers on all of your salon’s Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter pages.

Advertise Online:

• Google AdWords — You decide on a budget and geographic location to advertise and then create a message. Your ads appear on Google Search and Maps when people search for salons or spas in your given area. You pay Google when people click your ad to call your business, visit your website, or get directions.

• Facebook Ads — Like AdWords, you pay when people click on your ad on Facebook. Even with a minimal ad budget, this method can be useful if you target specific demographics in a given area using Facebook’s keywords and filters.

• Adroll Retargeting — Not all of your advertising dollars from Google AdWords and Facebook ads are going to convert to a website click or other action. Adroll lets you remarket to those people who didn’t translate to your desired action the first time. In the hopes of getting the viewer back to your salon or spa website, your ad will populate when they browse other sites.

Contribute to industry blogs — Reach out to popular salon industry publications and blogs and offer to write a guest post. Be sure to include a link back to your salon website so that you can benefit from the coverage and increased traffic.

Publish a case study — Step up as an expert by doing research or conducting a case study about a subject that’s relevant to the salon or spa industry.

Offer a download — On your salon or spa blog, offer a valued piece of content that potential customers can download in exchange for providing their email address. You’ll want to accumulate these addresses and use them to cultivate into new clients.

Get links to your website — One of the best ways to rank on Google is to obtain a backlink to your site from other credible and related businesses or blogs. Just remember to think quality of the link not the number of links that are out there.

Create something viral — If people find your photo, video, or story compelling, they are more likely to share. Strive to create content and social media posts that will help skyrocket your salon or spa’s exposure.

Invest in SEO — Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of having your website organically rank higher in search engines like Google. When people type in “salon near (your town or city),” it’s likely that your business will show up in the search results. To get that to happen, you need to use the best SEO practices so that your website ranks as high as possible. If you need help in this vital area, look to a professional for guidance.

Create problem-solving content — Create content on your website or blog that is valuable to your readers and offers a solution to a problem. That way your content has the chance to populate when Google users query that specific problem. For example, people may search for “best ways to add volume to thin hair.” If you have a credible blog post on this very subject, it’s likely to be included in Google response to that search.

Make a video — Video marketing is one of the best ways to get views on YouTube. The channel offers a powerful search feature and helps to generate free traffic that has the potential to turn into new business for your salon or spa. Plus, you can post the link to your YouTube videos on social media and in your email marketing.

Host webinars — A webinar is a seminar offered on the web. These venues are a great way to help educate your clients and potential customers about what’s right for their hair type, condition or desired finish. For example, you could host a webinar demonstrating the best way to detangle long hair. Your clients with long hair or with kids with longer locks will appreciate the information and will consider you and your salon as a valued source for hair expertise.

Get testimonials — Ask clients to do a quick video testimonial. Take a few minutes after you finish their service, and they look and feel their best, to do a quick interview. With their permission, upload to YouTube, publish on your website and push to your social media channels for maximum reach.