September 18, 2017 — Amber
Your website is the online representation of your salon. Think of it as a virtual gallery that triggers potential customers to explore the different services and best offers at your salon. With a great salon website design you keep the attention of potential customers and you will acquire more bookings. This should be the main purpose of your website.
The aim of this blog is to stress the importance of being present online, especially in the year 2017. This involves two essential aspects: discoverability of your salon online and the look of your website. For more information about online discoverability, you can check out our previous blog. This blog provides several tips on how you can positively influence the online discoverability of your website. Your salon website design is super important. It eventually decides wether you will gain or lose clients. So now let’s focus on the 6 tips for a great web design that will increase your revenue.
Last year, mobile Internet access far exceeded Internet access via desktop. According to figures from Zenith, a whopping 75 percent of all Internet traffic in 2017 is expected to come from mobile devices. That brings us to tip 1:
Over 86 percent of people, like you, use a smartphone. Hence, the probability a customer searches for your salon on their phone is large. A website with “mobile responsive design” automatically adjusts the display to the screen size of the visitor’s personal device - be it a laptop, tablet or smartphone.
Curious if your website is mobile responsive? Then visit your website on your smartphone and click around. Is the text legible or does everything seem very small and indistinct? You can also test the “mobile responsive design” by using the free tool from Google to observe the difference.
It is proven that websites with no “mobile responsive design” have a much higher bounce rate. This means that people will leave your website immediately before any interaction on your website. Eventually your conversion rate (total website visits divided by total bookings on your website) will be much lower and this will negatively affect your revenue.
Less is more in terms of colours, graphics, titles and text. The latest web designs often have calm colours, are uncluttered and user friendly. We say goodbye to pink backgrounds, different fonts and low resolution images. The first impression of your salon website will determine if clients stays or goes. If a website looks restless, it will negatively affect the image a client has of your salon. The client will most likely leave your website without even considering to look further. A good salon website design provides a familiar, comfortable feel and looks professional. The customer is likely to expect a professional touch when getting her new hair colour, painted eyebrows or eyelashes done and will love to make a booking on your website.
Customers have many choices when it comes to picking out a salon. It is not just about the services you offer; the customer wants to have a feel of your salon. Therefore, it should be no surprise that vivid, high resolutions pictures are prominent on online booking platforms. Adding a portfolio on your website provides the customer an idea of your salon and the services on offer. Do not use standard image library material (stock photos), but real photos of your salon and results of your work to highlight your capabilities.
Mobile visitors more often become actual customers. Why? Mobile searches on Google are usually targeted searches (searches with a specific goal) and real time to some extent. Currently 80 percent of people use their mobile to shop. If you need a specific product, you can easily go to amazon.com and purchase the product directly.
The same search behaviour reflects on salons. Whenever customers feel the urge to get their hair or nails done they want to satisfy their needs directly. This means they will either go to Google or their favourite salon’s website and make an appointment directly. In a situation like this it is important that your website allows clients to make a booking as simple and fast as possible. An online calendar allows existing and potential customers to book their desired service directly. A customer can immediately see the services you offer, the available times and can book directly. Compare this to a situation where a customer has to call for an appointment and reaches your voicemail 9 out of 10 times. You do the math.
Bonus tip!
How many customers visit your online appointment page and what percentage actually also books an appointment? This is valuable information, which you can obtain by optimising your online appointment page.
Google Analytics makes it possible to gain insight into this aspect. If you work with the online calendar Salonized, you can add a success URL (i.e., the number of customers who make/complete a reservation or booking) to your booking widget. In your Google Analytics account, you can then make a comparison between the number of visitors to your online appointment page, and the number of customers who land on your success URL.
Feel free to contact our customer service to learn more about how to configure Salonized/Google Analytics link.
Following up on the previous section - an online diary on your site - it becomes more common to be accessible for bookings 24/7. Answering voicemails and responding to WhatsApp messages belong to the past with an online diary. All you need to do is to refer to the online calendar on your website where customers can instantly see your availability and book online.
Online bookings appear in your calendar immediately and you will always receive an email notification when a new booking is made. So you easily keep track on changes in your diary. Although you are always accessible for your clients with an online diary, it is important to clearly state your opening hours. People who visit your website still want to know your opening hours so they can directly visit your salon. By clearly stating your hours to avoid disappointed clients visiting your salon when you are closed.
You can probably find your salon with your eyes closed, but for new clients it can be a bit harder to find the physical location of your salon. Focus on these two aspects so your salon can be easily found:
1) Make it easy for customers to locate the physical location of your salon. Make sure that first-time customers can easily access the address of your salon. The data must be clearly visible on your website, Facebook page and on the automated appointment confirmation and reminder from your online booking software.
2) Make it easy for customers to find you through Google Places. Second, connect your location to Google Places. When customers search for a hairdresser or beauty salon in Google Places they will quickly see all the salons nearby their location.
Of course you want to end up in that list of salons. If you haven’t connected your salon to Google Places you can claim the address of your salon in Google Maps. Just click on this link and claim your location! In our next blog we will provide tips on how to end up higher in the search results of Google Places.
We call Amber ‘Miss Salonized’. This is because she has held a number of different functions within the business and she knows all the secrets of the salon software system and more! All her experience has made her the perfect candidate for her current role as Product Manager, keeping you informed of all the latest Salonized developments.
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