Are you a beauty specialist looking to grow your personal brand? Often when it comes to marketing and brand awareness purposes, beauty salons choose social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest as their go-to media.
While there is nothing wrong with securing a loyal following on social media, you must not underestimate the power of a professional website. Social media may help you connect with your audience, share valuable content, encourage interactions, and build brand credibility, but an exclusive website is crucial for the following reasons,
- Easier way to be found online
- Better promotion of products in the digital space
- A distinguishable identity in the market
- Establishing social proof
- Offering potential customers key data about the company
- Receiving customer feedback
According to Stanford’s Web Credibility Research, 75% of people surveyed (out of 4,500) agreed that they use a brand’s website to test its credibility. If there is one way you can make your beauty salon stand out in the market, it’s a well-designed website. Wondering how to go about it? This article has you covered.
1. Research Current Trends
You should always start your website design journey with a clear picture of the current beauty market. For instance – browse through websites of competitor beauty salons with a similar focus. Note down what you particularly liked about each website, from the design to the content.
Do observe how easy it is to navigate through the website. Top features that make website navigation more functional include easy homepage access, an organized toolbar, and a distinct search bar. Keep track of the time it took to extract the basic information about the brand – its history, services, client testimonials, etc.
Make a list of what you liked and what did not appeal to you about each website. You can later work your way around these to ensure your beauty website is in line with the current market trends.
2. Organize the Sitemap
The sitemap forms your website’s skeletal structure. It is the blueprint outlining the number of pages and sub-pages your website will have and how seamlessly each page will connect with the other. Let’s see an example – the homepage will ideally sit on the top, followed by other pages such as services, testimonials, contact info, etc.
You can make your beauty website more detailed and well-structured by breaking services down to the different treatments available – categories like nail, hair, cosmetology, etc. There must be a clear pathway that connects the homepage to different service pages.
Different methods are available to create a sitemap based on your needs; just keep in mind that a visitor should not have to click more than twice before they land on a service page. The aim is to prevent visitors from getting lost in a maze of pages. A simple and well-organized sitemap will also give you a good rank in Google’s books. Here’s an example of what each page must be like,
- Homepage – This page will greet your website, so it must be aesthetically appealing and to the point in terms of the content. Let your visitors know from the get-go what your brand is all about, its tagline, value proposition, etc.
- Service Pages – These pages should hold all relevant details of each service your beauty brand offers.
- About Us Page – This page allows you to tell visitors about your brand’s journey and where it all started – time to get those creative storytelling juices flowing!
- Contact Section – This page will be dedicated to letting your clients know the different mediums through which they can contact your business.
- Testimonial Page – Through this page, you can let visitors know what previous customers have had to say about your business. BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey found that 98% of visitors read business reviews online, and 84% of them trust them as much as personal recommendations from friends and family.
- Privacy Policy Page – This page will tell your visitors how your brand collects, manages, and uses their data. This page is a great way to establish trust.
3. Choose a Relevant Website Template
One reason many beauty specialists fear setting up their professional websites is the lack of expertise in coding. Thankfully, there is no need for that, as a pre-made beauty specialist website template will have almost every feature that makes your site stand out.
You may need to do some browsing so that the template aligns with your aesthetic vision. It should also provide all the functional features that provide a good visitor experience. According to Glass, a good template is the foundation for an organized website, as it offers plenty of room for creative freedom and customization.
Since the layout is simplified, you can proceed to add your personal touch to the pages by dragging and dropping images, changing the text and buttons, rearranging elements, and more. A robust website-building tool will make website designing a matter of seconds with pre-made templates and pre-set elements and features.
4. Bring in Other Elements
Once you’re done setting up the layout and sitemap, it’s time to include seamless payment and appointment booking options. It is reasonable that your staff won’t be available round-the-clock (even during work hours sometimes), so take the help of online scheduling software.
The scheduling tool will take much of the burden off your shoulders through the following functionalities,
- Easy bookings and payments round-the-clock
- Accept secure, recurring payments
- Create custom discount coupons
- Offer package deals, membership, plans, and more
- Manage staff calendars in real-time
- Edit and manage customer info
Besides, you also need to nail Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to get your website ranked on Google’s first page of search results. This would include publishing valuable content linked to relevant web pages, inserting short and long-tail keywords (but no overstuffing!), and registering your business on Google My Business for local SEO, among others.
5. Spread the Word on Social Platforms
According to Statista, there are currently 4.8 billion social media users of all demographics. That’s a 6.5% increase from the previous year. So, once the site is designed and you’re ready to hit ‘Publish,’ spread the word across different social media platforms. When you make a social post, ensure your website’s link is also posted in the biography box.
Add relevant hashtags each time to get maximum engagement for your posts. As people interact, they will also get to check out the website if they’re interested in knowing more.
Besides using post bios and hashtags, you can use paid ads wherever necessary (depending on your budget). For instance – Facebook ads are a great way to garner the right attention for your website. This works the other way too – add your socials on your website.
The Bottom Line
With the tough competition in the market, having a professional website for your beauty brand is not an option but a necessity. Since your business is such that there’s plenty of scope for creativity, publish high-definition pictures of your latest works to build credibility.
Share valuable content with your visitors, and don’t let the website remain stagnant! Finally, ensure you optimize the website for mobile users, and before long, you’ll watch your beauty business grow by leaps and bounds.