Top 5 Reasons Your Hair Salon Needs a Website

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Maybe you’ve had a successful hair salon for years and your flow of clients is in and out like a Manhattan revolving door. Or perhaps, you just started one and are struggling to pack the chairs and fill the appointment book.  Regardless, both need a website.  It would seem that the latter would be more in need.  But here are the top 5 reasons why both do and how it benefits the one with the successful streaks AND the one that’s a little green at the roots.  Because the goals of a hair salon  aren’t to create just great client impressions when they walk out the door, but even before they get there or perhaps know that you exist.  How so?  Read on….

1^st Show that You Are a Cut above the Rest ~ Perhaps you can highlight with the talent of Picasso or have the most stylish stylists in a 50 mile radius- if you don’t advertise it, word of mouth is probably not enough to keep your book of business on the incline despite a declining economy.  Grooming is one of the “extras” that many people can’t justify when the light bill is due and groceries are in need. In today’s tough economy improving the growth and profitability of your hair salon needs to be a high-priority and this is one tool you’ll want to have in the kit.  Having a website shows potential and repeat customers that you really mean business about your business.  It reflects another level of professionalism for clients and to the industry.  Remember, the goal is to create a great impression on a client both before they come to the salon AND after they see their reflection in the mirror.

2^nd   Add Social Media Presence to Your Menu ~ Running a hair salon requires interaction with a lot of people and why not let that network work for you. What do I mean by that?  I mean getting people to Like You on Facebook, connect with you via Linked-In and chat about you on Twitter. With constantly changing styles, promotions, and products you shouldn’t have a problem finding topics to talk or Tweet about.  This is an ever-evolving industry and you can take advantage of that using the free resource of Social Media. Use it to show others that you are tapped into the most current trends in hairstyling, makeup, products or whatever your salon may specialize in.  And speaking of specialties, if you have one in particular-like you wax as smooth as a baby’s bottom or have a stylist who coifs with the precision of Edward Scissorhands-then Social Media is the perfect place to create hype about the talents in your establishment.

3^rd Great Referencing Tool for the Trade ~ A website is a great place to let your work shine and the words of your clients work for you.  Often, word of mouth helps as much as it can hurt.  Letting others “hear” from current/past clients does influence decisions…especially in service-providing industries.  Most repeat customers would love say how Thomas keeps their true roots invisible or Shelly is a Shear-tress like no other AND see it in print!  No to mention that playing to a client’s ego in this manner, is also another way to keep their business at your business.  I mean this is an industry of vanity after all…

4^th  Stylistas, the Cutting Floor to Web Design ~ A great look and feel website should engage visitors and compel them to spend time there.  You are in luck in this particular industry because the variety of website designs available can vary as much as shades of blond.  But you also have to know which to choose based on your demographics, clientele and other such factors.  Don’t forget that when selecting one, it should reflect both your vision for your business and the clientele walking through its doors. Keeping this in mind, don’t fail to have fun with it. I mean it isn’t a law firm for goodness sake-so you can push the envelope of creativity without seeming over-the-top.

5^th  Picture Perfect Coiffing & Selling ~ Photo Galleries aren’t fabulous only in SoHo but can be just as spellbinding on the www while exhibiting your stylists’ work.  There are various choices to do so…like a slide show, a flip/style online book or even a Virtual Tour of your Salon while talent’s in motion.  It will be engaging and be a non-traditional way of showing off your talented team.

                               
Decide Who Will Make the Cut ~ If don’t have a salon website already but are now convinced you need one, here are some considerations when choosing a website designer and/or company:

Find one that you feel understands your salons demographics and how to reflect it on the website.

Know that imagery will be crucial for your website.  So make sure that you have “web-worthy” photographs to showcase the talents of your team and use stock photography where needed to beautify the site.

Make sure they will write your content with commonly used keywords that are frequently used when searching for hair salons, especially in your geographic region.

At Design Theory, we’d love to help you take your business to the next level of design and success. As such, we now have great packages specifically designed for hair salons that will help you blow away your competition.