Blue Sand Marketing

The Salon, May 2010

Business Tips: Onscreen allure

Marketing expert Katherine Arbuthnott reveals how to make the most of your website

Many salon owners spend a great deal of time creating the perfect website then heave a great sigh of relief once it was launched.  However the truth is, that's when the real work should start.  Apart from optimising the site for search engines - something every programmer should have included in the cost - there isn't a lot a website can do on its own to attract new customers.  However, aside from social networking, with a little know-how there are thankfully many ways to use the internet to promote your services at very little cost.

 

Link up

Just as you have searched for businesses in your area to organise joint promotional activity, you can do the same online.  Except, this time, there are no geographical restrictions.  By finding like-minded companies that will agree to set up a link to your site and vice versa, you can not only enhance your customers' experience of your brand but also offer their target customer something of benefit and have the potential to grow your own customer base to boot.

An affiliate scheme goes one step further by earning you a percentage referral fee when visitors click from your site to the offer website and purchase items.  By joining the scheme at Yogamatters.com, for example, you will earn eight per cent of the net value of all sales purchased by visitors who were directed to their online shop from your site.  To raise your online profile for not set up cost, find out if there are any local or visitor information sites or that offer a free listing for your business.  Directory listings like Thomsonlocal.com and Hotfroguk.co.uk are free to join and rate highly in Google Search.

 

On the list

If you have a bit more cash to play with, there are some listing sites, such as Thebodyguide.co.uk, that ask for a subscription in return for greater visibility on their site and a consistently high Google ranking across a bundle of sister sites.

There are also websites like Belaqua.co.uk where businesses earn their status by being vetted by its team.  Similarly Thegoodspaguide.co.uk gives a "bubble rating" and invites those who have visited to leave a review.

Membership sites like Lavish.co.uk can promote your business online in return for a commission on the sales of their product, which in this case are gift vouchers.  Alternatively, sites including BeautyVIP.com and Luxeprive.co.uk offer consumers a membership which entitles them to VIP exclusive offers on partner products or spas.  In return salons need to give their members a unique and, in some cases, unlimited offer.  There may also be opportunities for cross promotion using these sites' customer databases.

 

The best review

On other sites, including Tipped.co.uk and Qype.co.uk, visitors are encouraged to write reviews on their experiences.  Written by real visitors, they are considered more credible than your own website or any standard advertising.  Clearly this method runs the risk of gaining a less than perfect review but don't under estimate the power of an online word-of-mouth referral because of the speed at which it travels.  Get listed on this kind of site and offer incentives for your clients to write a reviews such as a free prize draw, for example, to win a course of treatments; this will really help your search engine listings, too.

Wahanda.com on the other hand brings all of the above together.  Salons can get listed for free, become a voucher partner or receive an enhanced listing with links and promotional space for a fee.  Additionally, therapists, salon and spa owners and clients can create their own profiles and are rewarded for being active on the site - leaving reviews, being reviewed, blogging, using the forum etc.  There is a real sense of community and user generated content is positively encouraged for the good of all.  

Apply each of these techniques to your website and you will notice an increase in site traffic.  The trick is, of course, to keep doing it.

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