Reasons Why Your Hair Salon Isn't Ranking higher for Local Searches

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10 Local SEO Mistakes That Hair Salons Are Doing

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You did everything that internet gurus told you to rank higher on search results and attract customers. 

Google My Business listing? Check. Website? Check.

Yet seeing no results? 

If yes, don’t lose hope yet. Because chances are you are committing these lethal local SEO mistakes that are killing your SEO. 

This guide lists the top 10 local SEO mistakes that most hair salons make and tips to avoid them. 

Mistake #1: You Have Not Verified Your GMB listing 

Imagine this. You want to buy everyday essentials from a store. But the store from the outside looks shady. There are no customers. 

Would you still visit that store? Would people recommend buying from there? 

No. Right? 

Even though the business may be completely safe, the exterior made you back out. That's the same thing with unverified Google My Business Listing. 

Neither search engines nor users will trust the business listing if it's unverified. This means losing countless customers just because you ignored verifying. 

Here are the top reasons you should get your GMB listing verified as soon as possible. 

• It keeps other businesses from claiming your business or acting as a representative on your behalf. This is why most businesses, irrespective of large or small, claim their business and try to appear on local 3-pack as below. 

• You can control information. When you verify the listing, you can tell Google what information it can display about you and which one it cannot. This keeps your privacy safe. 
• According to Google, verified businesses are twice as likely to be considered reputable by users.

Mistake #2: You Ignore Social Media 

Unless you have been living under the rock all these years, you might know that social media has exploded in popularity. There’s no turning back. It will keep adding new users every day. 

So, if your hair salon is not on social media, you are seriously missing out on huge opportunities. Social media has an incredible potential for hair salons. This is because hair salons are a visual business. You cannot describe a hairstyle in words; you need to show it! 

That’s where social media gives you an essential platform to showcase your hair salons, haircuts, your services, and so much more. 

Here’s how to use social media to improve your local SEO efforts. 

• Leverage Geographical Features. Most social media platforms allow you to add the business location to help users in that area find you with ease. For example, look at the below screenshot of a salon page on Facebook with their location embedded. 

• Use a Business Page. If you are using a personal account to promote your hair salon, stop it. Personal accounts have restricted reach, so you will never grow fast. 
• Add a Book Now Button on Your Social Media. Instagram and Facebook allow you to add the “Book Now” button.

Mistake #3: You Don't Collect Client Reviews 

Ask yourself. What's the first thing you do when you want to try a new service or product? You search for reviews online! Right? 

That's what your audience is doing! When they are looking to get their hair cut from you, they will want reviews by other users. 

Reviews are one of the top-ranking factors in local search ranking. Moreover, a recent study found that 69% of consumers say review sentiment influences their trust in business. This means not only do you need reviews for your hair salon, but you need them to be positive ones! 

Your hair salon must have a review acquisition strategy in place. Here are a few things your strategy should include: 

• Gather emails at the time of service, or send a review request shortly after service.
• Have a “Review Us” page on your hair salon website where customers can review your services and products. The below screenshot shows a site with a ‘Reviews’ section that helps the audience without letting them refer to other sites for customer perception. 

• Monitor reviews. If you find that most of them carry a negative sentiment, it’s a sign that your services or products are not satisfying your users. Try to politely reply to them by asking if you can help them or solve their problem. 
• Manage spammy reviews. They adversely affect your brand's image. 

Mistake #4: Your Website Is Ancient 

Like the example we gave in the first point, websites play a critical role in helping you rank at the top. 

Your website acts as a curtain-raiser for your salon. 

Here, your mantra should go big or go home. If your website looks shady with bright colors, uneven fonts, and slow loading speed, you will likely give a bad impression to your users. 

Here are some tips to optimize your website for local SEO. 

• Ensure that your design is simple yet classy. The below salon site has its categories at the bottom, clickable links on images, and unclear text on the images. It seems the site isn’t user-friendly or grabs the audience's attention. 

Try to use limited colors and allow easy navigation.

• Optimize all your core pages, like the homepage and service pages, with “buyer intent” keywords.
• All the meta descriptions and title tags must have target keywords.
• The website should load blazing fast. 
• Ensure your NAP, i.e., name, address, and phone numbers are correct everywhere on your site. 
• Avoid duplicate content like a plaque. Google doesn’t like it, and neither do users. 

Mistake #5: You Don't Target Keywords Properly 

Do you know there are over ten types of keywords? 

Each keyword plays a different role. So, you cannot just target any keywords and expect good results. 

But here, we will target two broad categories of keywords. 

1. Buying Intent: If your users search for this keyword, they are ready to purchase your services. An example could be “Hair Cut in the Bay Area”. This means your client is ready for a haircut. 

These keywords are best used for your home page and service pages. So, find similar keywords as shown in the below image using Google keyword planner to connect quickly with the local audience.

2. Research Intent: These keywords signal that the customer is “Shopping Around”. They might want her hair done someday. An example of this could be “Latest Haircut Trends”. They are researching the best trends because they might want to change their hairstyle shortly. 

Remember, however, that research intent keywords do not drive rapid results. It could take a long time before customers convert. However, they help you introduce your services to customers so that they can use them later. 

Read: Common Keyword Research Mistakes People Often Do In SEO

Mistake #6: You Are Not Registered On Online Directories 

If you own a small hair salon or barbershop, you may be small, but that doesn't mean you cannot create a massive presence in your community. 

That's where online service directories play a massive role. They can make your business visible by helping you reach the right audience at the right time. 

Here are some popular online directories that every hair salon should register on to get more rankings.

1. Yelp: One of the most popular business directories after GMB. The number of reviews on each hair salon shows how popular this platform is in the below image. 

2. Apple Maps. Since Siri is the assistant in most iPhones, it will redirect users to Apple Maps when searching for places near them. 

3. Google Maps. This goes hand in hand with GMB listings. Almost everyone today uses Google Maps to navigate places around them. This is your chance to get found. 

4. Facebook: Although not considered a directory, the fact remains that 79% of customers use Facebook to find businesses. 

5. Yext: An AI directory can help users find your hair salon using voice search. 

6. Moz Local: A local directory of businesses created by Moz.

Mistake #7: You Are Not Investing in Local Content Creation 

Your customers need a reason to visit your website. But, along with knowing your business hours and address, they want to see what you do and how you do it. 

Consumers expect to find useful content on your site that establishes your salons as an authority. By regularly adding helpful content, you are cementing users' trust. You are letting them know that you are an expert in the field and know what you are doing. 

Here are some tips for creating local content for your hair salons.

• Make It Relevant. You can make content relevant to your audience by compiling your most asked questions. Think about what questions your user asks regularly? Can you compile them together and answer their questions? 

You can even create content around “People Also Ask” topics as Google shows them based on user interest. 

• Present reviews of the latest hair care products. Give opinions on what you think about the latest hair care products. 
• Help your customers learn how to take care of their hair. 

Mistake #8: You Are Measuring Wrong Metrics 

Most companies are hyper-focused on winning the keyword war so much that they forget about other metrics that matter even more than ranking on the first page. 

Although there is nothing wrong with ranking on the first page of Google, you are missing the key performance indicator board.

Landing on the first page of Google means people know you are there. Your business exists. But so what? Is that driving revenue for your hair salon? 

Here are the top metrics that your hair salon needs to focus on

• Visitor - both quality and quantity
• Leads generated and converted
• You can measure increased organic traffic and revenue generated directly from this traffic through the tools like GA

Did you see what we did here? 

We tracked the metrics that mattered the most! The activity and dollars generated will help you grow your salon, and this does not necessarily mean ranking on the 1st page. 

Mistake #9: You're Missing Out on CRO 

Okay, so you got the customer to your website. They are happy. But what now? What's your strategy to convert them? 

You are completely wrong if you think visitors will automatically convert into paying customers once they visit your site! 

That's where Conversion Rate Optimization(CRO) plays an instrumental role. 

CRO is the process of continuously testing your website's elements to bring in leads and convert them. 

That's why local SEO and CRO work hand in hand. You cannot ignore any of them if you want to grow your salon. 

Amazon wins the CRO race. Apart from having highly engaging content, Amazon is designed to convert users. Think about it. What makes you buy something from Amazon that you have never bought before? 

Some things that come to our minds are:

• Product reviews
• High-quality product images and videos
• Q and A about the product 
• Fast shipping time
• Security 

In the same way, what do you think will make consumers trust your hair salon site? Some examples would be 

• You can add before and after photos of haircuts or showing galleries of various stylings.

• Your hair-related services. For example, hair dyeing, straightening, conditioning, cutting, etc. 
• Users testimonials.
• Inside pictures of your salon.
• Intuitive user navigation.
• Good copywriting 
• High-quality content related to the hair niche.

Mistake #10: You Set It And Forget It 

SEO does not have an On and Off button. You cannot just pop in anytime or leave. It's a complex game that requires patience. You can't fully automate SEO. 

For example, suppose your hair salon site ranks for highly competitive keywords one day. But your site will likely lose this position if you just forget about it. 

That's why it's so imperative to continuously update your SEO strategy if you want to maintain positive results. 

Here are a few things you must pay attention to at regular intervals. 

• Plugin Maintenance. One outdated plugin can completely crush your results in an eye. Outdated plugins are both a threat to your SEO and the site's security. 
• Analytics. Check your analytics to see what pages attract the most traffic from time to time. And which keywords are converting better and other relevant metrics. This data can easily be measured under landing pages in behavior, as shown in the screenshot. 

• Update Your Outdated Content. Freshness is a ranking factor. This means your content needs to be updated regularly. 
• Identify the Weak Spots of Your SEO Strategy. This can be anything from slow loading speed to not being able to convert users. 

Key Takeaways

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• Leverage social media to promote your hair salon.
• Optimize your website to convert more users.
• Get registered on online directories and review sites—for instance, Yelp. 
• Don’t forget to track your results and update your local SEO strategy from time to time.