How Austin Hair Stylists Can Make Use Of SEO To Improve Their Business

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Why Does a Hair Salon Needs SEO?

Gone are the days where local businesses could successfully operate devoid of online visibility. Hair salons and stylists are no exception.
If you run a salon in Austin and think digital marketing is not for you, we politely ask you to come out of the cave.
Digital marketing can pay a nice dividend for years to come if you consider investing a decent amount in SEO. Did you notice the word "Investment" in the preceding sentence?
Yes! SEO is an investment, not an expense.

12 Valuable SEO Tips for Hair Salons in Austin

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1. Optimize your Google My Business Page

The aim of Google's My Business is to enhance the online presence of small businesses. The program saw the dawn in 2011 and is a top priority for digital marketing experts for local SEO.
It is a free tool offered by Google for local businesses to manage calls, appointments, website visits, customer service, etc.
Take a look at this Google my business profile of a salon in Austin, using an online booking feature.
If you have not created a GMB profile for your Austin Salon business, click here to create your business profile now.

Read : Benefits of a Google My Business Listing

TIP : Make sure you fill up all details regarding your salon business. From description to adding contact number, never leave any column empty. Choose the appropriate attributes, add photos and videos, and enable the Q&A section.

2. Create Separate Page for Every Service Location

Location-based web pages are proven to be highly beneficial to scores of local businesses.
If your salon is amid a tightly-packed city like Austin, you can even be more specific regarding geo-targeting. You can create pages not just for Sunset Valley and West Lake Hills but narrow down further and target South River City, Clarksville, and the like.
Have a look at this salon in Austin that has created separate pages for every location.
While creating landing pages, make sure you create unique content for each page. Use a tool like Google Trends to understand how people search for salon services in Austin.
Take a look at this Austin-based plumbing web page.
They appear on page one for the search "Plumbers in Clarksville TX, thanks to their geo-specific landing pages.

3. Use Localized Keywords

Localized keywords generally have low search volumes. But they are more likely to convert since they are considered high-intent searches.
For Example, 'Hair salons in Austin' is a broad search query. Google may list a few dozen hair salon listings for a search like that.
However, for the phrase 'Fish Pedicure in Austin,' search engines first show results containing fish pedicure and Austin as keywords.
Do local keyword research and note down the top-searched keywords around your niche. If the findings match with the services you offer, include them in your keyword strategy.
Three Helpful Keyword Research Tools:

• Google Keyword Planner
• SEMRush
• Moz Keyword Explorer

Have a look at this screenshot from the SEMrush keyword research tool.
Note: To see this, you need to log in to SEMrush and click on “Keyword Overview.”

4. Get Links from Authoritative Websites

Search engines evaluate a range of factors before ranking your site during searches. One of the main factors that determine your trust score in the eyes of Google is links to your site from high-authority sites.
Establishing meaningful connections with businesses that complement your hair salon is where you need to start.
Consider collaborating with local fashion influencers, beauty bloggers, florists, beauty schools, etc.
This will help you earn quality backlinks from complementary businesses. Here is an example of backlinks from a website called Austin Monthly.

5. Aim for Rich Snippets

If you want your listing to stand out from others on Google search results, add local Schema markups to your website HTML.
Schema markups make it easier for search engines to understand a business's functions. As a result, they will make the results more appealing by pulling out data such as product reviews, ratings, addresses, phone numbers, etc.
E.g., Take a look at this website displaying their ratings, reviews, price range, etc.
When presented with the usual result, these rich data will improve the site's click-through rate and credibility.
Schema markup tools:

• Technical SEO
• Google Schema markup testing tool
• SEO Smoothie (A free one)

6. Use the “Booking” Option from Google My Business

Google introduced this feature to help local businesses and service providers manage bookings right on their Google My Business Listing.
Enabling this feature will add a booking button to your listing. Log in to your GMB and turn on the 'Bookings' feature to enable this feature.
Login to your GMB and click on the “Booking“ tab.
Once done, Google will show you a list of its booking partners. After you choose one of the booking providers as your booking partner, the Book Online button will appear on your listing in a few days.
Alternatively, you can also add the link to your appointment partner like this.

7. Prioritize Voice Search

Voice search has become so popular among many because of the convenience factor. You can ask questions right away to your smart speakers without even thinking a second.
According to ThinkWithGoogle, 27% of global online users rely on mobile voice searches.
The key difference between text search and voice search is that the latter is more of a semantic search. There is a conversational element in voice searches. Instead of the typical query like "Best salons near me," you say, "Hey Google, show me the best salons in Austin" in voice searches.
TIP : Add the phrase 'near me' in internal links, title tags, meta descriptions, etc.

8. List Your Business on Waze Map

Waze is an interesting navigation app. It is the second leading mapping app in the US, with 11.22 million downloads. What sets Waze apart from other navigation apps is that the traffic is community-based.
The app shows users community-recommended local businesses present along the route.
Here is a step-by-step guide to adding your business to Waze

• Download the Waze app from iOS or Android
• Click the 'Reports' icon
• Select the 'Place' icon
• Click a picture of your Austin salon & enter your business name.
• Select the relevant category and click 'Done.'

And did we forget to mention that Google owns Waze?

9. Pay Attention to Long-tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are specific in nature. Instead of the usual phrases like "salons near me," you have queries like "Eyelash extension specialist in North Austin," which are longer.
The competition is generally low, but the queries have high intent. If your salon offers a wide range of services, you can exploit this strategy.
Take Lacquer Nail Studio, a medspa located in North Austin. They rank on the first page for the query "Nail salons in north Austin."
TIP : If you advertise your salon using long-tail keywords, they will give you a much lower cost-per-click due to lower auction intensity.

10. Make Your Website Mobile-friendly

According to a study conducted by Hubspot, 61% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if their site is mobile-friendly.
Google gives priority to mobile-friendly sites during search results. So if your hair salon website is a desktop-only one, make it mobile-friendly as soon as possible.
The golden rule for revamping your site for mobile-friendliness is 'Thinking With Your Thump.' Pay attention to pop-ups and ensure they don't obstruct the site. Check whether your content overflows and ends will ellipses.
Have a look at this wonderful mobile responsive website of a leading hair salon in Austin.
Useful Tools To Check Website Mobile-friendliness:

• Google Mobile-friendliness Test
• Bing Mobile-friendliness Test Tool
• Sitechecker

11. Exploit Social Media

Though your social media links do not hold much juice as backlinks, they still indirectly impact your SEO.
The clicks your profiles generate are important social signals for search engines. Though Google never explicitly said your social media links are not as important as links, one can assume that they indeed prove beneficial for SEO.
Let's see what Gary Illyes of Google said a few years ago. "The context in which you engage online, and how people talk about you online, actually can impact what you rank for (sic)," Illyses told Google Pubcon.
Take a look at this video.

TIP : Use platform-specific coupon codes to increase bookings. For Example, you can create promo codes 'INSTA10' and 'PIN10' for your Instagram and Pinterest followers, respectively.

12. Ensure NAP Consistency

If your salon has been in Austin for a while, it would certainly have been listed in local directories. But does it appear the same across all platforms?
By same, we mean exactly. If your listing appears as "ABC Salon, Red River Street' on one platform and "ABC Salon, Red River St' on another, you must rectify it.
Your NAP (Name, Address, and Phone Number) consistency is important for search engines to define its legitimacy. If your listings have multiple variations (even a missing comma is a variation for a bot), expect some drop in rankings.
For Example, in the below-mentioned screenshots, a hair salon in Austin has two different addresses in different local listings.
TIP : Never use abbreviations and multiple phone numbers (for one location) in your listings.

Two Bonus Tips

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I. Citation Links for Hair Salon Websites

Here Is a List of Authoritative Sites Where You Can Get Citation Links

• Yelp
  Yelp is a go-to place for many to read reviews about local businesses. A listing on Yelp contains photos, an appointment/booking button, website link, among others.
• Foursquare
  With a user base of 50 million, Foursquare Cityguide helps one find the best shops and businesses in any city. It uses proprietary technology to detect real-world visits to businesses.
• Expertise
  Expertise is home to tens of thousands of service professionals from 200 industries across the US. Expertise claims to research 60,000+ businesses every month.

II. Posting Quality Content on Your Blog

Here Are Some Popular Hair Salon Blog Links

• Lush Hair Folk
  Lush Hair Folk boasts a good collection of articles about hair, coloring, dyeing, hair regrowth, etc. The blog can be a reference point for yours.
• Msalon
  Apart from regular blog posts, MSalon also writes reviews about the products they use. They also use the space to share the news and updates about their salon.
• Fringe Salon and Colorbar
  Fringe Salon and Colorbar does blogging in the right way. They have appropriate tags for all blog posts.
• Houston Salon
  Fringe Salon uses its blog to insert long-tail keywords. It uses real-life pictures taken at their salon to accompany the blog posts.
• Bellarinova
  Bellarinova's blog is not so contemporary-looking. But they do cover a range of topics under haircare. Their blog posts have a big 'Book your Appointment Now' button. Smart move indeed.

Key Takeaways

• Thoroughly optimize your Google My Business page for maximum online visibility.
• Use long-tail keywords that have low competition.
• Optimize your website for voice search as it is one of the most preferred ways to find local businesses.
• Add local schema markups to your HTML code to get featured in Google results with rich snippets.
• Join hands with successful complementary companies and get links from their sites.
• Make your website mobile-friendly.
• Make sure all online listings, including the GMB page, have a consistent NAP profile.
• Use social media to the full extent and make sure your profiles have your website link.
• Use underutilized platforms like the Waze navigation app to list your salon.