Business: Using your time off for a move online

Perhaps you have been thinking of getting a new website for some time as you know your business needs it to survive and grow, but you are so busy in the salon you can't get 2 seconds to sit down and organise it. 

Now suddenly with the COVID-19 crisis, you have loads of time but you are nervous about spending and don't know where to start - no problem.

Today's consumers are going online to find what they want, and if they can't find your business while searching the web, you can be sure that they will find another salon instead. A Facebook page just doesn't cut it anymore, you need an actual website. Those consumers will want to be able to see all the details they need in order to decide that they can get their hair, nail or beauty treatment from you, so your website needs to have all the key basic information in a simple and easy to find format as well as look great. 

John Donnelly, MD of Digital Salon, explains:

“Digital Salon have spoken to hundreds of consumers to find out the key things they want on a salon website and have also provided websites to hundreds of salons across the UK and Ireland so we know exactly what salons need to do to attract new clients or to make it simple for existing clients to use.”

Here are some of the other key things you will need to consider when getting your business online:

Does your salon already have a colour scheme? Do you have a logo or brand identity? Great. Pull whatever you can together into a folder as this will help guide the web developers on the look and feel of your site. 

If you don't have any of this, now is a great time to think about what you want. Copy examples of any websites you like, take photos of brands you like the look of. Anything that can help our team get an understanding of what you are looking for will be helpful. 

This seems basic, but you need to have all the ways a customer can contact you on your website in a way the customer can either click to call your salon, email you or browse through your social channels. 

A new customer is trying to size your salon up, to get a good picture of who you are, so make it easy for them to do that and ensure you have all of your social media up to date with content.

List your Phone, Email, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, other social channels and your physical address. 

Here you want to give the customer a brief introduction to your business in six to eight sentences. What do you specialise in? How long have you been around, have you won awards for colour, cutting etc? Talk about any key accolades the customer would be interested in. Put yourself in their shoes for this, and put some notes down about your salon and why the customer should care. 

A constant complaint from consumers when we did research was that many salons didn't display pricing, had it hidden or not written in a clear way. Having a photo of your price list somewhere in your Facebook photos is not good enough! 

So, for your website planning, write out your price list, all services, add-ons for all staff members. Include any off peak discounts you may have for certain days etc. 

Team

Your people make your salon. The trust between stylist, therapist or nail technician and the client is paramount to getting your customers not only through the door, but back, time and time again. Everyone, from the front of house staff to the part-time staff sweeping the floor plays a key role in the journey for your customer, so make sure you have a short bio on each of them for the website. 

If a new client is on your website and looking to book with you, they want to be able to see the qualifications and experience each of your key stylists or therapists have.

Do you already have a portfolio of work? Do your stylists or therapists take before and after photos of clients? Showing off your colouring technique, your up-do skills, or your special way with curls, is a fantastic way to gain customer confidence. 

Pull together some really good before and afters showcasing the type of work you want to promote your salon for, e.g. colour, cutting, nail art, facials, whatever your specialty is. 

Does your salon have an off-peak day? Does it have any special offers? While we don't recommend having loads of these, typically it's good to offer value add offers to bring customers in on traditionally quiet days. 

Online shops were a small but fast growing area before COVID-19. However, since this crisis began we have been inundated with requests from many existing customers to add a shop to their site. 

With salons being closed, an online shop (and Gift Vouchers) are one of the only ways a salon can continue to generate revenue, so expect online shops to be more of a standard on salon websites going forward. If you want to have a shop, pull together a list of all the products you sell, their prices and an image of each one. These can usually be found on your suppliers website. 

So, in summary, while your salon is closed there is plenty of information to pull together to help you get a head start on your salon website so that it is ready when you reopen or soon after.