What is a search engine algorithm?
Briefly put, a search engine algorithm is the tool that looks at all potential results for a search, then chooses which ones go on which page.
SEO works by determining what the algorithms’ criteria are, then catering to those.
What does SEO consist of?
Like any good beauty routine, SEO consists of a few different components. Let’s look at those now.
Local SEO
First, there’s local SEO. This is all about helping your Google My Business page reach the top three results in local searches, such as “beauty salon near me”.
Local SEO is important if you’re hoping to recruit new clients that live or work close to you. That covers the majority of beauty salon owners.
On-page SEO
When you optimise this facet of SEO, what you’re doing is upgrading every aspect of your website that can be seen. Do you have descriptions of the services you offer? Those can be edited to rank highly for searches like “balayage experts” or “gel nail technician”.
Technical SEO
This focuses on the less tangible parts of your website, including schema and mobile-friendliness. Search algorithms promote pages with better technical optimisations, making this an important aspect to work on.
Off-page SEO
Lastly, there are backlinks, which are links to your website on other people’s sites. The higher the authority of the websites on which you appear, the better your search result rankings will be.
WHY DO YOU NEED BEAUTY SALON SEO?
Next, let’s cover the main reasons why investing in SEO for beauty salons is so worth it.
Keeping up with modern demands
Few people these days are finding their go-to salon by opening up a phone book and calling a few different places. In fact, we’d be surprised if most people even owned a phone book!
People today rely on search engines like Google. So, by making sure you keep up with that shift, you can ensure that you continue to bring in new clients.
Attracting new clients
On the topic of new clients, few tactics are more effective than simply being in the right place at the right time. That can be hard to do in person, but for your website, showing up right when someone looks for beauty salons that offer their preferred services is easy.
That is, if you invest in SEO, it is.
Doing better than your competitors
There’s a saying that if you’re looking to hide a secret, the second page of Google’s search results is a good spot for it. That comes from the fact that there’s only so much space on the first page, and most people are not going to look beyond that.
So, by beating out your competitors and taking up one of those page-one spots, you can ensure you retain your competitive edge.
Enjoying long-lasting results
Short-term solutions are for those who don’t want to plan for a stable future.
Beauty salon owners and workers with a keen interest in securing steady business growth will turn their eyes to solutions that keep delivering good results over time. SEO is one of those – once you’ve achieved a good ranking in the search results, it takes relatively little effort to maintain it. That means you get to keep enjoying good ROI even after your initial SEO campaign ends.
Choosing a cost-effective solution
As mentioned above, SEO keeps bringing in benefits after the campaign ends. Paid ads and similar marketing tactics just don’t work like that, and will instead keep piling more ongoing costs onto your shoulders.
On the other hand, investing in SEO once comes with a fixed cost and limitless potential for growth.
WHICH STEPS ARE INVOLVED IN THE SEO PROCESS?
Next, we’ll demystify the process of an SEO campaign. Here are the five main steps Digital Glory uses to provide you with our complete SEO service.
Keyword research
We always start by doing our research and figuring out which keywords you should optimise your pages for. This helps us determine how competitive your keywords are, as well as what your competitors are doing.
Content creation or editing
If your website has a lot of content, this step primarily involves editing and enhancing that content. If not, it’s mostly about creating brand-new content that properly targets the keywords we identified in the previous step.
Technical SEO
We explored technical SEO earlier – and this is the stage at which we implement it. We essentially overhaul the tech side of your website, optimising everything we can and ensuring that your site visitors will love the time they spend there.
Off-page SEO
Next, we set up your backlinks. This helps boost your authority in the eyes of the search algorithms, as mentioned earlier.
Ongoing improvements
We always make sure to track the progress of your SEO campaign to ensure that we’re delivering the best possible results. Whenever opportunities for improvement present themselves, we’re quick to take advantage of them. The result is a highly effective campaign with excellent results
WHAT ARE SOME KEY SEO BEST PRACTICES?
In the interest of making the SEO process progress as smoothly as possible, here are some best practices you should know about before you get started.
See it as an ongoing process
There’s a good reason why we implement ongoing improvements as part of our SEO process.
The more people that take an interest in SEO, the more competitive the good keywords become. That’s why it’s a bad plan to do an SEO campaign once, then dust your hands and never re-examine things.
Instead, think of SEO as something that can continuously be improved over time. This also helps show search engine algorithms that you’re committed to always improving your website and its pages, which helps boost your rankings over time.
Choose your keywords well
There will always be some keywords for which you can rank. The question is whether you want to.
Not all keywords are equal, after all. For example, “beauty salon near me” might be a great keyword, as this is a phrase people would really use when searching for a service you offer. While “salon where I can get my hair cut that’s not too far from me” technically means the same thing, ask yourself how many people would use a phrase like that compared to the simpler and more concise one earlier.
Also, some keywords are simply too competitive. Imagine trying to rank highly for just “hair” – you’d have your work cut out for you!
You need keywords that balance the ability to rank well with searchers’ intent. Only then can you enjoy success in your SEO campaigns.
Work with knowledgeable experts
Would you prefer to trust the professionals at your beauty salon with your makeup, nails, and hair, or your friend’s cousin’s dog-walker who hasn’t ever done beauty work professionally?
SEO works more or less the same way. You can try to do it yourself and hope for the best, or you can turn to the experts to get the best results straight away.