Is your Salon website making these mistakes? In this salon website critique I’m going to show you a “live” example of what some salon owners get wrong.

I picked this website at random by doing a Google search for “beauty salon Brisbane”. It was ranking pretty well in the search engines so I started thinking that the website got something right.

But then again… it failed on a number of factors.

I’ll let the video reveal what I discovered. Here’s a pretty good looking website that’s going to prove COSTLY for it’s owner.

Why’s that? Because I bet that the salon owner paid a “pretty penny” for this website and they’re going to be missing out on a lot of business that can be gained from having an effective, money making salon website.

Watch the video and be sure to leave your comments at the end.

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Not so long ago I started to use Wordpress to build websites. And, the main reason for it was that another Internet Marketer mentioned that 98% of his websites were now being built using Wordpress. He raved about it, so I got stuck into learning about it.

It was too long after that, that I started to realize what Web 2.0 was all about. My main area of interest was how Web 2.0 could be used to make websites far more profitable. And it fitted into the Salon Success Website solution.

Here’s a simple explanation of how Salon Web 2.0 is applied. It may not be the right definition, but it’s how it relates to you.

You’d agree that great communication and interaction with your salon clients results in more salon business and more profits. Of course you do! Well Web 2.0 is a way that you can use all the strategies of communication through websites, blogging, video, audio podcasting etc, and connect with your clients through social media such as Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, Twitter and many, many others.

It’s what you need to be able to apply to build a “social” network with your clients. The other benefits is that the search engines love and reward those websites that incorporate these tools into their online marketing.

Here’s an explanation of some of the Web 2.0 applications available.

1. Social Networking

Social networking sites are sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace etc. With these sites, you create a profile and connect with friends, family and associates through their profiles.

You can promote your websites, promote your services or advertise your products. It’s all done in a social environment. Worried that your friends or business clients are not on these sites? Well, Facebook is growing at a rate of about 100,000 new users per day! And many of these are people that would be using your services.

These social networking sites give your products / services more exposure and help to get free traffic to your website. Keep in mind though that the primary focus on these sites is building relationships, business is second.

2. Podcasting

Podcasting is defined as an audio content, an MP3 delivered via an RSS feed presenting a downloadable streaming file. Most podcasts are downloadable and played through the Apple iPod player. These podcasts can be used for listeners to listen in to what your salon business offers, special promotions, beauty / hair tips, what sercices you provide.

3. Blogs

Weblogs, more affectionately known as blogs, are considered the next generation of websites. Blogs of Web 2.0 have the power to generate loads of traffic to their websites through the use of such things as keyword tags that relate to the content on the blog. For example if your blog was promoting beauty tips a keyword tag for the blog could be ‘anti-ageing’ or ’skincare’. These keyword tags can get picked up social bookmarking sites such as Technorati, Digg and StumbleUpon. Social bookmarking sites work by ‘bookmarking’ the tags you provide in your blog.

So, if a person were to search for a blog that specifically features a lot on ’skincare’, all they have to do is to search for it on Technorati or StumbleUpon to possibly find your blog. There are over 55 million blogs that are listed on Technorati alone.

As a Salon Owner, what should you be doing?

First up, I would make sure that your website is geared for Web 2.0. Second, I would be learning as much as you can about social marketing. You can read other social marketing articles on this website.

Related Posts:

• Blogging For Salons – An Essential Tool
• Why You Need To Start Blogging for Increased Salon Profits
• Facebook – Sshhh, Keep it a Secret!
• Salon Blogging 101
• What’s All This Fuss About Twitter?

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Here’s my “Top 10 Quick Tips for Salon Website Success”!

1. Have a website plan… determine the goals of your website. Could be a simple “business card” website (not recommended) or a “money making” website. That’s one where you attract new prospects, provide great resources and keep them coming back (highly recommended)

2. Keep it fresh… update your content regularly. Don’t let your website go stale. Update at least once a month with fresh, useful content that keeps your prospect interested

3. Capture name and email addresses… Offer a free gift, newsletter or something to get your clients to willingly provide you with their name and email address.

4. Stay in regular contact with your online list… This is all about creating a relationship with your prospects and clients. Make use of auto-responders so that you can automate much of this process. Broadcast latest offers to your list or even tips on hair care, beauty advice, etc. How often? At least monthly, weekly is better, sometimes it could be daily.

5. Communicate with your list as if you’re talking to them at the salon counter or over a coffee. Be personable, avoid “technical speak” and make it about them, not you.

6. Make navigation around your website easy. Think of your website as having multiple entrances. You don’t know which page your prospect will find so make sure they can easily find their way around. Once you get them there, you want them to hang around for a while.

7. You’re in the service business… so make sure you have plenty of testimonials from satisfied clients when you are talking about your services. This adds credibility and “proof” that what you say is true. The best testimonials are those that are specific with plenty of detail, not general like “I really enjoyed it”.

8. Promote your website… make sure you refer to your website in all your advertising and on any promotional material. Also, and this is critical, make sure each page is search engine friendly specific to the service you offer and the location you service.

9. Make sure your website loads fast… Avoid glitzy animations and sounds… make use of graphics but make sure they are optimized for viewing on the internet.

10. Make use of Attention Grabbing Headlines… you have very little time to capture the attention of your website visitor so the first thing they should see is some attention grabbing headline. And it should be based on benefits and not features.

So there you are… my top 10 tips for website success! Fact is, there’s many more but I can just about guarantee that your website does not even have all of the elements listed above.

Want a salon website makeover… then check out this Salon Website Special Report.

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• Facebook – Sshhh, Keep it a Secret!
• Salon Website Content? Try This Super Strategy
• Content Based Salon Website… Why It Will Make You More Money!
• Web 2.0 Salon Websites Unleashed
• A Salon Website That Works

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I reckon many salon owners would not have a clue about this one! Take a look around at the salon websites online… check out your competitors. Is it to have the prettiest pictures, fancy Flash graphics showing the latest styles & fashions, how great and clean your Salon looks like… or just to to tell everyone how great your service and staff are!

That’s RUBBISH!

If you’re a salon business, the purpose of your salon website is to SELL something. Forget about anything else. Your website should have ONE main focus. That is, when a visitor comes to your website you should have ONE intended course of action that you want them to follow!

So, when someone comes to your website, it should be clearly obvious what ONE action you want them to take.

Put simply, get them to make a choice and get them to do it NOW! That’s the style of marketing I promote… it’s the type of marketing that will make you RICH! And it’s called Direct Response Marketing!

OK, so we want the visitor to your salon website to be presented with ONE choice. To do this, you have two options:

Option 1: Buy YOUR  product or service
Option 2: Leave their name and email address for future follow up

If your strategy is option 1, then the best way to achieve that is to use a strong selling sales letter as the main text on your website. You don’t want a lot of links, you don’t want them to have to press “continue” to view the rest of your sales piece. The MAIN focus of your website is the sales letter.

Now don’t go thinking your business is different… The answer is clear. For your website to be an effective selling machine your product or service is not different.

Why?

Because you’re still selling to humans and the psychology of buying is all based on emotion. If you target that emotion in your sales copy then you will have a strong chance of success in making the sale.

What about option 2?

If you’re selling a $2,000 product, or even a selection of different services (the typical Salon) to a cold audience of web visitors then that’s going to be hard to achieve. They’re not going to make up their mind straight away after looking at your website the first time.

So what should you do?

You offer them an ethical BRIBE… you give them reason to provide you with their name and email address and possibly other contact information. This BRIBE could be in the form of a free gift, a free report that provides valuable information, or even a free online course delivered by email.

You can then follow them up through effective email marketing. You may not sell them today, but you may have a strong chance of selling to them in the future. Having a qualified (interested in your product or service) targeted opt-in email list is as good as money in the bank!

So when you are building your website you have to choose what your primary goal is. If you’re selling a product under $50 with a proven high conversion rate then option 1 may be for you. But for the typical Salon business, option 2 may prove more effective.

That’s the basis of a Direct Response Salon Website… a website that has a clear identifiable course of action for your visitor… and one that is designed to SELL.

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