Your Google Checklist – by Phil Evans

This checklist has been created for salon & clinic owners who watched my webinar  "How to get more clients from Google".   

It has not been written to be read top-to-bottom in one sitting but rather used as a checklist of things to work through over a longer period of time. Google search is a BIG topic - so start digesting it one small bite at a time.

In the webinar, I explained the 3 different areas of Google that can all bring new clients to your salon. This checklist covers them in order of importance for attracting clients - 

1. Google search and your website
2. Google Maps & Google Busines Profiles
3. Googe Adwords adverts 

This image shows an example of all 3. 

You can watch the webinar here

Google Search: your website results

Google displays the websites that match the search phrase after the adverts and Map/Profiles (number 3 on the image link above) but they are the most important (and free) way that Google can give you potential clients. These results are called the "organic" search results. 

These two screenshots show the source of the traffic in January and February for two Salon Guru clients -

Monaco Hair Salons in Tampa - with 52.4% Organic traffic and 77.1% from Google in total.

Sparx Beauty & Aesthetics in Winchester - with 43.2% Organic traffic and 70.1% from Google in total.

Your Google search rank and phrases

The simple process to dominate Google search….

1. Know your rank for each phrase
2. Plan & make improvements
3. Check again

As a starting point, you should know where you rank for a broad range of phrases in your suburb, town, city or region. This could be hair phrases like balayage and wedding hair, beauty phrases like lash extensions and manicures, or aesthetic phrases like lip-fillers and wrinkle reduction.

Make a list of at least 30 phrases and check where your salon's website appears on the results.

The three documents linked below will help as a starting list for phrases you may need. Delete any phrases that are for services you do not offer, and replace XXX with either your location (town, city, suburb) or add "near me" for very local mobile results.

• Hair salon phrases
• Beauty salon phrases
• Aesthetic phrases

Once you identify where your website ranks poorly (outside the top 3 places) create a plan of new content (pages) or additions to pages on your site. On the webinar, I explained the steps to create pages/content to DOMINATE Google search....

1. Content: page with 500+ words, images & videos. There are lots of great guides if you search on Google for phrases like "good content for seo". Also, explore the pages on our 230+ websites to see how we create pages for services like Balayage or Lip Fillers.
2. Use the words/phrases on your pages that clients use. Think about how clients ask about this service and then create headings and paragraphs for each e.g. Balayage prices, balayage reviews, balayage for brown hair, balayage image gallery.
3. Add FAQs & Reviews to key pages. FAQs and Reviews are a great way to add lots of information to a page with many search keywords while not feeling like forced SEO content.
4. Ensure the Mobile load speed is less than 3 seconds. Add any page URL from your site on GTMetrix to check its load speed on mobile. Your home page is the most important and then the key service pages. You should aim at less than 3 seconds fully loaded.
5. User experience: does it look good on a PC & mobile? Open your website and all key pages on your mobile. Is it perfect? Is it fast?
6. SEO settings: H1 and H2 titles, meta titles, descriptions etc. This is a guide we created for our salon owners if they want to create their own web pages. It is based on our systems but explains very well the basics of SEO that will apply to all salon and clinic websites.

This page explains a lot more about how Google chooses a webpage for the top places. The key is well-written content that answers the question e.g. "balayage prices" or "injections for fuller lips" but also provides lots of helpful information and images. These are some great pages we created that are full of content and optimised for related search phrases....

We have also written this very detailed guide to SEO Search Engines for Salons & Clinics

Know your traffic from Google

Knowing how many people visit your website and where they come from (the source) is vital. To do that we use a free tool called Google Analytics for all our website clients. It means that, as you improve your search rank explained in the previous step, you can see the actual visitor numbers improve on Analytics.

You can also see how many people come from your Google Business Profile and also follow links from your social media or email newsletters. Knowing the numbers is really important.

This page gives a lot more information on Google Analytics.

The search phrases that bring traffic

The next free tool to help you plan is Google Search Console. The example shown on the webinar for Voodou Liverpool showed that over the last 3 months, the biggest search phrase for bringing visitors (apart from their name) was Nioxin Reviews.  This knowledge helps you plan where a small improvement in a phrase's rank can bring a lot of new visitors. More info on Google Search Console here.

Perfect web pages

Being number 1 on Google search for an important phrase is great - but is wasted if the page the client arrives at is slow, the layout is terrible, or it lacks information or calls to action.

Check ALL of your important pages on a PC and then mobile as 70% of your visitors will be on a phone.

Google Business Profiles & Map

This is the latest name for a Google Business Listing or the Local Map Pack. It provides a map and several company listings at the very top of many search results (after any adverts). 

This image shows an advert at the top and then the map with 3 Google Business Profiles. Try some local searches to see how and where you appear.

For many of our clients, their Business Profile accounts for 25-35% of all of their website traffic. So, on the webinar I stressed that it is important to take ownership and then update your Profile. This was my checklist.....

1. Claim your location listing
2. Check all details 100% correct
3. Ensure categories correct
4. Update the website link so it is trackable

This page explains in a lot of detail how to claim ownership, update your profile and track results.

In summary: CLAIM your listing, UPDATE the info every month and TRACK the results.

Remember, we are here to help if you get stuck.

Google Adwords

Although at the top of the displayed results, I explained in the webinar why Adwords are NOT the best long-term option for most salons and clinics as it costs money for every click. That investment is best directed at your website for long-term no cost traffic.

This was my checklist of the only times you should think about using Adwords...

1. You need an instant result
2. You cannot "fix" your website
3. You use specific and limited targeting i.e. very specific phrases and a small target area
4. Only high-value services or urgent needs like staff recruitment
5. Use measurable and valuable conversions like phone calls, applications completed, consultations booked

and my checklist of "How to NOT waste money on Adwords"

1. Identify the group of phrases to target e.g. Hair Extensions, Lip Filler or Balayage.
2. Are you top of Google search organically?   If NO, sort your website. If YES why advertise?
3. Is the website landing page perfect for client conversions or sales?
4. Is the page fast and easy to use on mobile?
5. Create the keyword list with all variations, match types and negative keywords.
6. Create Google adverts with adgroups, titles, descriptions and links
7. Manage the campaign adding/removing phrases as the results are analysed.

If you want to read more about Google Adverts this page provides an introduction and I would be delighted to book a call to discuss campaigns that we have run and the results.

The 4 most important points....

1. Search on your mobile & PC for client search phrases

2. View your website and profile as a client sees it

3. Record key rank numbers, plan changes, repeat

4. Use the checklist & get the FREE rank report