Published 19th June 2018
Hands up, who hasn’t updated their website since they opened their salon in 2009? If this is the case, then it is time to give it a revamp and a refresh.
We can almost guarantee that your salon doesn’t look the same as it did in 2009, and you probably don’t offer the exact same services, so why is your website not reflecting these changes?
It’s time to give your website a refresh and bring it into 2018 and with it bring in a wave of new customers.
It is a well known fact that Google prioritises sites that have good Search Engine Optimisation or SEO, which is why it is important to keep your websites blog up to date and using keywords for your business, but they also rank websites on how well they work on mobiles and tablets, and how well they run in general. Long loading times and old, out of date coding and themes are going to send you straight down to the bottom of the list.
But first we need to establish what makes a ‘bad’ website so you know what to steer clear of when you do chose to update your site.
Long Loading Times.
If your website is taking a long time to load (think 7 seconds or more) then it is time to look at why. Animations, graphics using flash or overly large image sizes can all contribute to your website being slow.
Old Themes and Coding.
Your website may have been top of the class back in 2009, but it’s only going to stay top of the class if it keep growing and developing. Technology is constantly evolving and is able to do more and more, so using 9 year old coding and themes are going to leave you behind while everyone else is progressing with leaps and bounds. Update the theme you are using (if you’re on wordpress, you should receive a notification enabling you to update) and this will make sure your site runs smoother on browsers.
Not Mobile Friendly.
More and more people use the internet on their mobile phones and tablets, and if your site doesn’t cater to that then you are going to lose business instantly. If you site doesn’t currently work well on mobiles then you will need to check the theme that you are using (see the above step), many of them will have updated regularly as time and technology moves on so they should be mobile friendly. If not then it is time to pick a new theme.
Hidden Information.
For any vital information, your customers shouldn’t have to scroll or click. For example, if you are having to close due to inclement weather conditions, this should be the first thing your customers see when they visit your website to check if you are still open. (obviously contact your customers for that day as well)
People using the site should not need to click more than twice to find any information they need, as it shouldn’t be hidden away.
Out of Date.
Does your website just look old? Obviously old school is considered ‘cool’ and ‘on-trend’ but that only works if your website works, and if it’s the same one from 2009 - it doesn’t. You can keep an old school and classic feel, but update it to have modern features. For example a google maps widget so customers can find their way to you, or an online booking system so people can book their appointments directly without having to add another step of calling the salon.
Remember, that you should be updating pages regularly, making sure the contact information is correct and updating your team page every time you hire new staff (or they just want their picture updated!)
