Language
This is often an overlooked item. Will the website only be in one language or two or more? For each language it is almost like a new website, so budget accordingly, but first justify the need for a second language.
Logo
For the purposes here, we presume that you have already created the logo you will use for the business. If not, nothing can proceed until you confirm how your hair salon business is visually identified. Logos come in two “parts” – watermark and wordmark. Also, when designing logos ensure design flexibility for horizontal use (for say signage) versus a vertical usage (for small space treatment, say for a Facebook ad). See “Steps to Logo Design” Module currently under construction.
Tag line
Besides the logo incorporating the name of your hair salon business in the design, perhaps consider an additional line, called a tag line. This line identifies what is unique to your business or your passion. A short punchy phrase is the goal. It should be done at the time of logo design, if there is to be one as it forms part of the overall design with the logo.
Using Sports Clips, it looks like this:
Legals - Trademarking
Make certain your name, logo and tag lines are protected so no other business can take and use for themselves. If you also conduct business in more than one language, that requires separate trademarking. To help reduce cost, trademark only where you conduct business i.e., US only, Canada only, North America only or do you plan to grow your business around the world. If so the logo would need to be trademarked worldwide.
Type of Client
Web design must appeal to clients whom you want attracted to your hair salon business and service/quality levels. You should spend some time to determine the type of clients you want. See “ The Secrets of Segmenting” Module to learn more.
Keywords
Even if you doing it yourself or are outsourcing your hair salon business’s website build to a third party, you need to think of the terms that searchers will use in a browser to find your business. What if searchers don’t know your business name or that your business is located where they want to travel. Below are additional reasons why keywords (or key phrases) are important.
Web developers and copywriters will also need to know your keywords for a few reasons:
1) Developers write meta tags for your web pages. These meta tags are descriptors of the pages that search engines/browsers can “find” your pages when a searcher is looking for your type of business, your services, your location or just your content. These descriptors often include keywords.
2) Developers use keywords for optimization (one of the strategies in Search Engine Optimization or SEO, the goal of staying high up on search results).
3) Copywriters, even Bloggers, use keywords. Writers of articles for online publishers of magazines and newspapers also.
Take time to create a list of keywords and phrases. There are software programs that can help develop lists such as Ubersuggest.com or Google Ad Words. Help can also come from your friends, family, employees. Quite often people use different search terms than even you can think of, so ask as many people as you can.
Like every business, MANEreviews is always searching for keywords to optimize our site. We use 3 main ones that explain our business: Find a salon, Find a hairstylist, Grow your hair salon business. We try to use in as many places as we can so that the search engines associate our site with these three pillars of our business.
Photography,
Decide how you will obtain web photography. There are 4 options:
1) Will use your existing high resolution photography (Photography from a mobile phone doesn’t have high enough resolution).
2) Will use royalty free stock photography (remember you get what you pay for, so if it’s free that means photo can be used anywhere by anyone and in any industry).
3) Will use paid stock photography (decide on the terms of licensing i.e., length of time in use, geographically where they will be used (US only, Canada only, North America) or where they will be used (web only or web and brochures etc.)
4) Will hire a photographer to shoot custom photography (allocate a budget for this and create a shot list of photography as well as determining for what other purposes if it is in addition to your web site)
Features and Functionality
Start now and make a wish list for the features and functionality you want on your website. Split into “must have’s” and “like to have”. Do you want an ecommerce site? Do you want tabs separating the different areas of practice? Do you want a way to capture email addresses? Do you want a page for media/PR use? etc.
2.THE WEB EXPERIENCE, DESIGNER EXPERIENCE AND THE MOBILE EXPERIENCE
The Web Experience
This is critical intel for attracting and maintaining web visitors. Mapping user journey and identifying every user touchpoint. This is called the customer activity cycle and identifying and evaluating will help understand what the user is doing as they go through the entire user journey on your site.
If this is a rebuild and there were analytics coding on the old site (such as Google Analytics) see what pages from the old site were viewed, how long the stay was on the pages, and if there was an online appointment function, did the user go direct to the appointment page or did they look at other pages that drove them to the appointment page. You are trying to discover anything that “drops” the dream client off the journey or anything that keeps them engaged. Any engagement intel should be noted for the new site’s functionality.
Designer Experience
With enough experience in web design, the professional can assist you in making design suggestions, however, remember, they are not vested in the outcome like you are. They move on to the next client. Do your preparation. Maybe you don’t know how to do the exact design, but you have a sense of what you want to communicate visually and in writing. Provide the context to the professionals and let them demonstrate how they can take that “home”. Your guidance will be required throughout the whole process. The designer does not design for the themselves, they design for you and you want the design that creates the best user experience. A big distinction, don’t fail that distinction.
Mobile Experience
Most often these days, the client and dream client is doing their research and appointment planning using their mobile device rather than their desktop/laptop computer. The website design should be screen responsive for smaller space viewing i.e., for the mobile experience.
Summary
Whether a website or mobile experience, there is NO linear path to conversion/booking an appointment. The job of your website and mobile experience is to give the user immediate answers at the moments they want. This moves them through the funnel from recognition of your business, to engagement with your business to becoming a “bum in the seat” and “money in the till”.
Now that you have done your research and preparedness, you are more than ready to locate and contract a web professional or create a website by yourself. Remember like marketing, everyone thinks they can do design or “my sister will help you” or a decision is made to use a web professional. You pay for what you get. If you really believe you need a website to help you convert new clients and retain existing ones, then it’s not just anyone who can design to meet these objectives.
If done as close to “right” as possible, your website/mobile site draws in your audience and gives you the best chance to secure a new client.
One last note on this section, the website design must be holistically aligned with other forms of external communication. There must be a familiar look and feel for all forms of communication the salon is designing. In this instance, all your communication efforts are driven to have your clients or dream clients make appointments. In this instance, your salon is your off line hub. Your website acts the same way in the online world, your online hub. Return to the Summary Page and see the “Digital Flow” Module to learn more.
4. FINDNG THE RIGHT WEB DESIGN PARTNER AND COPYWRITER
Ask your contemporaries in your industry, outside your industry and generate a short list of designers and web copywriters. Then interview them. You are the client, so if you feel uncomfortable with the conversation and/or sense they have attitude (they know it all), they are not the one for you.
Interviewing is very personal and subjective, but we will add some questions here to give you an idea of how to begin (or end) the conversation. Keep separate notes for each interview so that you can review each candidate separately and select one. Many questions in this section can be asked to both during designer and copywriter interviews. Here are some suggested questions:
How long have you been designing (writing copy) websites?
What is the difference between a user experience, a web designer experience and a mobile experience?
What was your biggest success? Why?
What was your worst mistake when designing (writing copy) a client’s site?
What size of business do you usually design (copy write) for?
Do you design the website to be mobile responsive (when user looks on their mobile i.e., smaller screen, the website screen size is adapted automatically to the small size mobile screen)?
Have you built an ecommerce store?
Do you both design and program or do you have someone you work with who programs?
I am looking to automate my booking process; do you do that?
Roughly how much might a 25-page website cost me to design (to copywrite)?
Give me the name of your top 5 accounts that I may call for a recommendation?
Do you have any salon accounts currently on contract? Who? if you did when?
Do you code for Google Analytics so that I can track the activity on my website? If not do you have someone who does?
5. WEBSITE AND MOBILE DRAFTING AND DESIGNING THE LAYOUT
A new website and mobile layout and their functionality take some thinking and time to develop what you wish the layout to look like. Take the time as once the website is up and running, you probably won’t do a major overhaul for at least 5 years.
You can do very preliminary drafting yourself using a website called Gomockingbird.com. It offers a free one time use to sketch out your preliminary concept of a web page. You can show your layout, when you meet with your newly contracted web professional. It is a conversation starter. Doing this sketching yourself, prior to meeting with the designer, will help keep your costs down.
If you have stakeholders, involve them at a very early stage. Buy in is a very important step. We are not talking about just people with strong opinions, we are talking about those that have “skin in the game”. Start with anyone who has invested money in your business.
This is outside the scope of this module, but ensure you’ve protected your hair salon name on every social channel, if you have not already done so. Even inactive ones, if you aren’t using some of them now, you may use them in the future. Unlike website names which have some legal oversite, anyone can take up “residency” on a social channel using your name, if you don’t protect it now. Once the registrations are done, centralize the UNs and PWs and the names of authorized Administrators of these channels. Even if it is solely you, make sure you have at least one back up Admin who can access the PWs and post to the active channels in case of emergency.
Lastly, make sure you put the social icons of the primary channels you will be active on, on all your website pages.
Prepare a budget before the start of the project and before interviews:
1) for logo design (if there isn’t one),
2) web design,
3) web programming,
4) web copywriting,
5) photography
6) account management fee if someone is managing the project
Return to Summary page and see “Marketing/Promotional/Website Budget” Module currently under construction.
I DON’T HAVE THE TIME. WHY DO WE DO THIS?
· A website is today’s way of finding hair salon dream clients, a new “bum in seat”.
· Convert a dream client to a loyal client for your hair salon business
· To grow your hair salon business
CLICK HERE to go back to DIY Marketing Modules summary page. Keep checking in, other modules currently under construction.
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Disclaimer: Details related to search, site features, channel features, analytics, programs, processes etc. in the online world, have a knack of changing at a moment’s notice. Although MANEreviews attempts to keep current with our DIY Marketing material so it continues to be relevant to you, we are not held responsible for discrepancies that may result from unexpected changes by the browsers or the social channels. We encourage you to help us help others by sending us a note to support@manerviews.com and flag the discrepancy.