Barbershops have grown in popularity in recent years, and fierce competition have emerged, fighting for every client. Some big players can receive so many customers that it is impossible to visit them without reservation, while others are struggling to cope, having very few customers.
While looking for a haircut, your customers search for your services online. In order to attract them you need to be visible. Not only that, you need to be reputable. Nobody will go to barber with very few reviews or especially the one with only bad ones. When it comes to looks people wants the best for themselves.
In this article we will show you how SEO and digital marketing can take your local barbershop to another level.
- SEO
First of all, you need some keywords. Quality ones. Think, how are people searching for your services? They probably type “barber shop near me”, or “barbershop New York”. You get the point.
The problem is that these keywords are probably already used by your competition. In local SEO strategy you still need to use them, but you will also add some more. Think of your target audience, according to it you can create keywords like “vintage barbershop in New York” or “Old-school barbershop near me” etc.
Okay, so when we have our keywords sorted, then what’s next? You need to have Google My Business Profile. From there customers can access your website, book spots, see prices and contact you directly. They can also see reviews…
You are surely aware that there are very few sectors as sensitive to reviews as barbershops. People care about their looks, if they see a bad review under your profile, they won’t trust you to work with their hairs and beards.
Obviously, the best way to avoid bad reviews is to not make mistakes and always provide best service to customers. However, everybody makes mistakes from time to time. Always ask your customers if the like the hairstyle, you can also ask them to post review under your profile.
Even if you have some bad cases, ensure that every happy customer post good review, your overall ratings will go up which will help you greatly. If there are 5 bad reviews among 100 good ones nobody will take them seriously.
Asking customers if they like the hairstyle is also crucial for another reason. Your competition can in some extreme cases, post fake bad reviews under your profile. If you know that all customers were happy with their cut, you can easily spot the fake reviews, report them to Google and remove from your profile.
Ok, so your Google My Business Profile is ready, now you need to get it visible by ranking higher among other businesses. In order to do so you should use one of the most powerful Local SEO tactic. Acquiring backlinks which means having other, quality, local sites linking to your business.
Remember that any toxic backlinks, coming from suspicious sources can rather destroy you’re your rankings than help them.
You should acquire links by creating content which can be shared and by asking local sites to review your barbershop. You should also use social media to acquire more backlinks.
- Digital marketing for local barbershops.
Digital marketing is a very powerful tool no doubt about that. In barber industry it is especially important.
Use your social media to share your best works. Your audience will see some of your best hairstyles and trust you instantly. You can also post content about maintaining epic beard and hairstyle on your blog which will get you backlinks and build your brand image as an expert in the field.
If you are already trusted, you can ask local influencer to come for a haircut in your barbershop. Later ask him to share his hairstyle with his audience and mention your business. You have probably just realized, how much traffic you can get from that.
Another way to boost your business is to observe current trends and implement them into your strategy on social media. Let’s say that there is a new trendy hairstyle around. Find a model, do it, make photo and show it to your audience.
As a barber you are surely aware of popularity of barber tutorials on YouTube. Yet another way to boost your traffic, brand image and get tons of backlinks.
Through social media and content, you post, you can also promote any beard and hair cosmetics you may sell, thus, boosting your income.
