Is Your Salon Website Just Sitting There Looking Pretty and Doing Nothing?
I talked to a salon owner named Gina last month. She owns a place in Pennsylvania. Seven chairs. She'd spent $4,500 on a beautiful website two years ago.
"It's gorgeous," she told me. "But I don't think I've gotten a single client from it."
I looked at her site. She was right. It was beautiful. Stunning photos. Clean design. Modern layout.
But when I searched "balayage near me" in her area, her site was nowhere. Page one? Nope. Page two? Nope. Page three? There it was. Bottom of page three.
"Nobody's seeing this," I told her.
She was shocked. "I paid someone to build it," she said. "I thought that was enough."
A beautiful website that nobody finds is just an expensive photo album. Let me show you what's actually happening.
What Happens When Your Website Is Just Pretty Photos?
Gina's website was one page. Everything on one long scrolling page. About her salon. Services listed. Some photos. Contact info at the bottom.
"My designer said single-page sites are trendy," she said.
But Google had no idea what services she actually did. No individual pages for balayage, extensions, color corrections. Just a list of services with no details.
"When someone searches for balayage in your area, what page should Google send them to?" I asked.
She didn't have one. "Just the homepage, I guess," she said.
Her competitor down the street had a full page dedicated to balayage. Process explained. Before and after photos. Prices. How to book. That page ranked number two.
Gina's homepage competing against competitor's specific balayage page? No contest.
I know another owner named Valerie in Idaho. She had the opposite problem.
"My website has pages for everything," she told me. "But I still don't show up in search."
I looked at her site. She had pages. But they were thin. "Balayage" page was three sentences and a stock photo.
"Google doesn't think you're an expert," I told her. "This page doesn't answer any questions a client would have."
A guy named Raymond in Texas had a different issue. His website looked amazing on desktop. On mobile? Disaster.
"Buttons don't work," he said. "Text is too small. Photos don't load right."
86% of people searching for salons do it on their phone. His site only worked on desktop.
"You're turning away almost everyone," I told him.
How Bad Can Site Structure Actually Hurt You?
Gina's single-page site was killing her in search.
Google couldn't understand what she specialized in. One page with everything meant she wasn't an expert in anything specific.
I had her rebuild with actual structure. Homepage that explained who they are. Services page that listed everything. Then individual pages for each major service: balayage, extensions, color corrections, haircuts, styling.
"Now when someone searches for balayage, Google has a specific page to send them to," I said.
She also added team bios. Individual pages for each stylist with their specialties.
"Google sees you as a real business now," I told her. "Not just a pretty one-pager."
Her site went from bottom of page three to top of page two within two months. Top of page one within six months.
Valerie's thin pages needed more content. I told her to actually explain things.
Her balayage page went from three sentences to:
- What balayage is
- How it's different from highlights
- Her process step-by-step
- What to expect time-wise
- How to prepare for appointment
- How to maintain color at home
- Before and after photos with descriptions
- Client testimonials
- Clear pricing
- Big "Book Your Balayage" button
"That's a lot of writing," she said.
But that page started ranking. "Because Google finally understood you're an expert," I said.
Raymond's mobile disaster was costing him constantly.
He pulled up his site on his phone. Couldn't even read the text. Had to pinch and zoom. The "Book Now" button was impossible to tap.
"If I can't use this, neither can your clients," he said.
He had his site rebuilt mobile-first. Everything designed for a thumb, not a mouse.
His bounce rate dropped 60%. "People used to land on my site and immediately leave," he said. "Now they actually stay and book."
What Actually Makes a Service Page Work?
Gina's single-page site didn't have service pages at all. Once she built them, she didn't know what to put on them.
"I just listed the service and a price," she said. "That's what I thought you do."
That's not enough. Her balayage page needed to sell balayage.
Title: "Expert Balayage in Harrisburg, PA | Gina's Salon"
Not "Balayage." Not "Hair Color." Specific location. Specific service. Her salon name.
Then the page content:
- What balayage is and why clients love it
- Who it works best for
- The consultation process
- Time and pricing
- Before and after gallery
- Stylist who specializes in it
- How to book
"Every question a potential client has should be answered on that page," I told her.
She also added a big clear call-to-action button at the top and bottom. "Book Your Balayage Consultation."
"Don't make them hunt for how to book," I said. "Make it obvious."
Valerie's service pages had the information but terrible headlines.
Her balayage page title was "Balayage." That's it.
"You're competing against every other balayage page in the world with that title," I told her.
Changed to "Natural Balayage in Boise, Idaho | Valerie's Hair Studio"
More specific. Location included. Salon name included.
Her click-through rate from search results doubled just from better titles.
Raymond's service pages looked great on desktop. On mobile, the "Book Now" button was at the very bottom. Clients had to scroll through everything to find it.
"Put it at the top too," I said. "Mobile users won't scroll all the way down."
He added a sticky "Book Now" button that stayed at the top of the screen while scrolling.
Bookings from mobile increased 40%.
Does Site Speed Actually Matter?
Gina's site was slow. Eight seconds to load.
"That seems fine," she said.
It's terrible. Most people leave if a site takes more than three seconds.
Her photos were huge. Not optimized. Each photo was 8 MB. She had 30 photos on her homepage.
"Your site is trying to load 240 MB of photos," I told her. "Nobody will wait for that."
She compressed her photos. Each one went from 8 MB to 200 KB. Same quality to the eye.
Her site started loading in two seconds. Bounce rate dropped 45%.
"People actually stayed on my site," she said.
Valerie's site had a different speed problem. Too many scripts running.
"What are all these tracking codes?" I asked.
She had Google Analytics. Facebook Pixel. Three different chat widgets. Two different booking systems. All running at once.
"Each one slows down your site," I said. "You don't need all of them."
She removed the duplicates. Kept what she actually used.
Site speed improved 50%.
Raymond's mobile site was slow because of autoplay videos on the homepage.
"These videos look cool," he said. "But they're killing your mobile load time."
He changed them to click-to-play instead of autoplay. Mobile speed improved dramatically.
Is Your Site Actually Secure?
Gina's site didn't have HTTPS. No padlock in the browser.
"What does that mean?" she asked.
It means Google and browsers flag your site as "not secure." Even though she wasn't collecting payment info, it made her look unprofessional.
"People see 'not secure' and leave," I told her.
She added an SSL certificate. Cost $50 annually. Site now showed as secure.
"Google gives preference to secure sites," I said. "This helps your ranking."
Valerie's site was secure but her booking system wasn't.
"When clients click 'Book Now,' they go to a different site without HTTPS," I said.
She switched to a secure booking platform. "Can't have security drop at the most important step," she said.
Raymond's site was secure but the checkout process for gift cards wasn't encrypted properly.
"Fixed it immediately once I realized," he said. "Can't risk client payment information."
What About Blog Content Nobody Reads?
Gina didn't have a blog at all. "I don't know what to write about," she said.
I told her to answer questions clients ask her constantly.
"What questions do clients ask about balayage?" I asked.
She rattled off ten immediately:
- How long does it take?
- How much does it cost?
- Will it damage my hair?
- How do I maintain it?
- How often do I need to come back?
- Is it better than highlights?
- Can I do it on dark hair?
- What's the difference between balayage and ombre?
- How do I prepare for my appointment?
- What products should I use at home?
"Write a blog post answering each one," I said.
She wrote ten blog posts over two months. Each one detailed. Helpful. With photos.
Those blog posts started ranking. Bringing in traffic. "People find my blog, then book appointments," she said.
One post alone, "How to Maintain Balayage at Home," brings her three to five new clients monthly.
Valerie had a blog but posted randomly. "I write when I think of something," she said.
No strategy. No consistency.
"Pick one topic related to your services," I said. "Write everything about it."
She chose extensions. Wrote ten posts all about extensions:
- Types of extensions
- How to choose the right method
- Costs and maintenance
- Styling tips
- Common problems
- Before and after transformations
- Client stories
- How to prepare
- How to care for them
- When to get them removed
"Now you're the extension expert in your area," I said.
Those posts started ranking. Her extension bookings doubled.
Raymond had a blog but all his posts were about his team or salon events.
"Nobody's searching for 'Salon team lunch outing,'" I said.
He pivoted to educational content. How-to guides. Before and afters with explanations. Common hair problems solved.
Traffic increased 300%. "Because I'm finally writing what people actually search for," he said.
Can You Really Do This Yourself?
Gina tried to fix her website herself initially. "I watched YouTube videos," she said. "Tried to figure out technical stuff."
Spent 40 hours over two months. Made minimal progress. Got frustrated.
"I'm a hairstylist, not a web developer," she said.
She hired someone who knew what they were doing. Her site was completely rebuilt and optimized in three weeks.
"I should have done that from the start," she said. "Would have saved me months."
Now she gets eight to twelve new clients monthly from her website. "That's $4,000 to $6,000 monthly," she said.
Valerie did most of her improvements herself. "I wrote all the service pages and blog content," she said.
But hired someone for the technical stuff. Site speed. Structure. Security.
"I can write," she said. "But I can't code."
Smart division of labor. Her site now brings in ten to fifteen new clients monthly. "$5,000 to $7,500 monthly," she said.
Raymond tried to do everything himself. Made things worse.
"I broke my site three times," he admitted. "Had to pay someone to fix it each time."
Eventually hired someone to handle it properly. "Cost me more in the long run by trying to DIY everything," he said.
Now his site brings in fifteen to twenty new clients monthly. "$7,500 to $10,000 monthly," he said.
What's the Biggest Website Mistake?
Gina's biggest mistake was thinking a pretty site was enough.
"I spent $4,500 on design," she said. "Zero on making it actually work for search."
Site looked amazing. Did nothing.
Valerie's biggest mistake was thin content.
"I thought having the pages was enough," she said. "Didn't realize they needed real content."
Pages existed but didn't rank.
Raymond's biggest mistake was ignoring mobile.
"I only ever looked at my site on my computer," he said. "Never checked it on my phone."
Lost most potential clients because they couldn't use his site.
All three of them are in completely different places now.
Gina: $4,500 pretty but useless site → fully optimized working site → 8-12 new clients monthly = $4K-$6K monthly.
Valerie: thin pages that didn't rank → detailed expert content → 10-15 new clients monthly = $5K-$7.5K monthly, extension bookings doubled.
Raymond: mobile disaster → mobile-first design → 15-20 new clients monthly = $7.5K-$10K monthly.
All because they stopped treating their website like a digital business card and started treating it like their hardest-working employee.
If your website is just sitting there looking pretty but bringing you zero clients, you're losing thousands of dollars monthly to competitors whose sites actually work. New clients are searching for salons right now. If your site doesn't show up or doesn't work when they find it, they're booking someone else.
