How to Build a Salon Website
Creating a website has come a long way since the Internet frontier days of the 1990s. Salon owners now have a variety of options when deciding how to build a website. For those who want to hire a webmaster with a specific background in hair salons, companies such as eLance, Brickwork India, oSource and Freelancers have directories full of web design professionals who will bid on jobs and offer economical rates. For the do-it-yourselfers, the Internet has numerous template-based web hosts with salon themes that allow a novice to build a site by simply filling in the blanks. Low-cost web design software is also available.
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Instructions
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An informative website that demonstrates your salon's specialties and the age groups served is a necessity. Research other independent salon websites to find ones that you like, and find out how they were were built. If they were done by a web design professional, the business logo will likely be at the bottom of the home page. Visit the sites of the designers you like and compare pricing. The salon chains will probably have used a web design company that is outside your price range, but you can still ask if you want to compare prices.
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Visit the sites of preferred designers to compare pricing. Then get bids from freelancers with a specific background in designing salon sites and samples of their work. Freelancers will usually build out a sample layout for you so you can see what you're getting.
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Purchase one or more domain names for your salon website. You must have a domain name for your site to start building it. Some web hosts will provide you with a free domain name for hosting your site with them. Others will provide you with free hosting for purchasing your domain name through them.
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Get signed releases before using customer photos, but they are preferable to stock photos. Determine the content you want on your site. Upload pictures of your work or your employees' work to put on the site. Upload testimonials from satisfied customers. You may also want to include weekly haircut or color specials, a map and directions to your business, hours of operation, any awards you have won and a menu of and pricing for your salon services. If you're selling hair-care product, you will also need an e-commerce store included in your website, so customers can order online. Your suppliers will probably have content about their products that you can cut-and-paste to your site.
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Upload videos of your staff demonstrating and explaining specialized techniques to YouTube and link them on your website for greater visibility. Launch your site after testing all the links.
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Tips & Warnings
If you use a website designer, find one who will use simple formats that you can update yourself; otherwise, you may have to wait a long time to get corrections or updates made.
Add content-rich articles, not sales fluff, and links to suppliers and business partners to increase your local web presence.
Get references if you decide to use a designer. Small, one-person shops are notorious for getting overbooked or going out of business.
Read the fine print when deciding on a web host. Some will offer you a free domain name, but if you decide to leave them, you may have to pay a fee to keep your domain name.
References
Resources
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