Does your beauty business really need a website?

The answer is yes – your beauty business absolutely needs a website. Starting your own business is daunting and you might be tempted to push a website to the bottom of your list, relying on other platforms like social media for your online marketing instead. This blog post explains why you need a website and why relying on social media just isn’t enough to create a successful beauty business.

Why do you need a website?

A website is the virtual shop front of your business. It tells potential clients all about you and the services you offer, while enticing them to book in with you. In today’s digital world, if you don’t have a website you are gifting potential customers directly to your competitors.

Build your brand with a website

A professionally designed website helps you establish your brand’s personality and sets you apart from other beauty businesses. A website is personalised with your logo, brand colours and text so you can be easily recognised both online and offline.

Establish Trust

Google is often the first port of call when searching for a particular service or product, especially when looking for locally based businesses. Potential clients will use your website to find more information about your services, your prices and to read reviews from other customers. A website also offers assurance that the business is real and reputable. When a business doesn’t have a website it automatically raises questions about its legitimacy.  

Showcase Your Work

A website is the perfect place to showcase your work: from brow treatments to dermal fillers, potential clients want to see results before they book in with you. A good beauty website will have space for you to build your portfolio and show off your skills.

Communicate with Clients Directly

When you rely on social media to communicate with your clients, you risk being lost in a sea of content. Many beauticians are already active on social media, so every post you share is competing with hundreds of similar posts from your competitors.

A website is the perfect way to communicate directly with your customers. When a potential client lands on your website they are already interested in your brand, so it is easier to sell to them. Existing clients will also remember to return to your site for information, future offers, new products, and appointments.

Should you use a build-your-own website tool?

The price of a professional website might seem daunting at first compared to the solutions offered by ‘build-your-own’ platforms like Wix or Squarespace. However, the small saving you make is not worth the compromise in quality and functionality.

A website builder gives you a basic template allowing you to add your own images and content. While this is easy to do, it doesn’t get good results in the long run. Website builders are notoriously bad for SEO purposes and often struggle to rank in Google search results. This means you could spend hours working on your site only for it to become impossible to find!

Additionally, website builders are restricted in terms of add-ons and functionality. If you want to incorporate a booking system into your website and adapt it to the way you work, you will struggle using a simple template builder.

Is social media enough to promote your business?

Many beauty therapists rely on social media to generate leads, share their work, and communicate with customers. While this works well for some, it is becoming increasingly difficult for new beauty businesses to establish themselves using social media alone.

Social media profiles offer limited options for adding personal branding, so every page begins to look the same. This makes it harder to stand out from your competition and you run the risk of clients not recognising your page.

You’ll also have more competition to contend with. The algorithms used on social media platforms are all tailored towards enhancing the user’s experience by recommending content suited to their interests. This means that when a person expresses an interest in your page by following, liking, commenting, or sharing, the algorithm will show them content exactly like yours. For brands, this means your clients (existing and potential) will automatically receive recommendations to follow your competitors!

To conclude

Building a website for your beauty business should be high on your list of priorities. It will give you a base from which to build the rest of your online presence and attract new customers. A well-designed website for the beauty industry will also include features useful to your business such as booking systems and price lists or treatment menus.

If you’re worried about the cost of commissioning a web design agency to build your site, ask us about our monthly payment options.