From the Bottom of Page Five to The Top of Page One in Two Months
• Written by Belle Fontaine
How Our New Website Changed Everything
Hi, I am Annabelle from The Dolls House Hairdressing and Beauty Boutique in Eastbourne, East Sussex.
I wanted to share our story about how a new website has completely transformed our online presence and brought so many new faces through our door.
For years, our website was something a friend had kindly put together for us. At the time it felt great to have it done, but looking back, it was a bit of a “set it and forget it” situation. We did not update it much, I had no real idea about things like SEO, what we should be tracking, or how to improve any of it.
We knew our hair and beauty services inside out, but the tech side was a mystery. I just wanted something that looked nice. I never realised how much more it could do for the business.
The Salon App
That is when we spoke to The Salon App about their website product called Webfront. They explained it in a way I could actually understand. If you want Google to show your salon to more people, you have to follow Google’s rules.
The simple plan was:
- One main keyword per page. So there needs to be lots of pages
- Every page fully set up with its own title, description, links, and properly labelled images, meta data and H1 and H2 in the right order.
- Make it easy for people to find what they want and book straight away
Our old site had 3 pages. Our new one has 133. We now have a page for every service, every team member, our price list is interactive, and more. There is a call to action on every page so wherever someone lands they can book instantly.
The Results That Matter
Our new website is only two months old. There are many very established businesses in Eastbourne whose sites have been live for years. We have gone from the bottom of page five (ie no traffic) on Google to the top of page one.
Before, I did not even know what a “Lighthouse score” was. Now ours is 100 out of 100 for performance, accessibility, best practice, and SEO.
And here is where it gets exciting:
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Before: 10 Google impressions a day (that’s how many times the site shows up in search results).
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Now: 1,245 impressions a day
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Before: Less than 1 click a day to our site
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Now: 86 clicks a day
Before the update, almost all of those clicks came from people who already knew us and searched for “The Dolls House” by name (a branded search). Now we are being found by people searching for services like balayage Eastbourne, facial near me, waxing, and massage. These are people who had no idea we existed before. (Non branded search)
How That Translates Into Clients
In May before the new site we had 14 new clients.
In July we had 36 new clients which is more than double.
Our online booking value went from zero in May to £650 in July. In the last two weeks of August alone we have already beaten that.
New client spend has grown from £617 a month to £1,587 a month.
What I Have Learned
I am still not a technical person and I do not think I ever will be, but I now understand how powerful a good website can be. It is not just about having something pretty online. It is about being visible, easy to find, and simple to book with.
If you are a salon owner like me, busy with clients all day and family at home, it is easy to put the website at the bottom of the list. But getting ours sorted has been one of the best things we have ever done for the business.
It works while we are working.
It brings new clients without us having to chase them.
And it pays for itself many times over.
Working with The Salon App has been brilliant. We agree what needs to be done and they just do it. If you want your salon to be seen and booked by more people, I would recommend speaking to them.
