Want More Local Clients? Spend More Time on SEO and Less on Social
Social media is great for building awareness, but when it comes to bookings for in-person location based service businesses, prioritize SEO.
Last summer I finally managed to book an appointment with the amazing April Kayganich, also known as The Curl Whisperer (and the _halfrican on Instagram).
Munich has become much more diverse in the 20+ years I’ve lived here. But when it comes to getting a really top notch hair cut for biracial curly hair, the pickins’ are non-existent to slim.
I’m on April’s mailing list. I open her emails as soon as they land in my inbox. Her home base is L.A. but she often travels to Austin, NYC and the Bay Area and offers appointments at local salons in these cities.
Usually the stars don’t align, but last summer they did. I finally got to sit in April’s chair in her West Hollywood salon.
No joke, April gave me the best haircut I’ve ever had in my life.
Me right after my haircut
Several months have gone by and everyday I still admire how the layers are growing out. Worth every single penny of the nearly $400 I plunked down.
As April put the finishing touches on my cut she mentioned she needed to post more on Instagram as she wanted more local, L.A. based clients.
This floored me.
For starters, April has 23k followers on Instagram. She is a star in a good and growing niche. As someone who felt like I got the hottest ticket in town landing a spot on her calendar (which was quite full) I assumed she could turn the client booking spigot on and off at will.
This got me thinking about her social media comment.
I could tell by her emails, booking tool and website that she uses the Squarespace suite of marketing tools. I did some snooping around on her site, and came to a different conclusion.
If April hired me to do her digital marketing, this is what I would advise: Get serious about SEO
Why?
If you have a location-based business that requires in-person appointments SEO should absolutely be a part of your marketing mix. In fact, it should be main digital marketing tool in your marketing toolbox.
When people are ready to book a specific local service like a hair cut, they often go to Google, not social media.
As Sarah Moon, SEO expert points out, Google searches drive 1000 times more traffic than social media platforms.
So what exactly would I tell April to do? The following six things:
Set up a Google Business Profile
Set up a Google Search Console account and submit a sitemap
Optimize her website for SEO
Update regional settings in Squarespace
Add keyword rich titles and meta title descriptions to the website and all pages
Create keyword rich content around her hair texture expertise. She has a lot of this already on Reels. She could repurpose it into blog posts (Chat GPT or another AI tool could help with this).
Develop a backlink strategy Are there other big directories in L.A. or L.A. based complementary businesses (spas, gyms, make up artists, boutiques hair products) that she could partner or collaborate with that can link back to her site?
Purchase a secondary keyword rich top level domain for her site. Even purchasing top levels domains (curlyhairlosangeles.com is available) would help
Create an off boarding process for clients asking them to leave a review on Google (incentivize this with things like a small percentage off their next cut or a free samples or an extra 15 minute consultation)
Her healthy Instagram following is of course important. I discovered her via Instagram and got on her mailing list (another must have for a service based business). A big social following does send a helpful signal to Google.
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If April took all of these steps to improve her local I think she’d see a dramatic uptick in local business within 3-6 months.
An SEO first marketing strategy isn’t for everyone, though. In fact, I don’t recommend it for most of my clients. It can be tricky for expats serving clients remotely to rank for keywords if they’re in a region that isn’t in their native language.
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It’s hard to find terms for coaching or consulting businesses that are specific enough for search engine optimization that will rank well. Ideal clients for these types of services also don’t usually start their buying journey with Google.
However if you have a location based service business, that involves working in person with your clients, SEO can really move the needle.
Need help figuring out the right digital marketing strategy for your business? Take a look at my digital marketing offers