As a salon or spa owner, you probably think that blogging doesn’t belong in your world.

I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong.

Blogging is about sharing your expertise and establishing yourself as the go-to industry expert in your field.

It’s also about helping your website’s search engine optimisation, and considering your website is the premium way to attract new clients, that makes it pretty important to your beauty business.

 

Where should your blog live?

If you have a website, your blog should be part of that website.  It’s generally a specialised page on your website where you can continually add interesting articles and images that will be read by your visitors and subscribers.

You can get subscribers to your blog by adding a sign-up form to capture their names and email address.  Some blogs also offer a RSS feed to your subscribers also. Both of these methods deliver the article directly to your readers via email without them having to visit your website to get the new information.

In this article, I’m going to share with you some key things you need to know about successful blogging, so you get a great return on your time investment.

 

1. Write for your readers but keep Google in mind.

First and foremost, when you write a blog post, you should keep your reader’s needs and interest front-of-mind.

Look for topics to write about that you know your readers will be interested in, and if you don’t know as much as you should about that topic, do some research and become better informed before you write your article.

One you’ve written your blog article, go back and look for ways to introduce key words and phrases into your copy, but be sure they sound fluid and natural as part of your content – there’s nothing worse than reading copy that is obviously stuffed with too many key phrases with no thought given to readability.

Try to include key words and phrases into your blog titles and subtitles also where possible, as this is very good for your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

 

2. What images are best?

A great image, that easily relates to the content of your blog, is a must.

If you have your own images, that’s fantastic, but if not, you can either access free stock images from places such as Pixabay.com or Pexels.com. or purchase them from the hundreds of stock photo sites on the internet.

Having said this, try to avoid the images you see constantly on the internet.  Be authentic with your images whenever possible.

Quick tip: Don’t be tempted to pirate images off the internet.  This is not good business practice.

 

3. How often should you post?

Once upon a time, the answer to this question was about once per month.

Today, I think that you could easily up that number to once per fortnight or even week.

While Google may love longer articles, most readers don’t, so I suggest you make your blog articles short and sweet – around 300-400 words should be enough.

If you find that you’ve gone way past this number of words, be ruthless with your editing and cull out the waffle until your article is informative, interesting and concise.

By doing this, your readers are more likely to make it to the end of your article and get the full benefit of reading it.

 

4. What should you write about in your blog articles?

This one is easy.

You have a massive amount of information about your chosen profession locked away in your brain, so simply write about what you know, combined with what your readers want to know more about.

Be topical and include information that is relevant to what is going on currently.

Blog articles give you the opportunity to share your specialised information, all while establishing your expertise. A total win-win for both you and your readers.

5. What shouldn’t you write about in your blog articles?

Boring stuff.  Technical stuff. Jargon- filled stuff. Buy-me stuff.

While you hope that writing an informative and interesting blog article will lead to either gaining a new client or perhaps selling something to someone, it should not written like a sales page.  This is definitely not the platform for trying to make a direct sale.

Be generous with great information and your readers will be impressed.

 

6. What kind of personality should your blog have?

Your blog articles should reflect your salon or spa personality.  If you’re super-trendy, that should be reflected in your blog.  If you’re all about relaxation, that should be reflected in your blog.  Let your business personality shine through your words.

Remember, you cannot be all things to all people, so don’t try.  Understand who you are trying to attract with your writing and write for them.

 

7. Use hyperlinks (what the heck is a hyperlink I can hear you asking)

If you use hyperlinks in your blog articles, you can easily send your readers to other information anywhere on your website, or even to another website altogether (though this shouldn’t be your goal). Check out where the hyperlink in this paragraph takes you.

By using hyperlinks, you can send your readers to other articles in your own blog or pages on your website such as the booking page, contact page, or a page with some detailed information about a service you may want to promote.

The idea behind this is to keep readers on your website, and exposed to your information, for as long as possible.

Where possible, try to keep your hyperlinks in the top half of your blog article (in case your readers don’t read to the very end.)

 

8. Poor grammar and spelling mistakes give a bad impression.

Check, double check and triple check your blog article before you hit that post button.

Poor grammar and spelling sends the wrong message to your readers.  It gives the impression that you’re a bit sloppy and slapdash and that’s definitely not the impression you want to make.

Make sure to get fresh eyes to read your article before posting as it’s easy to miss mistakes in articles that you’ve written yourself.

You can even get software such as Grammarly.com , which has a free starter version, to check things over for you.

Quick tip: ease up on the use of exclamation marks!!!  One here and there is fine for emphasis, but too many detracts from your writing.

Another tip: if you’re writing in English, pick one style and stick with it. Nothing is more annoying than UK English sprinkled with a healthy dose of US English.  Find out the difference and choose your style.

Finally, no-one starts off as a great writer.  Most of us are truly stinky writers in the beginning, but if you persevere and keep practicing, you will get better!