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Designer Lashes of London is a premier lash salon based in Marylebone, in the heart of central London. The salon owner, Janette Vince, contacted us almost 15 years ago for SEO services. In the early days, local SEO was not really a thing, and we concentrated on general SEO for her site.
When Janette contacted us, her salon was already the go-to destination for high-quality eyelash extensions and related beauty treatments. But despite their success, the salon’s online presence was minimal. Still, unlike many salon owners back in the day, Janette saw the potential of SEO to get her services in front of more potential clients looking for the beauty services she offered online.
The early goal was to enhance the salon’s online visibility and bring in new clients through digital means, which back then was mainly through searches on Google, Microsoft (now known as Bing) and Yahoo.
Our first task was to update the salon’s website, as it was not optimised for search engines. The site has had several upgrades since then, as what clients perceived as in vogue then, is different today! A little further down the line, we redesigned the website for mobile responsiveness as more and more people were using mobile devices to access the internet.
There needed to be a cohesive content strategy in place to engage potential clients and highlight the salon’s skills and offerings. With Janette’s expert input, we began developing a dynamic content strategy that included engaging blog posts, expert advice on lash extension care, and client testimonials to establish authority and trust. We published the content on various websites in the niche and produced informative articles about the procedures on offer for Janette’s site.
The salon had limited engagement on social media platforms. During this period, Facebook had reached 8 million users, and Instagram was the new player on the block, so it was an ideal time to take advantage of social media and place engaging visual content to entice users to Janette’s site, or to enquire about her beauty services.
In 2012, local search results in Google gained significant importance with the “Venice” update.
Before Venice, Google’s organic search results tended to show general nationwide sites. Local options were only shown on Google Maps. With the Venice update, Google’s algorithm considered the user’s stated location and returned results reflecting their town or county. This was a significant change because users could search easily for places nearby without using local modifiers. Thus, the search term “near me” became standard.
The Venice update was an incredible opportunity for companies working in multiple locations. By setting up different local pages, businesses could rank high for lucrative keywords by being in the same geographical area as the user.
Seeing that ranking for local searches would be a game changer for businesses with physical locations, we switched our general SEO efforts to focusing on local SEO for the salon. Our goal was for the salon to appear prominently in local directory listings and the “snack pack” which at the time showed seven listings compared to the top three shown today.
Google’s local search algorithm and resources for business owners continue to evolve, and companies can now control how their business is presented to users with a Google Business Profile. A GBP makes it easy for searchers to contact a business, as you can see from the interactions with Designer Lashes in the graph.
The partnership between Designer Lashes London and The Search Equation has produced excellent results over the years.
With a combination of local SEO, social media marketing and continued general SEO, the salon experienced stable organic search rankings, appearing on the first page of Google for key search terms related to eyelash extension services in London.
Website traffic increased by over 300% within the first year, with a notable improvement in engagement metrics such as time spent on the site and pages per session.
The enhanced online presence and an easy booking system led to a 150% increase in bookings, with a substantial rise in new clients. Because of the expertise of Janette and her staff, the salon enjoys plenty of repeat business.
Over the years of our partnership, the salon has seen sustained growth, expanding its services and staff, proof of how beneficial local SEO is for brick-and-mortar businesses.
This case study is a testament to the value of consistently adapting to changing digital trends and finding the right partners to work with when selecting an SEO company.
