The 7 Must-Haves for Highly Profitable Google Ads for Salons

Google pay-per-click advertising can win a constant stream of new clients for your hair, beauty or health business, when done properly. In this blog I’ll outline key steps to ensure that the people clicking on your ads are genuine potential clients looking for what you provide!

Before we go into these however, let me emphasize: for best results you should be advertising some kind of offer, which directs to a landing page. On this landing page people provide their name and email address, to be emailed either a generic voucher or generic booking code.

This structure has 2 major benefits:

1) You can state on the voucher/email that they MUST quote the booking code to receive the offer. Record that code with each booking, so you can then track how many new bookings your ads are producing.

2) You can add their name and email to your Email Subscribers list and email them booking reminders and further marketing.

If you know little about Google advertising, as a business owner it’s definitely a skill you want to have. Online training sites like Udemy do cheap beginner courses, which are all easy-to-follow video modules.

Like all digital platforms, it’s easy to chew up your Google ad spend with little return if you don’t follow some key practices. So implement the following 7 key things to keep them lean and profitable.

1. The Ads themselves

*Create 2 ads with slightly different wording to split test, then after a month pause the one that’s costing more per click (CPC)

*Make sure your offer is the 1st or 2nd headline of each ad

*In your ad description list the various treatments you offer and what makes you awesome (awards, exclusive products etc)

*Also include some urgency in the ad description (“Offer closes soon, order now!”)

2. Add a Call Extension

So your phone number is displayed with your ad, as some viewers may want to speak to you (and hopefully book) immediately.

3. Location

 

This is super important to avoid wasteful spend.

If you're based in a town: set your search radius to your town only. If you're based in a small village with little else close-by, I would use the Advanced Search function to set a search radius of 5 - 10 miles around your address.

If you're based in a city: again use the Advanced Search to set a search radius of 3 miles from your address. If you’re in a busy city centre, I recommend reducing that to just 2 miles.

Remember the further away from your salon people are, the less likely they’ll visit.

The exception is if you’re mobile of course, in which your search radius can be however far you are willing to travel.

4. Your Budget

We recommend starting on £5 - £10 daily (per location if you have multiple salons). You can always then increase spend after 4-8 weeks, once your campaign is profitable.  

5. Bidding

Setting your Bidding Strategy to Maximize Clicks is fine but I strongly recommend you set the Maximum CPC (cost per click) at £2.00.

We run ads for salons in several countries, and with the exception of high-priced Skin Clinic treatment searches: £2.00 is the most we pay. Without this cap you run the risk of being overcharged on certain searches.

If you’re a Skin Clinic providing higher priced laser and aesthetic treatments and courses, be prepared to pay up to £5 per click. 

6. Keywords