We wrote earlier about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for your salon website - but why does it matter? SEO is the art of getting your salon website discovered by the search engines (particularly Google, if you are in the UK) and having your website listed higher on their search results pages than your competitors’ websites.
But is it really worth investing your time or money into SEO for your salon website? Does it really matter whether you are number 1 in Google’s search results, or number 7… as long as your salon website is listed?
New research from Think Eyetracking suggests that it matters a lot!
“There has been a significant shift in search pattern behaviour; one that reflects rational and effective time management… In a 2005 study we found that people looked through many of the search results before clicking on one.
In our most recent study… fixations are studded around the top 5 results and the majority of clicks are upon the top 3 results… The 2008 heatmap supports the recent trend observed by Cornell University (Their study found that the top 3 Google results get 79% of all clicks) and by AOL (Findings were that 63% of clicks were concentrated upon the top three search results).
97% of people tested answered that Google was the search engine they most commonly used and out of those people, 87% stated they wouldn’t bother using anything else.
Nowadays to compete competently, you must know your customer’s search words, and land in the top 5, if not top 3 results.”
(emphasis added by us, to show the key points)
If you, like us, find it easier to understand these things graphically, Think Eyetracking have a great diagram summarising their findings. Eyetracking uses sophisticated equipment to monitor where people look when they are viewing a web page. The results are then combined into a “heat map” - red areas are most viewed, then yellow, then green -
The change in behaviour from 2005 to 2008 is pronounced. These days, Google searchers (your potential customers) are impatient people! If your salon website is not showing up in the top 5 results, there’s a good chance you won’t get the click.
Related articles -
- Salon Websites - ranking factors for Google UK
- Your Salon Website - Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) basics
- Salon Internet Marketing - Where does Google find reviews?
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