2024

After completing a full review of the website, I noticed a few things that I knew I could help with:

• The website wasn’t on the first page of Google search results

• There are more users of this website on mobile than on desktop

• Most of the images on the site didn’t have alt text

• There was a lack of Keywords or a noticeable call to action

My plan for his website was to find ways to increase engagement across the website, add more keywords to the site, increase the amount of time spent on the website, and increase conversions on app downloads and barbershop visits.

Website Updates

I started the updates by looking over the website once again and updating website copy with more keywords related to the shop, services, and the site itself. In addition to including more keywords, I would go on to link more pages together and create more pages in general. One of the best-performing pages that I added was the barber profiles (Newport News profiles, Yorktown Profiles). On these pages, I gave the barbers more of an opportunity to show themselves off. The barber profiles included each barber’s bio, portfolio, photo gallery, and a spot to showcase their client reviews. In addition to updating keywords, backlinks, and adding more pages, I wanted to make sure that all images on the site had alt text on their photos to assist in SEO and accessibility. I made sure to make the site’s layout more mobile-friendly because 80% of the users are on mobile devices.

I began working on these website updates around July 2024, and we saw almost immediate results in website visits, which is a good indicator of other stats on the site, including unique visitors and page views, which increased by at least 25% each. Adding more pages, buttons, and improving the site’s SEO brought more users to the site. The Executive Barbershop page now shows up within the top 10 of Google searches and has only been improving, all organically.

2025

March 2025 was the start of our first Google Ads campaign for the shop. Since then, the site has attracted more visitors than last year, up to this point (21% more), and the bounce rate has decreased to approximately 42%. Up until now, all traffic to the site has been organic. If given the chance, I would’ve liked to take photos for these ads, so I chose to repurpose photos from the website and social media. I made sure to showcase the barbers’ talent and the shop itself. Below are a few examples of the ads that I created. I made sure to include reviews, call-to-actions, and simple ads that led to the website.

Future Updates

I would like to add a blog to the website in the future. I figured it would be a great way to create some more community engagement amongst visitors. I have always thought of barbershops in general to be community hubs. I would always hear of different events visiting a barbershop, so why not be the place for that online? I would’ve started with blogs that would be SEO heavy and tie everything together on the website, but I would eventually like for it to be a place where the barbers themselves could post blogs. Maybe on their story, progression as a barber, or even a place to promote themselves and other businesses. It could eventually be a place for clients, businesses, and churches to post about their community events.

Google ads, Social media ads, PPC, and social media management would be a huge focus in future updates as well. A brand needs to be cohesive on all fronts, so the more that it is adhered to, the more people will recognize the brand amongst the barbers and other clients that they may see on social media. With one month of Google Ads alone, we have seen a huge improvement in site visits. I would like to revisit with more targeted ads to more specific places on the site, rather than just to the homepage of the site.