Ask most salon owners about their Google Business Profile and you’ll get one of two answers. Either “I set it up a while ago but I don’t really do anything with it” or “I think someone sorted that out for us at some point.” Almost nobody says “I work on it every week and it’s one of our best sources of new clients.”
That gap — between what most salons do with their Google profile and what’s actually possible — is one of the biggest untapped opportunities in salon marketing. And it costs nothing to fix.
What Google Business Profile actually does.
When someone searches “hair salon near me” or “balayage in [your town]”, Google shows three local businesses prominently at the top of the results — in what’s known as the local pack or map pack. These three listings get the vast majority of clicks. Everything below them, including the organic website results, gets significantly less attention.
Your Google Business Profile is what determines whether you’re in those three listings or not. It’s not your website. It’s not your Instagram. It’s your Google Business Profile — and Google decides how prominently to show it based on a specific set of signals that most salon owners don’t know about and aren’t actively managing.
The signals Google is looking for.
Google wants to show its users the most relevant, trustworthy, and active businesses for their search. To decide which salons are relevant, trustworthy and active, it looks at a handful of key signals:
Reviews. The number of reviews, the overall rating, the recency of reviews, and whether the business responds to them. A salon with 200 reviews averaging 4.8 stars will almost always outrank a salon with 30 reviews averaging 4.6 stars, even if the latter is technically closer to the searcher.
Activity. How recently and how regularly the profile has been updated. Regular posts, new photos, updated information — all of these signal to Google that the business is active and engaged. A profile that hasn’t been touched in six months looks abandoned.
Completeness. Whether every section of the profile has been properly filled in — categories, services, opening hours, description, attributes. Incomplete profiles rank lower than complete ones.
Consistency. Whether the business name, address and phone number on the Google profile match exactly what appears on the website and other directories. Inconsistencies confuse Google and reduce trust.
What most salons are getting wrong.
The most common mistake is treating Google Business Profile as a one-time task rather than an ongoing marketing channel. You create the profile, add some photos, fill in the basic information — and then never look at it again.
The problem is that your competitors, the ones who are showing up above you in local search, aren’t doing that. They’re posting regularly, uploading fresh photos, generating reviews consistently, and keeping every signal pointing toward the top of the results.
The second most common mistake is neglecting reviews. Reviews are the single biggest factor in local pack rankings, and they’re also the first thing potential clients look at when they find your profile. A profile with outdated photos and 15 reviews from three years ago loses to a profile with recent photos and 80 reviews every single time — regardless of which salon is actually better.
The same-day review system.
The most effective review generation method we’ve found — and the one we use at Wisteria Avenue — is a personalised WhatsApp message sent on the same day as the appointment. Not a week later when the client has forgotten how good their hair looked. The same day, while they’re still thinking about it.
The message is short, personal, and makes leaving a review as easy as possible — a direct link to your Google review page, a genuine thank you, and a simple ask. Done consistently, this approach can double a salon’s review count within three months.
It sounds simple because it is. The difficult part is doing it consistently, for every client, every day. That’s where most salons fall down — not because they don’t want to do it, but because running a busy salon leaves almost no time for it.
How to start improving your profile today.
If you want to start seeing results from your Google Business Profile, here’s where to focus first:
Log in and check that every section is complete — your business description, all your services listed with descriptions, your opening hours, your phone number, and at least 10 recent photos. Fix anything that’s missing or outdated.
Start posting at least once a week. It doesn’t have to be elaborate — a before and after, a team photo, a seasonal offer. Google rewards consistency over perfection.
Put a review request system in place. Whether it’s a WhatsApp message, a follow-up text, or a card given to clients at the end of their appointment — make asking for reviews a consistent part of your process, not something that happens occasionally.
Respond to every review. Every single one, positive or negative. Google notices, and so do potential clients who are reading those reviews when deciding whether to book.
If you want to go further — or if you’d rather hand this off entirely and have someone else manage it properly — that’s exactly what our Google Business Profile service does. Book a free salon audit and we’ll show you exactly what your profile is missing and what it would take to move you up the local pack.