While competitors stuff keywords into dreadful products, Gordon builds software worth finding. Why optimizing for humans beats optimizing for search engines.
Sixth Negroni. Laptop glowing. That moment when you realize the entire salon software industry is optimizing for the wrong thing
You know what amuses me?
Watching salon software companies perfect their search engine optimization while their actual products remain perfectly dreadful.
Takes measured sip
They've mastered being found. Just haven't quite sorted out being used.
Rather like polishing a rusted bicycle and calling it a Bentley.
Leans back, swirling ice
Visit any salon booking software website. Count how many times they say "salon management software" or "appointment scheduling system."
Go on. I'll wait.
Seventeen times? Twenty-three?
They're not writing for you. They're writing for Google.
Short laugh
Problem is, Google's rather clever these days. It notices when people find your booking software and immediately search for alternatives.
Makes all those keywords rather pointless, doesn't it?
Salon software Australia searches are up 40% year-on-year.
People are looking. Desperately.
What they find? American platforms stuffing "salon booking software" into every paragraph while their mobile apps crash on Melbourne trams.
Or local systems with beautiful SEO but interfaces from 2009.
Sets glass down
They're ranked number one on Google.
And their customers are miserable.
Allows a slight smile
Rather like those coffee shops that advertise "Best Coffee in Melbourne" on every surface.
If the coffee's actually good, you don't need the sign.
Your customers tell their mates. Google notices. You rank anyway.
But if the coffee's dreadful?
Shrugs
You can plaster "artisan" and "award-winning" on every window. Won't help.
People still leave and search "better coffee near me."
Fresh pour, fresh ice
They optimize for:
They forget to optimize for:
Taps table for emphasis
You can rank first for "best salon booking software" all you want.
If your product's rubbish, Google's going to notice when everyone clicks your link then immediately searches "Gordon salon software" instead.
Straightens posture slightly
We took a different approach.
Built something salon owners actually wanted to use. Made sure it worked properly on every device—mobile salon software that actually functions on a phone, imagine that.
Made it simple enough that staff learned it in ten minutes, not ten days.
Then let our customers tell people about it.
Slight pause
Radical, I know.
Leans forward conspiratorially
Google's algorithms measure something called "dwell time."
How long people stay on your site before bouncing back to search results.
If someone searches "salon appointment software," clicks your link, and immediately hits back to keep searching?
Google notices.
Returns to normal posture
But if they click your link, read the whole page, maybe even sign up?
Google really notices.
That's how you actually win at SEO. Build something people don't immediately want to escape from.
Ice cubes clink
Most salon management software was built for desktops. Then awkwardly shoved into mobile screens.
They rank well for "mobile salon software" though. Because they mentioned it forty times.
Dry laugh
Meanwhile, their receptionist's trying to check someone in on an iPad and the interface requires a magnifying glass and infinite patience.
Gordon was built mobile-first. Day one. Not because it's good for SEO.
Because half your team works from tablets and phones.
Finishes drink, considers another
Want to know the secret to ranking for "best salon booking software Australia"?
Build the best salon booking software in Australia.
Simple.
Then let your customers write reviews. Let them tell their industry friends. Let them create content about how much better their day is now.
Google finds that. Google loves that.
Authentic human enthusiasm beats keyword density every time.
Slight smile
Square? Fresha? Timely? Zenoti?
They've got massive SEO budgets. Professional teams. Millions of backlinks.
Shrugs
They also have massive customer bases who tolerate them but don't love them.
We have smaller numbers. But our customers actually like us.
Which one do you think Google rewards long-term?
Stands, adjusting cuff
You can optimize for search engines.
Or you can optimize for humans.
Pauses for effect
The clever bit is realizing that optimizing for humans—building salon software that actually works brilliantly—eventually optimizes for search engines anyway.
Because Google's job is to find good things and show them to people.
If you're good, Google will find you.
If you're just good at SEO?
Picks up glass one more time
Google will find you initially. Then notice nobody stays. Then quietly move you down the rankings while promoting whoever people actually want.
No keyword stuffing. No SEO theater.
Just appointment scheduling software that works so well, salon owners tell other salon owners about it.
That's the strategy.
Sets empty glass down with finality
Build something worth finding.
Google handles the rest.
Gordon: The salon management software that ranks well because it works well.
Keep it simple. Keep it Gordon.
P.S. - I just mentioned "salon software," "booking software," "appointment scheduling," and "salon management" approximately twenty-seven times in this post. The irony is not lost on me. But if you're reading this far, clearly the writing didn't make you want to immediately close the tab. Which rather proves the point, doesn't it?