How do I get clients as an esthetician?

What this page covers

New clients reach an esthetician a few ways. A friend recommends you, someone finds you on Instagram, or someone searches Google for a treatment. I build websites and do search work, so the search part is what this page covers.

What the search data shows

I track Google Search Console for studio sites I’ve worked on. Taken together, searches with the studio’s name in them are a small share of the times those sites show up on Google. The rest are searches without the name, like a treatment and a city.

On the same sites, most of the clicks from searches without the name went to results on the first page. The figures, and how I measured them, are on the benchmarks page.

Google’s autocomplete shows the kind of search I mean. It offers “dermaplaning near me”, “lash lift near me”, “brow lamination near me” and “esthetician near me”, and Google says its predictions reflect real searches.

1. Claim your Google Business Profile

Google says you can add or claim a business at no charge. The profile is what shows on Google’s map, and you don’t need a website to have one.

• Verify it. Google says a verified profile is more likely to show up in search results.
• Choose the primary category that best describes your business. There’s no “Esthetician” category. “Facial spa”, “Skin care clinic”, “Waxing hair removal service” and “Eyelash salon” are all in the list.
• List your treatments as services. Google says that when local customers search for an offering you provide, “that service may be highlighted on your profile.”
• Add your booking link. Google lets you add a booking link to your profile, and it also works with some booking providers directly. Check whether yours is one of them. Adding a booking link to your Google Business Profile has the steps for both.
• Add photos of your room and your work. Google says photos only show once the profile is verified. Its guidelines ask for photos that are in focus and well lit, with “no significant alterations or excessive use of filters.”

If you work from a suite, the suite number is part of your address. Google’s guidelines say it goes on the second address line.

2. Ask every client for a review

Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. When you’re new, the clients you’ve already seen are the only place reviews can come from, so ask each one.

Google gives you a link and a QR code to ask with. In your Business Profile, select Read Reviews, then Get more reviews. Google says the QR code can only be generated in a computer browser. It suggests putting the link in thank-you emails and on receipts, and printing the QR code to display where you work.

Don’t offer anything in return. Google says offering incentives, “like free or discounted goods or services”, in exchange for reviews is strictly prohibited. That rules out a discount or a free add-on for a review.

Reply to the reviews you get. Google says replies are public, and advises keeping them short and “conversational, not promotional”. If you’re worried about a bad one, Google’s own line is that “a mix of positive and negative feedback often feels more trustworthy.”

3. When you want more from search, add pages

The map is one set of results. Under it is a list of ordinary results, and that list is made of pages from websites. A page about one treatment, with your city on it, gives a search for that treatment somewhere to land.

Whether you can build that page depends on what your site runs on.

• On a booking page, you usually can’t add pages. Booking page or website? goes through how to tell whether that matters for you yet.
• On GlossGenius, every service shares one Services page. The GlossGenius guide has a setup that keeps GlossGenius for booking.
• On Squarespace, you can add as many pages as you want. Squarespace for salons and estheticians covers what the platform does for you and what it leaves to you.

Start with the treatment you most want to fill. SEO for estheticians has what goes on the page, and the rest of the search work in the order I’d do it.

How you’ll know it’s working

Once you have a site, set up Google Search Console, which is free. Its Performance report shows the searches your site appeared for, including ones nobody clicked. How long local SEO takes covers what moves first.

When I wouldn’t spend money on this

If your book is full from referrals and Instagram, the free steps above are enough for now. Is Instagram enough? is about that choice.

If you want a site built with the search work done, it’s $1,000, once. That covers a new website, on-page SEO and keyword targeting, structured data, Google Business Profile optimization, Search Console setup and directory listings. The audit on the home page is free and doesn’t ask for your email.