SEO for Beauty Industry – What Do You Need to Know?

What does the cosmetics industry actually mean? Well, this broad term incorporates cosmetics producers, laboratories, all types of research companies (including biotechnology and chemistry), and even packaging manufacturers. Moreover, thanks to the improving financial situation, when selecting cosmetics many people care not only about the price but also about the quality, ingredients, and natural origin of the products.

Without a shadow of a doubt, for several years now influencers have been playing a key role in the marketing of all kinds of beauty companies – no matter whether we’re talking about SPA salons, luxury cosmetics, or eco shampoo bars. The huge reach on Instagram and the trust of followers are aspects that translate directly into effective cooperation which equals high conversion. So how can SEO be useful for beauty products?

Imagine a situation when you can’t find a product influencers are talking about simply by entering its name or the brand name into the search engine. You’d probably think that such an advertisement isn’t the most credible, wouldn’t you?

… And maybe one day you’ve seen a great banana powder on one of the Instagram stories but now you can’t find it among the first Google search results? As a potential customer you can not only get distracted or give up your purchase but there is also a chance that you’ll come across a different banana powder of a company with a good SEO strategy for beauty products, at a better price, in a nicer-looking packaging, with faster delivery. In such a situation, all the efforts of the influencers turn out to be pointless.

The cooperation with influencers can actually increase your traffic from social media thanks to “swipe up” and other functions currently offered by Instagram. However, remember that organic traffic to your site won’t change and in the long run, paid collaboration or advertising may prove to be much less profitable than organic clicks and working on being displayed high in the search engine rankings.

SEO on its own works very well and social media are also a must in the cosmetics industry. So now, imagine how effective it may be to combine these two methods that support each other in order to increase the reach of your website. Let’s have an example of a well-prepared website combined with the work of influencers. Don’t underestimate the power of links placed in the bio on the Instagram profile.

Beauty Independent, one of the most interesting websites dealing with the cosmetics industry, published an article about SEO in which the owners of beauty brands comment on how individual SEO activities aimed at beauty products affected their businesses. Today, let’s recall their statements to discuss the basic aspects of SEO. After all, there is probably no one who would know better what SEO has to do with the beauty industry and how to start.

Undoubtedly, start from thinking about how customers search for specific products and what phrases they enter into the search engine to find them. Long tail keywords are essential for small businesses – they help to gain customers, to increase traffic to the site or to be displayed higher on specific phrases. Diamond Downs, the founder of Gehati, says the following for Beauty Independent:

The cosmetics industry equals beauty and aesthetics. Good quality products aren’t enough to draw the customers’ attention for longer. A well-designed interface, a user-friendly option to add products to your shopping cart, or to familiarize yourself with the products or services offered by the salon are essential to keep the visitors on the site and to complete conversion.

Linda Treska, CEO of Pinch of Colour, as an experienced developer says:

Both content and context are now one of the most important tools of any SEO campaign. A company blog is a true must have for businesses that want to increase traffic to their websites – apart from that, the content on the subpages of products and categories undoubtedly remains one of the key elements of the on-site SEO. Besides, beauty blogs can really attract new visitors: all kinds of tips and shopping hauls appeal not only to Google but also to potential customers. Michelle Ranavat, founder of Ranavat Botanics, says:

Glossier and Fenty are perfect examples proving that content can help building brand recognition – the brands gained the users’ appreciation thanks to the unique content whose eye-catching aesthetics stands out from the competition on the market.

Although it may seem that today linking doesn’t really matter to Google, it’s far from the truth. It’s definitely not the most important aspect as it used to be a few years ago, however, backlinks coming from reliable websites will undoubtedly have a positive impact on your page. As a part of cooperation, remember about exchanging links with beauty bloggers and making the website visible on various channels – not only on the brand social media profiles. James H. La, founder of Niucoco, shows how SEO and distribution of links work in the beauty industry:

Sometimes, strategies turn out to be wrong and something that you really hoped in fails to work. So what to do in such a situation? Don’t continue a campaign that after a year doesn’t bring any effects – check what’s going wrong, change your social media operating strategy, re-analyze your objectives, define your brand image and make sure whether the SEO campaign is run properly.

Although today the cosmetics market is quite extensive and impressive, paradoxically speaking small businesses are becoming more and more popular and people want to support them. What can be helpful in doing SEO for a small cosmetics company selling handcrafted goods or unique products from abroad?

If you type “a shampoo bar” into your search engine, first you’ll see the websites of the most popular companies and then some catchy titles of blog entries. So the chance that someone will check the remaining search results is rather low.

See how competitive the phrase is: 156 000 000 search results is a notable number.

Just for the sake of comparison, let’s try to enter a different, more detailed phrase into the search engine. After all, you offer specific shampoo bars of given brands, without SLS, coming from various countries, designed for different hair types… you could list all kinds of keywords and characteristics forever.

Such a long tail phrase automatically generates a smaller number of search results and additionally it displays less obvious websites at the top places. That’s why long tail keywords are one of the most important aspects to be taken into consideration when selecting your key phrases.

SEO itself may be not satisfactory for small businesses – just like individual social media activities or paid advertising without considering other options.

Do you own an online cosmetics store? Or maybe you run a hairdressing or a beauty salon in your city? Remember to focus on the profile of your business before starting your beauty industry SEO campaign – doing SEO for a local beauty salon will be completely different from running a campaign for an online shop. Let’s take a closer look at the SEO aspects that vary for these two cases.

Keywords and key phrases for online stores are often related to products and categories, thus, they focus on long tail phrases describing the product in as much detail as possible. On the other hand, a local beauty salon should use local keywords in its SEO process –  the model formula would contain the name of the service + city.

Google My Business is an important element of advertising any business and customer feedback often determines whether more people will decide to order something from your store. However, as far as an online shop can operate properly without Google My Business, it’s a must when it comes to a brick and mortar beauty salon. Users need to have the option to quickly see it on the map.

Moreover, available interior photos and customer reviews can often persuade people to visit the place faster and better than any website. Besides, a well designed profile on this site will ensure that the user gets all the necessary information without having to click anything – and such an asset can turn out to be invaluable.

Before the pandemic, 85% of beauty products and services were purchased in person. Consumers went to stores not only to buy products but to sample them and get advice from beauty experts. All that changed with the pandemic.

Today, consumers are increasingly shopping for beauty products and services online, but they still demand the same information and advice. That’s why it’s so important to be aware of the SEO trends for beauty industry. Brands that can deliver this level of information in the desired way will catapult themselves above the competition. In addition, having an online store versus providing beauty services may differ quite a bit in your overall SEO strategy and your promotional campaigns online.

Google unmasked the Multitask Unified Model (MUM) update in 2021, an advanced AI-powered algorithm to improve online search capability for complex questions. Its goal is to serve up websites that answer a complex question all in one place. And hopefully, that’s your website. This is a very important beauty industry SEO trend because consumers want specific answers to their personal beauty questions. Businesses need to provide detailed information either in written form or in a video about their products and services to satisfy their clients’ needs.

For example, if a querent searches for the best beauty routine for oily skin, your content or video must explain why your product or service answers the querent’s request. This includes how and why your product or service can help the querent.

How can you include this trend in your content? We prepared a few examples:

Even with all this descriptive content, don’t forget Google’s EAT standards. In order to rank well in Google searches, you need to foster your brand for its expertise, authority, and trustworthiness — which is exactly what E-A-T stands for.

Establishing EAT may include having beauty experts rate your products, write guest blogs, or appear in a video interview about how they used your products. Whether it be video, blog, product descriptions, or information articles, your content must establish your brand in the minds of consumers as a brand they can trust and look to for beauty advice.

Quality content can be shared across the web and that’s how you acquire backlinks from other authoritative websites to help Google to see you as an authority. For example, a dermatologist who mentions your product or service as a great treatment for acne would definitely help your brand and service rank higher in SERPs, especially if you had other high-ranking backlinks.

To sum up, this SEO trend for beauty industry includes quality content that meets Google’s EAT standards and establishes authority with beauty experts and authoritative backlinks which increase your rankings and help to influence your customers to buy your product.

With today’s educated and eco-conscious consumers, it’s always a good idea to include content that details your products’ ingredients and ecological impact. If your products are not tested on animals, you need to say that. If your packaging is recyclable or planet friendly, mention that in your detailed product descriptions.

Hypoallergenic products are also on the rise and that’s why listing the ingredients of your products is important. Also, according to a Google report, many people search for beauty products by their ingredients, such as “aloe vera.” So, listing all your products that contain aloe vera is vitally important from the SEO point of view.

Writing a blog or creating a video of specific ingredients’ benefits or how the ingredient is cultivated and used in beauty products may also be helpful to position your website.

Knowing your target audience and what they are searching for is crucial to target your content to capture that audience. Several applications to ascertain what is being searched in beauty and services include Google Trends, Buzzsumo, Moz, and SEMrush, to name just a few.

It’s especially helpful for buyers to know what other consumers bought and what they liked about your products or services. Since buyers cannot sample your products or services, reviews have been a powerful tool and an essential SEO trend for beauty industry. According to a 2021 Bizrate survey, 91% of respondents said they read at least one review before deciding on a product, business, or service.

Search engines like Google establish a website’s credibility when displaying search results, including looking at your company reviews. Last year, Google made it abundantly clear that customer reviews were even more important in rankings by rolling out two updates to its review algorithm in 2021. One in April, the other in December.

These updates were designed to better reward in-depth product reviews that include “insightful analysis and original research”, especially “content written by experts or enthusiasts who know the topic well.” As mentioned above, having an expert review your product will help to increase your rankings in SERPs.

Now that you’re aware of how advantageous reviews can be for your beauty business, it’s vital to ask for reviews after customers complete your service or purchase your product. This is especially important for local businesses, which was confirmed by changes in Google local search.

If customers are happy with their experience, they will be more willing to leave a review. The more transparent your business is to feedback, the more you will improve your rankings and see your brand flourish online. Ensure your customers leave specific information in their reviews as Google ranks detailed reviews higher.

Google’s passages are another beauty industry SEO trend that encourages you to include specifics about your beauty products’ benefits, ingredients, or uses. Early last year, Google rolled out its US passage ranking update that will eventually be rolled out globally.

So, what is a passage? How does it affect SERPs? Google can now search within websites and pull-out single sentences or paragraphs within long-form texts to answer very specific searches, displaying this excerpt in position zero. Passage ranking allows Google to distinguish the topics of different passages on the same page and rank them separately.

The reason for the passage update, according to Google, is sometimes the best answers are hard to find. Prior to passage ranking, top-ranking results or the zero position may have been articles providing general information on a topic. Google may rank other articles higher with a passage ranking who answer this question succinctly with just a section of the page rather than a website.

SEO best practices still apply with passage ranking, including keyword research, metadata optimization, backlink acquisition, user experience, etc. However, with passage ranking, you should also focus on long-form content. There is also more emphasis on long-tail keywords, headers, titles, and of course, quality content that is both unique and relevant to those consuming or buying your beauty products or services.

Since more and more people are purchasing beauty products and services online without having the advantage of talking with in-store advisors or trying on samples, videos are an excellent way of demonstrating your beauty product or services online.

Many online marketers agree that SEO results suggest that Google prioritizes search results with the video above results without it. Although Google doesn’t confirm this, video can improve your other SEO metrics like dwell time, bounce rate, and CTR so that your website ranks higher in SERPS. Additionally, video can help rank your website for competitive keywords. Videos also keep people engaged longer with your high-quality content.

Including video in your overall SEO plan, you’re more likely to achieve higher SERPs, leading to more brand awareness and more conversions.

Popular beauty videos include how-to instructions like “how to pick the right shade of lipstick “, “how to properly apply foundation”, etc. Anything that can help consumers determine why they need to purchase your product or service is a valuable topic. Consumers want to know more before buying, and video is the perfect medium for that.

Now, you need to make sure that your beauty video stands out amongst the sea of beauty videos on the internet. A strategic video SEO plan will help your video rank higher in SERPs. Here are a few SEO tactics that will help increase your video’s visibility:

The beauty industry was one of the earliest to adopt influencer marketing. Influencers have become an essential communication and marketing part of the beauty industry. Collaborating with social celebrities has allowed consumers to see the products being used with real results in front of their eyes.

Influencer content is the most engaging type of content as its most of the time done with authenticity and transparency. When choosing an influencer along with having clout online, it’s also important to select influencers that have multiple channels, including Facebook, YouTube, and a website or a blog.

Collaborating with influencers is now imperative to build awareness, increase engagement, and drive sales. According to a Digital Marketing Institute Report, 86% of women use social media for purchasing advice, and over half of women make purchases due to influencer posts. Additionally, 70% of teens trust influencers more than traditional celebrities, and overall, 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations.

Influencer marketing is one of the major beauty industry SEO trends and a key to a successful SEO marketing plan and promotion online for beauty products and services. It’s not an option anymore, it’s the norm.

Is your website optimized for voice search, which is growing in popularity? With 65% of 25-49-year-olds using voice-enabled devices at least once per day, according to PWC, your website must be ready for this SEO trend for beauty industry to capture that traffic.

In recent years, Google has put an emphasis on conversational queries. With the advent of AI coupled with Google’s continual focus on improving the user’s search experience, optimizing for voice search will continue to factor into a strategic SEO plan.

Google’s LaMDA was launched last year, which builds on earlier Google research, published in 2020, that showed AI-based language models trained on dialogue could learn to talk about virtually anything. Since then, Google has found that LaMDA can be trained to read and understand words and the relationship between words to predict what may come next.

So, what does this mean for the beauty industry going? People are searching increasingly with voice-enabled devices, and businesses will have to adapt their content to show up in these conversational queries.

How to get ready for this beauty industry SEO trend? Follow these tips:

Organic search represents a significant business opportunity for beauty brands and services in this ever-changing digital landscape. Following the SEO trends for beauty industry is crucial to stay relevant these days. The beauty market has experienced a shift in consumer demand following the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers are shopping increasingly online and strategic, well-optimized content enhances the connection between brands and customers precisely when they are seeking products and services.

As a result, today’s organic search landscape looks significantly different compared to pre-pandemic times. And businesses that deploy a strategic SEO plan that keeps up with how consumers want to shop, what information they need in their decision-making process, and how they search online will significantly increase their online visibility.

Starting your adventure with SEO fo beauty industry always means lots of information and you should keep it somewhere so that you can easily come back to it anytime you need. Therefore, especially for you, at the end of our today’s entry we’ve prepared the most important tips in a nutshell so that you can always easily find them and recall the knowledge you’ve gained.