Clients choose a salon or nail studio with their eyes first, then their thumbs. They look at the work and the room, then they look for a way to book. A good site makes both easy.
This guide draws on the research behind our templates: 73 nail salon sites and 77 sites for hair salons, barbershops, lash and brow studios, spas and tattoo studios, from famous chains to tiny independents.
Show your own room and your own work
The strongest salon sites opened on their own interior or a wall of their own work. Most of the big chains opened on a model or a cropped stock hand, and the independents that did the same looked like every other template.
Take real photos. A phone in daylight is fine. Show the room, your tools, the finished set or cut, and the people who do it. A salon with a distinctive room, a neon sign or a patio has something no competitor can copy, so use it.
One more thing from the research: a third of the memorable nail sites had no photo in the top section at all. They used big type, a color and a clear voice. If your brand has a personality, a confident headline can do the same job as a photo.
Make booking obvious, and keep it simple
Almost every serious salon sends clients to a booking tool such as Square, Vagaro or Acuity. Nobody builds a booking system from scratch, and you shouldn't either. What matters is how you put it on your site.
- Put Book in the header on every page.
- On phones, pin a Book bar to the bottom of the screen.
- If you have more than one location, give each its own Book button.
- If clients book a specific person, link each stylist or technician to their own calendar.
If you want clients to book without leaving your site, our Online scheduling add-on embeds the tool in the page. You own the scheduling account and pay the tool's fee.
Put the menu and prices where people can see them
Many salon sites hide the menu on an inner page, or behind a "contact us for pricing" button. The better ones put the services, how long each takes and what it costs on the home page or one tap away.
Use honest ranges. "From" prices are fine when the final cost depends on length, art or removals. Say so plainly. Avoid a permanent "regular price" crossed out beside a "sale price," which reads as pressure rather than a deal.
State your house rules before booking
The salons that get fewer awkward conversations say up front what they expect. Put these in a short block near the Book button:
- Deposits and what happens to them.
- Lateness and no-show policy.
- Removals, and whether you do other studios' work.
- Whether a child, a friend or a dog may come along.
- How far ahead you book.
A friendly sentence beats a stern list. The goal is to help clients feel at ease, not to scold them.
Add the extras clients ask about
- Gift cards. Spa and massage sites almost always put them in the main menu. Link to wherever you sell them.
- Memberships. If you sell one, show it as a priced card, not a paragraph.
- Mobile or at-home services. Say where you travel, what the travel fee is and how to request a visit. These are often a quote instead of an instant booking.
- Multiple locations. Give each its own card with address, hours and a Book button.
Real reviews, not pretend ones
Link to your Google reviews and let clients read them there. Our Launch Bundle includes a review-request QR code that sends everyone to the same Google review page, so reviews pile up in one place. Never invent a review or copy one from somewhere else.
What to avoid
These were common on the sites we studied, and they cost clients:
- Pop-ups and floating widgets that cover a third or more of a phone screen.
- Broken embeds, such as a video that shows as a black box or a booking widget that never loads.
- Out-of-date information, like "temporarily closed" with an old copyright year. If you move or pause, say it clearly and keep the page working.
- Pale, elegant text that is hard to read, such as gold on cream or thin gray caps.
- Stock photos posing as your salon.
- A lapsed domain. Keep yours registered in your own name and turn on auto-renew.
Pages most salons and studios need
A good starting set is Home, Services and prices, Gallery, Team, and Contact with hours, map and policies. That fits within our Starter package, which covers up to 5 pages. If you want embedded scheduling, local search work and a custom design, the Business package covers up to 12 pages.
- Starter: Starting at $249 with a template.
- Business: Starting at $899 with a template.
Every project is priced by a written quote.
What to do next
If you have a site already, our website check will show you where it stands. If you are ready for a new one, tell us about your studio and we will put together a written quote.