Hair salon and barbershop website: what gets people into your chair

Most people who visit a salon's or barbershop's website have already decided to go somewhere. They're deciding who, how much, and when. Can I book online, with the person I want? Are you open Sunday? Can I walk in? What happens if I cancel?

In October 2026 we opened 29 independent salon and barbershop websites in 12 towns, on a phone and on a computer, and looked at what people search for. Most let you book and showed a phone number. Far fewer gave a full price list, stated their cancellation rules, told a first-time client what to expect, or said whether they take walk-ins.

Make booking one tap

Twenty-five of the 29 sites had online booking, and most handed it to a booking service like Square, Phorest, Mangomint, GlossGenius, Vagaro, Squire or Zenoti. Your site puts the right button where people look.

If you already pay for a booking service:

1. Open Pages, choose your home page and click Add a section. Pick Booking.
2. Set Booking service to your service, and paste your booking page link. Fill in the Heading and Intro. See Connect a booking calendar.
3. Click Menu in the left menu and point the Header button at your booking page, with Button text like "Book now".

If you don't have one, or you book by phone, the Bookings add-on lets people pick a time on your own site, with emails and reminders. See Take bookings on your site.

It can take a deposit when someone books, but it can't charge a card kept on file after a no-show, so if you charge a late-cancel fee, you collect it another way. Reminders are emails, not text messages.

Show your phone and your hours

Twenty-seven of the 29 sites showed a phone number, but eight showed it as plain text that can't be tapped. Nine didn't give complete weekly hours, and six gave none.

1. Click Business info in the left menu. Check your Phone, and type it the way you'd say it, like (828) 555-0142. Phones make it tappable.
2. Under Regular hours, set each day, including the days you're closed. Appointment-only salons can write bookable hours, and add detail in Note under hours, like "Evenings by appointment".
3. Click Menu, and under Header button turn on Call bar on phones. If you book by text, pick Text message under Text button. See Add a call bar on phones.
4. Add an Open today section near the top of your home page. It says whether you're open right now.

Add holidays ahead of time under Holidays and special hours. To close for the day, click We’re closed today in the Today panel. See Close for today and Add holiday hours and closures.

Put your prices on the site

Seventeen of the 29 sites showed prices, and eight showed none. "How much does balayage cost" is a common search.

1. Add a Price list / menu section to a Services & prices page (Pages, New page, Pricing or menu).
2. Make a Group for each kind of service, like "Cuts", "Color", "Styling" and "Treatments".
3. For each service, fill in Name, Price and Time it takes. Use "From" prices where it depends, like From $95, and say in the Description what changes it: length, thickness, lightening.
4. Add Fine print and a Prices last updated date.

Some things to settle on the page:

• If prices depend on the stylist, say so and say who is in which level. Eight of the 29 sites price by stylist or level.
• Price by length, time or technique, not by "men's" and "women's". California and New York don't allow charging more for substantially similar services because of gender, and five of the 29 sites used gendered price lines. See "Know the rules" below.
• Put any fee in the price, and say whether tips are expected or built in.
• If you do hair color, say it needs a consultation when it does (color correction, extensions) and what that costs.

See Sections you can add.

Say what happens if someone cancels

Fourteen of the 29 sites stated a cancellation policy. Twenty-four hours' notice was the most common, with a fee of half the service, or the full price for a no-show. Some asked for 48 hours or more.

Give it a page or a clear heading:

1. Click Pages, then New page, and start from the Basic page template. Call it "Policies".
2. Say, in plain sentences: how much notice you need, what you charge for a late cancellation or a no-show, whether you take a deposit and when it's refunded, how to cancel, and what happens if someone is 15 minutes late. Add a free adjustment window if you offer one.
3. Link it from your footer (Menu, then Add footer link), from your booking page and from your FAQ. If you use the Bookings add-on, put a short version in Note above the Book button under Settings.

Tell people before they agree: a fee they never saw is the one they dispute. See Take a deposit and Set cancel rules, reminders and emails.

Tell new clients what happens first

"First time at hair salon" is a real search, and only nine of the 29 sites told first-timers what to do. New guests want to know:

• Is there a consultation, and is it free?
• Do I fill in a form, or take a patch test? Is there a deposit for color?
• How long will it take, by service?
• When should I arrive, and where do I park?

Put it on a "New here?" page and in your FAQ. A Form section on that page sends a pre-color form to your Inbox. See Forms and your inbox.

Ask about allergies and do patch tests in person, not in a form on your site. See Signed forms and waivers.

Show your team

Five of the 29 sites gave each stylist or barber a profile, a specialty and their own "Book with" button, and three said who wasn't taking new clients.

1. Click Lists in the left menu, then Edit team on the Team card, and click Add person.
2. Fill in Name, Role (like "Color specialist" or "Barber"), a clear Photo, and a Short bio with what they specialize in, like "Curly cuts, blonding, color correction".
3. In Credentials, put training you can say in plain words.
4. Open Booking button, type Button text like "Book with Maria", and choose Goes to (a page, or Another website… and paste her booking link). See Add a booking button for one person.
5. Turn on Give them a profile page for people clients choose by name. See Give someone a profile page.
6. If a stylist isn't taking new clients, say so in their Short bio.
7. Add a Team section to your home page. Use Group (like "Stylists" and "Barbers") to show one group in a section.

With the Bookings add-on, turn on Takes bookings on this site for each person, and choose Visitors pick who they see on the appointment. See Let visitors book with your team. A rented chair is a business of its own: say whose policy and prices apply.

Say whether you take walk-ins

"Barbershop near me walk in" is one of the most common searches. Eight of the 29 sites said whether they take walk-ins, and all eight were barbershops or shops that cut men's and women's hair. None of the 17 salons said.

Say it in your Note under hours in Business info ("Walk-ins welcome Tuesday to Friday; Mondays by appointment"), in your hero or Highlights, and in your FAQ, with the usual wait and that booked clients are seen first.

There's no walk-in queue or check-in line in the product, so if you want to manage one, do it at the front desk.

Show your reviews

Fourteen of the 29 sites showed some, and five showed a rating with a count.

1. Add your best recent Google reviews to your Reviews list, with the date and where they came from.
2. Add a Reviews section to your home page, and your rating and count to your Highlights.
3. Paste your Google review link into Leave-a-review link in Business info, and turn on Show a "Leave us a review" button.

With the Review requests add-on, a friendly email goes to clients after a visit asking for a review. See Reviews and Ask customers for a review.

Asking everyone for a review is fine. A free blowout only for five stars isn't, and neither is a policy that stops clients from reviewing you.

Show your work

Photos of real cuts and color persuade more than a mood image. Add a Gallery section or Photo + text sections, and describe each photo, like "Copper balayage on long hair". See Describe your photos.

Ask clients before you post their picture (a parent, for a child's). Don't show stock photos as your own work: Free photos is for atmosphere.

Gift cards, products and wedding hair

• Gift cards: with the Gift cards and coupons add-on, clients buy a card on your site, you scan it at the till, and it can pay for a booking. See Gift cards and coupons. Federal rules say gift cards can't expire within five years, and some states are stricter, so say whether yours expire.
• Products: list the lines you carry in a Products list. The Online store add-on adds a cart. Many professional-only brands don't let you resell online. See Sell products with the online store.
• Wedding and event hair: give it its own page (Pages, New page, Service page) with how far ahead to book, whether you travel, and a Form for the date and party size.
• Hiring or renting chairs: see Job openings. Rebooking: see Send a newsletter.

Know the rules

This isn't legal advice, and the rules for salons and barbershops vary by state, so check yours with your state board. In October 2026 we looked at these:

• Your license on the site. Some states ask for it in advertising. Nevada requires the establishment's license name and number, and the name and license number of any licensee the ad mentions. Minnesota requires the salon's licensed name and the first name of any licensee named. We found no such rule for Texas or Idaho, and didn't check other states. Show your business name as on your license, and put your number in License number under Location in Business info, where your footer shows it. If you rent a chair, use your own license.
• Prices by gender. California (Civil Code section 51.6) and New York (General Business Law 391-u) bar charging different prices for substantially similar services because of gender, and allow differences based on time, difficulty or cost. California also says advertised prices must include mandatory fees (SB 478).
• Reviews. The FTC's rule bars fake reviews and rewards that depend on a positive review. The Consumer Review Fairness Act bars terms that stop clients from reviewing you.
• Product claims. Keratin and smoothing treatments can release formaldehyde when heated (OSHA has a salon hazard alert). Don't say "formaldehyde-free", "non-toxic" or "clean" unless the product's safety data sheet backs it. Say the specific thing, like "ammonia-free color".
• Photos of clients need their okay, a parent's for a child.

Photos that help people find you

With your phone, take:

1. The storefront and sign from the street, and the door
2. The inside from the doorway: chairs, mirrors, waiting area
3. Each stylist or barber at their chair, for the team photos
4. Finished cuts and color in good light, front, side and back, and before and after from the same angle

Until you have your own, see Free photos.

Answer the questions clients ask

Add an FAQ section. Questions clients ask salons most:

• How do I book, and can I book with a particular person?
• Do you take walk-ins?
• How much does a haircut cost? Color? Balayage?
• What's your cancellation policy? Do you take a deposit?
• What should I do before my first visit, and how long will it take?
• Do you cut kids', curly or textured hair? Men's cuts? Wedding hair? Gift cards?

In Lists › FAQs, Suggest questions drafts more from your own site. See Use suggested questions.

Tips

• Give your home page a search title with your town and your kind of shop, like "Hair salon in Bend, OR", and give each big service its own page with its own title. See Set a page's search title and description.
• Match your Google Business Profile to your site: the same name, phone and hours. Pick "Hair salon" or "Barber shop" as the main category.
• Look at your site once a season. One of the 29 showed a stranger's gambling page where its FAQ should have been.
• Every site can have a Spanish version at no extra cost. See Show your site in Spanish.