The essentials, in one list
If you only read one part of this article, make it this one. It's what we check first when a salon asks us for a website:
| What | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| 24-hour online booking | Lots of people book in the evening, from the sofa. If they have to ring tomorrow, they might not. |
| Google Business Profile | It's what shows up on the map when someone searches "hair salon in Girona". It counts for more than the website itself. |
| Reviews | Between two salons on the same street, people pick the one with more stars and recent comments. |
| Services with price and duration | "Cut and blow-dry, 45 min, from €28". People who can see the price book with fewer doubts. |
| Photos of your real work | Your cuts, your colours, your salon. No stock photos. |
| Built for mobile | Nearly all your clients will see you on their phone. If it looks bad on a phone, it doesn't matter how it looks on a computer. |
| Directions and opening hours | Address, map, where to park and up-to-date hours. Obvious, but missing from plenty of websites. |
| Languages, if you get tourists | On the Costa Brava, a site in English or French is the difference between a booking and someone walking past. |
Your Google listing comes first (and it's free)
If you don't have a Google Business Profile yet, start there, before the website. It's free, takes an afternoon, and it's what appears when someone searches for a salon nearby.
What makes it work:
- The right category ("Hair salon", "Beauty salon", "Barber shop").
- Opening hours kept up to date, bank holidays included.
- Photos of the salon and your work, with new ones going up regularly.
- Reviews. Ask for them at the end of the appointment, in front of the mirror, when people are happiest. And reply to them, bad ones included.
- A link to your website and another to your booking page.
The website and the listing help each other: Google trusts a listing more when it links to a site with your services, address and hours, and the website catches everyone who arrives from the map.
The mistakes we see most
Only having Instagram. Instagram is great for showing your work and for people who already follow you. But it doesn't come up on Google when someone searches "hairdresser in Lloret" or "laser hair removal in Girona". And sending a DM and waiting for a reply is exactly what many people don't want to do to book.
Using Booksy or Treatwell as your only website. They're convenient and they work, and for many salons they make sense. The problem is when they're all you have: your profile sits next to your competitors', the platform decides how you're shown and, depending on the plan, you pay for every client it sends you. We run the numbers in when booking platform commissions are worth it.
A pretty website with no booking button. We've seen sites full of videos and animations where, to book, you have to hunt for a phone number in the footer. The booking button belongs at the top, in plain sight, on every page.
Hidden prices. "Price on request" on every service sends plenty of people to the salon next door, which does show them. You don't need the exact price of a complicated colour job: a "from" price already helps.
Photos that aren't yours. Stock photos are obvious. Ten real photos taken on your phone in good light beat fifty perfect ones from another salon.
Do you need a full website?
Not always. If Instagram and a booking app already keep your diary full, and your problem isn't a lack of clients, a big website won't change your life. In that case, a one-page landing site is enough: your services with prices, photos, the booking button and directions. The point is giving Google something of yours to show.
A fuller website pays off when:
- You want new clients to find you on Google, not just the ones who already know you.
- You offer lots of services (beauty, laser, nails, treatments) and each one deserves its own page.
- You have tourist clients and need several languages.
- You want to stop paying commission on every booking and have your own appointment system.
What a salon website costs
Our reference prices, excl. VAT:
| What you need | Build | Maintenance |
|---|---|---|
| One-page landing site (services, photos, booking button) | from €450 | €17/month |
| 5-page website | €850–1,250 | €25/month |
| Website with bookings, payments and 2 languages | €2,400–3,500 | ~€80/month |
Maintenance covers hosting, backups, updates and monitoring every 5 minutes, with no lock-in. The website is ready in 2–4 weeks. You can see the exact price of yours in two minutes with the price calculator.
If you already use a booking app that works for you, the website can link to it and you skip the bookings part. If you want your own booking system, with no commissions and your own rules (a deposit to book, reminders, who does each service), that's the version with bookings.