What makes a good online booking page
All Industries · 4 min read
A good booking page answers three questions quickly: what can I book, how long will it take and what will it cost, and when can I come. Keep the service list short with names clients use and honest prices, write your policies in a sentence or two, let people book without creating an account, and test the whole thing on your phone before you share the link.
Start with a short, clear service list
The service list does most of the work. Every extra option is one more decision for a client who wants a haircut.
- Use the words clients use. "Men's cut" is clearer than "Gentleman's Grooming Experience", and "Puppy's first groom" is clearer than "Intro Package A".
- Merge near-duplicates. If two services differ by five minutes and five dollars, ask whether clients can tell them apart.
- Set durations from what really happens, including cleanup, so the times offered are ones you can keep.
- Show prices. If they vary, give a starting price in the description ("from $45, depending on length") rather than leaving it blank.
- Use each description to answer the question people ask most about that service, such as what's included, who it suits or what to bring.
Write a page description that answers first-visit questions
New clients arrive with the same few questions. Answer them near the top in plain sentences: where you are and how to get in, who they'll see, what a first visit involves, and how to change a booking. Two short paragraphs usually cover it. Leave the history of the business for your website.
Make it look like you
When a client taps your link from Instagram or Google, they should recognize the page as yours straight away. Add your logo, set your brand color and choose a background image that fits your space.
Keep everything readable. A busy photo behind light text is hard to read on a phone in daylight, and a pale brand color can make buttons hard to spot. Look at the page on your own phone outdoors before deciding.
Put your policies where people see them
Clients accept rules more easily when they see them before booking. One or two sentences cover it: how late they can cancel or move online, what happens if they miss an appointment, and what to do if they're running late. A long policy page tends to go unread, so keep the short version on the booking page.
Ask for as little as possible
Every extra field and every forced account sign-up is a point where a client can give up. A name and email are enough to confirm a booking and send a reminder, and a phone number works well as an optional extra. Anything else, such as a health questionnaire, can wait until the first visit.
Test it on a phone
Many clients will open your link on a phone, so test it there.
- Open the link from your own Instagram bio or Google profile, the way a client would.
- Book a service, once with a specific staff member and once with "anyone available".
- Check the times offered match your opening hours and your timezone.
- Open the confirmation email, add the appointment to your calendar, then reschedule and cancel it.
- Ask a friend who has never seen the page to book something while you watch without helping.
The last step teaches you the most. Wherever your friend hesitates, a client probably will too.
Help people find the page
Put the link wherever people already look for you: your Google Business Profile, Instagram and Facebook bios, the main button on your website, your email signature, your voicemail greeting and a QR code at the desk.
Fill in the page's SEO title and description with what you do and where, such as "Barbershop in Park Slope, Brooklyn", so the page makes sense when it shows up in search results.
What you can set on a TidyBookings booking page
Each TidyBookings business has a public booking page where you set the title, description, logo, background image, brand color and SEO fields. Services show their name, description, duration and price in your currency, and group services can take several guests in the same slot. Guests choose a staff member or anyone available, pick a time, and confirm with their name, email and an optional phone number, without creating an account.
Every industry has a live demo booking page you can try as a guest, and the features page covers the settings behind it.