How to Create a Beauty Business Website

Whether you’re striking out on your own or just starting in beauty, a website is an important tool for your business. Think of it as a central place to share information with your current and potential clients. With the right website building platform, you can also manage more of your business and marketing through one account.

Make a beauty website in 10 steps

No matter what type of beauty business you run, it’s helpful to start your website with some basic details and pages. This includes information like your list of services and your cancellation policy.

1. Define your brand and goals

Knowing who you want your business to serve and how you want to interact with your clients will help you make decisions about your website. When defining your brand, think of it like a person: How would you describe their personality? How do they speak to others? This will guide you toward web design and website copy decisions. 

Setting your goals—like what you want clients to do once they reach your website—will clarify what pages and features your site needs to help them get there.

See more tips for creating your brand

2. Choose your color palette and fonts

The colors and type you use in your website design add to the energy your site and business reflects to clients. It doesn’t have to be complicated—you can always make edits later—just choose combinations that feel true to the personality of your brand.

For example, if you want to be bright and energetic, you might choose louder colors and less traditional fonts. A soothing spa might go with a more neutral palette and simpler typeface.

3. Gather images

If you already have photos from client appointments, previous work, or of your physical salon space, use them to accentuate and break up the design of your pages. But if you don’t have photos ready yet, don’t let that be a blocker.

You can launch your site with or without images. You can even use free licensed stock photos in the meantime. Just make sure the stock photos you pick are decorative, so clients don’t get confused about what your work or space looks like.

4. Build a homepage

With the right information, you can even launch your website with just a homepage ready. If you’re adding multiple pages, keep your homepage simple and focused—share a short description of your business and your experience, photos of your work or space if you have them, and a list of services you offer. You can link to more in-depth pages from your homepage. 

If you want to launch with just your homepage, you’ll just include more information on the page. You can always shift those details to new pages later.

For extra speed, feed your brand description into the Squarespace AI Brand Identity tool. The AI tool can generate website copy for you quickly. Brand Identity ensures that the copy the tool creates sounds unique to you.

Read our guide to creating a homepage

5. List your services

A summary of your services and a price list are some of the first things a serious client will look for on your website. Even if your pricing is variable, sharing a baseline and what impacts pricing helps visitors understand if you fit into their budget.

Note any services that are included in specific booking options, like a consultation or a treatment.

6. Add appointment scheduling 

The easier you make it to book an appointment with you, the more likely someone is to become a client. For a simple workflow, add an appointment scheduling tool like Acuity Scheduling to your website.

With Acuity Scheduling, you can set your availability and create a custom intake form, so you have all of the client information you need before an appointment. This simplifies the process for clients too, since they can book or change appointments on their own. You can also set up appointment confirmations and reminders via email or text notification.

See how Nià Pettitt customized booking for her hair salon

7. Set up payment processing

It’s not a requirement to get started, but connecting a payment tool to your website removes some headaches from doing business. With a payment solution, you can take deposits or store payment details to protect against no-shows.

If you connect a payment tool to your scheduling tool, you can process card payments in person and track all of your transactions in one place.

8. Add FAQs and cancellation policies

A cancellation policy is key for any beauty business. A clear policy will set expectations for your clients and protect your bottom line. The policy can be straightforward, just be sure to include:

• Free cancellation window, like up to 24 hours before an appointment

• Late arrival policy, like 15 minutes after the appointment start time

• Contact instructions, including how to get in touch if running late and how to reschedule or cancel 

• Penalties and next steps for cancellations, late arrivals, or no-shows

See a cancellation policy example

9. Showcase your expertise

As a service provider, your experience and personality set you apart from competitors, especially for beauty services. Clients come to you hoping to feel confident and relaxed, and sharing more about yourself can help someone feel ready to book with you.

Keep a warm and welcoming tone across your site copy and share details that back up your expertise. Share how many years of experience you have, any certifications or notable clients you’ve worked with, or include client reviews and testimonials on your website.

10. Get a custom domain

Make sure you register a domain as a final touch for your website. The domain is the URL people use to reach your website. It’s ideal if your URL matches your business name or your name. You can even get a custom top-level domain (TLD), like .salon or .hair.

Get more tips for choosing your domain name

Special considerations for different business types

When creating your website, keep your target customer in mind. This goes beyond how you brand yourself—think about what information will help potential clients make a decision about you. 

For a hair salon, it can be helpful to highlight specific techniques or hair types you specialize in, for example. At a nail salon, you might want to highlight your process for custom designs.

A makeup artist might want to list out the brands or types of products they use for clients. Or at a spa, you can lean into the atmosphere you provide, specific skincare treatments, or include a section on your cleaning protocols.

When in doubt, put yourself in your clients’ shoes—or consider how you feel as a client of businesses like yours—for guidance on the user experience. 

Promoting your beauty services

Once you’ve built the basics of your website, it’s time to take it online and share it with your network and potential clients. You don’t have to be on every channel at once, but there are a few common ways to promote yourself.

• Client referrals: On top of bringing any existing clients along to your business, consider tapping them for referrals too. Ask for a review or testimonial to add to your website. Or offer a referral discount for every successful referral.

• Social media: When you’re starting out, it can be beneficial to share your new site on both your personal and professional social media. Even if there aren’t potential clients in your personal network, it makes it easier for friends and family to share.

• Local networks: If you have a brick-and-mortar location, there are likely communities and platforms for small businesses in your area. Reach out to explore promotion opportunities or other resources.

• Search engines: On top of optimizing your website copy for search results, you can make your business more likely to show up in local search results. Create a Google business profile to show up in map searches and connect your scheduling tool to Reserve With Google so clients can schedule from the search results page.

Ready to start your beauty website?