Barber shop website: what to include

A barber shop website needs to do four jobs fast: show what you do and what it costs, let someone book or know they can walk in, make the shop easy to find, and prove the cuts are good. Most people look at it on a phone, often standing on the street or sitting on the train, and decide within a few seconds whether you are the right shop. Everything else is decoration.

This guide goes through what to put on the page, in the order a customer looks for it, what you can skip, and how to keep the site matching your Google Business Profile. If you want the short version for salons and beauty studios as well, see our page on websites for hair, beauty and barbers.

1. Services and prices, as text

The first question a new customer has is "how much for a skin fade?" If they have to message you to find out, many will simply try the next barber. List your services and prices on the page itself:

• Plain names. "Haircut", "Skin fade", "Beard trim", "Cut and beard", "Kids cut". Use the words customers use, not menu poetry.
• A price next to each one, or a clear "from" price where it depends on the hair or beard.
• How long it takes, if you book by the slot. It helps people plan a lunch break.
• Concession, student or kids prices, if you have them, stated plainly.

Keep this as real text rather than a photo of a price board. Text loads fast on a phone, can be read by screen readers, and can be found by Google. If you change a price, you edit one line instead of redoing an image. The same logic applies to cafés, as we explain in what a café website must have.

2. One clear way to book, or a clear walk-in line

Barbers run on two models, and the website should say which one you are, in the first screen:

• Booking. A single, obvious Book button that goes straight to your booking page, not to a general home page for the booking software. Test it yourself on a phone, from search to confirmation.
• Walk-ins. Say so: "Walk-ins welcome, no booking needed", plus your busiest times if you know them. People hate guessing whether there will be a queue.
• A mix. Many shops take some bookings and keep slots for walk-ins. Say how it works in one sentence.

Whichever you choose, give a phone number or a message option as a back-up, and put a single main button on the page rather than five competing ones. If your booking software already has its own page, that is fine: link to it. You do not need to rebuild it.

3. Hours, address and a map

This is the part people check most often, and the part most often out of date. Put these near the top and again at the bottom:

• Opening hours for each day, including late nights, Sundays and public holidays if they differ.
• The full street address and the suburb, written the same way as on your Google Business Profile.
• A map link that opens directions on the phone.
• A phone number that dials when tapped.
• Parking or transport notes, such as "two minutes from the train station" or "street parking on the side road".

Keep your name, address and phone number identical on the website and on Google. Mismatches such as "St" in one place and "Street" in another are small, but they make it harder for people and for search engines to be sure it is the same shop, as we explain in name, address, phone consistency. We cover the Google side in Google Business Profile or website.

4. Real photos of real work

A barber website is judged on the cuts. Use your own photos:

• Finished cuts from several angles, in decent light, with the customer's permission.
• The shop itself, so people know what the place feels like before they walk in.
• The barbers, with a name and what each is best at, if you have a team.

A handful of sharp photos beats a gallery of forty soft ones. If you do not have good photos yet, spend an hour with a phone in daylight before you spend anything on design. Do not use stock photos of other people's work, and do not show a customer's face without asking.

5. A short About section and your team

You do not need a long story. Three or four sentences work: how long you have been cutting, the style you are known for, and what a customer can expect when they sit down. If you have more than one barber, give each a line and a photo. People often choose the barber, not the shop.

What you can leave off

• Auto-playing video or music that slows the page.
• A long slideshow at the top that pushes the prices out of sight.
• A blog you will not update.
• Hiding the prices behind "contact us".
• Five social media icons larger than the Book button. Link to your Instagram, but let it be a small link.

How it shows up on Google

For a local business, the website and the Google Business Profile work together. Google's help pages say you can add a booking link to your profile (search for the Booking option, or in Maps choose Edit profile and the type of link), and that the same profile can link to a services list. Which options appear depends on your business category and region, so check what your own profile offers. Point that link at the page where someone can actually book.

Also helpful on the site itself:

• A page title that says what you are and where, such as "Barber shop in Newtown".
• Structured data for your business (name, address, phone, hours), which is how Google's own documentation recommends describing a local business on its site.
• Your site added to Google Search Console, so you can see how Google reads it.

Nobody can promise a position on Google, and a good profile does much of the work on Maps. A clear, fast website linked from it simply gives people what they came for.

What it costs

A barber shop can start with a single page that covers everything above. A bigger site adds more pages, such as a page for each barber or a gallery. These are Realtiq's published prices, in Australian dollars:

The domain, hosting and booking accounts are set up in your name and listed in the proposal, so you can see them before you agree. If you are unsure which of the pages you need, what pages does a small business website need is a good next read.

A two-minute self-check

Pick up your phone, search for your shop, and open your website. Can you see a service price, the Book button or walk-in line, today's opening hours and a way to get directions, all without scrolling more than a couple of screens? If not, that is your to-do list.

Common questions

Does a barber shop need a website if it has Instagram and a Google profile?

Many do fine with those two. A website helps when you want prices, the booking button, your hours and photos in one place that you control, and when you want to be found for more than your shop name. It also does not disappear if a social account is locked.

Should I put my prices online?

Yes, if you can. Prices are the first thing new customers look for. If prices vary a lot, show "from" prices and explain what changes them.

Do I need online booking?

Not necessarily. Walk-in shops can say so clearly and skip it. If you do take bookings, link to your booking page with one clear button and test it on a phone.

How many photos should I use?

A small set of good ones: a few finished cuts, the shop, and the team. Quality matters more than quantity.

Can I update opening hours and prices myself?

Yes. With the business website we walk you through how to update it yourself, and website care at A$79 a month covers 30 minutes of small changes a month if you would rather not.