Keep your chair full, without living on your phone.
Penguina looks after websites for hair salons, barbers, lash and brow studios, nail, tattoo and skin studios. We test your "Book" button and booking link from your site, Google and Instagram, answer your reviews, keep real photos on your Google profile, and invite past clients back before they drift to someone new. You keep your hands on the work.
Clients come back every few weeks. Until they don't.
A good client rebooks every few weeks, for years. That makes each one worth far more than one appointment. They choose you from reviews and photos, and they leave quietly when booking gets awkward or someone newer looks fresher online.
They find you
A search for "balayage near me" or "barber open Sunday". Your photos and star rating do the first sell.
Google, Instagram, AI toolsThey book
On a phone, often late at night, from your website, your Google profile or your Instagram bio.
Needs a working linkThey review
Many happy clients will leave a review if someone simply asks. Your reply shows the next client you care.
Fresh reviews winThey come back
Or they drift. A friendly invite at the right time brings regulars back before they try someone new.
The cycle repeatsIn one sentence: salon and studio websites lose clients through broken booking links, missing prices and stale photos, and the owner rarely notices because they're with a client all day.
Where do salon websites usually lose bookings?
- The "Book" button sends people to a marketplace. Instead of your own booking page, clients land on a marketplace listing with other salons nearby, and some marketplaces charge you a fee for that new client.
- An old link in your Instagram bio. You changed booking systems last year. Your bio, your Google profile or your website footer still points to the old one.
- No prices, or last year's prices. People who can't see a starting price message you to ask, then book the salon that shows one.
- Colour bookings with no patch test step. A new client books a colour or tint online, arrives, and has to be turned away because nobody asked for an allergy test first. You lose the slot and the client.
- Stock photos or no photos. Clients want to see your actual work. A Google profile with three old photos loses to one with fresh, real ones.
- Calls during appointments. You can't answer with foils in your hands. Without a text back, that caller books elsewhere within minutes.
What each plan does for a salon.
Protect keeps the basics safe on every plan. Capture fills the gaps between "found you" and "booked". Compound keeps regulars coming back.
| What we watch | Keep, $100 | Grow, $250 | Full Care, $500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booking button and links tested regularly, on phones | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Your enquiries and messages, by name | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Review replies drafted for you to approve | No | Yes | Yes |
| Google profile: hours, prices and booking link | No | Yes | Yes |
| Fixes where clients give up, like hidden prices | No | Yes | Yes |
| Review requests to your clients, no gating | No | No | Yes |
| Past clients invited back | Add-on | Add-on | Yes |
| Real photos, before and after galleries, new service pages | No | No | Yes |
Monday, 8:00
Hi Leah, a full week. 3 enquiries, 1 still waiting.
- Booking link tested from your site, Google and Instagram
- Contact form test arrived in 4 seconds
- Ella (bridal trial), Nadia (brow lamination price), Kim (patch test)
- Still waiting: Ella, asked Thursday
- Fix: prices now show on phones without scrolling
- 5 new reviews, all replied. 2 days since the last one
- 18 clients not seen in 10 weeks invited back
Read it between clients.
One short note every Monday. Was the booking link safe all week? Who got in touch, and who is still waiting? How many new reviews, and how long since the last one? Then three things we'll do next.
- Days since your last review, so you notice before you go quiet
- Your enquiries by first name, and who is still waiting
Names and numbers changed for illustration.
Renting a chair? Keep. Running a salon? Grow.
A solo stylist or barber renting a chair mostly needs the booking link safe and enquiries seen, so Keep is the way in. A salon with three or more chairs lives on reviews and photos, so Grow is where the difference shows. Full Care suits busy salons that want regulars invited back.
Keep
$100 / month
For chair renters and solo artists.
- Booking links tested regularly
- Your enquiries by name
- Site safe and in your name
Grow Recommended
$250 / month
For salons, barbershops and studios with a team.
- Everything in Keep
- Reviews answered
- Google hours, prices and booking link kept right
Full Care
$500 / month
For busy salons that want to keep their chairs full.
- Everything in Grow
- Review requests to your clients
- Past clients invited back
- Real photos on Google and your site
Whatever you do with your hands, this page is for you.
Everything above applies to all of these businesses.
The small print that affects your website.
Marketplace fees on new clients
Booking marketplaces can charge you for clients they find for you. Fresha, for example, charges 20% of a brand-new client's first booking (minimum $6) when that client found you on its marketplace, but not when they book through your own website or Google (Pabau, 2026). Check your own plan. Your website should send people to your own link.
Patch tests before colour
UK salon guidance says allergy alert tests should be done at least 48 hours before a colour service, because a reaction can take that long to show (NHBF, 2025). Always follow the product maker's instructions. Your booking page should make that step obvious.
No discounts for 5-star reviews
Since October 2024, the US FTC bans incentives that depend on a positive review, and Google removes reviews posted because of an incentive. We ask clients the same way, and never only the happy ones.
Photos need permission
Before and after photos sell, but only with your client's written OK. Tattoo studios also face age rules: in Great Britain it's illegal to tattoo anyone under 18 (Tattooing of Minors Act 1969), so booking pages should say so.
Common booking tools in this group include Fresha, Vagaro, Booksy, GlossGenius, Square Appointments, Phorest, Timely and Boulevard. We work with whichever you use. Reviews that matter: Google first, then Yelp in the US, and the reviews inside your booking app.
Questions from salons and studios.
Something else? Ask in the chat, email hello@penguina.website or WhatsApp us.
I book everything through an app. Do I even need a website?
Your app is great for booking. Your website is where people check you're real, see your work and prices, and find your own booking link instead of a marketplace page full of competitors. It also helps Google and AI tools describe you correctly.
Will you post on Instagram for me?
No. We don't do social media posting. We make sure your Instagram bio link works, your Google profile has fresh real photos, and your website shows your work.
Do you work with Fresha, Vagaro or Booksy?
Yes. We never replace your booking system. We test the routes into it on phones, and we tell you when a link breaks.
How do you invite past clients back?
On Full Care, or as an add-on on Keep and Grow, we send a friendly invite to clients who haven't booked for a while, in your voice and approved by you. Only clients who agreed to hear from you are contacted, and anyone can opt out.
Someone left a nasty review. What do you do?
On Grow and Full Care we draft a calm, short reply promptly for you to approve. We never argue in public and never pay for reviews to be removed.
I'm a solo artist renting a chair. Is $100 a month worth it?
Ask yourself: would losing one client a month cost more than $100? For most stylists, a single lost regular is worth far more over a year. If not, we'll tell you.
Something wrong with your website right now?
Not sure where to start? Send us your website.
We look at it the way a customer would, find up to 3 real problems, and fix one of them free. No call needed.