How to Set Up Salon Booking on UniLink (Online Appointments for Hair, Nails, and Beauty)

Accept online appointments per service or stylist, collect deposits, sync with Google Calendar, and send automated reminders — from one shareable link.

Running a salon means managing a constant flow of appointments across multiple services, multiple staff members, and multiple channels — Instagram DMs, phone calls, walk-ins, and text messages. Missed bookings and double-bookings cost you revenue and damage client relationships. UniLink gives you a single bookable link that handles the entire appointment flow: service selection, duration and price transparency, deposit collection, automated reminders, and staff calendar sync — without a dedicated salon software subscription.

What Salon Booking on UniLink Does

The Appointment block lets clients pick a service, choose a date and time from your actual availability, and confirm their booking in under two minutes on their phone. You configure each service with its exact duration so the system never double-books the same stylist. Pricing is displayed upfront, which eliminates the "how much is it?" inquiry before the appointment is even booked.

Deposits reduce no-shows. Combining the Appointment block with a Shop block or a deposit payment step means clients have financial skin in the game before they arrive. For salons where a missed blowout appointment means 90 minutes of lost chair time, even a small holding payment makes a measurable difference to no-show rates.

Google Calendar sync pushes every confirmed booking to the shared staff calendar in real time. Each stylist sees their own day's schedule without logging into a separate system. Email or notification automations send clients a reminder the day before their appointment with the time, stylist name, and a cancellation policy note — handling the communication that would otherwise require a manual call or text.

How to Get Started

1. Create a page for your salon — Log in to UniLink Dashboard and create a new page. Add your salon name, a short description, and a photo header to set the professional tone. This page will be the single booking destination across all your channels.
2. Add an Appointment block per service type — Drag in an Appointment block. Create separate service entries for each offering: haircut, colour treatment, blowout, nail set, facial, etc. Set the correct duration for each — a full colour treatment is very different in chair time from a trim.
3. Set pricing on each service — Add the price to each service listing. Visible pricing reduces pre-booking enquiries and sets accurate client expectations — particularly important for services with a wide price range like balayage or extensions.
4. Configure staff availability — If you have multiple stylists, create a separate Appointment block per staff member, or use custom fields to let clients select a preferred stylist. Set each block's available hours to that stylist's working days and times.
5. Enable online deposits — Use a Shop block or the Appointment block's deposit setting to collect a small holding fee at booking. Set this to 20–30% of the service price for high-value treatments. Include your cancellation policy in the block description.
6. Connect Google Calendar — In the Appointment block settings, connect your Google account and choose the relevant staff or salon calendar. Every confirmed booking appears immediately as a calendar event.
7. Set up confirmation and reminder automations — Create an immediate confirmation email with the service name, date, time, stylist, salon address, and deposit amount paid. Create a second automation to fire 24 hours before the appointment as a reminder, including your cancellation deadline.

How to Use It

1. Review tomorrow's schedule each evening — Check your Google Calendar or the UniLink CRM filtered by date. All confirmed appointments are visible with the service type and client details.
2. Check for last-minute cancellations — When a client cancels, the slot reopens automatically. Consider adding a "last-minute availability" Story or post linking to your booking page to fill the gap quickly.
3. Add repeat booking links to your confirmation email — Include a direct link back to your UniLink booking page in every confirmation email. Clients who just booked are in the mindset to also schedule their next appointment — capture that momentum.
4. Tag clients by service in the CRM — Apply CRM tags like "colour-client", "nail-client", or "extension-client" to each booking. Use these tags to send targeted promotions — new colour line launch goes to colour clients, not nail clients.
5. Handle deposits for cancellations — If a client cancels within your policy window, refund the deposit from the Orders panel. If they cancel late or no-show, retain the deposit per your stated policy. Document your policy clearly on the booking page.
6. Send re-engagement emails to lapsed clients — Filter your CRM for clients who have not booked in 8–12 weeks and send a "We miss you" email with a link to rebook. This low-effort campaign consistently brings back clients who simply forgot to rebook.
7. Update seasonal availability — Before holidays or your busiest weeks, adjust the Appointment block to extend hours or add additional availability. During slow periods, temporarily reduce available slots to encourage early booking rather than last-minute walk-ins.

Key Settings Explained

How to Get the Most Out of It

Service duration accuracy is the single biggest operational win you can get from online booking. When your system knows a balayage takes 3.5 hours and a trim takes 45 minutes, it blocks the right amount of time automatically. Most salons running manual booking significantly underestimate service time for complex treatments, leading to chronically late days. Audit your actual service times and set them precisely in your Appointment block — your team will notice the difference within a week.

The repeat booking link strategy is underused and highly effective. Add a simple line to every confirmation email: "Already thinking about your next appointment? Book here." The conversion rate on this link is high because the recipient just completed a booking and is already in the mindset. You can also include it in your post-appointment thank-you email sent 24 hours after the visit.

Use CRM segmentation to run service-specific promotions. Launching a new nail art design? Email your nail-client tag. Introducing a keratin treatment? Email your colour-client and blowout-client tags. Generic promotions to your whole list feel spammy; targeted messages to the right service cohort feel relevant and personal.

Collecting deposits consistently does more than reduce no-shows — it also filters your client list. Clients who will not commit a small deposit to hold an appointment are the same clients who will cancel at the last minute. A small deposit policy often improves the quality of your bookings, not just the quantity, by attracting clients who value their time and yours.

Troubleshooting Common Issues