What a hair salon website needs in NZ (and what it costs)

What does a salon website actually need?

A hair salon website in NZ, whether for a salon, barber or beauty salon, needs five things to bring in bookings: a service menu with prices, a Book button on every page that goes straight into your booking system, a page for each stylist or barber, a Google Business Profile that points to the site, and a fast mobile build. If you sell take-home products, add a small online shop. Most of the rest is optional.

With FOUNDR, that set-up starts at a $990 base for a Shopify website, with salon add-ons like a service menu set-up ($190) and Google Business Profile setup ($249). You can pay in full or spread it over up to 12 months with no interest. The detail is below, and our salon and beauty websites page shows the designs and builds.

Why does the service menu matter so much?

The service menu is the page people look for before they book. They want to know what you do, roughly what it costs and how long it takes. If they can't find that, they message you, ring during a busy afternoon, or book somewhere that shows it.

A good salon service menu:

• Lists every service in plain words, grouped the way clients think (cuts, colour, treatments, barbering, brows, lashes).
• Shows a price or a "from" price, and the time each service takes.
• Explains the services that confuse people, like the difference between a balayage and foils, in a sentence or two.
• Has a Book button next to each section, not only at the bottom.
• Is real text, not a photo of your printed price list. Text can be read by Google and by AI search tools, and it's easier to update when prices change.

Those service names and descriptions are also how you show up for searches like "balayage Queenstown" or "barber Wānaka". A menu written as text does more for local search than an extra page of general copy.

Where should the Book button go?

Everywhere. The header, the service menu, each stylist page and the footer. On a phone, a sticky Book button at the bottom of the screen works well, because that's where thumbs are.

The button should go straight into the booking system you already use, such as Kitomba, Timely or Fresha, rather than to a contact form. A form adds a step for the client and a job for your front desk. Most salon booking systems give you a link to your online booking page, and that link is what the button uses. Where your system allows it, link to the right service or stylist so the client doesn't have to start from scratch. We cover the booking side in more detail in how to add online booking to your salon website.

One thing to check: if your booking page and your website look nothing alike, some clients hesitate at the handover. Match the colours and logo on your booking page to the website where your booking system lets you.

Do I need stylist pages?

For most salons and barbers, yes. A barber website needs this as much as a salon one. Clients often book a person, not a service. A short page for each stylist or barber, with a good photo, what they specialise in, a few examples of their work and a Book button for their column, does a lot of selling for you.

Keep each page simple so it's easy to update when someone joins or leaves. When a stylist leaves, take their page down or redirect it to the team page, so nobody lands on a profile for someone who's gone.

How does Google Business Profile fit in?

For a salon, your Google Business Profile is often seen before your website. It's what shows in Google Maps and the local results when someone searches "hair salon near me". Google says creating a Business Profile is free.

The profile and the website should back each other up. That means the same business name, address and phone number on both, your website link on the profile, opening hours that match, and real photos of the salon and the team. Google also lets you add your own booking links to your profile and choose a preferred one, so clients can book from search without visiting your site. Booking links from third-party partners can also appear on your profile automatically, so it's worth checking which link Google is showing.

If you'd like this done for you, our Google Business Profile setup is $249. For the wider picture on showing up in local search, read our local SEO guide for NZ businesses.

Should a salon website sell products?

If you already stock retail in the salon, an online shop is worth having. Clients who loved the shampoo you used can buy it again without coming in, and your stylists can send a link after an appointment. Click-and-collect from the salon and NZ-wide shipping cover most needs.

Keep it focused. Start with the products you actually recommend and keep in stock, written up with who each one suits. A short, curated range is easier to manage than a full catalogue, and easier for a client to choose from.

Two things to sort out before you launch: check what your suppliers allow when it comes to selling their brands online, and decide how you'll keep stock levels right between the salon counter and the online shop.

We built the website and Shopify store for UKIYO, a salon and haircare brand in Wānaka. You can see how it's put together in the UKIYO case study.

How fast does it need to be on mobile?

Fast enough that nobody notices. A lot of salon visits come from a phone, often from Instagram or Google Maps, and often while someone is between other things. The site should open quickly on mobile data, with the Book button and your phone number visible without scrolling.

The usual causes of a slow salon site are huge photos straight off a camera, video backgrounds on the home page, and booking or Instagram widgets that load before anything else. Resize your photos, keep the home page simple and link out to Instagram rather than embedding a full feed. You can test any page with Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool and look at the mobile result.

What can I skip?

Plenty of things look good in a proposal and do little for bookings:

• A long "our story" page. A short About section with a team photo does the job.
• An embedded Instagram feed. It slows the page down and shows posts you don't control. Link to your profile instead.
• A separate contact form for bookings. Send people to your booking system.
• A blog you won't keep up. An old last post makes the site look neglected. Only add one if someone will write for it.
• Pop-ups on arrival. They get in the way of the Book button on a small screen.
• Lots of near-identical pages. One clear service menu beats ten thin pages that say the same thing.

What does a salon website cost in NZ?

Prices across NZ vary a lot, depending on design, the number of pages and whether you're selling products. Here's how FOUNDR prices it, all in NZD.

The website base is $990. You pick one of our ready-made designs and we rebuild it on Shopify with your logo, colours, photos and words. It includes Home, About, Services and Contact pages, an online shop for up to 25 products from one brand, a mobile-first build, SEO and AI-search setup, Book buttons linked to your booking system, your own domain and access to our client portal.

The add-ons most salons choose:

Add-on	Price	What it covers
Service menu & pricing set-up	$190	Your full menu loaded as text, with prices and times
Google Business Profile setup	$249	Your profile set up and pointed at your website
Extra page	$149	For example, a team page or a bridal page
Clean product images (up to 25)	$149	Consistent product photos for the shop
Branded email templates (5)	$150	Matching emails for your shop

As an example, the base with a service menu set-up and Google Business Profile setup comes to $1,429. Selling more than one brand in the shop is an add-on we quote for you.

You can pay in full, or spread the total over 3, 6, 9 or 12 months with no interest or extra fees, and pay off the balance any time. Your Shopify plan is billed by Shopify separately.

Is there a pay-monthly option?

Yes. If you'd rather not pay for a build upfront, our monthly plans start at $0 upfront with no lock-in, month to month:

• Launch, $149 a month: a 5-page website with your own domain, a mobile build, hosting and updates.
• Grow, $299 a month: up to 10 pages, service pages and on-page SEO foundations.
• Rank, $549 a month: 10+ pages, keyword-led service pages, Google Business Profile optimisation, monthly blogs and local SEO.

Larger plans with managed Google and Meta ads are available too, with ad spend paid to Google or Meta directly. If you need something bigger, like a custom design from scratch, a large product range or a move from another platform, we'll send a free, fixed-price proposal through price your project.

What should I have ready before the build?

Most of the time on a salon website goes into waiting for content. Having these ready keeps it moving:

• Your logo and brand colours.
• Your current service menu with prices and times.
• Your online booking link, and any stylist or service links your system gives you.
• Recent photos of the salon, the team and your work. Real photos beat stock images every time.
• A list of the products you want to sell online, if any.
• Logins for your domain and Google Business Profile, if you already have them.

Next step

Have a look at the salon designs on our salons page. When you know which one suits, you can build your website from the $990 base and add the extras you want. If you're not sure what you need, send us your current site and booking link and we'll tell you what's worth changing.