Appointment link on your Google Business Profile
Many clients look up your salon in Google first. If an appointment link appears next to your business details, they book an appointment right away instead of calling or looking further.
What visitors see
When someone looks up your salon in Google Search or Google Maps, your Business Profile appears: name, opening hours, photos and reviews. An appointment link is added to that.
The link leads to your own booking page in Salonnare. There the client picks a service, a staff member and a time, exactly as they would from your website. You pay no commission per booking -- Google only sends the visitor your way.
The prominent blue Book online button you see on some salons is reserved for Google's booking partners. That button, too, simply forwards the visitor to that provider's booking page -- nothing is booked inside Google itself. The difference is in the styling, not in what the client can do.
Connecting from Salonnare
You set up the connection in one place: Settings > Google Business Profile.
- Go to Settings and open the Google Business Profile section.
- Click Connect with Google. You are taken to a Google sign-in screen.
- Sign in with the Google account that manages your Business Profile. That is usually the account you created the profile with, or the one you use to manage it in Google Business Profile.
- Grant permission. You then return to Salonnare.
- Pick your location from the list. If you manage several locations under the same account, they all appear here.
- Turn on Appointment link on my Business Profile.
That's it. Salonnare places the link and then checks every day that it is still there and still points to the right page.
Can't connect, for instance because you manage the profile with a different account? You can always add the link manually, as described below.
Setting it up manually
Would you rather not connect, or is it not available yet? Then add the link to your Business Profile yourself.
- Open your Business Profile in Google, through Google Search, Google Maps or the Google Business Profile app.
- Go to Edit and find the section for bookings or appointments.
- Choose the transaction type Appointment.
- Paste the link to your own booking page. You will find it in Salonnare under Settings > Online booking.
- Save.
If there are several links, you can mark one as the preferred link. That one takes priority in the display.
A manually added link works just as well for your client. The difference is that you have to update it yourself when your booking page changes, for instance when you start using your own domain. With a connection, Salonnare does that for you.
There is already a booking link from another provider
If you used a different booking system before, the booking link on your profile is often still registered to that provider.
Google cannot remove that link on your behalf, and neither can we. Only the provider who placed it can do so, or you through your Business Profile. In your Business Profile, go to Bookings and choose Remove provider. The provider then has five days to process it. Only once the old link is gone can we place the new link.
If you try to switch the link on while another link is still there, Salonnare tells you and does nothing further. So you lose nothing.
Frequently asked questions
The link isn't there yet, even though I set everything up. Google does not always process changes to a Business Profile immediately. Give it a day. If it stays away, check that you picked the right location and that there is no link from another provider left on your profile.
I'm going to use my own domain. Do I need to change the link? No. With a connection, Salonnare checks every day that the link still points to the right address and updates it if needed. If you added the link manually, you have to change it yourself.
What happens if I disconnect? The appointment link disappears from your Business Profile and we remove our access to your Google account. Your profile itself stays unchanged. You can always connect again later.
Can a staff member set this up? Only staff with edit rights on this settings section. You set rights per staff member, see Staff.