Short answerSalons, spas, barbers and nail studios in the UAE are usually discovered on Instagram or Google Maps, but clients decide on price, availability and trust. A salon website should show the full price list with durations, a gallery of the salon's own work, the team and one tap to book on WhatsApp.
11:40 pm. A new client scrolls your Instagram, saves a set of nails and sends a DM: “How much is this? Any slot on Saturday?” You read it at 9 the next morning. By then she has booked a salon that showed its prices.
Instagram finds clients, a price list books them
Instagram is the right place to show your work. It is a poor place for a price list, opening hours or free slots. Highlights get buried, a story offer lasts a day, and a DM waits until someone has time to answer.
Booking apps solve part of this and charge for it. Regulars who reach you through an app can cost a commission on every visit, even though they would have booked with you directly.
What a salon website needs
- The full menu of services, each with price, duration and a line on what is included. Mark what is new or popular.
- Your own work. A gallery from your salon, large and fast. Before-and-after pictures only with the client's permission.
- Booking on WhatsApp. One tap opens a chat with the service and a preferred time already written.
- The team. Who does colour, who does nails, who does brows, and which languages they speak.
- Offers with an end date. Ladies' night, Eid packages, student prices. They end by themselves.
- Hours and how to find you, including parking, or which entrance and floor if you are inside a mall.
Photos that build trust
Clients compare your gallery with what they see in the mirror afterwards. Stock photos of perfect hair you did not cut set the wrong expectation. Your own work, shot in good light on a phone, sets the right one.
Where beauty meets medicine
Some treatments count as medical in the UAE, injectables for example, and fall under health regulators such as DHA, DoH or MOHAP. If your business offers them, they need the right licence, and their advertising follows the health rules. A salon website should keep them clearly apart from hair, nails and spa services.
This week
- Write down the ten services clients ask about most, with price and duration. That is the first page of your website.
- Count the price questions in your DMs for one week.
- Pick twelve photos of your own work you are proud of.
- Pin an Instagram post that points to your price list.
Questions
How much does a website for a salon or spa in Dubai cost?
At MM², AED 1,500 setup and AED 299 a month on the Small plan, or AED 2,500 setup and AED 449 a month on the Medium plan. Hosting, the domain and one small change a month are included.
Do I need a booking system for my salon?
No. Clients send the service and a preferred time on WhatsApp, and you confirm. If you already use a booking app, the website can link to it as well.
Can I show before-and-after photos on my salon website?
Yes, of your own work and with your clients' permission. Treatments that count as medical, such as injectables, follow the health advertising rules and should stay out of a salon gallery.