# How to Start Taking Online Bookings for Your Studio

Source: https://letsrezzy.com/blog/how-to-start-taking-online-bookings
Description: How to take online bookings for a wellness or beauty studio: set services and hours, get a booking link, share it, and add reminders and deposits.
Updated: 2026-08-13

**TL;DR:** Here's how to take online bookings without living in your DMs: set up your services and hours in a booking tool, grab a shareable link, and post it everywhere clients already look for you.

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If you're still booking appointments by DM, text, or a paper book, you already know the real cost: it's not the ten minutes per booking, it's the back-and-forth that happens after hours, on your day off, mid-service with a client in the chair. Moving to an [online booking page](/#booking) fixes that by letting clients see your real availability and grab a slot themselves, any time of day. Here's the step-by-step to set it up.

![Rezzy's booking page: a client picks a service and sees real open times](/blog_images/booking-page.png)

*This is the booking page your clients see, on your own Rezzy link.*

## What do you need before you start taking online bookings?

Three things, and you likely have all three already: a list of your services with prices and durations, your working hours (including days off), and a way for clients to reach you if something goes wrong. That's it. You don't need a website, a logo redesign, or a big software budget to get a working booking page live.

The steps below assume a booking tool built for this (Rezzy or similar) rather than a form you build yourself. In Rezzy, all of it lives in one place: [setting up your booking page](/guides/set-up-your-booking-page) is services, hours, and your link on a single screen.

## How do you set up online booking step by step?

Follow these in order. Each one builds on the last, and none of them require touching code.

1. **List your services.** For each one, set the name, duration, price, and any buffer time you need between appointments (cleanup, room reset, product dry time). Be specific: "Gel Manicure" and "Gel Manicure + Nail Art" as separate services book better than one vague "Manicure" listing, because clients know exactly what they're reserving.
2. **Set your weekly availability.** Enter your regular working hours for each day. If you take a real lunch, set two windows for that day (morning and afternoon) instead of one long one, so nobody books you at 12:30. This becomes the source of truth clients book against, so it should match your real schedule, not an aspirational one.
3. **Add one-off exceptions as they come up.** Vacation days, a late start, a holiday closure. [Block the time off](/guides/block-time-off) once and your booking page stops offering those slots, so you're not fielding "are you open on the 4th?" messages.
4. **Turn on confirmation and reminder messages.** A booking made at 11pm should get an instant confirmation, and the client should get a reminder the day before without you lifting a finger. This is the step that replaces your manual DM follow-ups.
5. **Decide if any services need a deposit.** New clients and high-value or long services are the ones worth protecting. You can leave deposits off at first and turn them on later once you see which bookings tend to fall through.
6. **Grab your booking link (and the embed code, if you have a website).** This is the URL you'll share everywhere. If your booking tool supports it, you can also [put booking on your own website and Google](/guides/embed-booking-on-your-website) instead of just linking out.
7. **Share the link everywhere clients already look for you.** Instagram bio, Google Business Profile, your website, email signature, even a QR code taped by the register. The table below covers where and why.
8. **Stop taking new bookings by DM.** Once the link is live, answer booking requests with the link instead of your availability. This is the step that gets your evenings back, and it only works if you commit to it.

**The whole sequence usually takes under an hour for a solo studio with a handful of services.** More services or multiple staff calendars add time, but the steps stay the same.

> **Don't want to set this up alone?** Rezzy builds your booking page, reminders, and client list for you. [Start free](/signup).

## Where should you share your online booking link?

Put the link everywhere a client currently has to ask you for availability. Each placement replaces a different flavor of manual back-and-forth.

| Where to share | Why it works |
|---|---|
| Instagram/TikTok bio link | Most DM booking requests start here, so this is the highest-traffic placement for a beauty or wellness studio |
| Google Business Profile ("Book" button) | Captures people who found you through search or maps with zero manual replies, often the highest-intent traffic you get |
| Your website (embedded widget or button) | Keeps the booking flow on your own site instead of sending visitors elsewhere, and it looks more established |
| Email signature | Turns every email you send into a passive booking channel |
| Text/DM auto-reply | Catches after-hours messages and points people to the link instantly instead of waiting for you to see it |
| QR code at the front desk or register | Converts walk-in traffic and existing clients rebooking on the spot into online bookings instead of a verbal "call us" |

Instagram bio and Google Business Profile are worth doing on day one, since that's where most first-time client inquiries already land. The rest you can add over the first week or two.

## How do you get clients to use the booking link instead of DMing you?

Make the link the path of least resistance, and stop offering the manual alternative. When someone DMs asking for availability, reply with the link instead of typing out open times, every time, even for regulars. Pin a post or story with the link on top. Update your auto-reply to lead with it. Clients default to whatever is easiest, and if DMing you is still easier than tapping a link, some of them will keep DMing you out of habit.

**The habit change is on you, not the client.** The first few weeks are the hardest, because old habits are sticky on both sides. After that, new clients never learn the DM path exists, because the link is the first thing they see.

You are not turning anyone away by doing this. The client who calls still gets booked, you just put their appointment into the same calendar as everyone else's, where they can [reschedule or cancel it themselves](/guides/what-clients-can-do-on-their-own) later without messaging you. That single detail is what prevents double-booking, which almost always happens when a DM'd appointment and an online one are never checked against each other.

## Should you require a deposit when you first start taking online bookings?

Not necessarily on day one, but it's worth having ready for the bookings most likely to fall through: first-time clients and long or high-cost services. A deposit turns a casual booking into a real commitment, which matters more once you're not personally confirming every appointment by text.

![A service in Rezzy with its duration, buffer time, price, and a deposit set as booking protection](/blog_images/service-deposit-settings.png)

*One service, one screen: duration, buffer, price, and whether a deposit is required to book.*

If you're brand new to online booking, a reasonable order of operations is: launch without deposits, watch your no-show rate for a few weeks, then [turn deposits on](/guides/take-deposits-or-full-payment) for the specific services where you're losing money. You learn where the real risk sits instead of guessing at it. For a fuller breakdown of deposits, reminder timing, and cancellation policy, see [how to reduce client no-shows](/blog/how-to-reduce-client-no-shows).

## How do reminders replace the manual confirmation texts you're sending now?

Two automatic messages cover the job you're doing by hand: a confirmation the moment the booking is made, and a reminder the day before. The confirmation reassures the client who booked at 11pm that it worked. The day-before reminder is the one that saves the slot, because it lands while there's still time for them to move it instead of ghosting.

Set it up once and it runs on every booking, including the ones made while you're mid-service. **That is usually the single biggest time-saver in the whole switch**, because manual confirmations eat scattered minutes all day long, one client at a time, whenever you happen to see the message.

If a specific client worries you, a same-day nudge sent by hand is still worth the twenty seconds. Save it for the repeat offenders rather than making it your default for everyone.

## What goes wrong in the first week (and how to avoid it)

Almost every rough launch comes down to the same five things. None of them are hard to fix, and all of them are easier to prevent than to explain to a client after the fact.

| The mistake | What it costs you | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Hours on the page don't match your real week | You cancel back on a client who booked in good faith, which is worse than never offering the slot | Set your true hours, then book a test appointment yourself in every window before you share the link |
| One vague service instead of specific ones | The wrong duration gets reserved, so you run 30 minutes behind all day | Split anything with a real time difference into its own service with its own duration and price |
| No minimum notice window | Someone books the 9am slot at 8:47am, while you're still in the car | Require a few hours of notice, more if you need prep or product time |
| No buffer between appointments | Cleanup and reset happen on your lunch, or not at all | Add buffer time per service, especially for anything with a room to turn over |
| The link is three taps deep | People give up and DM you anyway, so nothing changes | One tap from your Instagram bio and a Book button on your Google Business Profile, not a link tree of link trees |

**Test your own booking page as a client before you share it.** Book a real appointment on your own link, on your phone, and read the confirmation that arrives. You will catch a wrong price, a missing service, or a duration that doesn't match reality in about two minutes, and you will catch it before a client does.

One last thing worth setting on day one: a cancellation window. Decide how late a client can cancel or reschedule themselves, put it on the booking page, and let the software enforce it. A written window on the page is doing quiet work every time someone considers cancelling an hour before, and it saves you from making the same judgment call by text, one client at a time, forever.