Booking system for your website: how to add it to a site you already have

Adding a booking system to your website does not mean building a new website. If your site already works, adding booking comes down to choosing between three technical routes and connecting your existing site to a calendar. In this article we look at when a system is genuinely needed, what the options are, what to think through before choosing, and what it all costs.

When booking is needed

The clearest sign is that appointments are agreed by phone, email and Facebook messages, and every booking takes several messages back and forth. That time is your working time, and it earns nothing. Online booking on your website solves several problems at once. Typical situations where online booking pays for itself quickly:

• time goes on answering messages and calls rather than on the actual work;
• the same slot is accidentally promised to two clients, creating a double booking;
• clients want to book in the evening or at the weekend when nobody answers the phone;
• some clients simply do not turn up because no reminder was sent.

This need arises most often in hairdressers and beauty salons, massage therapy, dentistry, garages, training providers, saunas and accommodation, and in consultancy work. The phone stays in use after the system goes live, but some clients never call at all and go elsewhere if there is no option to book online. With a couple of bookings a week, messages are still manageable. With several a day, manual handling breaks down quickly and mistakes become more frequent.

Three ways to add booking

If you are wondering how to add booking to a website, there are essentially three options. The first is an external ready made service. It works on any website, because the booking view either opens from a separate link or sits on the page in an embedded window, an iframe. Your site gains one button and one subpage, and nothing else has to change. This is the fastest route, although the design may not match the rest of the site exactly.

The second is a WordPress booking system, a plugin installed directly on your site. Bookings stay in your own database and the design of the site remains consistent. This assumes the site runs on WordPress and that someone keeps the plugin updated.

The third is a custom solution built around your own workflow. This makes sense when there are many services, staff members and locations and ready made tools become too restrictive. It costs more at the start, but there may be no monthly fee at all. The DigiOP booking system belongs to the first group: we connect it to your existing site and set the calendar up together with you.

What to think through before choosing

Choosing a system is not only a question of price. Before deciding, think through what your day actually looks like: how many staff take bookings, how long the services are, and whether you need a deposit from the client.

Calendars and double bookings

If you also take bookings by phone, the system has to be linked to the same calendar where the rest of your appointments live. Connecting Google Calendar or Outlook prevents the same slot being sold twice. Without it, a double booking will happen sooner or later.

Payments and reminders

Automatic confirmation and an email reminder are included in most systems, while SMS is usually a paid extra. No shows are best reduced by taking a deposit or full payment at the moment of booking. That requires a payment integration, for example through Stripe or Montonio.

Two things are often overlooked. First, the booking page has to be fast and simple on mobile, because most bookings are made on a phone. If the page loads slowly, some bookings simply never happen. You can measure page speed free of charge with Google's PageSpeed Insights. Second, you are collecting personal data such as names and phone numbers, so you need a privacy notice and a clear understanding of where the data is stored.

What a booking system costs

The price of a booking system usually follows one of three models:

• a subscription based ready made service, where you pay monthly and updates and support are included;
• a one off licence for a WordPress plugin, plus the setup work on top;
• a custom solution commissioned as a project, more expensive at the start but without an ongoing monthly fee.

Free versions usually cover one staff member and a simple calendar. Payments, multiple locations, service specific durations and reminders normally sit in the paid tier. Support for several staff and several locations is exactly where cheap solutions run out. When comparing, look at the total annual cost rather than the first month's figure alone.

At DigiOP the booking system costs 19 € per month plus VAT. Detailed figures and the cost of other services are listed on the pricing page. If you do not yet have a working website, a website costs 790 € plus VAT and booking can be built straight in.

How the setup works, step by step

Getting started is simpler than it first appears and usually looks like this: first the services, their durations and prices are mapped out. Then a suitable system is chosen and connected to the calendar where your appointments already live. Next, a booking page is added to the existing site along with a button in the menu. Before going live, a few test bookings are made to confirm that confirmations and reminders actually arrive. On an existing site the work is normally limited to one new page and one button, and there is no need to rebuild the website. If your site is not on WordPress, that is not an obstacle, because an external service works as a link or an embedded window on any site.

The good news is that switching systems later is easier than people expect. Services and time slots can be set up quickly in a new system, although the history of past bookings may not transfer. It is therefore worth saving your reports before making the switch. You can see examples of our earlier work on the portfolio page.

If you are not sure which route makes the most sense for your site and your workflow, the simplest place to start is a short conversation. On the contact and free audit page you can ask for an assessment with no sales pressure.