Your website has one job when someone new finds your shop: get them from a search to a booked chair.
The Website and UX score measures how well it does that job on a phone. UX is short for user experience, which just means how easy your site is to use for someone who has never seen it before.
If a visitor can’t find a price, they move on. If the Book button is three scrolls down, or so small their thumb hits Gallery instead, they move on.
A mobile-friendly barbershop website is one a stranger can use with one thumb, in a few seconds, without zooming in or sending you a DM. If your SQUIRE Visibility Report flagged Website and UX, it found something standing in the way.
Haven’t run yours yet? Get my visibility report.
What does the Website and UX score check?
The Website and UX category runs five checks on your site:
- Website present and accessible
- Booking CTA visible above the fold
- Prices visible on the site
- FAQ section
- Tap targets sized for mobile
Each one is a question a new client is asking in the first few seconds. Is this place real? How do I book? What will it cost? What do I need to know? Can I actually use this on my phone?
Below, each check gets a quick fix you can make yourself and a version you can hand to whoever built your site.
Website and UX is one of six categories in your score. For the full picture, see what each visibility check reveals and what to fix first.
Check 1: Website present and accessible
What the report looks for: A website it can find and load.
This is the foundation. If it fails, the other four checks have nothing to look at.
The usual causes are simple. The website field on your Google profile is empty. The link points to an old domain. The domain expired. The site still says "coming soon." Or it's down and nobody noticed, because you never visit your own site.
Fix it yourself: Search your shop on Google from your phone, with Wi-Fi off. Tap the website link on your profile. If it doesn't load your site, fix the link in your Google Business Profile or renew the domain.
Hand it off: Ask your web person to confirm the domain and hosting are paid up and set to auto-renew.
No website yet? A booking page counts as a starting point. More on that at the end.
Check 2: Booking CTA visible above the fold
What the report looks for: A booking button a phone visitor can see without scrolling.
On a phone, "above the fold" is the first screen. Everything below it has to be earned with a scroll.
A new client landing on your site wants one thing: to see if they can get in. If the first screen is a full-bleed photo and a welcome message, they're scrolling to find out. Some will. Plenty will go back to the map.
Where the button belongs
Put it in the header so it shows on every page, and keep it pinned as visitors scroll.
That matters more than most owners expect. New clients don't always land on your homepage. Google sends them to your Services page, your Gallery, your About page. If Book only lives on the homepage, those visitors have to go looking.
Label it for what it does. "Book now" or "Book a cut." A button that says "Services" or "Get started" makes clients guess.
Fix it yourself: Open every page of your site on your phone. On each one, you should see a Book button before you scroll.
Hand it off: Ask your web person to add a booking button to the site header, pinned on scroll, linked straight to your booking page.
Check 3: Prices visible on the site
What the report looks for: Your service prices, on your site, where a visitor can find them.
Price is one of the first things a new client wants to know. If your site doesn't say, they have three options: DM you, call you, or check the shop down the street that does list prices.
Most pick the third.
Listing prices also filters for you. The clients who book already know what a cut costs at your shop. No surprises at checkout.
What a good service menu looks like
Each service gets a name, a price, and a time. "Skin fade, $45, 45 min." Add one line describing what's included if it isn't obvious.
If prices vary by barber, show a range or "starting at." That still answers the question.
Fix it yourself: Add a Services and Prices section to your site, and link it from your main menu.
Hand it off: Send your web person your current menu and ask for a services page linked from the header, with the Book button on the same page.
Check 4: FAQ section
What the report looks for: A section that answers the questions new clients ask most. The report specifically looks for answers on walk-ins, parking, and kids haircuts.
Every question your site can't answer turns into a DM, a phone call, or a back button.
A short FAQ answers those before they get asked. It also gives Google and AI search tools clear answers to pull from when someone asks about barbershops near them. That's a visibility win on top of a booking win.
What to put in your FAQ
Start with the three the report checks for, then add the questions your barbers hear most:
- Do you take walk-ins, or is it appointment only?
- Where do I park?
- Do you cut kids' hair? Is there an age minimum?
- What's your cancellation and late policy?
- What forms of payment do you take?
- How far ahead should I book?
- Can I request a specific barber?
How to write the answers
Keep each answer to two or three sentences.
Be specific. "Street parking on Main and a free lot behind the building" beats "parking is available."
Use the words clients type. If people search "kids haircut," say "kids haircut," not "youth grooming services."
Fix it yourself: Most website builders have an FAQ or accordion block. Add one to your homepage, or give it its own page linked from your menu.
Hand it off: Send your web person your questions and answers and ask for an FAQ section on the homepage, plus a link to it in the main menu.
Check 5: Tap targets sized for mobile
What the report looks for: Buttons and links big enough, and far enough apart, to tap accurately with a thumb.
A tap target is anything a visitor taps: buttons, links, icons, menu items.
When they're too small, people hit the wrong thing. They tap Gallery when they meant Book. They tap your Instagram icon when they meant to call. Every miss is a chance to give up.
Google's own guidance puts a comfortable tap target at about 48 by 48 pixels (roughly a fingertip), with at least 8 pixels of space between targets.
The usual suspects
- Phone numbers and addresses as plain text links
- Social media icons squeezed into a row
- Menu links stacked with no space between them
- A tiny "X" to close a pop-up
- Text links inside paragraphs, like "click here to book"
Fix it yourself: Hand your phone to someone who has never used your site, like a new barber or a client in the chair. Ask them to book a cut. Watch where their thumb misses.
Hand it off: Ask your web person to bring every button and link up to at least 48 x 48 pixels with space between them, and to turn your phone number into a large tap-to-call button.
How SQUIRE handles website and UX
A SQUIRE branded website is built mobile-first and covers all five checks.
The Book button sits in reach of a thumb on every page. Your service menu and prices show on the site. There's room for an FAQ you fill in with your own answers. And booking runs on SQUIRE online booking, so clients pick a service, a barber, and a time without creating an account.
Every SQUIRE plan also includes a branded landing page with booking, so shops without a full site still have a clean mobile page to send clients to.
Your site should look like the shop. It should also book like one.
FAQs
Your site is often the last stop before a new client picks a shop.
When did you last open your own website on your phone? Could you find your prices without scrolling? Could you hit the Book button on the first try?
Get my visibility report and see exactly where your site stands.
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