Your Instagram is probably doing most of the work already. The photos are there, the regulars follow it, and new clients find you through it.
So the honest question is whether you need a website at all. The answer is yes, for one reason that has nothing to do with design: you do not own Instagram. You do not own the follower list, the reach, or the account itself. People have lost salon accounts to hacks and to policy enforcement and had no way to reach their own clients afterward.
A website is the part nobody can take from you. Everything else is a bonus.
The three things people came for
Prices. Availability. Where you are.
That is it. Somebody who found you through a photo of a balayage wants to know what it costs, whether they can get in before the wedding, and how far they would have to drive. Answer those three above the fold and the site has done its job.
Put your prices up
There is a long-running argument in this industry about publishing prices, and the case against is that it invites shopping on price alone.
The case for is stronger. Clients who will not book without knowing the cost are the majority, and they are not going to call and ask. A price range with an honest note is enough: "Cut and finish from $65. Color starts at $120 and depends on length and history, so book a consultation."
That sentence filters out the people who were never going to book at your rates and reassures everyone else. It also gets found in search, which a price hidden behind a phone call never will.
A service list that search engines can read
Most salons publish their service menu as an image, because that is what the designer handed over. An image of a price list is invisible to Google, unreadable on a screen reader, and blurry when someone zooms in.
Swiftrics has a block built for this. Sections for cutting, color, treatments, whatever you offer, with a price on each service typed the way you actually say it. "From $120" works. "$65 / $85" for short and long works. "Consultation required" works.
It publishes as real text with structured data attached, so a search engine can tell it is a list of services and prices rather than a paragraph. And you can change a price yourself in about a minute, which matters the week you put your rates up.
Booking
Link to whatever system you already run. Square, Vagaro, Fresha, GlossGenius, all of it works, and none of it needs rebuilding.
The one thing worth getting right is placement. The booking link belongs in the header on every page, not only on a contact page at the bottom of the navigation.
Your work is the marketing
A gallery of your actual work, at decent resolution, beats any stock photography. Show the range of what you do, including the ordinary cuts rather than only the dramatic transformations, because most people booking want the ordinary thing done well.
Swiftrics resizes uploaded photos automatically for whatever screen asks, so a phone downloads a small version and a laptop gets the large one. Upload the best original you have and stop thinking about it.
Photographers have the same problem from the other side: a portfolio is the product, and a portfolio is also the hardest thing for a search engine to read. Worth a look if your site is mostly images.
Getting found nearby
Local search is most of it. Your salon name, address, hours and phone go into a business profile once, and the site keeps them consistent everywhere they appear, including in the structured data that feeds your listing in search results.
Then name the neighborhoods you actually draw from, and keep your services as text. Those three things are most of local SEO for a salon, and the third one is where nearly everybody loses.
Common questions
Can I list my stylists?
Yes, and you should. People book a person more than a salon. Give each stylist a short bio and a few photos of their work.
Can each stylist have their own booking link?
Yes, link each one to wherever their calendar already lives.
What does it cost?
Nineteen dollars a month including your domain, hosting and SSL. No setup fee, no contract.
Do I still need Instagram?
Yes. Keep posting there. The website is the thing you own; Instagram is where people find it.
Can I keep my domain?
Yes. Point it at Swiftrics and it keeps working. If you already have a site elsewhere, the importer can bring the content across and set up redirects.
Own the place your clients find you
Fourteen day free trial. Your plan isn't charged until it ends.