How to Add an Online Booking System to Your Website: 4 Tips

For small business owners, boosting the count of both new and repeat appointments can be a hurdle, particularly if you haven’t embraced the use of an online booking system. This system, essentially a webpage, enables your clients to schedule appointments with you at their convenience, 24/7. They can do it remotely without having to call, so you stay in control of your schedule while providing the clients with extra flexibility. It can also help you send reminders to your clients to eliminate no-shows and boost productivity.

Hence, incorporating an online booking system becomes imperative. The entirety of this article is devoted to guiding you on the process of creating and seamlessly integrating an online booking system into your website, allowing you to leverage the numerous advantages it brings.

Embed a Booking System iFrame into Your Website

A highly effective approach to incorporating a booking system into your website involves embedding a code alongside the calendar or frame designed for facilitating bookings. This uncomplicated process merely entails embedding a code onto the website, similar to how you would embed a video that plays on the site. This method is particularly advantageous if time is a constraint or if you aim to cut costs. You can also use more easy-to-use platforms such as Yocale that provide you with a simple shortcode to add to your website.

It is also beneficial for business owners who have no background technical knowledge since none is needed to embed a code into a website’s backend. You still retain your customers during the process, so you don’t have to worry about losing business.

However, you depend on the code and infrastructure of a third-party online booking system service which may be unstable. In some instances, search engines have a hard time indexing externally embedded code that you add to your website, making it less ideal for SEO purposes.

Direct Users to Separate Booking Website

This is perhaps the simplest option for business owners. Booking websites have some of the best booking systems since all you have to do is find a suitable online booking system and add a link to your website for it. You don’t have to spend time or money building your own personalized booking platform, even though you will need a subscription fee to use the services of an external website.

The major disadvantage with this method is you direct your website traffic to an external website. This may cause customers to lose interest. Some may even abandon the booking process if something goes wrong. Additionally, you have to depend on another booking platform’s infrastructure, so many things are out of your control. The site may have its own branding, which may conflict with your brand image.

Use Plugins

Online plugins are an effective way to integrate an online booking system into your website. They are great for small businesses that use WordPress sites. You can try out a free version with different features and upgrade only when you know the pros and cons of the plugin you choose. You can find a plugin compatible with your website CMS so make sure you check this to determine the best fit.

The plugins offer a perfectly mobile and responsive online booking system allowing access to an admin panel so you can navigate with ease. You don’t need any technical knowledge to install and use these plugins making it ideal for any website administrator regardless of their skill level. They also allow you to customize the booking system depending on your preferences and needs. Some have an inbuilt analytics feature that provides insights on all bookings, making improving your services easy.

Build a Custom Coded Booking System

If you run a complex business that depends strongly on the efficiency of a booking system, developing a custom coded online booking system is the most effective solution for your website. However, you need the services of a reliable team to build one. The upper hand with this option is you get a solution meant for the long-term. It is a great solution if you deal with a large number of complex bookings.

Since it is developed within your site, custom code reduces the issues arising from bloated or conflicting code. This option also gives you total control over everything since the code is customized for your website. However, a notable upfront cost is involved, as you’ll have to engage a team of web designers and developers for the design and maintenance. Additionally, it demands a substantial time investment to get everything in order.

An online booking system allows your customers to conveniently book appointments or services at any time and place. The 24-hour availability eliminates the need for emails, phone calls, and walk-in visits, benefitting both you and your customers.