Quick context
I’m Kayla Sox. I run a small hair studio and I’m picky about my brand. I needed a site that made booking easy and still looked cute on a phone. I also didn’t want a weekend lost to tech stuff. So I built my site with the GlossGenius website builder (I also put together a step-by-step breakdown of that exact build if you want a play-by-play.)
Honestly, I went in with low hopes. I’ve tried other builders that made me want to cry. But this one felt different. Not perfect. Just… kind.
Build day: from blank to “Book Now” in one evening
I did it on a Tuesday night after dinner. Tea, sweatpants, dog snoring. It took about 90 minutes, start to finish.
- I picked a clean theme with soft blush tones and bold text.
- I added my logo and changed the accent color to match my brand pink.
- I wrote a simple headline: “Healthy Hair. Calm Vibes. Easy Booking.”
- I turned on the big “Book Now” button. It stayed pinned at the top on mobile, which I liked.
- I added my service list and set the times. Balayage, bob haircut, gloss, blowout. The usual.
- I plugged in my custom domain. Mine is kaylasoxhair.com. It connected fast. I blinked, and it was live.
I didn’t mess with code. There isn’t code to mess with. Part of me wanted more control, but part of me was glad I couldn’t break anything.
Real examples from my studio site
Here’s what I actually put on my pages:
- Home page: A big photo of my studio corner with the plant wall. A short welcome. One review from a client named Mia who said I saved her “Monday hair.” Cute and true.
- Services: “Balayage Glow” ($175, 2.5 hours) with a short note: “Dimensional, soft grow-out.” “Short Cut + Finish” ($65, 45 minutes). Clear, no fluff.
- Policy banner: “24-hour notice to cancel. No-show fee applies.” It shows during booking, so no one can say they missed it.
- Gallery: 12 photos. Real hair, real lighting. I grouped them by shade—brunettes first, blondes later—so people can find what they want fast.
- Specials: I set a “Fall Tone + Treat” package and put it on the home page for a month. It sold out in a week. People love a seasonal deal.
- Gift Cards: I turned this on before Mother’s Day. Folks bought them right from the site while I was at the bowl rinsing color. That felt magical.
You know what made me smile? The phone view. My buttons were big, the text didn’t squish, and the booking flow was smooth. Most of my clients book from their couch at 10 pm. It has to work on a tiny screen.
The good stuff that saved me time
- Set it and breathe: The theme stayed clean no matter what I added. No weird spacing. No mystery box gaps. Bless.
- Booking baked in: People click “Book Now,” pick a time, add a card, and it’s done. The site and the booking talk to each other without me doing a thing.
- Fast updates: I changed my hours on a Sunday morning; it showed live in seconds.
- Simple SEO basics: I set my page title and a short site description. I used “balayage in [my city]” once or twice. Not fancy, but folks found me.
- Photos pop: The gallery loads fast, even on LTE. No fuzz, no lag.
Small win I didn’t expect: I added one FAQ block—“Do you do vivid color?”—with a short answer. That cut down on DMs a lot.
Where it feels boxed in
This builder is simple. That’s great. Until it isn’t.
- Layouts are locked. You can reorder sections, but you can’t place things pixel by pixel.
- Fonts are limited. Pretty enough, but if you love deep font play, you’ll feel stuck.
- No blog. I wanted to write short care tips for blondes. Not here.
- No custom code embeds. So no fancy widgets or weird hacks.
- Menu depth is shallow. If you dream of five layers of pages, this isn’t the place.
I’ll be honest—I tried to add a “before/after” slider. Not possible. I ended up making a simple side-by-side photo. It still worked.
Speed, search, and phones (the real test)
- Speed: My site loads fast. Clients don’t bounce. I tested on my old iPhone, on weak Wi-Fi, and it still flew.
- Search: I set my city in the business info, added “hair color” and “balayage” to the copy, and used alt text on photos. A few weeks later, I started getting “Found you on Google” notes. Not hundreds. Enough.
- Phones: Booking on mobile is smooth. Big yes. This matters more than any fancy desktop layout.
Modern customers expect that same lightning-quick, thumb-friendly flow almost everywhere online—even in spicier corners of the internet. If you want to see how a chat-first platform nails speed, discretion, and mobile UX, the SpankPal review lays out exactly how its design keeps users engaged; skimming that breakdown can spark ideas for streamlining any service-based site, salon or otherwise. For another perspective on how lean, geo-targeted pages turn curious visitors into paying clients, check out the Gallatin-specific escort listing on Skip The Games Gallatin—its tightly focused copy, prominent call-buttons, and minimal navigation are a masterclass in keeping users moving toward a single goal.
Support and setup vibes
I used the in-app guide while I built. It’s short and plain. I did chat with support once to ask about domain stuff. They answered in a few minutes and didn’t drown me in tech words. If you want to see how the platform fares in a broader software lineup, there’s a detailed Software Advice GlossGenius profile that digs into pricing, support scores, and real-user ratings.
Cost wise, it’s part of their plan. No surprise fee for the site builder. Payment fees exist, of course, but they’re normal for cards. I didn’t need extra plugins or paid add-ons to go live.
Pros and cons from my chair
Pros:
- Fast to build and hard to mess up
- Clean, mobile-first booking
- Simple SEO and easy photo layouts
- Policies and gift cards show right in flow
- Updates publish fast
Cons:
- Limited design control and fonts
- No blog or custom code
- Basic navigation
- Not ideal for big teams or multi-location pages
A tiny wish list
- A blog or “tips” page type
- A real before/after slider
- A few more fonts and section layouts
- A simple way to embed a form for collabs
None of these are deal breakers for a solo studio like mine. But I’d use them.
Should you use it?
(The GlossGenius overview from The SMB Guide gives a quick, bullet-point look at the platform if you’re still on the fence.)
- If you’re a solo stylist, barber, esthie, or nail tech who wants “clean, quick, and bookable,” yes.
- If you want heavy design play, complex pages, or a full blog, you may want a bigger builder. Then connect GlossGenius just for booking.
Curious how the lessons translate beyond hair? I also built sites for a massage practice, a florist shop, and a cleaning business—the patterns are surprisingly similar.
If you’re comparing platforms, this roundup of the best website builders gives a clear picture of where GlossGenius shines and where it falls short. It pairs nicely with my deep dive into the best website builders for life coaches if you need examples outside the beauty world.
Here’s the thing: my site doesn’t win design awards. It wins bookings. Clients find me, click, and show up in my chair. That’s the whole point, right?
Final take
I went from “Ugh, another builder” to “Oh, this works.” GlossGenius kept me focused on the work—hair—while still giving me a site that feels like me. It’s simple. Sometimes too simple. But simple got me paid.
Would I build with it again? For my studio, yes. For a big salon with layers of pages? Probably not. And that’s okay.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a 10