Connecting an online calendar to your salon website: show, book or sync
What good is a calendar on your website if clients cannot book an appointment with it? "Connecting an online calendar to your website" sounds like one job, but there are three different connections behind it. You can show a calendar with information, you can let visitors book on their own, and you can push your salon calendar to the calendar app on your phone. Each of the three solves a different problem and carries its own risk. In this article you will learn which connection fits which goal, which booking format belongs on which page, how to test the route and what to watch out for when you put appointments in Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar.
Three things "connecting a calendar" can mean
An online calendar is, at its core, a digital schedule you keep and share over the internet. For a salon you can connect it to the outside world in three ways, and they are often confused.
Showing. You make a calendar visible on your website, for example a public Google Calendar with closing days or adjusted opening hours. Visitors can look, but they cannot book anything.
Taking bookings. You place a booking button or widget on your website. Visitors choose a treatment and a time, and the appointment lands straight in your salon calendar.
Syncing. You push your own appointments from your salon software to the calendar app on your phone, so you see your week next to your private plans. This has nothing to do with your website, but it is often what salon owners mean when they search for "connecting a calendar".
Showing a calendar informs your client, a booking route lets them lock in an appointment, and syncing is for you. Decide first which of the three you are after; the rest of this article walks through them one by one.
Showing a calendar on your website: useful for information, not for appointments
Most website platforms let you embed a public Google Calendar. That works well for information meant for everyone: a week of holiday, a late-opening evening, a day closed for training.
For appointments it is not a solution. A visitor who sees on your calendar that Thursday afternoon is free still does not know whether their treatment fits in that gap, who will see them or how to secure it. They still have to call or email, and by the time you call back the gap may be gone.
Also watch what becomes visible. Never put client names, treatments or other personal appointment details in a calendar that website visitors can view; that is your clients' personal data. Use a separate calendar with only general information for a public view, and after embedding it, check in a private browser window exactly what an outsider sees.
Taking bookings: choose the booking format per page
If you want visitors to book on their own, you need a booking route that connects directly to your bookings management. The client then only sees times that are genuinely free, and the appointment goes straight into your calendar, with no retyping and no double bookings.
In Salonnare you get four formats for this, each with its own place on your website:
Floating button. A button that stays in a corner on every page. A good fit if you want visitors to be able to book from any page without adding something everywhere.
Inline widget. The booking module sits on the page itself. Logical on a page with your treatments or a dedicated "Book an appointment" page, where visitors have already made up their mind.
Booking button. A single button you place in a text or on your homepage, with your own button text. Pick a text that says what happens after the click, such as "Book your treatment" rather than "More information".
Direct link. The address of your booking page, for your Instagram bio, your Google Business Profile or a newsletter.
You do not have to choose: a floating button across the site plus an inline widget on the treatments page work fine together, because both lead to the same calendar. How to paste the code into WordPress, Wix or another platform is explained step by step in connecting online booking in 5 steps. What to look for when choosing a widget is covered in the complete guide to a booking widget, and which limits to set before going live in limits in your online booking tool.
Want to see the four formats side by side? Start free with Salonnare and open the booking widget section in the settings; the codes and a live preview are there.
Test the route before you share it
A booking route that works on your own computer can still get stuck on a phone. Go through it yourself, on a phone and on a computer, from the first click up to and including the confirmation email.
Can the button be found? Check on your phone whether the button is visible without scrolling, and whether a floating button does not cover anything important.
Are the choices right? Are the treatments listed in the order and with the names your client knows, and are duration and price correct?
Is the end clear? Does the client see that the appointment is confirmed, and does the confirmation arrive?
Walk through the route again whenever you change treatments, pages or button texts. A button pointing to a deleted page costs you bookings without you noticing.
Your salon calendar in Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar
The third connection is for you: seeing your Salonnare appointments in the calendar app you already use. In Salonnare this is called the calendar connection, and each staff member switches it on for themselves.
How it works. You get a personal link with only your own appointments. You paste it into Google Calendar (Other calendars, From URL), into Outlook (Subscribe from web) or into Apple Calendar (New calendar subscription). The connection works one way: whatever you change in the external calendar does not flow back into Salonnare. So you always reschedule in Salonnare itself.
Choose what becomes visible. There are three levels: treatment and full client name, treatment and initials, or only that you are busy. At the first level, client names and appointment times go to Google, Microsoft or Apple and stay there until you cancel the subscription. If you use a shared device or do not want full names with another party, choose initials or busy only.
Do not count on seconds. Google refreshes a subscribed calendar only one to three times a day, Outlook usually takes a few hours and Apple Calendar can be set to five minutes. Use the connection for your weekly overview, not for a change made today.
Lost or shared the link? The link is shown only once. Create a new link and the old one stops working immediately.
What it costs
The online booking page with the widget and the calendar connection are included in every plan, including the free one. Free costs €0 and is meant for 1 staff member and 50 appointments per month. Starter costs €29 per month, with up to 3 staff members, unlimited appointments and online payments. Pro costs €59 per month, with unlimited staff members and deposits, among other things.
If you let clients pay online when they book, a transaction fee of 0.5% (min. €0.30) is deducted per online or card payment. The money goes to your own account via iDEAL/Mollie or Stripe. Without online payments it stays at the fixed monthly price of your plan.
Start with the connection you miss most right now, and add the rest once that one works. Try Salonnare free and put your first booking button on your website today.
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Put a booking button on your website and your own appointments in your calendar app. You start for free on the Free plan.
Start freeFrequently asked questions
Can I connect a Google Calendar to my website?
Yes, most website platforms let you embed a public Google Calendar. That is useful for general information such as closing days or adjusted opening hours. Use a separate calendar without client data and check what outsiders can see. For appointments you need a booking route that connects to your salon calendar.
What is the difference between importing a calendar and subscribing to it?
Importing puts a copy of appointments into another calendar; later changes do not follow. With a subscription your calendar app keeps fetching the external calendar, so changes do come through, with a delay that differs per service. The Salonnare calendar connection is a subscription.
Can I move an appointment in Google Calendar and see that in Salonnare?
No. The calendar connection works one way: from Salonnare to your calendar app. A subscribed calendar is read-only in Google, Outlook and Apple. Reschedule in Salonnare instead; the change then appears in your calendar app at the next refresh.
Can I place the booking module on several pages of my website?
Yes. You can, for example, use a floating button across the whole website and also place the booking module itself on your treatments page. All formats lead to the same calendar. Do test each placement separately, on a phone and on a computer.