What a tattoo shop website needs: pages, words and photos

A tattoo shop's website has a job that Instagram cannot do on its own: it puts the whole shop in one place. Who works there, what styles they do, how to book, whether walk-ins are welcome, what the shop looks like inside, and the house rules on age, ID and deposits. The core pages are home, artists, booking, walk-ins and hours, the shop itself, FAQs and aftercare, and contact.

What a new client checks first

Someone thinking about a tattoo, especially a first one, usually looks for:

• Is the work good, and in the style I want?
• Is the shop clean and licensed?
• Do you take walk-ins, or do I need to book?
• How do deposits and pricing work?
• Will I feel comfortable there?
• Where are you, and when are you open?

Social media answers the first question for a single artist. The shop's site should answer all of them for the whole shop.

The core pages

Home

The shop name, the town and one line about what you are: "Custom and walk-in tattoos in downtown Boise. Six artists, open late Thursday to Saturday." Then a few strong photos of healed work, two buttons ("Book with an artist" and "Walk-in hours"), and your hours and address.

Artists

One section or page per artist with their styles, portfolio and how to book them. This is the heart of most shop sites, and how to set it up in detail is in tattoo shop websites: artists, portfolios and booking.

Walk-ins and hours

Many shops lose walk-in clients because the site does not say whether walk-ins are welcome. Be specific: which days, which hours, what size and kind of tattoo works as a walk-in (small flash pieces, simple lettering), and whether there is a sign-up list on arrival. If you hold flash days, put the next date here.

The shop

A page about the space and how you work: your license from the health department, if your state or county issues one, how you sterilize and use single-use needles, and your shop's history. This page matters most to first-timers and to parents of adult kids getting their first tattoo.

Booking

How booking works across the shop: consultations, deposits, the form or booking tool, and what happens next.

FAQs

The same questions come in every week. Answer them once:

• What is the minimum age, and what ID do I need?
• Do you do cover-ups and reworks?
• How much does a tattoo cost? (How you price: by piece, by hour, shop minimum.)
• Can I bring a friend?
• What should I do before my appointment? Eat, sleep, no alcohol, wear clothes that give access to the spot.
• Do you take cards?
• What if I need to reschedule?

Aftercare

Your aftercare instructions, on a page you can link to from texts and receipts. Clients lose the printed sheet.

Contact

Address with a map, parking, phone, email, a contact form and your social links.

House rules, written plainly

Every shop has rules, and putting them on the site saves arguments at the counter. Typical ones:

• Age and ID. State laws set the minimum age and whether minors can be tattooed with parental consent. Write your shop's rule, and check it against your state and local regulations. Say what ID you accept.
• Sobriety. No tattooing anyone who is drunk or high.
• Health. Ask clients to tell the artist about pregnancy, medical conditions or blood thinners, and to reschedule if they are sick.
• Deposits. Required for appointments, applied to the final price, and what happens if a client cancels or no-shows.
• Design rights. Whether artists will copy another artist's tattoo exactly. Many will not, and saying so on the site helps.
• Guests. How many friends can come, and whether children are allowed in the shop.

Photos of the shop itself

Portfolios show the art. The shop photos show the place, and new clients need both:

• The front of the shop, so people recognize it from the street
• The waiting area and the stations, clean and well lit
• The sterilization area, or sealed needle packs and a clean station being set up
• Your team together, in a relaxed group photo
• Flash on the wall, which also tells walk-ins what is available

Natural, honest photos work better than heavy filters. A first-timer wants to see what it will feel like to walk in.

What to leave out

• Photos of fresh, red, swollen tattoos only. Show healed work too, so clients see the real result.
• Artists who have left the shop, and their portfolios.
• Long rules pages in capital letters; they read as hostile. Keep rules short and calm.
• An age or ID rule that differs from what you actually enforce.
• Embedded social feeds that load slowly or break. Link out instead.

The contact path

Clients contact a tattoo shop in different ways: some call, some message the artist on social media, some walk in. Make each path clear on the site:

• Phone number at the top, tappable, with the hours someone answers
• A short booking or inquiry form (more on what to ask in the artists guide)
• Links to each artist's social account
• The address with parking and how to find the door if you are upstairs or in back

Check that your hours match your Google listing. A walk-in who arrives to a closed door because the site was wrong will not come back. Business hours on your website covers keeping them in sync, and putting your social media on your website covers linking artists' accounts well.

What to do this week

• Write your walk-in policy and hours, with the next flash day if you have one.
• Put your health license and sterilization practices on a page about the shop.
• Write your house rules in short, calm lines.
• Put aftercare on its own page and link it in your booking confirmations.

If your shop already has a site that is out of date or hard to update when artists change, you can see your site rebuilt first and compare before you decide.