Plain answers
What we can count, and what nobody honestly can
Calls, enquiries and booking-link taps we can count. Which client walked through the door from which search — nobody can honestly tell you that, and here's why.
Advertising people love to sound precise. Here’s the honest version of what can and cannot be measured for a salon, so you can judge us — and anyone else — fairly.
What we can count
- Calls. When someone taps the number on your ad or your page, that’s countable, including how long the call lasted (a two-minute call is a booking conversation; a ten-second one isn’t).
- Enquiries through your page. The form on the page we build for you is ours to measure, so every message through it is a hard, countable enquiry.
- Taps through to your booking system. We can count how many people we sent to your booking link.
- Listing actions. Calls and direction requests from your free Google listing.
Those become your four monthly numbers: calls, enquiries, what was spent with Google, and what each enquiry cost.
What nobody can honestly count
Which client walked through the door because of which search. The booking platforms most salons use don’t share booking data with anyone — their business depends on owning it. And real people are messy: she saw your ad on Tuesday, checked your Instagram on Wednesday, and rang you Friday from the number on your listing.
So when someone promises you “we’ll track every booking to the exact keyword”, one of two things is true: they control your bookings and are counting their own homework, or they’re rounding clicks up into clients. We do neither. It’s also why we’ll never claim a booking count we can’t stand behind — the number we quote you is cost per enquiry, and what you do with an enquiry in your chair is the bit you’re already brilliant at.
How to judge it like an owner
Give it a fair window — we suggest 30 days — then ask three questions. Are the calls and enquiries there? Is the cost per enquiry sensible against what a client is worth (a £12 enquiry that becomes a £180 colour client is outrageous value)? And is Tuesday looking better than it did in the spring? If the answer’s no, cancel in a click and keep everything we built.
Questions people ask
Can you tell me which client came from which ad?
No, and neither can anyone else for most salons. Booking platforms don't share who actually turned up, and plenty of clients see your ad, then call or walk in days later. We count what's countable and say so, rather than inventing precision.
So how do I know it's working?
Four numbers a month — calls, enquiries, spend, cost per enquiry — plus the one that matters most and lives in your diary: whether the quiet days are less quiet than they were before.
What counts as an enquiry?
A call from the ad or your page, a message through the enquiry form on your page, or a tap through to your booking link. We don't count someone merely seeing or clicking the ad — that's traffic, not interest.
Why do other companies promise exact booking numbers?
Usually because they control the booking (a marketplace can count its own bookings — while charging you for them), or because they're counting clicks and calling them clients. Ask anyone promising perfect attribution one question: how do you know she turned up?
Find out how many are looking for you this month
Three questions, forty seconds. No account, no card, no phone call, and nothing switched on until you say so.
