Build Your Website Step By Step

Step 11: Adding Online Scheduling
Whether the majority of your clients are calling for same-day appointments or they have the foresight to schedule in advance, online booking provides the flexibility and convenience required for busy lifestyles—it's like having your own virtual receptionist for your practice! Many massage franchise models have gained momentum from the convenience factor: Call anytime between 8 a.m.-9 p.m. to book an appointment. Need same-day service? Let's see right now what's available today. Online booking allows anyone to better compete with this immediacy and flexibility. And email reminders, like those automatically sent by many online scheduling software programs, have been shown to reduce no-shows by 30 percent.

You can add an online booking button for any service provider who gives you HTML code for a "Book now" button, but ABMP has partnered specifically with Full Slate to get you a great member discount! Make sure you check them out (and all the other great discounts you get as an ABMP member) in the Members section of ABMP.com.

There are a couple places you can choose to add your Book Now button on your ABMP site—either on the "Hours and Scheduling" page that your site starts out with, or in your Specials box so it appears on every page of your site.

First, we'll need to get the code that lets you add the Book Now button to your site from your online scheduling provider. Each one will be a little bit different so you may have to poke around a bit, but if you're with Full Slate we'll show you how to get there.

Log in to your Full Slate account, and then select "Web" on the left side:

Select "Buttons" at the top, and fill out the information for your Book Now button like its message text, size, color, etc.:

Copy the code that they give you, and head back to the ABMP Website Builder to get it set up.

If you just want to add the button to your "Hours and Scheduling" page, go to where you can edit that page (using “"Manage Pages" on the left side), paste the code into the "Online Scheduling Module" field, and hit Save:

If you'd rather have your button in the Specials box so it shows up on every page of your site, go to "Set Profile" on the left side. Click the HTML button in the Specials/Call-out box field:

A new window will pop up, simply paste the HTML code in there and hit update to add your button to the Specials box:

You can play around a bit with the sizing, color, placement, and other options, but this will get you started in making your services more immediately available and convenient for your clients. Give it a shot and see if you notice any changes in how your clients are scheduling, and whether they enjoy the ease of booking appointments. Full Slate allows a free trial period of up to 10 bookings, so you've got nothing to lose!

Thanks for joining us for today's website building lesson, make sure you're connected with us on Facebook and Twitter so you're the first to hear about what's going on in the profession. Feel free to leave any questions, comments, or ideas in the comments section below!