How to Set Up an Online Booking Page for Your Photography Studio
How to Set Up an Online Booking Page for Your Photography Studio
At 11 p.m. a message lands on Instagram: "How much for a shoot?" You send the price list as an image. Fifteen minutes later: "Are you free on the 14th?" You check the notes app, then WhatsApp, then remember a client who said "probably the 14th" and never confirmed. You decide to answer in the morning.
By morning she has booked a photographer who replied in two minutes.
A booking page answers both questions before anyone asks them: what you offer and for how much, and which days you have open. The client reads, picks, and sends a request. You review it when you wake up.
The first half of this guide applies to any tool: what goes on the page, what to cut, and where the link belongs. The second half walks through the setup.
What the page needs
Packages that say what's inside
"Gold" and "Silver" tell a client nothing. People compare hours, edited photos, delivery time, and what they get to keep.
Write each package like this:
Engagement, 3 hours of coverage
60 edited photos
Delivered within 21 days through an online link
One photographer, Cairo and Giza
Those numbers are an example. The point is that a client knows what they're buying without messaging you. If your prices aren't settled yet, start with how to price a package from your real costs.
Three packages cover most studios. Mark one as your most popular. Past five, clients start postponing the decision.
Only the days you can take
If the page shows every day as open, you'll get requests for days you've already sold, and you'll have to turn people away. That's worse than having no page. Close your days off and your booked days, and set a minimum notice, say 48 hours, so nobody requests a shoot for this afternoon.
A short list of questions
Ask what you need to prepare: date, area or venue, start time, and for weddings the groom's number. "How did you hear about us?" earns its place only if you'll use the answer.
Each question is one more step before the send button. Save the rest, like the order of the day or family names, for after you confirm.
Deposit terms before the request
A client should know before sending: how much the deposit is, when it's due, and what happens if they cancel or move the date. Two lines in the package description are enough; the contract carries the detail. We covered the wording in deposits and cancellation terms.
What to cut
An eighty-photo gallery. Your Instagram does that job. Six to ten of your best frames will do.
"DM for prices." It puts you back at message, reply, message. A client who can't afford you will see that on their own and save you both the time.
A required email field. Plenty of clients don't use email. A phone number is enough.
A long studio bio. Two lines, and let the photos talk.
Where the link goes
Put it where your clients already are:
Your Instagram bio. It's the one clickable link on the profile. Add a line above it such as "Prices and open dates here."
WhatsApp Business greeting and away messages. The away message reaches the client who writes at 11 p.m., with the link in it, so they see prices and dates without waiting for you.
WhatsApp Business quick replies. Save a reply to "how much?" with a short greeting and the link. We collected ready-to-use texts in WhatsApp message templates for photographers.
The action button on your Facebook page. Choose the booking option and point it at your page.
A pinned story highlight called "Book" that opens the link.
After two weeks, count the requests that came through the page and the times you typed prices by hand. The second number should drop.
Setting it up in Lnsly
Names in quotes below match the buttons and sections in the Lnsly dashboard.
1. Your studio link
When you create your account you pick a "Booking page URL", so your link becomes lnsly.com/book/your-studio in lowercase letters. You can change it later in Settings, but every link you've already shared will stop working, so choose once.
2. Booking pages under "Packages"
In "Packages", each booking page has its own tab. The first page is the default and opens on your studio link. For a separate page, say one for engagement shoots and one for weddings, click "New Page" and fill in the name and "URL slug".
Each page has a "What this page does" setting:
Full booking: the visitor picks a package and a date and sends a booking request.
Inquiry only: the visitor picks a date and leaves a number, and the request lands in "Leads" for your team to call.
Inquiry only suits studios that want a phone call before quoting.
3. Packages and add-ons
In the tab, click "Add Package" and enter a name, a price, and the "What's included" lines one by one, written the way described above. Turn on "Most popular" for one package, and use "Arrange" to set the order clients see. "Package display" switches between a list and side-by-side pricing columns.
Below the packages sits "Add-ons": an extra hour, a second photographer, a printed album. Each add-on has a price, a "Maximum quantity", and the packages it's "Available with". Clients pick add-ons while booking and see the total before they send.
4. Availability
In "Availability", set your "Working Days" and a "Minimum notice" in hours. Under "Day Overrides" you can close a single date or open one outside your usual days, and "Bulk Close" shuts a whole stretch, like a holiday.
One thing to know: a booked day doesn't close itself on the booking page. If you shoot one event a day, close the date in "Availability" once you confirm the booking. Otherwise it stays open to the next visitor.
5. Questions
In "Questionnaires", click "Add Question", pick a type, and mark it "Required" if you need it. Under "Booking pages", choose where the question appears, or leave them all unchecked to show it everywhere.
Two options help wedding photographers:
"Staff only": your team fills it in on the booking, and the client never sees it. Good for prep notes.
"Add wedding vendor questions": a ready set of questions about the other vendors, added in one click.
Each page also has "Groom's details required", which blocks the request until the groom's name and number are in.
6. Your WhatsApp number
Add the studio's WhatsApp number in "Business Profile" under Settings. After a client submits, they get a button that opens WhatsApp with a message holding the request reference and package, ready to send to you. The conversation starts on their side, details included.
The request itself shows up in Bookings as "Requested". Before sending, the client reads that this is a request and not a confirmed booking, that they'll hear back within 48 hours, and that nothing is due yet. Keep to that 48 hours.
7. Share it
Click "Copy link" in the tab and put it in the places listed above. If you have a website, "Embed code" places the page inside it. Before you share, open the page on your phone and walk through it as a client up to the review step. Most of your clients will see it on a phone, not a laptop.
A week after launch
Read the requests that came in. If clients still ask the same question on WhatsApp after booking, the answer belongs in the package description. If many visitors start and don't finish, cut a required question.
For the full path from first message to shoot day, read how to stop losing bookings and from WhatsApp chaos to an organized studio.
Common questions
Do I need a website to have a booking page?
No. The booking page is a standalone link for your bio and your WhatsApp messages. If you already have a site, you can embed the page in it.
One page for everything, or one per type of shoot?
If your wedding clients and your newborn or product clients are different people, give each their own page so they see only their packages and questions. If your services overlap, one page is enough.
Does the client pay the deposit on the page?
The page takes the booking request. You review it, confirm the date, then send the contract and ask for the deposit however you collect it: Instapay, Vodafone Cash, or cash.
