You don't need a web developer to fix your booking page

It's Sunday, late morning, we're at a park in Melbourne. My daughter is on the climbing frame, my husband is holding the coffees, and I'm on a bench with my phone open on my own website.

Last week a contact asked me for a catch-up call. I went to send him a booking link and realised I didn't have one I was happy with.

What I had was a bare TidyCal link pasted into an email. A grey smiley face for a profile picture, a 45-minute session name that meant nothing to him, and a row of days I don't take calls.

If you're a consultant or a founder, you've probably got a link like that. The one you send with a little apology attached.

I'd been meaning to turn it into a proper page on my own site for months, but I thought it needed a clear morning at my desk. It took my phone, a bench and about 40 minutes.

Swipe through for the short version. The long version is below.

Here's what I used. Two things.

The calendar: TidyCal

The thing people click to pick a time. I used to pay monthly for Calendly, but TidyCal is a one-off payment and does the same job if you only need a couple of booking types.

Set the days you take calls, connect your Google calendar, done.

The website: Claude

This is the part people think needs a developer. I don't code.

I told Claude what I wanted in normal sentences, like "the buttons need to be obvious" and "say online call, not Zoom". It changed the pages, showed me a picture and put it live while I sat on the bench.

On Squarespace, Wix or WordPress you can do most of this yourself. Open the page, cut the words in half, make the button bigger.

Or get Claude to be your website designer.

What a good booking page looks like

Mine is at thetrustedvoice.co/book. The rules I followed:

• One page per thing you offer, so nobody has to read three options and guess
• The button is the biggest thing on the page
• Calendar right under the heading, not at the bottom
• Say what it costs
• Put the link in your email signature and website footer so you stop hunting for it

Do this week

Send yourself your own booking link and open it on your phone. If you wouldn't happily send it to a client you really want, that's your Friday afternoon sorted.

And if you'd rather fix it with me, book an hour.