How to show treatments and prices clearly on your website

Group treatments into categories your customers recognise, then give each a clear name and short description. Explain what happens during the appointment and what is included. A branded treatment name may be useful, but it should not be the only explanation.

Distinguish similar options. If appointment length, technique or what is included differs, show that beside each option. Use the actual duration for your service and explain whether it includes consultation or preparation. Do not make people open the booking system just to understand the menu.

• State the treatment name and describe what the appointment involves.
• Explain what is included and which additions are optional.
• Show appointment length where you can state it accurately.
• Identify when suitability needs assessment rather than suggesting the service is right for everyone.

Place the price beside the treatment, with its basis. Say whether it covers one appointment, one area, a course of sessions or a package. If a package has a minimum commitment, expiry date or restrictions, explain them before the customer buys it.

The CAP Code requires quoted prices to include unavoidable taxes, fees and charges that apply to all or most buyers. For a consumer price list, include VAT where payable. If a charge cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, make clear that it is excluded and explain how it is calculated.

A starting price should describe an option customers can genuinely obtain. Explain what makes the price change, such as the service variant, appointment length or practitioner level. Do not use a low starting figure that misrepresents the availability of that option.

If a hair-colour service is priced separately from a cut and finish, say so beside the colour price. If the finish is compulsory, include that charge in the advertised total rather than presenting it as an optional extra.

Show the preparation or assessment needed for the particular service. If a consultation or patch test is required under your treatment protocol or insurer's requirements, explain how to arrange it and how it affects booking. Do not invent one universal patch-test rule for every treatment.

State whether a consultation has a charge and whether that charge is credited towards later treatment. Explain any deposit or booking payment, when the balance is due and the cancellation terms. A deposit is not the full treatment price.

• Tell customers which treatments require consultation before an appointment can be confirmed.
• Explain any required preparation, patch test or waiting period using the requirements for that service.
• Make age restrictions and other booking limitations clear where they apply.
• Link to cancellation and refund terms before taking payment. Check that the terms are appropriate for your business rather than copying another clinic's policy.
• If suitability cannot be decided online, offer a consultation route instead of immediate treatment booking.

The Advertising Standards Authority, or ASA, applies the UK advertising codes. The Committee of Advertising Practice, or CAP, writes the code for non-broadcast advertising, including promotional claims on business websites. Section 3 covers misleading advertising and pricing. Section 12 covers medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products.

Under rule 12.1, objective claims need supporting evidence, including trials on people where relevant. A claim that a treatment cures a condition, produces a particular result or works for everyone needs more than an attractive description. Evidence must support the specific claim about the service or product you offer.

Rule 12.2 says marketers must not discourage essential medical treatment. Advice, diagnosis or treatment for conditions needing medical supervision must meet its professional-supervision requirements. Rule 12.3 requires relevant and recognised practitioner qualifications. Check the rules that apply to your actual treatment and practitioner, rather than assuming a beauty qualification covers medical claims.

Avoid unsupported claims that treatment is guaranteed, absolutely safe or without side effects. CAP places restrictions on these claims, with additional rules for medicines. A note that results vary cannot repair an exaggerated headline. Where you are unsure, use CAP's Copy Advice service or obtain advice appropriate to your treatment before publishing.

A photograph can imply a treatment result even when the caption makes no promise. ASA guidance says before-and-after photos should not exaggerate effectiveness. Marketers should hold signed and dated proof that the photographs are genuine and have not been manipulated, and evidence supporting the impression they give.

Use images you have permission to publish. Keep lighting, angle and presentation comparable so the difference does not come from the photography. Do not retouch the feature you claim to have improved. Explain relevant circumstances rather than presenting an unusual outcome as something every customer can expect.

Permission from the person in a photograph does not prove the treatment claim or make a prohibited advertisement acceptable. In particular, before-and-after images that promote a prescription-only medicine can breach the advertising restriction even without naming the medicine.

CAP rule 12.12 prohibits advertising prescription-only medicines or prescription-only medical treatments to the public. Botox is one example. Do not apply an ordinary salon-menu approach to these products or assume that replacing a brand name with a vague phrase makes a promotion acceptable.

ASA's website guidance distinguishes advertising from carefully limited factual information. It says clinic websites should primarily offer a consultation, not the prescription medicine. It allows certain non-promotional price lists away from the homepage, subject to restrictions on product claims, price promotions and how visitors reach the information. This is not permission to put a medicine offer on the homepage or link straight to it from there. Check the detailed guidance for your proposed page before publishing.

Rule 12.25 says advertising for cosmetic interventions must not target under-18s through the media or context in which it appears. This is a specific advertising rule, not a claim that every ordinary salon treatment is a cosmetic intervention. If you provide cosmetic procedures, check their classification and the applicable advertising guidance, including imagery and targeting.

Put treatment names, descriptions and prices into the page as real text. A photograph of a printed menu is hard to enlarge clearly and cannot replace an accessible text version. W3C recommends using actual text rather than images of text wherever possible. A downloadable price list can be an extra, not the only place to find the information.

Use short headings for categories and keep each price with its treatment when the page narrows on a phone. Avoid a wide table that requires sideways scrolling to connect the service with its price. Use booking links that name the treatment or consultation instead of repeating an ambiguous link label.

Check that the website menu and booking system agree. Update them together when prices, treatments, staff options or appointment lengths change. Give responsibility for that update to a named person in the business.

Open a treatment page on your phone and follow its booking route. Before paying, a customer should know what they are booking, what it costs and whether assessment comes first. Check that the booking system preserves the correct service name and shows the full price and applicable terms.

Keep a general enquiry form short. Do not ask every enquirer for a full medical history when it is not needed to handle their enquiry. The ICO says personal information must be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary. If health information is needed for assessment, decide how to collect and protect it through an appropriate consultation process.

• Check that each booking link opens the intended treatment or consultation.
• Confirm prices, compulsory charges and any minimum purchase match the website.
• Check that preparation requirements and suitability checks appear before commitment.
• Arrange a booking or enquiry test using your own details and confirm the business receives it.
• Review both written claims and images when you add a treatment, rather than checking only its price.