# Halfpenny Software: everything in one file

> Halfpenny Software designs, builds, hosts and manages websites for small businesses in Dublin and across Ireland: barbers, salons, cafes, shops, trades and local services.

Run by Andrew Liffey. Based in Dublin, Ireland. Website: https://halfpenny.ie. Short index: https://halfpenny.ie/llms.txt.

## Contact

- Phone: +353 87 326 9923 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm)
- WhatsApp: https://wa.me/353873269923?text=Hi%2C%20I'd%20like%20to%20enquire%20about%20Halfpenny%20Software's%20services.%20My%20business%20is%3A%20
- Email: andrew@halfpenny.ie
- Company: Halfpenny Software is a business name of Liffey Metals Limited, registered in Ireland, CRO 829257
- Registered office: 6 Fern Road, Sandyford Business Park, Dublin 18, D18 FP98, Ireland
- Website: https://halfpenny.ie

---

# Pricing

Two plans. Both include the site, hosting, a .ie domain in your name and the Google and AI search groundwork. Prices are shown excluding VAT. VAT is charged on top.

## Essentials

- Set up: €499
- Monthly: €50
- A professional website, found on Google and in AI search.
- For businesses that need a proper website and to be found when people search.

Included:

- .ie domain in your name: Your own .ie address, registered to your business.
- A site designed for your business: Mobile-first, built around your services, photos and prices.
- Hosting, security and backups: Managed hosting, SSL, security updates, daily backups and 24-hour monitoring.
- Edit it yourself from your phone: Update hours, prices, photos and announcements in seconds.
- Changes by WhatsApp or email: Send us a change and we make it for you.
- Call, WhatsApp and directions buttons: One tap to call, message or find you.
- Enquiries to your email and WhatsApp: Every message reaches you twice, so none are missed.
- Local SEO foundations: Set up so Google can read and list your site correctly.
- Google Business Profile set-up: Claimed, verified and completed correctly.
- Found in AI search (AEO): Built so ChatGPT and Google AI describe your business correctly.
- Monthly report: Visitors, calls, direction requests and top searches, by email.

## Complete (most shops pick this)

- Set up: €1,499
- Monthly: €100
- Bookings, payments, chat and AI assistants, all managed for you.
- For businesses that take bookings, sell online or want steady growth every month.

Included:

- .ie domain in your name: Your own .ie address, registered to your business.
- A site designed for your business: Mobile-first, built around your services, photos and prices.
- Hosting, security and backups: Managed hosting, SSL, security updates, daily backups and 24-hour monitoring.
- Edit it yourself from your phone: Update hours, prices, photos and announcements in seconds.
- Changes by WhatsApp or email: Send us a change and we make it for you.
- Call, WhatsApp and directions buttons: One tap to call, message or find you.
- Enquiries to your email and WhatsApp: Every message reaches you twice, so none are missed.
- Local SEO foundations: Set up so Google can read and list your site correctly.
- Google Business Profile set-up: Claimed, verified and completed correctly.
- Google Business Profile management: Monthly posts, photos, review replies and Q&A.
- Ongoing local SEO: Fresh content and local pages every month.
- Google Ads management: Campaigns set up and managed, up to an agreed budget.
- Found in AI search (AEO): Built so ChatGPT and Google AI describe your business correctly.
- Bookings through AI assistants: Customers can book you through ChatGPT or Claude.
- Online bookings and appointments: Your calendar, staff and services, with automatic reminders.
- Payments, deposits and gift vouchers: Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay on your site.
- AI chat assistant: Answers customer questions on your site and hands over to you on WhatsApp.
- Review growth: A polite follow-up after each visit, with a direct Google review link.
- Business email on your domain: hello@yourbusiness.ie, set up on your devices.
- Monthly report: Visitors, calls, direction requests and top searches, by email.
- Priority changes: Requested today, completed by the next working day.
- Quarterly review: A 20-minute review call every three months.

## Add-ons

Available on either plan, quoted before any work starts.

- Online shop: Products, stock, click and collect and delivery. (Priced on request, one-off)
- Extra pages or a second language: Additional pages, or the site in Irish, Polish, Portuguese or Spanish. (Priced on request, one-off)
- Professional photography: A partner photographer photographs your premises, your team and your work. (Priced on request, one-off)
- Logo and brand refresh: A new logo, colour palette and a consistent look across your site and print. (Priced on request, one-off)
- Menu and price list design for print: A designed menu or price list, print-ready. (Priced on request, one-off)
- Google Ads management above the included budget: Ads management beyond the budget included with Complete. Ad spend is paid by you directly to Google. (Priced on request, per month)
- Newsletter and SMS marketing: Email and text campaigns to a customer list you own. (Priced on request, per month)
- Digital loyalty card: A stamp card that lives on your customer's phone. (Priced on request, one-off)
- Social media set-up and scheduling: Profiles set up properly and posts scheduled for your approval. (Priced on request, per month)
- Custom features and integrations: Anything specific to your business: a quote calculator, a members' area, a stock list, or a connection to software you already use. Scoped and quoted first. (Priced on request, one-off)

## The fine print

- You own your domain. It is registered in your name from day one.
- You own your content: text, photos and your customer data, including your booking history.
- Cancel at any time with 30 days' notice. There is no exit fee. We hand over your content and your booking history, and the domain stays with you.
- A small change is one that takes under 30 minutes, such as new prices, a new photo, holiday hours or a new staff member. Larger work is quoted in advance, and nothing starts until you have agreed the cost.
- If your site is down for more than 24 hours in any month, that month's fee is refunded.
- Prices are shown excluding VAT. VAT is charged on top.

Full page: https://halfpenny.ie/pricing

---

# Services

Halfpenny Software designs, builds, hosts and manages websites for small businesses in Dublin and across Ireland: barbers, salons, cafes, shops, trades and local services. Plans start at €50 a month.

## Your website

A fast, mobile-first site designed around your business, which you can edit yourself.

### .ie domain in your name

We register the .ie domain in your business's name, not ours, at no extra cost. If you ever leave, it goes with you.

Included in: Essentials, Complete.

### A site designed for your business

We design and build the site around your business: your services, your photos, your prices and your trade. It is built for the phone first, because that is where most of your customers will see it. Most sites are live within a few days of the briefing.

Included in: Essentials, Complete.

### Hosting, security and backups

We host the site, apply security updates, back it up daily and monitor it around the clock. If it ever goes down, we are alerted and we fix it. Nothing is left for you to maintain.

Included in: Essentials, Complete.

### Edit it yourself from your phone

You get a private edit page that opens from a secure link in your email, with no password to remember. Change your hours, prices, services or photos, or post an announcement such as a bank holiday closure, and it is live the moment you save.

Included in: Essentials, Complete.
More: https://halfpenny.ie/examples/admin

### Changes by WhatsApp or email

Anything you would rather not do yourself, send to us by WhatsApp or email and we make the change. Small changes are included in the monthly fee within fair use. Larger work is quoted before we start.

Included in: Essentials, Complete. Fair use. See what counts as a small change.

### Call, WhatsApp and directions buttons

Every page carries buttons that call you, open WhatsApp or open directions in Google Maps. A customer on a phone never has to copy a number.

Included in: Essentials, Complete.

### Enquiries to your email and WhatsApp

A short enquiry form sends each message to your email and your WhatsApp at the same time. You reply from whichever suits you.

Included in: Essentials, Complete.

## Found on Google

The groundwork so Google lists you correctly, then steady work on your local search results.

### Local SEO foundations

We write proper page titles and descriptions, add structured data, build a sitemap and set up and verify Google Search Console. Structured data is a standard way of labelling the facts on your site, such as your hours, so search engines can read them. It is the groundwork that lets Google list your business correctly.

Included in: Essentials, Complete.

### Google Business Profile set-up

We claim your Google Business Profile, or create one, and get it verified. Hours, categories, services and photos are set so your listing matches your website.

Included in: Essentials, Complete.
More: https://halfpenny.ie/services/google

### Google Business Profile management

Each month we add posts and photos to your Google listing, draft replies to your reviews for your approval, and answer public questions. Nothing is published without your sign-off.

Included in: Complete.
More: https://halfpenny.ie/services/google

### Ongoing local SEO

Every month we update your content and add local landing pages, such as 'barber in Stoneybatter'. We agree a short list of search terms with you and report where you rank for them. We do not promise positions. We do the work and show you the numbers.

Included in: Complete.

### Google Ads management

If you want to advertise, we set up and manage a Google Ads campaign for you. Ad spend is paid by you directly to Google on your own card and never passes through us. Management is included up to a monthly budget agreed in writing.

Included in: Complete. Ad spend is paid by you directly to Google.
More: https://halfpenny.ie/services/google

## Found by AI

When customers ask ChatGPT or Google AI instead of searching, your business can be part of the answer.

### Found in AI search (AEO)

AEO means making your site easy for AI search tools to read. We add structured data, an llms.txt file and clear question-and-answer content, so when someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Google AI about your trade in your area, the answer can include your business with the right hours and prices.

Included in: Essentials, Complete.
More: https://halfpenny.ie/services/ai-search

### Bookings through AI assistants

We connect your booking calendar to AI assistants, so a customer can ask ChatGPT or Claude to book an appointment with you. The assistant checks your availability and makes the booking, and it appears in your calendar like any other.

Included in: Complete.
More: https://halfpenny.ie/services/ai-agents

## Bookings and payments

Appointments, deposits, card payments and gift vouchers, running on your own site.

### Online bookings and appointments

Customers choose a service, a staff member and a time on your site. They receive reminders by text or email, which reduces no-shows, and deposits can be required for busy slots. If you already use Fresha or another booking system, we connect it rather than replace it.

Included in: Complete.

### Payments, deposits and gift vouchers

Take card payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay on your site. Hold slots with deposits and sell gift vouchers online. Payments settle to your own account, not ours.

Included in: Complete.

## Customer communication

Chat, reviews and business email, so customers can reach you and you can follow up.

### AI chat assistant

A chat assistant on your site answers questions about hours, prices and services, using only the information you have approved. If it cannot answer, it offers to pass the customer to you on WhatsApp. You can read every conversation and correct anything it says.

Included in: Complete.
More: https://halfpenny.ie/services/ai-agents

### Review growth

After a visit, your customer receives a short text or email asking for a Google review, with a link straight to the review form. More reviews with less chasing. We never write reviews on anyone's behalf.

Included in: Complete.

### Business email on your domain

Email addresses on your own domain, such as hello@yourbusiness.ie, set up on your phone and computer. Existing mail keeps working if you already have it.

Included in: Complete.

## Ongoing management

Hosting, monitoring, changes and reporting. You always know where things stand.

### Monthly report

Once a month we email you a short report: visitors, calls, direction requests and what people searched for to find you. No dashboard to log into.

Included in: Essentials, Complete.

### Priority changes

Your change requests go to the front of the queue. Requests made before midday are normally completed by the next working day.

Included in: Complete.

### Quarterly review

Every three months we review the numbers with you, agree what to do next and take note of anything you want changed.

Included in: Complete.

Full page: https://halfpenny.ie/services

---

# Frequently asked questions

## Can I change things myself?

Yes. Your edit page opens from a secure link in your email, with no password to remember. You can change hours, prices, services, photos and announcements from your phone, and the change is live when you save. Anything you would rather not touch, send to us and we make the change.

## What is AI search and do I need it?

AI search means tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI answering a question like 'best barber near me' directly, instead of showing a list of links. A growing share of customers use them. We make sure those tools can describe your business correctly, with your real hours and prices.

## What does the chat assistant actually say?

Only what comes from your own approved information: hours, prices, services and your questions and answers. If it cannot answer something, it offers to pass the customer to you on WhatsApp. You can read every conversation and correct anything.

## Can AI assistants really book with me?

Yes. We connect your booking calendar to AI assistants using a standard method called MCP, which is simply a way for software to talk to your booking system. A customer can ask ChatGPT or Claude to book, the assistant checks your availability and makes the booking, and it appears in your calendar like any other.

## Who pays for Google Ads?

You do, directly to Google. We set up and manage the campaign, but the ad spend is billed by Google to your own card. It never passes through us.

## Do I keep my customer data if I leave?

Yes. You own your domain, your content and your customer data, including your booking history. Cancel with 30 days' notice and we hand everything over.

## What if I already use Fresha or another booking system?

We connect your site to the system you already use rather than replace it. If it is doing the job, we will say so.

## What counts as a small change?

A change that takes under 30 minutes, such as new prices, a new photo, holiday hours or a new staff member. Larger work is quoted before we start.

## Is there a contract length?

No. Cancel at any time with 30 days' notice. There is no exit fee.

## Do your prices include VAT?

Prices are shown excluding VAT. VAT is charged on top.

## How quickly can the site be live?

Most sites are live within a few days of the briefing. If your photos and prices are ready, sooner.

## What do you need from me?

A short briefing, your opening hours, your prices and any photos you already have. If you have no photos, we will tell you exactly what to take on your phone, or arrange a photographer.

## Do you build online shops?

Yes, as an add-on to either plan: products, stock, click and collect and delivery. Tell us what you sell and we will recommend the right set-up.

## What if I already have a website?

If you already have a domain, we use it. If the existing site is doing its job, we will say so. In most cases a clean rebuild is quicker and better value than rescuing an unfinished site.

## Can you build something that is not on the list?

Yes. If it can be built into a website, we can scope it: a quote calculator, a members' area, a stock list, or a connection to software you already use. We agree the scope and the price with you before any work starts.

Full page: https://halfpenny.ie/faq

---

# Guides

Written by Andrew Liffey for Irish business owners. Each guide is also a page on the site.

---

# .ie vs .com for an Irish business

For a business serving Irish customers, .ie wins on trust and on telling Google where you trade. Own the .com too if it is free and point it at the .ie.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/ie-vs-com-domain-for-irish-business. Last updated 6 November 2026.

For a business whose customers are in Ireland, pick .ie. It tells an Irish customer you are local before they read a word, it tells Google your site is aimed at Ireland without any extra set up, and good names are still available because every .ie holder has had to show a connection to Ireland. Pick .com if most of your customers are abroad. If the .com of your name is free and cheap, own both and point the .com at the .ie so nobody else can take it.

## The two side by side

| | .ie | .com |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Who runs it | .IE, the Irish registry, in Dublin | Verisign, in the United States |
| Who can register | Anyone who can show a connection to Ireland | Anyone, anywhere, no proof |
| What it says to an Irish customer | An Irish business | Nothing in particular |
| Google's country signal | Country code domain: Google treats the site as aimed at Ireland | Generic: Google works out the target from your content, address and Business Profile |
| Good names still available | Most short Irish business names are free | Most ordinary words and surnames went years ago |
| Yearly price | Roughly €15 to €30 | Roughly €10 to €20 |
| Reach outside Ireland | Fine for the UK and EU, reads as local further away | Understood everywhere |
| Email address | name@yourshop.ie | name@yourshop.com |



## Trust: what the ending says before anyone reads the page

An Irish person who sees a .ie address assumes an Irish business with an Irish phone number, Irish prices and someone they could, in theory, call in on. A .com could be a shop in Cork or a warehouse in Shenzhen, and they have to read on to find out.

The proof requirement is behind this. Setting up a .ie anonymously is hard, so the extension carries a reputation that .com cannot. The registry makes a point of this in its own marketing, and in our experience it matches how customers behave: for a plumber, a creche or a solicitor, the Irish ending removes a small doubt at the exact moment someone is deciding whether to ring.

## Google and the country signal

A .ie is a country code domain, and Google uses that as a strong hint that your site is for people in Ireland. With a .com, Google has to work it out from everything else: the towns named in your text, your address and +353 number, your Google Business Profile, and the Irish sites that link to you. As we understand it, Search Console no longer has a simple switch to set a country for a generic domain, so the content has to carry the message.

Be clear about what this is and is not. The .ie is a targeting signal, not a ranking boost. A .com with "Dundrum" in its titles and a verified Business Profile in Dundrum competes perfectly well for Dundrum searches. The work that moves a local site, which we describe in [what local SEO is](/guides/what-is-local-seo), is the same under either ending. Nobody can promise you a position with either.

## Availability

.com has been open to the world since the 1980s. Nearly every plain English word, every common surname and every "trade plus town" combination is either in use or parked by a reseller who wants four figures for it. .ie has had its proof requirement from the start, so the pool is far less picked over. Most of the clients we register names for get their first choice as a .ie and would not have got it as a .com.

## When .com should be the main one

- Most of your customers are outside Ireland. A jeweller shipping to the United States and Britain, a holiday home let mostly to American visitors, a consultant with clients in London. For them the Irish ending is a mild puzzle, and .com is understood everywhere.
- You plan to trade under the name in several countries and want one address on everything.
- The .ie of your name is taken by someone who is actually using it, and you would rather build the brand than fight for the name.

Even then, register the .ie as well if it is free and point it at the .com. Irish customers type .ie out of habit, and you want them landing on you, not on an error page or a competitor.

## Owning both and pointing one at the other

Having two domains does not mean having two websites. Pick one as the main address, the one on the van, the receipts and the Business Profile. At the registrar or the host, set up a permanent redirect (a 301) so that anyone who types the other one lands on the main site, page for page where possible.

Never put a copy of the site on both. Google sees two sites with the same text, splits whatever credit it would have given you between them, and you have two things to keep up to date. The same goes for email: receive on both if you like, but send from the main one only.

| Your business | What we would do |
| --- | --- |
| Shop, salon, trade or cafe serving one area | .ie, and buy the .com if it is free |
| Irish online shop selling mostly to Ireland and the UK | .ie as the main site, .com redirected to it |
| Online shop or service selling mostly outside Ireland | .com as the main site, .ie redirected to it |
| Tourism business with mostly overseas guests | .com as the main site if your guests are American; .ie if they are mostly Irish and British |
| Northern Ireland business trading across the island | .ie is open to you, as we understand it, under the connection to the island of Ireland rule; .co.uk alongside it if you want |



## Other endings people ask about

.eu is for people and organisations in the EU and says "Europe" rather than "Ireland", which is right for a business selling across the continent and wrong for a shop in Tralee. .co, .io and .ai are fashionable with tech companies and mean nothing to a customer looking for a dentist. .co.uk makes sense if you trade in Northern Ireland or Britain and want a British-facing address alongside the .ie.

For a local business the choice is really .ie, .com, or both. The rest are distractions.

## If you already have the wrong one

If you built on a .com and your customers are all in Ireland, you do not have to tear anything up. The site works. When the time comes to redo it, register the .ie, move the site to it, redirect every old page to its new address, update the Business Profile, your email signature and your social links, and give Google a few weeks to settle. The process is in [how to move your website to a new provider](/guides/how-to-move-your-website-to-a-new-provider), and the registration side is in [how to register a .ie domain](/guides/how-to-register-a-ie-domain).

## What we do for clients

Every plan we offer includes a .ie domain registered in the client's name, so for most of the shops and trades we work with the question answers itself. Essentials is €499 to set up and €50 a month, and Complete is €1,499 and €100, with business email on the domain included in Complete.

If you want the .com as well, tell us at the first chat. We quote any extra domain cost before registering it, set up the redirect, and make sure both names are in your name, not ours. If your customers are mostly abroad we talk about making the .com the main address instead; the site itself is built the same way. The detail of what each plan includes is on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## Questions about this

**Does a .ie domain rank better on Google in Ireland?**

It tells Google the site is aimed at Ireland, which a .com has to show through its content and Business Profile instead. It is not a ranking boost on its own, and nobody can promise a position with either ending. The things that move a local site, a correct Business Profile, a page per service, real reviews, are the same whichever you choose.

**Can anyone register a .ie domain?**

No. You need to show a connection to Ireland, such as a CRO or RBN number, an Irish passport or driving licence, or evidence of trading here, and the registrar passes that proof to the registry. A .com has no such test, which is partly why .ie carries more trust with Irish customers.

**Should I buy the .com as well as the .ie?**

If it is free and costs roughly the price of a takeaway a year, yes. Point it at the .ie with a permanent redirect so customers who type .com still find you and nobody else can register it under your name. Do not run two copies of the site.

**Can I move from .com to .ie later without losing my Google results?**

Yes, if it is done carefully: redirect every old page to its matching new page, update the Business Profile, email and social links, and leave the redirects in place for good. Expect a few weeks of settling. Avoid changing the domain and redesigning the site in the same week, because then you cannot tell which change caused what.

**Is .ie more expensive than .com?**

Usually by a few euro a year, roughly €15 to €30 against €10 to €20 at the time of writing. Over the life of a business the difference is nothing. What matters more is the renewal price after any first year offer, and that the domain is in your own name.

**What about .eu or .co.uk?**

.eu suits a business selling across Europe and says nothing about Ireland. .co.uk is worth adding if you trade in Northern Ireland or Britain and want a British-facing address. For a shop, salon or trade serving Irish customers, .ie first, .com if it is free, and leave the rest.

---

# Best booking systems for Irish salons and barbers

Fresha, Booksy, Phorest, Timely, Square Appointments and Vagaro compared for a salon or barber in Ireland, with a straight word on fees and who each one suits.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/best-booking-systems-for-irish-salons-and-barbers. Last updated 6 November 2026.

The best booking systems for Irish salons and barbers come down to a shortlist of six: Fresha, Booksy, Phorest, Timely, Square Appointments and Vagaro. Fresha and Booksy come with a marketplace that can send you new clients, and charge you for the privilege. Phorest, built in Dublin, is the serious choice for a salon with a team, a reception desk and a retail shelf. Timely and Square Appointments suit a small team that wants one flat monthly cost and no surprises. Vagaro is the American all-in-one, and the one to check most carefully before signing up from Ireland. If your chairs are already full, the cheapest calendar that sends reminders wins. If you have gaps on a Tuesday, a marketplace can earn its fee.

This is the comparison we wish existed the first time a client asked us which one to use. If you have never taken bookings online at all, start with [how to take online bookings](/guides/how-to-take-online-bookings) and come back here for the shortlist.

## Two ways of paying, and why it decides everything

Every system on the list charges in one of two ways. A subscription is a fixed amount each month, usually rising with the number of staff who take bookings, and it does not care how busy you are. A marketplace model charges little or nothing for the software and instead takes a fee when a new client books you through its app, plus a cut of card payments. Both models add card processing fees on top when you take deposits or payments through them.

The right model depends on where your clients come from. A barber with a full book of regulars is paying marketplace fees for clients he would have had anyway. A new nail salon in a town where everyone has Fresha on their phone is paying for footfall it could not get otherwise. Decide that first, and the shortlist halves.

## The six side by side

| System | How it charges (roughly) | Marketplace | Deposits | Text reminders | Stock | Where support comes from |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fresha | No monthly fee for the core software; a fee on each new client from its marketplace, plus card fees and paid extras | Yes | Yes, by holding a card or taking payment at booking | Yes; marketing texts cost extra | Yes | Online chat and email; company based in London |
| Booksy | Monthly subscription, more for each extra staff member, plus card fees | Yes, popular with barbers | Yes, prepayments at booking | Yes | Yes | Online chat and email |
| Phorest | Subscription quoted by salon size and staff count; texts bought in bundles | No consumer marketplace; your own booking page and app | Yes | Yes, per message | Full stock control | Phone and email from a Dublin team |
| Timely | Monthly subscription per staff member | No | Yes, through its own payments | Yes; allowance varies by plan | Yes | Online; company based in New Zealand |
| Square Appointments | Free for one person; subscription for a team; Square card fees on payments | No | Yes, card on file and no-show fees | Yes | Yes, through Square's inventory | Online and phone; Square has traded in Ireland since 2021 |
| Vagaro | Monthly subscription per bookable calendar | Yes, mostly American | Yes | Yes | Yes | US hours; confirm euro billing and Irish mobile numbers first |



## Fresha and Booksy: the marketplace trade

Fresha's pitch is that the software costs nothing, and that is true as far as it goes. The money comes from a fee on each new client who finds you through the Fresha marketplace, from card processing, and from paid add-ons. If your clients book through your own link, you are not charged the new client fee. The honest way to judge it is to look at how many of last month's first-time visitors came through the app, and what each one was worth to you over the following year.

Booksy charges a subscription instead, with an extra amount for each staff member who takes bookings, and its marketplace has made a particular home among barbers. Walk down any street of barbers in Dublin and you will see its stickers in the windows. For a barber whose customers already have Booksy on their phone, that familiarity is the product.


Both put your business on a page inside their app, beside other businesses nearby, with reviews that live inside their system rather than on Google. That is the trade: footfall in exchange for a little of your identity. A website of your own, with a button that opens the app, gets most of the benefit without handing over the lot.

## Phorest: the Dublin one, built for teams

Phorest is an Irish company, headquartered in Dublin, and it is built for a salon with staff rather than a chair in a converted garage. It does online booking, deposits, text reminders, a client card with history and photos, stock control, staff targets, gift vouchers and a marketing suite, and it comes with phone support from people in the same time zone.

It is priced as a serious system, quoted rather than listed, and that is the honest caveat. For a two-chair salon it is more than you need. For a salon with five or six staff, a receptionist and a retail shelf that needs counting, it is the one designed around how you actually work.


## Timely and Square Appointments: a flat fee and a quiet life

Timely is a subscription calendar from New Zealand aimed squarely at hair and beauty businesses. No marketplace, so no new client fees and no competitors on your page. It does deposits through its own payment service, reminders, stock, and a decent client record. Support is online.

Square Appointments is the booking side of the Square card reader, which has been available in Ireland since 2021. It is free for a single person and a subscription for a team, and it makes most sense if you already take payments on a Square reader, because the till, the deposits and the diary all live in one account. Reminders and no-show fees are included; there is no marketplace.

If you already have a full book and you want to stop paying for new clients you did not need, one of these two is usually the answer.

## Vagaro: the American all-in-one

Vagaro does everything the others do and runs a marketplace of its own, but the marketplace is largely American and so is the support desk. It is available in the UK. Before signing up from Ireland, check that it will bill you in euro, that reminder texts reach Irish mobile numbers at a sensible cost, and that card payments settle to an Irish bank account. If all three are yes, it is a capable system. If any is no, it is not worth the hassle when five others are on the table.

## Things that matter more than the brand

**Texts to Irish mobiles.** Reminders are the most useful thing any of these systems do. Find out whether texts are included or charged per message, and what a month of reminders would cost at your volume.

**Deposits and Irish payment habits.** Irish customers pay by card, Apple Pay and Revolut, which is a Visa or Mastercard underneath, so any system that takes cards takes all three. Check the processing fee on deposits, and read [how to take deposits online in Ireland](/guides/how-to-take-deposits-online-ireland) before setting the amount, because the terms have to be fair and shown before payment.

**Who holds the client list.** Under GDPR the data is yours. Check how you export it and what comes across: names and numbers always do, notes and photos often do not.

**Where reviews end up.** Reviews collected inside Fresha or Booksy stay inside Fresha or Booksy. The ones people see when they search your name are on Google, and those take a separate effort, covered in [how to get more Google reviews](/guides/how-to-get-more-google-reviews).

**Your own front door.** Whatever you pick, the booking button should sit on your own .ie site, with your hours, prices and photos, so that the person searching "barber near me" lands on you rather than on a directory page beside your competitors. We have written up what that site needs for a [barber's website](/websites-for/barbers), and the same applies to a salon.

## What we do for clients

When a salon or barber comes to us already on Fresha or Booksy, with regulars who use the app, we leave it in place and build the site around it, so the Book now button opens their existing calendar. That is included in Complete.

When an owner wants bookings on their own domain without marketplace fees, we build the booking system into the site instead: staff, services, reminders and deposits, with payments going to their own account and the client list in their own hands. Same plan, €1,499 to set up and €100 a month, no contract.

Either way, the numbers go in the monthly report, and the comparison between the two plans is on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## Questions about this

**Is Fresha really free?**

The software is free to use for the core features. Fresha earns from a fee on new clients who find you through its marketplace, from card processing, and from paid extras. If most of your bookings come from regulars who already know you, it can cost very little. If the marketplace sends you a lot of first-timers, the fees add up, so work out what a new client is worth to you before deciding whether that is a good deal.

**Fresha or Booksy for a barber?**

Both have a marketplace, both take deposits, both send reminders. Booksy is the one many barbers' customers already have on their phone, and it charges a subscription. Fresha charges per new marketplace client instead. If your chairs are full, the subscription model is more predictable. If you are building a client list from nothing, a marketplace with footfall matters more than the model.

**Is Phorest worth it for a small salon?**

Phorest is built for salons with a team, a reception and retail stock, and it is priced accordingly. For a two-chair salon the marketing tools, staff targets and stock control are more than you will use. For a salon with five or more staff, especially one that sells product, it is built for exactly that, and it has the advantage of phone support from Dublin.

**Can I move my client list from one system to another?**

Usually, with some pain. Most systems let you export clients as a spreadsheet and most will import one, but booking history, notes and photos often do not come across. Under GDPR the data is yours, so a provider that makes export difficult is worth avoiding. Export your list every few months regardless, so you are never held to ransom.

**Do I still need a website if I use Fresha or Booksy?**

Yes. The booking app is where people book; Google is where they find you. A short site on your own .ie domain, with your hours, prices, photos and a button that opens your Fresha or Booksy page, is what shows up when someone searches for a barber in your area. The app page alone competes with every other salon on the same app.

---

# Do I need a website if I have Instagram?

Instagram shows your work to people who already follow you. A website gets you found on Google, states your hours and prices, and takes bookings. Here is when you need both.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/do-i-need-a-website-if-i-have-instagram. Last updated 6 November 2026.

If people find you by typing what you do into Google, you need a website as well as Instagram. Instagram is very good at showing your work to people who already follow you or who are browsing for ideas. It does not appear in Google results for "nails near me" or "barber Rathmines", it has nowhere reliable for hours and prices, it cannot take a deposit without sending people off to another app, and the account and the audience belong to Meta, not to you. If you are booked out through referrals and DMs and happy to stay that size, Instagram on its own can be fine for now.

The rest of this guide goes through what each one does, the gaps, and the smallest website that closes them.

## What Instagram does well

We are not going to tell a lash technician in Ongar or a cake maker in Navan to post less. Instagram earns its place for four reasons.

It shows proof. A reel of a skin fade, a before and after of a set of brows, a wedding cake going out the door. People want to see the work before they trust you with their own head or their own party.

It keeps existing customers warm. A story saying "two spaces left Saturday" fills chairs. A photo of the new seasonal menu gets a regular back in.

It is low friction to ask a question. A DM is less effort than a phone call for a lot of people under forty.

It spreads through other people. A client tags you, her friend sees it, and that is a new customer you did nothing extra to find.

## Where Instagram stops

The problems start with the customer who does not know your name yet.

**Google search.** When a pipe bursts in Swords at nine at night, nobody opens Instagram. They type "emergency plumber Swords" into Google or ask their phone. The same goes for "dentist Dundrum", "nails near me" and "man with a van Tallaght". Google indexes little of what sits inside Instagram, and an Instagram profile does not rank for a service plus a place. Your profile turns up when someone searches your exact name, which means they already found you some other way.

**Hours.** There is no hours field on Instagram that anyone trusts. People check opening hours on Google Maps, and if there is no Business Profile, or the profile says you are open on a bank holiday when you are not, you get the one-star review and never knew it was coming.

**Prices.** A price list buried in a story highlight goes out of date and has to be tapped through one slide at a time. A page with a plain list on it is easy to find, easy to quote and easy to update.

**Bookings and deposits.** The Instagram version is a DM back and forth, a Revolut request, a screenshot, and a note in your phone. A booking page lets someone pick a time at midnight, pay the deposit, and get a reminder the day before, while you are asleep. We have written separately about [how to take online bookings](/guides/how-to-take-online-bookings).

**Ownership.** You cannot export your followers. If the account is hacked, disabled by mistake or just shown to fewer people after the next change to the feed, there is nothing you can do and nobody to ring. A website on a .ie domain in your own name, and a customer list in a booking system you control, are yours and move with you.

**People without the app.** Instagram asks visitors to log in after a few taps. The person who deleted the app, the older customer who never had it, the dad trying to find a kids' barber on a laptop: they see a login wall and go elsewhere. A website opens in any browser with no account.

**AI search.** ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's own AI answers build their replies from websites and Google Business Profiles they can read. Content inside Instagram is largely behind a login and out of their reach. We cannot promise any of these tools will mention you, but they cannot mention what they cannot read.

## The three things compared

| Job to be done | Instagram | Google Business Profile | Your own website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Show your work | Excellent | A photo gallery, in Google's layout | Good, and you choose the order |
| Be found for "near me" and "trade plus town" searches | No | Yes | Yes, and it feeds the profile |
| Hours, including bank holidays | A story at best | Yes, with special hours | Yes |
| Prices | A highlight that goes stale | A services list | A full price list |
| Bookings with a deposit | Only by linking out | Only by linking out | Built in |
| Who owns it | Meta | Google | You: the domain and the content |
| Works without an app or a login | Not reliably | Yes | Yes |
| Readable by AI search tools | Barely | Yes | Yes |

The pattern is clear enough. Instagram is for showing and staying in touch. The profile and the site are for being found and being chosen.

## How people in Ireland actually look for a business

Think about the last three local things you searched for yourself. For most of us it was Google or Google Maps, on a phone, with a place name or "near me" attached: "coffee Grafton Street", "physio Blackrock", "cake maker Navan". Sometimes it was Siri or the car's sat nav.

Instagram search is a different habit. People open it when they already have a name, or when they are browsing a hashtag for ideas before they have decided who to book. Both habits matter. Only one of them is a person with their wallet out, looking for someone like you, right now.

## When Instagram alone is fine

There are honest cases where we would not push a website on anyone.

- You are booked out through referrals, you have a waiting list, and you do not want to grow.
- You are testing an idea for a few months and do not want to spend money until you know it works.
- Your trade is genuinely visual, your customers live on Instagram, and they find you through other people's tags rather than by searching. Some nail artists and tattoo studios run this way for years.
- It is a side business and the hours are whatever suits you that week.

Even then, claim your free Google Business Profile so that your hours and your phone number on Google are right. That takes an hour and costs nothing. The steps are in [how to set up a Google Business Profile in Ireland](/guides/how-to-set-up-google-business-profile-ireland).

## The smallest website worth having

You do not need a ten page site. One well made page does the job for most businesses that live on Instagram: your name and what you do at the top, where you are with an Eircode and a map, your hours, your prices or "from" prices, six to eight photos of real work, a WhatsApp button, a booking button, and a link to your Instagram. On a .ie domain registered in your own name.

That one page plus a verified Google Business Profile covers every gap in the list above. We keep a longer checklist in [what a small business website should include](/guides/what-should-a-small-business-website-include), but a single page that is correct beats ten pages that are not.

## Making the two work together

Put the site in your bio and send people to the booking page, not the home page. When a price changes, change it on the site first, because that is where Google reads it, then post about it. Ask for reviews on Google rather than in comments, because a Google review is read by strangers and a comment is read by followers.

We would not embed your Instagram feed on the site. Those widgets slow the page down on 4G and break when Meta changes something. Pick your eight best photos, put them on the site, and swap them every few months.

## What we do for clients

Most of the nail technicians, brow studios and cake makers we talk to already have a good Instagram and no website. We do not ask them to change how they post. We build the page that does the other job: found on Google, hours and prices right, booking and deposit handled, all on a .ie domain in their name.

That is Essentials, €499 to set up and then €50 a month, which includes the domain, hosting, the Google Business Profile set up and verified, and a private edit page so you can change a price from your phone between clients. Complete, at €1,499 and €100 a month, adds online bookings with deposits, card and Apple Pay payments, review requests after each visit, and a chat assistant that knows your prices and hands off to your WhatsApp. The full list is on the [pricing page](/pricing).

Your Instagram stays exactly where it is, doing the thing it is good at.

## Questions about this

**Can people find my Instagram page through Google?**

Only if they search your exact business name, and even then the profile usually sits below the Google Maps results and your competitors' websites. Instagram does not rank for a service plus a place, such as 'lashes Lucan', so a customer who does not already know your name will not reach you that way.

**Is a Linktree page a substitute for a website?**

It is a list of links on someone else's domain. It has no hours, prices, Eircode or structured data for Google to read, and you are renting it the same way you rent Instagram. It is fine as a stopgap in your bio, but Google will not treat it as your business website.

**Can I use my Google Business Profile instead of a website?**

A profile on its own is better than nothing: it gives you hours, a pin on the map and reviews. But it is Google's page, not yours, with no room for a proper price list, a page per service or a privacy notice, and Google can change what it shows at any time. Treat the profile as the signpost and the website as the shop.

**Will a website hurt my Instagram?**

No. Nothing changes about how you post or how your followers see you. The website is for the people who have not found you yet, and the booking page gives your existing followers an easier way to book than a DM.

**Is a Facebook page any different from Instagram for this?**

Facebook has a proper hours field, which helps, but the ownership problem is the same: it is Meta's page, it asks visitors to log in, and it does not rank for 'trade plus town' searches. Use it for the community side and keep the facts on your own site.

**What does a basic website cost if I already have Instagram?**

With us, Essentials costs €499 up front and €50 a month, including the .ie domain in your name, hosting, the Google Business Profile and a page you can edit from your phone. For the wider market, see the guide on how much a website costs in Ireland.

---

# GDPR and cookies for small business websites in Ireland

What GDPR means for a shop or trade website in Ireland: the privacy notice, when a cookie banner is needed and when it is not, and what to do with booking data.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/gdpr-and-cookies-for-small-business-websites-ireland. Last updated 6 November 2026.

If your website has an enquiry form, takes bookings or counts its visitors, it handles personal data, and GDPR applies to you however small you are. For most small Irish sites that comes down to five things: a privacy notice in plain words, a reason for each piece of data you collect, a cookie banner only if you use cookies that are not essential, a note of who processes the data for you, and a way to answer someone who asks what you hold on them. The regulator is the Data Protection Commission, and most of this is less work than it sounds.

One thing before the detail. We build websites; we are not a solicitor. This is how we handle data protection on the sites we build and why. If your business holds health information, children's details or legal files, get advice that fits your work.

## What a small website actually collects

Walk through your own site as a customer and the list appears.

| Data | Where it comes from | Why you have it | How long, typically |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Name, phone, email, message | Enquiry form | To reply | Until dealt with, then delete, or keep if they become a customer |
| Name, contact, appointment, notes | Booking system | To provide the service | While they are a customer, plus what the accounts need |
| Deposit or payment record | Card processor | To take and refund money | Six years for Revenue records |
| Card number | Card processor only | You never see or store it | Held by the processor |
| Pages viewed, rough location, device | Analytics | To see what works | Days to months, and ideally never tied to a person |
| Email address | Newsletter sign-up | Marketing, with consent | Until they unsubscribe |



Each row needs a reason you could say out loud to the customer. "To reply to you" and "to keep your appointment" are good reasons. "Because the form had the field" is not, and the fix is to remove the field.

## Who is who

In GDPR language you are the controller: you decide what is collected and why. The companies that handle the data for you are processors: your booking system, your email provider, your web host, the form service that delivers enquiries, the card processor, the review request tool. In Ireland the law is the GDPR itself plus the Data Protection Act 2018, and the regulator is the [Data Protection Commission](https://www.dataprotection.ie), whose guidance for small organisations is readable and free.

You need two things from each processor: their data processing terms, normally part of the standard contract you accepted when you signed up, and a line in your privacy notice naming them. Keep a short list somewhere. If you ever get a question, that list is where you start.

## The privacy notice

A privacy notice is required, and it is the one document every small site should have. It should say, in plain words: who you are and how to contact you; what you collect and from where; why you collect each thing and on what basis; who you share it with; how long you keep it; the rights people have to see, correct and delete their data; and that they can complain to the Data Protection Commission.

The "basis" part frightens people and need not. For a booking or a sale, the basis is that you need the data to provide what they asked for. For replying to an enquiry or keeping security logs, it is your legitimate interest in running the business. For a newsletter or non-essential cookies, it is consent, which must be freely given and easy to withdraw.

One page, linked from the footer and from any form, in language your customers would use. It does not need legal phrasing. It needs to be true. A privacy page is on our list of [what a small business website should include](/guides/what-should-a-small-business-website-include) for exactly this reason.

## Cookies: when a banner is needed and when it is not

Irish law on cookies is the ePrivacy Regulations of 2011, as we understand it, and the rule is that you need consent before storing or reading anything on a visitor's device unless it is strictly necessary to provide the thing they asked for. The Data Protection Commission's guidance adds the practical detail: no pre-ticked boxes, no "by continuing you agree", rejecting must be as easy as accepting, and you cannot lock people out for refusing.



The useful consequence is that a banner is only needed if you have something that needs one.

| On your site | Needs consent first? |
| --- | --- |
| Enquiry form that emails you | No. No cookies are set. Cover it in the privacy notice. |
| Login or basket cookie for a booking in progress | No. Strictly necessary. |
| Google Analytics | Yes. It sets cookies and sends data to Google. |
| Cookie-free analytics (Plausible, Fathom, Simple Analytics and similar) | Generally no, when set up without cookies. Mention it in the notice. |
| Embedded YouTube video, Instagram feed, Facebook pixel | Yes. Third party code and cookies load with the page. |
| Embedded Google Map | As we understand it, yes. A static image with a directions link avoids it. |
| Live chat widget | Depends on the provider. Ask them what it stores. |



A small business site that avoids the "yes" rows does not need a cookie banner at all, and most do not need any of those rows. A banner that everyone clicks away is bad for the visitor and, if it says "by continuing you agree", is not valid consent anyway. The cleanest answer is to build the site so the question never arises.

## Analytics without cookies

You can still know how many people visited, which pages they read and whether they came from Google or Instagram without identifying anyone. Cookie-free analytics tools count visits from aggregated data and discard anything that could point at a person, so the monthly numbers a shop owner actually looks at survive intact. Mention the tool in the privacy notice, because it handles the visitor's IP address briefly to do the counting, but the banner and the consent machinery behind it can go.

## Booking data and how long to keep it

The GDPR gives no fixed periods; it says keep data as long as you need it for the purpose and no longer. For a booking business that means two different clocks. Records that back up your accounts (invoices, deposits, refunds) have to be kept for six years because Revenue requires it. Appointment histories and notes have no such rule, so you set one: for example, delete or anonymise customers who have not visited in a set number of years, and say so in the notice.

Health related notes (a physio's treatment notes, a counsellor's records) follow your professional body's rules as well, which are usually longer and stricter. If you take bookings through a system such as Fresha or Booksy, the data is still yours as the controller. Know how to export it, and check what the provider deletes if you close the account. Our guide to [taking online bookings](/guides/how-to-take-online-bookings) covers the practical side.

## Marketing messages and review requests

Sending a newsletter or a text offer needs consent, recorded somewhere you can find it. There is an exception, as we understand it, for your own existing customers: you can email them about similar services to what they bought, within a limited time of the sale, provided every message has an easy way to opt out. A single message after a visit asking for a Google review, with no offer attached, is generally treated as part of the service rather than marketing, but keep it to one message and honour any request to stop.



## When someone asks what you hold

Anyone can ask you for a copy of their personal data. You have one month to respond, extendable by two more for complicated requests, and you cannot normally charge. In practice: check their identity if you are not sure who is asking, search your inbox, booking system, WhatsApp and paper diary, and send them what you found along with why you have it, who you shared it with and how long you keep it. Deletion requests work the same way, except that you may keep what Revenue requires.

If something goes wrong, such as a lost phone with booking details on it or a hacked email account, work out whether people could be harmed. If they could, report it to the Data Protection Commission within 72 hours of finding out; its website has a form. If the risk to the people affected is high, tell them too.

## What we do for clients

Every site we build gets a privacy page written in plain words, listing what the site collects, why, and which processors are involved. Enquiry forms ask for a name, a way to reply and the message, and nothing else. Visitor counting is done without cookies, so the site has no banner unless the owner asks for something that needs one, such as Google Analytics or an embedded video, and then we explain the trade-off first.



On Complete, where bookings, deposits and review requests run through the site, the customer data belongs to the client, and if they leave they get their booking history with the rest of their content. If you are a [counsellor](/websites-for/counsellors), a clinic or anyone else holding sensitive records, we set the site up conservatively and tell you where our knowledge stops. The plans are on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## Questions about this

**Do I need a cookie banner on my website in Ireland?**

Only if the site sets cookies that are not strictly necessary, or loads third party code that does: Google Analytics, a Facebook pixel, embedded YouTube videos or social feeds. A site with an enquiry form and cookie-free analytics does not need one. If you do need one, it must offer a real choice, and rejecting must be as easy as accepting.

**Do I need a privacy policy for a small website?**

Yes. Under GDPR you must tell people what you collect, why, who you share it with, how long you keep it and what their rights are, at the point you collect it. One plain page linked from the footer and from any form does the job. It does not need legal language. It needs to be true.

**Is Google Analytics allowed under GDPR in Ireland?**

It can be used, but because it sets cookies and sends data to Google you need consent before it loads, which means a banner with a working reject option. Many small businesses find that a cookie-free analytics tool gives them the numbers they actually look at, visits and popular pages, without a banner.

**Who is responsible for data held in my booking system?**

You are. The booking company is your processor; you are the controller who decides what is collected and why. You need their processor terms, which are usually part of the standard contract, and you should know how to export your customers' data if you leave. Name the system in your privacy notice.

**What happens if I get it wrong?**

The Data Protection Commission can investigate complaints and issue fines, but for a small business the realistic first step is a complaint from a customer and a letter asking you to fix things. Having a notice, keeping only what you need and answering requests promptly puts you in a good position. We are not a solicitor, so for anything beyond the basics, ask one.

**How long should I keep customer details?**

As long as you need them for the purpose you collected them, and no longer. Records that back up your accounts must be kept for six years for Revenue. Enquiries that go nowhere can be deleted within months. Set a simple written rule for each type, follow it, and say what it is in your privacy notice.

---

# How much does a website cost in Ireland?

Real price ranges for a small business website in Ireland, from DIY builders to agencies, and what the monthly costs add up to.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/how-much-does-a-website-cost-in-ireland. Last updated 6 November 2026.

A small business website in Ireland costs anywhere from about €200 a year for a do-it-yourself builder to €10,000 or more from an agency. For a shop, salon, cafe or trade, the realistic middle is a few hundred to a few thousand euro to build, plus somewhere between €20 and €150 a month to host it, keep it secure and keep it up to date. The build price gets all the attention, but the monthly cost and who does the updating are what decide whether the site is still working in two years.

This guide sets out what each route costs, what is usually left out of the quote, and the questions to ask before you pay anyone, including us.

## The four ways to get a website, and what they cost



| Route | Build cost | Monthly or yearly cost | Who does the work after launch |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace, Shopify) | €0 | Roughly €15 to €45 a month, plus the domain | You |
| Freelancer | Roughly €800 to €3,000 | Hosting and domain, €10 to €40 a month, often arranged by you | You, or the freelancer if you can get hold of them |
| Agency | Roughly €3,000 to €15,000 or more | Maintenance retainers, often a few hundred euro a month | The agency, billed by the hour or on retainer |
| Run-for-you plan (how we work) | €499 or €1,499 | €50 or €100 a month, everything included | Us, by WhatsApp, or you from your phone |

A few notes on those numbers.

**DIY builders look free and are not.** The template is free. The plan that removes the builder's adverts, connects your own domain and lets you take payments is a monthly subscription, and the real cost is your evenings. A lot of builder sites for small shops stall before they are finished because the owner ran out of weekends. We have written up the trade-offs in [Wix vs Squarespace vs hiring someone](/guides/wix-vs-squarespace-vs-hiring-someone).

**Freelancer prices vary with what is included.** €800 might buy a five page site with your text and photos dropped in. €3,000 might include writing the copy, setting up Google, and training you to make changes. Always ask who writes the words, because that is the part most owners never get around to.

**Agency prices are for a different kind of business.** If you have a marketing team, a product catalogue and a brand guide, an agency build makes sense. A barber with one shop is paying for meetings.

**A monthly plan is only good if it includes the running.** Hosting, security updates, daily backups, changes when your prices move, and someone watching the Google listing. If the monthly fee is just hosting, you are back to doing the work yourself.

## The costs that are usually left out of the quote

These are the lines that turn a €1,000 quote into €2,000 over the first year.

- **The domain.** A .ie domain costs roughly €20 to €40 a year depending on the registrar. It should be registered in your name, not the designer's. See [how to register a .ie domain](/guides/how-to-register-a-ie-domain) for what you need.
- **Hosting.** From a few euro a month for shared hosting to €30 or more for something managed. Cheap hosting is slow, and slow sites lose people on phones.
- **SSL certificate.** Should be free now. If someone charges you for the padlock, ask why.
- **Email on your domain.** Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are each roughly €6 to €7 per user per month. Worth it, but it is an extra line.
- **Photography.** A half day with a photographer is a few hundred euro. Phone photos taken properly are free and usually fine for a shop.
- **Copywriting.** Rarely quoted, usually the reason sites stall. Ask who writes the words.
- **Booking and payment systems.** Booking platforms charge a monthly fee or a cut of each booking. Card processing is a percentage of each payment to Stripe, SumUp or similar.
- **Changes after launch.** The most common surprise. Ask the hourly rate for a change, or whether small changes are included.

## What the price should get you

Whatever you pay, a finished small business site in Ireland should have:

1. Your own .ie or .com domain, in your name.
2. A fast page that works on a phone, with your hours, prices, photos and a way to contact you in one tap.
3. A verified Google Business Profile that matches the site.
4. The technical groundwork for Google and for AI search: proper titles, structured data, a sitemap.
5. A way to make changes that does not involve a developer for every price rise.

If a quote does not clearly cover all five, it is not comparable with one that does. We keep a fuller checklist in [what a small business website should include](/guides/what-should-a-small-business-website-include).

## Questions to ask before you pay anyone

- Who owns the domain, and whose name is it registered in?
- What happens to the site if we stop paying?
- Who writes the text and sources the photos?
- Is the Google Business Profile part of the job?
- What does a small change cost after launch, and how long does it take?
- Is there a contract, and what is the notice period?

Honest answers to those six tell you more than the price does.

## What we do for clients

We run two plans, and the prices are the same for everyone. Essentials is €499 to set up and €50 a month: the site, the .ie domain in your name, hosting, security, daily backups, a private edit page so you can change prices from your phone, the Google Business Profile set up and verified, and the groundwork for AI search. Complete is €1,499 to set up and €100 a month and adds online bookings, deposits and payments, review growth, a chat assistant, business email and monthly Google work. Small changes are included in both. There is no contract. The full list is on the [pricing page](/pricing), and the comparison with the other routes is the table above.

## Questions about this

**What is a fair price for a small business website in Ireland?**

For a shop, salon, cafe or trade, a fair price for a properly finished site is somewhere between a few hundred and a few thousand euro to build, plus a monthly cost to keep it hosted, secure and up to date. The build price matters less than whether the site gets finished and kept correct. A cheap site that is never updated costs more in lost customers than a dearer one that is looked after.

**Why do agencies charge so much more than freelancers?**

Agencies carry staff, offices and project managers, and they usually build from scratch with custom design and a content management system. That is the right choice for a business with a marketing team. A small shop does not need it, and pays for overhead it never uses.

**Is a monthly fee better than paying once?**

For most small businesses, yes, as long as you own the domain and can leave without a fee. A once-off site rots: the hours go out of date, the software stops getting security updates, and nobody checks Google. A monthly plan should include hosting, updates, backups and someone to make changes. Check what is actually included before you compare prices.

**Are there grants for websites in Ireland?**

The Local Enterprise Offices run a Trading Online Voucher for small businesses that want to sell online. The terms and the amount change from time to time, so check your Local Enterprise Office for the current scheme before you plan around it.

**What do your own plans cost?**

Essentials is €499 to set up and €50 a month. Complete is €1,499 to set up and €100 a month. Both include the .ie domain in your name, hosting, security, backups, the Google Business Profile setup and AI search groundwork. No contract, cancel with 30 days' notice.

---

# How to get business email on your own domain

Why an address on your own domain beats Gmail, the three ways to get one in Ireland, what the four DNS records do, and how to move without losing a message.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/how-to-get-business-email-on-your-own-domain. Last updated 6 November 2026.

To get business email on your own domain you need three things: a domain you control, a mail provider (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or the mailbox that comes with your Irish hosting), and four DNS records added at your registrar so that mail is delivered and trusted. It takes an afternoon and costs a few euro per mailbox per month. After that, hello@yourshop.ie works on your phone exactly the way Gmail did, and every quote you send carries your business name instead of a free provider's.

This guide explains why that matters, compares the three routes, decodes the DNS records in one line each, and covers the part everyone forgets: keeping the old address alive while customers catch up.

## Why hello@yourshop.ie beats a Gmail address

A customer getting two quotes for a bathroom sees one from a plumber at a gmail.com address and one from mick@mickbyrneplumbing.ie. Both plumbers might be equally good, but one of them looks like a business that will still be there when the warranty question comes up. That first impression is the main reason to do this, and it costs less than a coffee a week.

The second reason is ownership. When a staff member leaves, you keep the mailbox, the customer threads and the quotes. When they were using their own Gmail or Hotmail, all of that walks out the door with them, and you may have no record of what was promised to whom.

The third is tidiness. hello@, bookings@, accounts@ and your own name can all land in one inbox or be split up as the business grows. Your website, your Google Business Profile and your invoices all show the same domain, which is a small trust signal to people and to Google alike.

There is a GDPR angle too. Customer details sitting in a personal account you cannot control or close are hard to square with the obligations in [GDPR and cookies for small business websites in Ireland](/guides/gdpr-and-cookies-for-small-business-websites-ireland). A business mailbox you administer is much easier to defend.

## First, own the domain

Email lives on your domain, so you need one registered in your own name, not your designer's, and you need the login for the registrar. If you have a .ie already, check the registrar account works before you buy anything. If you have not got one yet, [how to register a .ie domain](/guides/how-to-register-a-ie-domain) walks through the .IE registry's connection-to-Ireland rule and the Irish registrars (Blacknight, Register365, LetsHost and Hosting Ireland among them). If you are weighing up the two endings, we have compared [.ie vs .com for an Irish business](/guides/ie-vs-com-domain-for-irish-business) separately.

## The three ways to get it

| Route | Best suited to | What you get beyond email | Rough cost per mailbox |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Google Workspace | Anyone who already lives in Gmail, Google Calendar and Drive | Shared calendars, Drive storage, Meet video calls, Docs and Sheets | Roughly €6 to €8 a month |
| Microsoft 365 Business | Offices that run on Outlook, Word and Excel, accountants and solicitors especially | Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, the Office apps on the dearer tiers | Roughly €5 to €7 a month for the basic tier |
| Mailbox from your hosting company or registrar | A sole trader who wants one or two addresses and nothing else | Webmail and IMAP access, sometimes a basic calendar | Roughly €1 to €4 a month, sometimes bundled with hosting |

Prices change, and both Google and Microsoft have raised theirs more than once. Treat the ranges as a guide and check the Irish pricing page before you decide.


Our view for a typical shop or trade: Google Workspace if you use an Android phone or already have Google Calendar on the counter, Microsoft 365 if your accountant sends you Excel files every week and you want Outlook, and a hosting mailbox if you send a dozen emails a month and want the cheapest thing that works. The hosting mailbox is fine for light use. Its spam filtering and search are usually weaker, which you notice once the inbox passes a few thousand messages.

## The four DNS records, one line each

When you sign up, the provider hands you a short list of records to add at your registrar. These are what they do.

- **MX** tells the world's mail servers where to deliver anything addressed to your domain.
- **SPF** is a list of the servers allowed to send mail on behalf of your domain, so a scammer's server fails the check.
- **DKIM** stamps each outgoing message with a signature that proves it came from you and was not altered on the way.
- **DMARC** tells receiving servers what to do with a message that fails SPF or DKIM (deliver, quarantine or reject) and sends you reports about who is sending as you.

You add them in the DNS section of your registrar's control panel, or wherever your nameservers point if a developer moved them to Cloudflare or a host. Copy and paste, do not retype. Changes can take a few hours to reach every mail server, so do this in the evening rather than the morning of a big quote.

The big receivers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) have tightened their rules in recent years, and mail from a domain without SPF and DKIM is far more likely to land in spam or be refused outright. Set all four up on day one, even if the provider marks DMARC as optional.

## Setting it up on your phone

Most owners do their email standing up, so the phone matters more than the laptop.

With Google Workspace, open the Gmail app, add an account, choose Google and sign in with the new address. Everything else is automatic. With Microsoft 365, the Outlook app does the same, and Apple Mail on an iPhone can add a Microsoft 365 account directly too. With a hosting mailbox, choose "Other" or "IMAP" in the mail app and type in the server names your host gave you. Pick IMAP rather than POP so that your phone and your laptop show the same messages and the same read status.

Set a signature while you are at it: your name, the business name, the mobile number, the website and, if you have premises, the address with the Eircode. People copy details out of signatures far more often than you would think.

## Keeping the old address alive

Nobody updates their contacts the day you change address, so the old one has to keep working for a good while.

Turn on forwarding in the old Gmail or Hotmail account so anything sent there arrives in the new inbox. Add an auto-reply that gives the new address in one line. Then work through the places the old address is printed or stored: your website contact page, the Google Business Profile, invoices and quote templates, your bank and your accountant, Revenue's online service, supplier accounts, Facebook and Instagram bios, and the sticker on the van.

Keep the old account open for at least a year and log in every month or two, because some supplier will still be sending statements to it. Do not delete it. A deleted free address can sometimes be registered again by someone else, and then your old customers are emailing a stranger.

## Mistakes we see most

The domain was registered by a web designer who has moved on, so nobody can get into the registrar to add records. Fix this before anything else, and if the website is tied up in the same account, [how to move your website to a new provider](/guides/how-to-move-your-website-to-a-new-provider) covers getting control back.

A catch-all address was set up so that anything@yourdomain.ie arrives, and within a year it is nothing but spam. Create the addresses you need and let the rest bounce.

Two-step sign-in was skipped because it felt like a nuisance. A business mailbox holds customer details and the password resets for every other service you use, so it is the one account that most needs it.

## What we do for clients

Both of our plans start with a .ie domain registered in your own name, so the foundation for email is there from day one. The Essentials plan, at €499 to set up and €50 a month, covers the site and the domain but not the mailboxes. The Complete plan, at €1,499 and €100 a month, includes business email on your domain: we set up the mailboxes, add the records, get it working on your phone and check that a test message reaches a Gmail inbox cleanly.

If you only want the email and already have a site elsewhere, we will point you at one of the three routes above and tell you which fits, because it is not a hard job and you may not need us for it. The full comparison of what each plan includes is on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## Set up email on your own domain

1. Make sure you control the domain. Check the domain is registered in your name or your company's name and that you can log in to the registrar. Without that login you cannot add the records email needs.
2. Pick a provider. Choose Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or the mailbox your hosting company offers, based on the apps you already use and how many people need an address.
3. Create the mailboxes. Set up one address per person plus a shared one such as hello@ or bookings@. Use strong passwords and turn on two-step sign-in from the first day.
4. Add the DNS records. Copy the MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records from the provider into the DNS page at your registrar. They can take a few hours to take effect everywhere.
5. Set up your phone and laptop. Add the account in the mail app you already use. Send a message to a friend's Gmail address and check it lands in the inbox, not the spam folder.
6. Forward the old address and tell people. Turn on forwarding from the old Gmail or Hotmail account, set a short auto-reply, and update Google, your invoices, your website and your social profiles.

## Questions about this

**Can I keep using Gmail but with my own domain?**

Yes. Google Workspace is Gmail with your own address on it, so the app, the search and the spam filtering are the ones you already know. A free Gmail account cannot send properly as your domain on its own, so a paid mailbox is the honest route.

**How much does business email cost in Ireland?**

A few euro per mailbox per month for Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, and often less again, or included, for a mailbox from an Irish hosting company. Prices move, so check the provider's Irish pricing page and whether the figure shown includes VAT.

**What are MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC?**

Four lines in your domain's DNS. MX says where incoming mail should be delivered. SPF lists the servers allowed to send mail for your domain. DKIM adds a signature so receivers can check a message was not altered. DMARC tells receivers what to do when a message fails those checks and sends you reports.

**Should every staff member have their own address?**

Yes, if they email customers. A shared hello@ or info@ for enquiries plus a named address per person means you can close an account the day someone leaves without losing the customer history, and nobody is running your business from a personal inbox.

**Will moving my website break my email?**

Only if someone changes the MX records or the nameservers without checking email first. Email and the website are separate records on the same domain. Before any move, write down the current MX, SPF and DKIM values so they can be put back if needed.

---

# How to get more Google reviews

The routine that brings in honest Google reviews: a direct link, a QR code at the till, a short text after each visit, asking in person, and the rules on incentives and fakes.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/how-to-get-more-google-reviews. Last updated 6 November 2026.

The way to get more Google reviews is to ask every customer, every time, and make it easy: copy the direct review link from your Google Business Profile, put it on a QR code at the till and in a short text or email sent the same day, ask out loud when the customer is pleased, and reply to every review that arrives. The businesses near you with hundreds of reviews are not luckier or better. They have a routine, and they never pay for a review or write one themselves.

Here is how to set that routine up, where the link should live, what to say and when to say it, and the rules in Ireland on incentives and fake reviews that you need to stay inside.

## Why the routine matters more than the rating

A customer choosing between two barbers on the map does not read the star rating alone. They look at how many reviews there are, how recent the last one is, what people actually wrote, and whether the owner answered. Thirty reviews from the last six months with replies beats four hundred that stopped two years ago. Google also says review count and review score feed into local ranking, which is one reason a steady flow matters more than a burst.

Steady is the key word. A rush of twenty reviews in one week, after years of none, looks like something was done to produce them, and Google's filters treat it that way. The aim is a few honest reviews every week, for as long as you trade.

## The direct review link

Everything starts with one link. Sign in to your [Google Business Profile](https://www.google.com/business), find the "Ask for reviews" button (sometimes shown as "Get more reviews"), and copy the short link it gives you. When a customer taps it, Google opens the review box for your business with the stars ready to fill in. There is no searching for your name, no scrolling past the competitor with the similar name, and no giving up halfway.

Test it on your own phone before you print anything. Open it signed in to a personal Google account and check it lands on your business and not on a duplicate listing. If you have not verified your profile yet, start with [how to get your business on Google Maps](/guides/how-to-get-your-business-on-google-maps), because the link only exists once the listing does.

## Where the link should live

| Place | How | Works best for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| QR code on the counter or at the till | Any free QR generator, printed on card, with a few words of instruction | Barbers, cafes, salons, shops |
| Receipt or invoice footer | The short link printed under the total | Trades, mechanics, clinics |
| Text or email after the visit | Two sentences and the link, sent the same day | Anyone who has the customer's number |
| Sticker on the van or the shop door | QR code with "Happy with the job? Tell Google" | Trades, cleaners, mobile businesses |
| A button on your website | "Leave a review" linking straight to the box | Everyone; it catches people who go looking |
| Booking confirmation or reminder | The link added to the message your booking system already sends | Salons, physios, dog groomers |

The QR code is the one that surprises people. Someone paying at a till has their phone in their hand already. A small card beside the card machine that says "Enjoy the cut? Leave us a Google review" and shows the code gets scanned far more often than a sign asking people to search for you later. Keep the instruction short and test the code every few months, because printed cards get coffee on them and some generators expire free codes.

## Asking in person

Nothing works as well as a human asking. The right moment is when the customer is pleased and the job is clearly finished: the mirror is held up, the boiler is running again, the dog is handed back trimmed, the dessert plates are cleared. Ask plainly: "If you have a minute later, a Google review would be a big help to us. There is a code on the counter." Then stop talking.

Some trades find the ask awkward, and a kitchen fitter who has spent three days in someone's house has a different relationship than a chipper serving a queue. Tie it to something you already do. The invoice email is a natural place for a tradesperson. The card machine is natural for a shop. A [barber](/websites-for/barbers) can ask every client at the till in one breath, and the good ones do.

## The follow-up message

Send it the same day or the next morning, while the visit is fresh. Keep it to two sentences. Here is one, written as an example rather than a template to copy word for word:

"Thanks for coming in today. If you have a minute, a quick Google review helps a small business like ours more than you would think: [your review link]."

Send it to every customer whose number you have, not only the ones you think were happy. Choosing who gets asked based on how pleased they seemed is what Google calls review gating, and it is against its policies. It also skews the picture: the people who were quietly disappointed are the ones whose feedback you most need.

A word on the data. You have the customer's number because they booked or paid, and as we understand it a single message about the visit they have just had is a reasonable use of it. Do not add them to a marketing list on the back of it, do not keep texting, and stop at once if anyone asks you to. The [GDPR guide for small sites](/guides/gdpr-and-cookies-for-small-business-websites-ireland) covers what to write in your privacy notice so this is above board.



## The rules you cannot bend

**Google's side.** Google's review policies forbid offering money, discounts, free products or anything else in exchange for a review. They forbid review gating, reviews written by the owner or staff, reviews from family or friends posted as customers, and, as we understand the current policy, setting up a tablet or kiosk on the premises for customers to review on the spot. Google removes reviews it believes break these rules and can suspend a profile for repeated breaches.

**The Irish law side.** Since the Consumer Rights Act 2022, as we understand it, submitting or commissioning fake reviews, and presenting reviews as coming from genuine customers without reasonable checks, are on the list of banned commercial practices under Irish consumer protection law, with the [Competition and Consumer Protection Commission](https://www.ccpc.ie) as the enforcer. This came in alongside EU-wide rules on reviews. Nobody needs the detail to follow the plain version: ask real customers, let them write what they like, and never write or buy a review.



A discount for a review feels harmless, and plenty of small businesses have done it without meaning any harm. It is still an incentive. If you want to thank customers, thank them. Just keep it separate from the ask.

## Reply to every one

A review with a reply under it tells the next reader that a real person runs the place. For good reviews, two sentences that mention the service rather than the customer's name is plenty. For bad ones, the reply matters far more than the review itself, and we have written up a calm structure and some examples in [how to reply to bad Google reviews](/guides/how-to-reply-to-bad-google-reviews). Set aside ten minutes a week and clear them all.

## What we do for clients

Review growth is part of the Complete plan, €1,499 to set up and €100 a month. After each visit or booking, the customer gets a text or email with your direct review link, timed for the same day. We draft replies to new reviews and send them to you on WhatsApp for approval before anything is posted, and we do not write reviews, buy them or filter who gets asked. Ever.

On Essentials, the Business Profile is set up and verified with the review link ready, and we show you where to find it so you can print a QR card for the counter. Either way, the monthly report tells you how many reviews came in and what the rating did, without any promise about what the number will be. The rest is on the [Google services page](/services/google).

## Get more Google reviews

1. Copy your review link. In your Google Business Profile, choose 'Ask for reviews' to get your short review link. It opens the review box straight away, with no searching.
2. Put the link where customers already are. Turn it into a QR code for the counter, the receipt, the van or the invoice, and add a 'Leave us a review' button to your website.
3. Ask in person at the right moment. Ask when the customer is pleased: as they pay, when the job is signed off, or when they say thanks. A direct request works far better than a sign on its own.
4. Follow up by text or email. Within a day of the visit, send a two sentence thank you with the link. Send it to every customer, not only the ones you think were happy.
5. Never pay for, filter or fake a review. No discounts for reviews, no reviews from staff or family, no asking only the happy customers. It breaks Google's rules and, as we understand it, Irish consumer law.
6. Reply to every review. Thank the good ones and answer the bad ones calmly. Replies tell the next reader that someone is paying attention.

## Questions about this

**Can I give customers a discount for leaving a Google review?**

No. Google's policies forbid offering anything in exchange for a review, and the review can be removed and the profile penalised. In Ireland, paying for reviews also sits badly with consumer protection law on fake and misleading reviews. Thank customers if you like, but keep it separate from the ask.

**Is it legal to ask customers for Google reviews in Ireland?**

Yes. Asking a real customer to leave an honest review is fine. The problems start when you pay for reviews, write them yourself, get staff or family to post as customers, or only ask the people you think were happy. Ask everyone and let them write what they want.

**How do I make a QR code for my Google review link?**

Copy the short link from the 'Ask for reviews' button in your Business Profile, paste it into any free QR code generator, download the image and print it on a card for the counter. Scan it with your own phone before printing to be sure it opens the right listing, and check it again every few months.

**Why did a Google review disappear?**

Google filters reviews automatically and removes ones that look suspicious: brand new accounts, several reviews in a short burst, the same wording repeated, or a run of reviews that all seem to come from the one place. Genuine reviews get caught sometimes and there is no reliable way to get them back. A steady trickle is less likely to trip the filters than a rush.

**Should I ask every customer or only the happy ones?**

Every customer. Picking who to ask based on how pleased they seemed is what Google calls review gating and it is against the rules. It also hides the feedback you most need. Ask everyone the same way and let the average take care of itself.

**How many Google reviews does a small business need?**

There is no magic number. Look at the three businesses that appear on the map for your main search in your town and aim to be in their range, then keep going. Recent reviews with replies count for more with customers than a large total that stopped years ago.

---

# How to get your business on Google Maps

Your Google Maps listing comes from your Business Profile. How to create it, why a business does not show, and how to fix the pin, Eircode, service area and duplicates.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/how-to-get-your-business-on-google-maps. Last updated 6 November 2026.

To get your business on Google Maps, you create a free Google Business Profile at google.com/business, verify that you really run the business, and the Maps listing follows from that. There is no separate Maps sign-up and no fee. If your business is already on Maps but missing from searches, sitting in the wrong place or showing twice, the fix is almost always inside that same profile: verification, the pin, the category or a duplicate.

This guide covers why a business does not appear, how to fix the pin, service areas for a trade that travels, and what Google says decides the map results.

## Maps and the Business Profile are one thing

People talk about "getting on Google Maps" and "setting up Google Business" as if they were two jobs. They are one. The Business Profile is the record Google holds about your business: name, address or service area, hours, phone, website, category, photos and reviews. Maps, the map pack in ordinary search results and the panel on the right of the screen all read from that one record, so a wrong listing is fixed in the profile, not on the map. The full set up, field by field, is in [how to set up a Google Business Profile in Ireland](/guides/how-to-set-up-google-business-profile-ireland); this guide stays on the Maps side.

Before creating anything, search Maps for your business name and town. Google generates listings on its own, and a shop that has traded for twenty years usually has one already. If you find it, click "Own this business?" and verify that one. A second listing on top of an existing one is the most common way to end up with a duplicate, and duplicates are the hardest problem on this page to undo.

## Why a business does not show on Maps

| What you see | Likely cause | Fix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| No listing at all, even searching the exact name | Profile never created, or created and never verified | Create or claim it and complete verification |
| Listing sits in the wrong town or on the wrong road | The pin was placed from a partial address | Add the Eircode and drag the pin to the door |
| Two or three listings for the one business | Old owner, an old agency, a second account, or a Google auto-listing | Mark the extras as duplicates and request ownership of any you cannot access |
| Shows for your name but never for what you do | Primary category is wrong or too general | Change the primary category to the thing people search for |
| Listing vanished overnight | Profile suspended for a guideline breach | Fix the breach (name, address, category) and appeal |
| You travel to customers and never appear in your own town | Address hidden and service areas not set, or set far too wide | Add the towns and counties you actually cover |

A couple of these deserve more than one line.

**Unverified is the same as invisible.** Google holds an unverified profile but will not show it with any confidence, and nobody but you can see the edits. In Ireland the usual method now is a short video walk-through of the premises and signage recorded on your phone, with postcards, phone calls and email offered to some businesses.



**Category mismatch is quiet and costly.** A cafe listed under "Restaurant" appears for restaurant searches and misses the coffee ones. A mechanic listed as "Car dealer" is invisible to someone searching for an NCT pre-check. The primary category should be the thing a stranger would type; a few secondary categories cover the rest.

**Suspensions have a cause.** The usual triggers are a business name padded with extra words (your trade, your town and "24 hour" tacked on after the name that is actually on the sign), an address that is a virtual office or a PO box, or a service business showing an address where no customer is ever served. Fix the cause before appealing, because an appeal with the breach still in place is refused.

## Putting the pin on the right door

Google places the marker by matching your written address, and in Ireland that goes wrong more than it should. Rural addresses have no house number. Townland names repeat across a county. A long road like the Malahide Road or the Naas Road runs through several districts, and Google guesses. Industrial estates are the worst: a unit in Ballymount or Cookstown is often pinned at the estate entrance, a five minute walk from the door.

The Eircode fixes most of it. Every address in the State has one, it points to a single delivery point, and Google Maps understands it. Put the Eircode in the address field, open the map preview and check where the marker sits. If it is off, drag it; Google lets the owner move the pin a reasonable distance from the matched address. Check again a few days later, because Google occasionally snaps it back after a data refresh.

For a physio in a first floor unit or a kitchen fitter in a yard behind a row of houses, add a line to the description saying where the door is, and a photo of the entrance from the road.

## Shops versus businesses that travel

If customers come to you, you show the address. If you go to them, Google asks you to hide it and set service areas instead. A plumber, an electrician, a mobile hairdresser or a dog walker working from home should not display a home address, and Google's own guidelines say a business that does not serve customers at its address should leave the address field blank. The [plumbers page](/websites-for/plumbers) goes into what the listing and the site look like for a trade that works this way.

Service areas are the towns, counties or postal districts you cover. A plumber in Naas might list Naas, Newbridge, Kildare town, Celbridge and County Kildare. Keep the list honest: Google asks that the whole service area stays within roughly two hours' driving time of where the business is based, and a list that covers the whole country gets a business nowhere in particular.



## Clearing duplicate listings

Duplicates happen when a previous owner set up a profile and left with the login, when an agency created one under its own account, when a business moved and the old address was never closed, or when Google generated a listing while you were building your own.

Search Maps for your business name, your phone number and your old address. For each extra listing, open it in Maps, choose "Suggest an edit", then the option to close or remove it, and mark it as a duplicate of the right one. If the duplicate has reviews you want to keep, request ownership of it first through the "Own this business?" link; Google contacts the current owner and, if nobody responds within a few days, usually hands it over. Once you own both, you can ask Google to merge them.

## What decides who appears in the map pack

The map pack is the block of three businesses with a map near the top of a normal Google search. Google says three things decide what goes in it: relevance (how well the profile matches what was typed), distance (how far each business is from the searcher or from the place named in the search), and prominence (how well known the business is, measured through reviews, mentions on other websites and the website itself).

You control relevance through the category, the services list, the description and a website that uses the same words. You cannot change distance, which is why the three results change from street to street. Prominence builds slowly, from steady reviews, a consistent name, address and phone number across directories, and a site that explains what you do and where. There is more in [what local SEO is](/guides/what-is-local-seo) and in [how to get more Google reviews](/guides/how-to-get-more-google-reviews).

Nobody can promise you a place in the three; Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. What you can do is remove every reason Google has to pass you over.

## Keeping the listing right once it is live

A listing is not finished when it is verified. Hours change, and the ones that catch people out are the bank holidays: St Brigid's Day, the June and August weekends, the October bank holiday, Christmas week. Google shows "Hours might differ" when you have not confirmed them. Suggested edits from the public can also alter your hours without you noticing, so the profile deserves a look once a month.

## What we do for clients

Every site we build comes with the Google Business Profile set up and verified, because a site without a matching listing is only half found. On Essentials (€499 to set up, €50 a month) we create or claim the profile, pick the categories, put the pin on the right door, set service areas for a trade, clear any duplicates and make sure the name, address, phone and hours match the website exactly.

On Complete the profile is managed every month: posts, fresh photos, answers to the questions people leave, review replies drafted for your approval, and holiday hours set before each bank holiday. We do not promise a position in the map pack, because nobody honest can. We do the work, and the monthly report shows how many people found the listing, rang from it or asked for directions. Details are on the [Google services page](/services/google).

## Get your business on Google Maps

1. Search for it first. Search Google Maps for your business name and town. If a listing already exists, claim that one instead of creating a second.
2. Create or claim the Business Profile. Go to google.com/business, sign in with a Google account you control, and add the business using the name on your sign, nothing extra.
3. Enter the address or the service area. If customers come to you, give the full address with the Eircode. If you go to them, hide the address and list the towns or counties you cover.
4. Verify it. Complete Google's verification. In Ireland this is often a short video of the premises and signage, with a postcard or phone call used in some cases.
5. Check the pin. Open the map inside the profile and drag the marker to your actual door. Google often drops it on the wrong side of the road or the wrong end of a long street.
6. Finish the profile and clear duplicates. Add hours, phone, website, categories and photos, then search for any duplicate listings and ask Google to merge or remove them.

## Questions about this

**How long does it take for a business to show up on Google Maps?**

Once the profile is verified, the listing usually appears within a few days, though edits can take longer to show and Google gives no fixed timeline. If it has been a couple of weeks with nothing, check the profile for a suspension notice or a verification step you missed.

**Can I put my business on Google Maps without a shop address?**

Yes. Set it up as a service-area business: hide the address and list the towns or counties you cover. You still need a real base for Google to verify, and that base can be your home, but it will not be shown to the public.

**Why is my business pinned in the wrong place on Google Maps?**

Google places the marker by matching the written address, and Irish addresses without house numbers, repeated townland names and long roads confuse it. Add your Eircode to the profile, then open the map preview and drag the marker to the door. Check it again a week later in case it has moved back.

**Does it cost money to be listed on Google Maps?**

No. The Google Business Profile is free, and so is the Maps listing that comes from it. Google Ads are a separate, optional thing. If someone rings offering to list you on Maps for a fee, they are selling something else, usually a directory or their own service.

**My business is on Maps but not in the top three. Why not?**

The three results in the map pack are chosen on relevance, distance and prominence, and they change depending on where the searcher is standing. Nobody can guarantee a place in them. You can improve relevance with the right category and services, and prominence with steady reviews and a consistent name, address and phone everywhere.

**Someone else has claimed my business listing. What do I do?**

Open the listing on Maps, choose 'Own this business?' and request access. Google emails the current owner, often a former owner or an old agency, and if they do not respond within a few days you can usually complete verification yourself. Keep a note of the dates in case you need to follow up.

---

# How to move your website to a new provider

How to move a site and domain to a new designer or host without losing your email, your Google listing or your old links, and the traps that catch Irish businesses.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/how-to-move-your-website-to-a-new-provider. Last updated 6 November 2026.

Moving a website to a new designer or host is mostly a domain and email job, not a design job. Find out who controls the domain, get the login or transfer code, build the new site in full before touching anything, then switch the DNS while carrying the email records across exactly, redirect the old page addresses, and only then cancel the old provider. Done in that order, customers notice nothing. Done in the wrong order, the old site vanishes before the new one is ready and the email stops for a week.

## Start with the domain, not the site

The domain is the one thing that cannot be rebuilt. Before you look at designs, look up who holds it: for a .ie, use the WHOIS lookup on the registry's site at [weare.ie](https://www.weare.ie); for anything else, any WHOIS tool will do. You are looking for the registrant (the legal holder), the registrar (the company it was bought through), the nameservers (who runs the DNS) and the renewal date, since you should not move a domain in the week it is due to renew.

There are three possible answers. The registrant is you or your business: good, carry on. It is your old designer or their company: stop and get it changed before anything else, because whoever holds the domain holds your email and the web address on your Google listing. It is hidden behind a privacy service: log in to the registrar account, or ask the registrar who the account holder is.

If a designer registered your .ie in their own name, ask them in writing to transfer the registrant to your business. As we understand it the registry has a change of registrant process and will want proof of your connection to the name, such as a CRO number or a registered business name certificate. Most designers will do it without fuss. If they refuse or have vanished, contact the registry and explain. The proof side is covered in [how to register a .ie domain](/guides/how-to-register-a-ie-domain).



## Get the keys

Moving a site needs more logins than people expect. Collect them before you give anyone notice.

| Login | What it controls | Who usually has it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Domain registrar | The domain itself, renewals, transfers | You, or your old designer |
| DNS | Where the site and email point | Registrar, host or a service such as Cloudflare |
| Hosting | The files and database of the old site | Old designer or host |
| Website admin | The content, if it is WordPress or a builder | You or the designer |
| Google | Business Profile, Search Console, Analytics | Should be you; often the designer |

If the domain is staying at the same registrar, you need the account login. If it is moving to a new registrar, you need an authorisation code from the current one, and as we understand it that applies to .ie domains as well as .com.



Make sure your own Google account is an owner of the Business Profile and of Search Console, not just a manager. A designer who leaves holding your Business Profile is a bigger problem than one who leaves with the site.

## Export everything before you give notice

Copy the text of every page into a document. Download the original photos, not the compressed versions on the site; ask the photographer or dig them out of your phone. Save the list of page addresses from yourdomain.ie/sitemap.xml or from Search Console, because you will need it for redirects. Keep menus, price lists, PDFs, and any reviews you have permission to use.

What comes with you depends on how the old site was built. A WordPress site can be exported in full and restored by a new host. Builders are different: as we understand it, Wix does not export a working site at all, and Squarespace exports some content but not the design or the shop, so plan on the text and photos coming with you and the rest being rebuilt. If you are still deciding whether to leave a builder, [Wix vs Squarespace vs hiring someone](/guides/wix-vs-squarespace-vs-hiring-someone) sets out the trade-offs.



## Build the new site first

Nothing gets switched off yet. The new site is built on a temporary address, and you test it on your phone on mobile data: every page, every button, the enquiry form actually arriving, the booking link working, the map opening. Have whoever answers your phone try it too, because they know what customers ask.

Both sites exist at once while this happens; pointing the domain at the new one is a five minute job at the end, not the start.

## Email is where moves go wrong

Email for your domain is routed by DNS records called MX records, and the mailboxes themselves live somewhere: with Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, your registrar, or, very often with older Irish sites, on the same hosting package as the website. That last case is the dangerous one: cancel the hosting and the mailboxes go with it, archive included.

Find out where your mail lives before anything else is touched. If it is on the old hosting, move the mailboxes first, to Google, Microsoft or your registrar, and copy the old messages across. Either way, before you change a single DNS record, export or screenshot the entire zone: every A, CNAME, MX and TXT record, including the SPF, DKIM and DMARC entries that keep your mail out of spam. Our guide to [business email on your own domain](/guides/how-to-get-business-email-on-your-own-domain) explains each record in a line.

## Lower the TTL, then switch

Every DNS record has a time to live, which is how long the rest of the internet may remember the old answer. If it is set to a day, some visitors keep seeing the old site for a day after you switch. Lower it to five minutes a day or two before the move, so the switch takes effect quickly and can be undone just as quickly if something is wrong.

There are two ways to switch. Change the A or CNAME record for the site and leave everything else alone, which is the safer option. Or change the nameservers to the new provider, which moves all of DNS, in which case every record from your export must be recreated at the new place first, or email breaks. Check the new host has issued the SSL certificate so the padlock appears from the first minute.

Pick a quiet mid week morning, not a Friday or the day before a bank holiday weekend, so help desks are open if something goes wrong. Test from your phone on mobile data; office wifi can hold on to the old answer for a while.

## Redirects and the Google side

If the new site uses different page addresses, redirect each old one to its new equivalent with a permanent redirect, starting with the pages Search Console shows people actually visit. Better still, keep the addresses the same. Then update the website link on your Google Business Profile, Facebook, Instagram, Golden Pages, your email signature and any ads, and watch Search Console for a few weeks for pages it cannot find.

## Cancel the old provider last

Give it a week or two with the new site live and email confirmed working, take a final backup, then cancel. Read the cancellation carefully: with some providers the domain renewal is bundled into the hosting plan, and cancelling one lapses the other. The domain stays with a registrar in your name, with auto-renew on and two-factor login, whatever happens to the hosting.

The traps, in one place:

| Trap | What happens | Avoid it by |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Designer owns the domain | Site and email can be held over you, or lapse | Check WHOIS first; fix the registrant before anything else |
| Builder site cannot be exported | Years of content stuck inside Wix or Squarespace | Copy text and photos out before cancelling |
| Email on the old hosting | Mailboxes and archive vanish with the hosting | Move mail first; export the DNS zone |
| Old host cancelled too early | Site and email go dark before DNS has moved | Cancel last, a week or two after going live |
| Addresses changed, no redirects | Old links hit error pages | Keep addresses or redirect each one |
| Domain renewal bundled with hosting | Domain lapses with the hosting | Keep the domain in your own registrar account |

## What we do for clients

When a business with an existing site comes to us, the WHOIS check is the first thing we do, before we talk about what the new site should look like. If the domain is not in the client's name, getting it there is step one, and we will not build on a domain the client does not hold. The new site is built from our templates and tested on a temporary address while the old one keeps running; most are ready within a few days of our first chat.

We handle the DNS move, carry every email record across so existing mail keeps working, set up the redirects, and update the Google Business Profile, which is set up and verified as part of Essentials. On Complete we also set up business email on the domain and move the old mailboxes over.

Leaving us works the same way in reverse, which is the fairest test of any provider. No contract, 30 days' notice, no exit fee, the domain in your name from the start, and the content and booking history handed over. The details are on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## Move your website to a new provider

1. Find out who controls the domain. Look the domain up in the .IE registry's WHOIS or any WHOIS tool. Note the registrant, the registrar and the renewal date. If the registrant is not you, fix that first.
2. Get the keys. Get the login for the registrar account, or an authorisation code to transfer the domain, plus access to wherever the DNS is managed.
3. Export everything. Copy the text of every page, download the original photos, and save the list of page addresses from the old sitemap.
4. Build the new site first. Have the new site finished and tested on a temporary address before anything is switched off.
5. Sort email before you touch DNS. Find out where your mailboxes live. If they are on the old hosting, move them first, and export the full DNS zone so the MX records can be carried over exactly.
6. Lower the TTL, then switch DNS. A day or two before, lower the time to live on the records. Then point the domain at the new site and check it from your phone on mobile data.
7. Redirect and update. Redirect each old page address to its new equivalent, update the website link on your Google Business Profile and social accounts, and watch Search Console.
8. Cancel the old provider last. Only when the new site has been live for a week or two and email is confirmed working. Check that cancelling does not drop the domain.

## Questions about this

**My web designer registered the domain in their name. What do I do?**

Ask them in writing to transfer the registrant to you or your business; most will. For a .ie domain the registry has a change of registrant process and will want proof of your connection to the name, such as a CRO number or a business name certificate. If the designer refuses or has disappeared, contact the registry through weare.ie and explain. Do not cancel anything until the domain is in your name.

**Will my website go down during the move?**

It should not. The new site is built and tested on a temporary address while the old one keeps running. When the DNS is switched, visitors move from one to the other over a few minutes to a few hours. The only common outage is self inflicted: cancelling the old hosting before the DNS has moved.

**Can I move a Wix or Squarespace site to another provider?**

You can move the domain and the content, but not the site itself. Builders do not hand over a working site that another host can run. Copy the text, download your original photos, save the list of page addresses, and have the new site built from those. Then point the domain at it and cancel the builder plan afterwards.

**Why did my email stop working after moving hosting?**

Because the mailboxes lived on the old hosting, or because the DNS records that route email (the MX records) were not carried over when the domain was pointed at the new site. Either way the fix is to restore the exact MX, SPF and DKIM records from the old DNS zone. The way to avoid it is to export or screenshot the whole zone before changing anything.

**Do I lose my Google ranking when I move?**

Not from moving hosts alone, as long as the domain stays the same, the pages keep their addresses or are redirected, and the new site is at least as fast. If you change the domain at the same time, use Search Console's change of address tool and expect some disruption. Nobody can promise positions either way, but a careful move usually passes unnoticed.

**How long does a website move take?**

The build is the long part and depends on who is doing it. The move itself, once the new site is ready, is a day or two: one to lower the TTL and one to switch and check. Allow another week or two before cancelling the old provider, so you can be certain email, forms and bookings are all working.

---

# How to register a .ie domain

What you need to register a .ie domain: proof of a connection to Ireland, an accredited registrar, the yearly cost, and why the domain must be in your own name.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/how-to-register-a-ie-domain. Last updated 6 November 2026.

To register a .ie domain you choose a name, check that it is free, buy it through a registrar accredited by .IE (the Irish registry, which used to go by IEDR), and show a connection to Ireland: a CRO or RBN number, an Irish passport or driving licence, or evidence that you trade here. It costs roughly €15 to €30 a year and is usually approved within a day or two. The rule that matters more than any other is to register it in your own name, with an email address you control, not your web designer's.



The numbered steps on this page give the short version. The rest is the detail behind each one, and the places people get caught.

## Who runs .ie and why there is a proof step

The .ie registry is .IE, a company based in Dublin that was known as the IE Domain Registry, or IEDR, until it rebranded. Its site is [weare.ie](https://www.weare.ie). Unlike .com, where anyone anywhere can register anything in seconds, .ie is a managed registry: every applicant has to show a real connection to Ireland before the name goes live.

That extra step is the reason an Irish customer reads a .ie address as local, and it is why so many good names are still free. We compare the two extensions properly in [.ie vs .com for an Irish business](/guides/ie-vs-com-domain-for-irish-business).

As we understand it, the rules were loosened in 2018. You no longer have to prove a claim to the specific name you want; you prove the connection to Ireland, and the registrar asks how the name relates to you. A name that matches your business, your trading name or your own surname goes through without fuss.



## Picking a name that works over the phone

Say the name out loud as if you were giving it to someone in a noisy shop. If you have to spell it, it is wrong. Short beats clever. Avoid hyphens, numbers that could be words, and anything with two spellings (colour and color, grey and gray).

If the obvious name is gone, add the town rather than mangling the word: the plumber in Navan does better with his surname plus "navan" than with a creative misspelling. Check that the matching Instagram and Facebook handles are free at the same time, so everything lines up. And stay away from a name that is clearly someone else's brand; a trade mark owner can take it off you later.

## Checking availability and reading the WHOIS

Type the name into the search box on weare.ie or on any registrar's site. If it is taken, the .IE WHOIS lookup tells you which registrar holds it and when it was registered and renewed. Since GDPR, the personal details of an individual registrant are usually hidden, so for a sole trader you will see the registrar but not the person.

A taken name with no website on it is not necessarily lost. You can ask the registrar to pass a message to the holder, or watch the renewal date. It may lapse. Do not plan a business around that happening.

## The proof of a connection to Ireland

This is the part that worries people, and it is simpler than it sounds. You send one document to the registrar, as a scan or a phone photo, and they pass it to the registry. It is not published anywhere.

| Your situation | Proof commonly asked for |
| --- | --- |
| Limited company | Your CRO company number |
| Sole trader with a registered business name | Your RBN (Registered Business Name) number from the CRO |
| Sole trader trading under your own name | Irish passport or driving licence, or a recent utility bill at an Irish address |
| Club, charity or community group | Charity registration number, or evidence of activity in Ireland such as a constitution or letterhead |
| Business based abroad that trades in Ireland | Evidence of trading here, such as an Irish or EU trade mark or invoices to Irish customers |



The connection is to the island of Ireland, so as we understand it a business in Northern Ireland can register a .ie as well. If you are a sole trader and have not registered a business name with the CRO, your passport or licence does the job, and the domain can still be your trading name rather than your own name.



## Choosing a registrar

Only a .IE accredited registrar can register the name for you. The Irish ones we come across most are Blacknight, Register365, LetsHost and Hosting Ireland, and some of the big international registrars sell .ie too. The registry itself does not sell domains directly.

What to compare is not the first year price, which is often discounted, but the renewal price, whether you can ring an Irish phone number when something breaks, how easy the DNS screen is to use, and whether email comes with it. You can buy the domain from the same company that hosts your site, and for most small businesses that is simpler, as long as the account login is yours.

## In your own name: the rule that saves you later

The registrant on the domain should be you or your company, and the contact email should be an address you read. Not the designer's, not the marketing agency's, not the nephew who set it up in 2016.

We meet the alternative often: a business wants to change designer and discovers the domain is registered to the old one, who has gone quiet. Sometimes the domain is fine and the designer is simply slow; sometimes it has lapsed. Either way the business cannot move its own website. If you already have a site, look up your domain in the WHOIS today and check the registrant. If it is wrong, ask for it to be transferred to you while everyone is still on good terms. The steps for the harder cases are in [how to move your website to a new provider](/guides/how-to-move-your-website-to-a-new-provider).

## After approval: DNS, email and renewals

Once the registry approves the proof, the domain is yours and does nothing until you point it somewhere. Your web host gives you either nameservers to enter at the registrar, or an A record and a CNAME to add in the DNS screen. Email needs MX records from whichever provider you choose; we go through that in [how to get business email on your own domain](/guides/how-to-get-business-email-on-your-own-domain). Changes take anything from a few minutes to a day to spread.

Turn on auto-renew, and register for more than one year if the registrar offers it. The most common reason a .ie lapses is an expired card and a reminder email going to an old address. There is a grace period after expiry, but how long it lasts and what it costs to recover the name depend on your registrar, so ask rather than assume. A lapsed domain also takes your email down with it, which is how most people notice.

## What we do for clients

Every site we build comes with a .ie domain registered in the client's name, as part of both plans. Essentials is €499 to set up and €50 a month; Complete is €1,499 and €100. You send us a photo of your RBN certificate or your CRO number, or your passport if you trade under your own name, and we handle the registrar, the proof, the DNS and the renewals. The registrant is you from the first day, so if you ever leave, the domain goes with you.

If you already own a .ie, we do not move it. We point it at the new site and leave your registrar account alone. What is included in each plan is on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## Register a .ie domain

1. Pick the name. Choose a short name that matches your business name as people say it. Avoid hyphens and spellings people will get wrong over the phone.
2. Check availability. Search the name on the .IE registry's site or at any Irish registrar. If it is taken, the WHOIS lookup shows which registrar holds it and when it expires.
3. Gather your proof of a connection to Ireland. Have a CRO or RBN number, an Irish passport or driving licence, or evidence of trading in Ireland ready as a scan or a phone photo.
4. Register through an accredited registrar. Buy the domain from an Irish registrar such as Blacknight, Register365, LetsHost or Hosting Ireland, in your own name and with your own email address.
5. Verify. Upload the proof when the registrar asks for it. The registry checks it, usually within a day or two, and the domain goes live once approved.
6. Set up DNS and auto-renew. Point the domain at your website host and your email provider, turn on auto-renew, and keep the card and the contact email on the account current.

## Questions about this

**Can I register a .ie domain if I live outside Ireland?**

Yes, if you can show a connection to Ireland: a business that trades here, an Irish or EU trade mark, or, as we understand it, Irish citizenship shown with a passport. What you cannot do is register .ie names on speculation with no link to the country.

**How long does it take to register a .ie domain?**

Buying the name takes minutes. The registry then checks your proof, which in our experience takes anything from an hour to a couple of days. Unclear or mismatched documents, such as a certificate in a different name from the applicant, are what slow it down.

**Does the .ie name have to be my business name?**

Not exactly. The registrar will ask how the name relates to you, and a trading name, a brand you are about to launch or your own surname are all acceptable. What you should avoid is a name that is clearly another company's trade mark, because they can challenge it later.

**How much is a .ie domain per year?**

Roughly €15 to €30 a year at Irish registrars, with the first year sometimes cheaper than the renewal. If a website plan includes the domain, check that it is registered in your name and not the provider's.

**What if the .ie I want is already taken?**

Look it up in the .IE WHOIS to see the registrar and the renewal date. You can ask the registrar to pass a message to the holder, add your town to the name, or choose a different word. If you own a trade mark in the name there is a formal dispute process, but it is slow and costs money.

**My web designer registered my domain in their name. Is that a problem?**

Yes, because the registrant is treated as the holder of the domain. While you are on good terms, ask them to change the registrant to you or your company and to put your email on the account. Most will do it without argument. If they will not, the registrar can explain the transfer process.

---

# How to reply to bad Google reviews

A five-part structure for replying to a bad Google review without arguing, fresh example replies, when a review can be flagged for removal, and what never to write.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/how-to-reply-to-bad-google-reviews. Last updated 6 November 2026.

Reply to a bad Google review once, calmly, within a few days: thank the person for the feedback, acknowledge the specific complaint, state the facts briefly if they matter, and move the conversation to a phone number or an email address. Do not argue, do not name the customer, and do not reveal anything you know about them. The reply is not really for the reviewer. It is for the next person reading it while deciding whether to ring you.

Below is the structure we use, example replies written for this guide, the things that make a bad situation worse, the extra care needed in clinics and solicitors' offices, and the narrow set of cases where Google will actually remove a review.

## Who the reply is really for

Someone reading reviews before booking a table, a service or a consultation expects to find a bad one or two. Nobody trusts a perfect record. What they are checking is how the business behaved when things went wrong. A short, decent reply under a one star review does more for you than three more five star reviews would, because it answers the real question: if this goes badly for us, will they look after it?

That changes how you write. You are not trying to win the argument with the reviewer. You are showing a stranger that you are reasonable.

## The structure

| Part | What it does | Keep it to |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Thank | Shows you read it and are not defensive | One short sentence |
| Acknowledge | Names the specific thing they complained about, in your words | One sentence |
| Facts, briefly | Corrects a clear error or explains a policy, without blame | One or two sentences, or none |
| Take it offline | Gives a name and a way to contact you directly | One sentence |
| Stop | No last word, no sign-off argument | Nothing |

The whole thing should fit in four or five sentences. Longer replies read as defensive even when every word is fair. If you find yourself on a third paragraph, delete it and ring the customer instead.

Timing matters too. Reply within a few days, but never within the first hour. Write the reply, leave it until the next morning, read it again as a stranger would, then post it. Anger does not survive a night's sleep and a cup of tea, and neither does the urge to add "however".

## Example replies

These are written fresh for this guide and are examples, not real replies to real reviews. Adjust the facts; keep the tone.

**Example: a cafe, where the review complains about a forty minute wait for food on a Saturday.**

"Thank you for telling us, and I am sorry Saturday's wait was that long. We were a cook down and the kitchen fell behind, which is our problem to fix and not yours. If you would like to give us another go, email me at the address on our site and I will make sure of a better visit. Maria, owner."

**Example: a plumber, where the review says the final bill was higher than the quote.**

"Thanks for the feedback. The job did come in above the original figure, because the second stopcock was seized once we got in behind the unit, and I should have rung you before going ahead rather than explaining afterwards. I would like to go through the invoice with you. Please call me on the number on the website and ask for Dermot."

**Example: a hair salon, where the review says the colour came out nothing like the photo shown.**

"I am sorry the colour was not what you wanted. Getting from a dark base to that shade usually takes more than one appointment, and that should have been clearer at the consultation. We would like to put it right at no charge. Ring the salon and ask for me directly. Aoife."

**Example: a dental clinic, where the review describes a painful visit and names a staff member.**

"Thank you for taking the time to write. We take every comment about a patient's experience seriously. For confidentiality reasons we cannot discuss any individual's care here, but we would very much like to hear from you directly. Please contact the practice manager on the number on our website."

Notice what the clinic reply does not do: it does not confirm the person attended, does not discuss what happened, and does not name the staff member back. That is deliberate, and it is covered below.

## What makes it worse

- **Naming the customer or their family.** Even if the review is under a first name, do not repeat it or add the surname. Do not mention their partner, their child, their car or their address.
- **Confirming details about them.** "You were in on Tuesday with your daughter" tells every reader more about the customer than about you.
- **Arguing the facts point by point.** You may be right. The reader cannot tell, and a long rebuttal looks like a business that fights with customers.
- **Blaming a staff member in public.** Handle it inside. A reply that throws an employee under the bus tells readers how you treat your team.
- **Sarcasm, jokes or capital letters.** Every one of these reads worse a year later, and the reply stays up as long as the review does.
- **Offering compensation in the reply.** "We will refund you in full" in public invites the next person to try the same. Say you want to put it right and do that privately.
- **Threatening legal action.** A solicitor's letter mentioned in a reply draws more attention to the review. If a review is genuinely false and damaging, talk to a solicitor privately rather than announcing it.

## The GDPR trap in sensitive trades

A Google review reply is a public statement by your business about a person. For a chipper that is rarely a problem. For a dental practice, a counsellor, a physio, a pharmacy, a solicitor or an accountant it can be a serious one. As we understand the rules, confirming that a named individual was a patient or a client is personal data, and in health settings it falls into the special category that gets the strictest protection. The Data Protection Commission at [dataprotection.ie](https://www.dataprotection.ie) is the Irish regulator, and a reply that confirms someone attended is exactly the kind of thing a complaint gets made about.

The safe pattern is the one in the clinic example above: thank them, say you cannot discuss individual care or cases publicly, and invite them to contact you directly. Do not say "our records show", do not say "when you attended on", and do not correct the medical or legal facts in public even when the review gets them wrong. It feels unsatisfying. It is also the only reply that cannot come back on you. The [dentists page](/websites-for/dentists) and the [solicitors page](/websites-for/solicitors) cover how we set those businesses up with this in mind, and the [GDPR guide](/guides/gdpr-and-cookies-for-small-business-websites-ireland) covers the wider picture for a small business site.



## When a review can be flagged

Google will remove a review only if it breaks Google's own content rules. Being unfair, exaggerated or simply wrong is not enough. The grounds that do work, as we understand Google's policies, are:

- **Off-topic.** The review is about a different business, a political rant, or a complaint about Google itself.
- **Conflict of interest.** Written by a competitor, a former employee, or someone with a grievance unrelated to being a customer.
- **Fake or spam.** The account has never been a customer and the review is part of a pattern, or it is clearly automated.
- **Harassment, hate speech, threats or personal information.** Including a review that names and attacks a staff member personally.

To flag one, open the review in your Business Profile, choose the option to report it, and pick the reason. Google looks at it and emails a decision; this takes days, sometimes weeks, and the answer is often no on the first attempt. You can ask again. While you wait, reply to the review anyway, calmly, because readers see it in the meantime. Irish consumer law treats fake reviews as a banned commercial practice, but for a competitor posting them the practical route is still Google's reporting tool.

If the review is real and the customer is real, the better use of the same hour is to fix the thing they complained about and keep asking happy customers for honest reviews. There is a routine for that in [how to get more Google reviews](/guides/how-to-get-more-google-reviews).

## What we do for clients

On the Complete plan (€1,499 to set up, €100 a month), we watch the Business Profile and when a review comes in, good or bad, you get a drafted reply on WhatsApp within the next working day. You approve it, change it or bin it; nothing is posted without your say so. For clinics and professional practices the drafts follow the confidentiality pattern above, every time, so a tired Friday evening never produces a reply that reveals a patient.

On Essentials, the profile is set up and verified and we leave you with the structure on this page. Neither plan includes removing reviews, because nobody can promise that, and we will tell you straight when a review is not going anywhere. More on what the monthly Google work covers is on the [Google services page](/services/google).

## Questions about this

**Should I reply to every bad Google review?**

Yes, once, within a few days, and calmly. Leaving a bad review unanswered tells the next reader that nobody is minding the shop. Replying twice, or coming back to argue after the reviewer edits their review, tells them something worse. One decent reply and then silence.

**Can I get a bad Google review removed?**

Only if it breaks Google's content rules: off-topic, a conflict of interest such as a competitor or former employee, fake or spam, or harassment and personal attacks. A review that is unfair or inaccurate but comes from a real customer will almost never be removed. Report it from your Business Profile and reply calmly while you wait.

**What if the review is about a different business?**

Report it as off-topic from your Business Profile, and in the meantime post a short reply saying you think the review may be meant for another business and inviting the person to contact you if not. Keep it friendly; mix-ups between businesses with similar names are common and readers understand them.

**Can I say the reviewer was never a customer?**

Be careful. If you have no record of them, say that you cannot find a booking or visit matching the review and would like them to get in touch so you can look into it. Do not state flatly that they are lying. In a clinic, a counselling practice or a solicitor's office, do not confirm or deny that anyone was a patient or client at all.

**Should I offer a refund in my reply?**

Not in public. Say that you would like to put things right and give a direct way to reach you, then sort the refund or the redo privately. A public promise of money invites copycat complaints and sets an expectation for every future review.

**How fast should I reply to a bad review?**

Within a few days, but not within the first hour. Write the reply, leave it overnight, read it again as a stranger would, then post it. The gap between seeing the review and answering it is where most bad replies are avoided.

---

# How to set up a Google Business Profile in Ireland

Claim or create your Google Business Profile, get the name, category, address and bank holiday hours right, pass verification, and keep it alive with photos, posts and review replies.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/how-to-set-up-google-business-profile-ireland. Last updated 6 November 2026.

To set up a Google Business Profile in Ireland, go to [google.com/business](https://www.google.com/business), sign in with a Google account the business owns, search for your business in case it is already listed, then create or claim it with the exact name on your sign, the most specific category, either your address with its Eircode or a service area, your hours including bank holidays, your phone number and your website. Google then asks you to verify that you run the business, which in Ireland is now usually done with a short video from your phone. It is free, the form takes under an hour, and it is the listing that puts you on Google Maps and in the three-business box at the top of a "near me" search.

The numbered steps on this page are the short version. What follows is the detail Google's own help pages leave out, and the Irish specifics.

## Check for a listing before you make one

Google creates listings on its own from directories and old data, and former staff and former designers create them too. Before you add anything, search your business name and town on Google Maps. If a listing is there, use the "Own this business?" link on it and claim it rather than starting a second one. Two profiles for one business confuse customers and Google, and the duplicate can end up carrying your reviews.

If someone else already manages the listing, Google lets you request access from them. They get a few days to respond, and if they do not, you can usually continue the process yourself with proof you run the business. If that someone is an ex-employee, this is the moment to switch to a Google account the business owns, not a personal one, so it never happens again.

## The name goes in exactly as it is on the sign

Google's rule is simple: the name on the profile is the name you trade under in the real world, as it appears on your sign, your invoices and your CRO or RBN registration. Not the name plus "Dublin", plus "best", plus the trade. Just the name.

People add keywords and town names because it seems to work for a while. It is against the guidelines, competitors report it, and the result is a suspended profile at the worst possible time. If the trade is genuinely part of the name on your sign, it is fine; if you are adding it for Google, it is not.

## Categories: one primary, a few secondary

The primary category is the main thing you do, chosen from Google's fixed list, and it decides which searches you can appear for and which features you get. Be specific: "Barber shop" rather than "Hair salon", "Plumber" rather than "Contractor", "Physiotherapist" rather than "Health". Add secondary categories for other things you really do, and no more. A chipper that lists itself as a restaurant, a takeaway, a cafe and a caterer is weaker for all four.

## Address or service area

There are two kinds of business in Google's eyes, and the choice matters for a lot of Irish trades.

If customers come to you, a shop, a salon, a clinic or a cafe, you show the address. Enter it with the Eircode, then check the pin on the map and drag it onto the right building. Irish addresses are often not unique, especially outside the cities, and the Eircode is what makes the pin land in the right place.

If you go to customers, a plumber, an electrician, a cleaner, a mobile hairdresser, you hide the address and list the areas you cover instead, by town or county. Google's rules say a business that works from home without serving customers there should not show that address, and in any case you do not want strangers calling to your door at night looking for a plumber. If you do both, say a bakery that also delivers, show the address and add a service area.

If your pin is in the wrong place or the listing is missing from Maps entirely, the fixes are in [how to get your business on Google Maps](/guides/how-to-get-your-business-on-google-maps).

## Hours, including the bank holidays

Set your regular hours first. Then set special hours for the days that differ, because the regular hours are what Google shows otherwise. In Ireland that means the ten public holidays: New Year's Day, St Brigid's Day at the start of February, St Patrick's Day, Easter Monday, the first Mondays of May, June and August, the last Monday of October, Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day. Google prompts you before each one, but it is quicker to put them all in once a year.

The point is not tidiness. A customer who drives to a shop Google said was open on the June bank holiday and finds the shutters down leaves a one-star review, and you have no idea it happened until you read it. Add "more hours" too if they differ from the door: kitchen hours in a pub, delivery hours in a chipper.

## Phone, website, services and photos

Use the phone number you actually answer. A mobile is fine, and it should match the number on your website and anywhere else you are listed. Link the website to your home page, and if you take bookings online, add the booking page as the appointment link.

Fill in the services list with a line or two on each and a "from" price where you have one; it is what Google reads to decide which searches you suit. Shops can add products. Attributes such as wheelchair access, card payments and women-owned sit here as well.

Then photos. A square logo, a wide cover photo, a shot of the front from the road so people recognise the place, the inside, the team, and plenty of real work. Phone photos taken in daylight are fine. Stock photos are not; customers can tell, and so can Google. Keep adding a few every month.

## Verification in Ireland

Google chooses the verification method, not you. For most Irish businesses now it offers video: you record a short clip on your phone showing the outside with the signage and the street, the inside, your tools or equipment, and something that proves you are in charge, such as opening the door with your key or opening the till. For a plumber it is the van with the name on it, the tools, and a document with your business name and address. Postcards by post, phone calls and email codes are still offered for some businesses, but less often than a few years ago. Google then reviews the video, which takes from a day to about a week in our experience.



If verification fails, read the reason, fix the detail it complains about and try again. The usual causes are a name that does not match the signage, a hidden address that Google does not believe, or a video that never shows the street.

## Keeping it alive: posts, questions and reviews

A verified profile with no activity slowly becomes a list of stale facts. Three habits keep it working.

Post something once a week or so: an update, an offer or an event. It appears on the profile and shows Google and customers that the business is open and paying attention.

Seed the Questions and Answers section. Anyone can ask and anyone can answer, so put in the five questions you get every week, parking, card, kids, booking, prices, and answer them yourself before a stranger does.

Ask for reviews and reply to every one, good and bad. The direct review link lives in the profile under "Ask for reviews". How to get more of them is in [how to get more Google reviews](/guides/how-to-get-more-google-reviews), and the bad ones are covered in [how to reply to bad Google reviews](/guides/how-to-reply-to-bad-google-reviews).

## What gets Irish profiles suspended

- Keywords or a town in the business name
- A hidden address Google decides is a virtual office or a shared unit
- A home address shown for a trade that works at customers' houses
- Several profiles for one business, or one profile for several businesses
- A category that does not match what the website says you do
- Changing the name, address and category in quick succession

If it happens, do not create a new profile. Appeal through the form Google gives you, with a utility bill or CRO document in the business name, a photo of the signage and a link to the website.

## What we do for clients

Setting up and verifying the Google Business Profile is part of Essentials, €499 to set up and €50 a month. We find or create the listing, fix the name, category, Eircode and hours, add the photos, connect it to the site and do the video verification with you, in person for Dublin clients and on a call for everyone else.

Complete, at €1,499 and €100 a month, adds the monthly running: posts, new photos, answering the questions, review replies drafted for your approval, and a text after each visit with your review link. We do not promise a map position. The monthly report shows calls, direction requests and website clicks from the profile, and you judge from that. More on how we handle the Google side is on the [Google services page](/services/google) and the plans are on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## Set up a Google Business Profile in Ireland

1. Search for your business first. Google your business name and town. If a listing already exists, claim it instead of creating a second one, because duplicates cause problems later.
2. Create or claim at google.com/business. Sign in with a Google account the business controls, not an employee's or a designer's, and follow the prompts to add or claim the business.
3. Enter the name and category. Use the exact name on your sign and your invoices. Pick the most specific primary category, then add a few secondary ones for things you really do.
4. Set the address or service area. Shops and salons show the address with the Eircode and check the pin. Trades that travel to customers hide the address and list the towns or counties they cover.
5. Add hours, phone, website and services. Set the regular hours, then special hours for the Irish bank holidays. Add the phone number customers ring, the website, and a list of services.
6. Verify the business. Google decides the method. In Ireland it is often a short video walk-through of the premises; postcards, phone and email are offered less often.
7. Add photos and keep it alive. Upload a logo, a cover photo and real photos of the premises and the work. Then post updates, answer questions and reply to every review.

## Questions about this

**Is a Google Business Profile free?**

Yes. Google does not charge to create, verify or manage the profile. Paying Google for ads is a separate thing and does not change the profile itself. If someone rings offering to verify or 'optimise' your Google listing for a fee, you do not need them for the setup; everything in this guide you can do yourself or have your web person do as part of the job.

**Do I need a website to have a Google Business Profile?**

No, the profile can stand alone. But it has nowhere for a price list, a page per service or a privacy notice, and Google reads your website to understand what you do and where. A profile and a site that agree with each other do more together than either does alone.

**I work from home and travel to customers. Can I still have a profile?**

Yes, as a service-area business. Hide the address, list the towns or counties you cover, and verify with a video that shows your van, your tools and a document with your business name. Do not show a home address you would not want customers calling to.

**How long does verification take in Ireland?**

Recording the video takes a few minutes. Google's review then takes anything from a day to roughly a week in our experience, and a postcard, where offered, can take two weeks to arrive by post. If it is rejected, the message tells you why; fix that one thing and resubmit.

**What is the difference between Google My Business and Google Business Profile?**

The same thing. Google renamed Google Our Business to Google Business Profile in 2021 and later retired the separate app. You now manage the profile by searching your business name on Google or in Google Maps while signed in to the account that owns it.

**Should I put my Eircode on the profile?**

Yes. Put it in the address field and check the pin lands on the right building. Many Irish addresses are shared by several properties, and the Eircode is what removes the ambiguity for Google Maps and for the customer following directions. Put the same Eircode on your website.

---

# How to show up in ChatGPT answers

What ChatGPT reads before it recommends a business, the crawlers to allow, why Bing's index matters, and the honest limits of all of it.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/how-to-show-up-in-chatgpt-answers. Last updated 6 November 2026.

There is no form to fill in and no fee to pay to get into ChatGPT's answers. ChatGPT names a local business when it can find plain, consistent facts about it: on the business's own website, in the web index it searches (which leans heavily on Bing), in directories and on review sites. So the work is to let its crawlers read your site, write what you do and where you do it in plain words, make every listing agree with every other, and register with Bing as well as Google. None of that guarantees a mention. All of it makes one more likely.

This guide goes through each of those jobs for an Irish shop, salon, clinic or trade, and is straight about the parts nobody controls.

## What ChatGPT reads before it names you

Two different things happen when someone asks ChatGPT for "a good physio in Drumcondra". The model has a memory from training, which is months old and patchy for small businesses. And when a question needs current facts, ChatGPT search goes out to the web, reads a handful of pages and writes an answer with links to them.

That second part is where you have influence. As we understand it, ChatGPT search draws on Bing's index along with pages its own crawler fetches, and it treats a business's own site, review sites and local directories as its sources. If those sources are thin, missing or contradict each other, the answer leaves you out or gets you wrong.

## Let the crawlers in

OpenAI runs three crawlers, and plenty of websites block all of them without anyone deciding to. Some hosting companies and content delivery networks offer a switch that blocks AI crawlers, and it can be on without you knowing. Check by opening yourdomain.ie/robots.txt in a browser and reading what is there.

| Crawler | What it does | Our suggestion |
| --- | --- | --- |
| OAI-SearchBot | Indexes pages so ChatGPT search can find and link to them | Allow it. Blocking it keeps you out of search answers. |
| ChatGPT-User | Fetches a page live when a user asks ChatGPT to look at something | Allow it. It only acts on a person's request. |
| GPTBot | Collects pages for training future models | Your call. For a site of hours, prices and services, we allow it. |

A robots.txt that lets all three in looks like this:

```
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Allow: /

User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /
```

If your site is on a builder, look for a robots.txt or search engine setting rather than editing the file by hand. If you cannot find one, ask the builder's support whether AI crawlers are blocked.

## Write the facts the way a customer asks the question

ChatGPT quotes plain sentences. It struggles with a price list that only exists as a photo, a menu inside a PDF, and a home page that says "welcome to our website" and little else. Every page should answer, in text, the questions a customer would ask at the counter.

- What exactly you do, service by service, with a price or a "from" price.
- Where you are, with the Eircode, and which areas you travel to if you are a trade. "Electrician covering Swords, Malahide and Portmarnock" beats "serving north Dublin".
- When you are open, including what happens on bank holidays.
- The questions you get asked every week, written as questions with short answers: "Do you take walk-ins?", "Is there parking?", "Do you cut children's hair?".

A question and answer page is the most useful single page for this. It gives the model a question that matches what the user typed and an answer it can lift. It is also the page a nervous customer reads before ringing, so it earns its keep twice.

## Make every listing agree

ChatGPT cross-checks. If your website says you open at 9am, Google says 9.30am and Facebook still shows the hours from two years ago, the model either hedges or picks one at random. The same goes for a business name spelled one way on the sign, another way on Google and a third way on Instagram, and for a phone number that changed when you got a new handset.

Go through your Google Business Profile, Facebook, Instagram, Golden Pages and any trade directory you are in, and make the name, address, phone number and hours identical to the site. The Google side is covered in our guide to [setting up a Google Business Profile in Ireland](/guides/how-to-set-up-google-business-profile-ireland).

## Structured data and llms.txt

Structured data is a block of code behind the page that labels your facts for machines: this is the business name, these are the opening hours, this is the price of a cut. Three types matter for a local business: LocalBusiness (or the more specific type for your trade, such as HairSalon, Dentist or Plumber), FAQPage for the question and answer page, and Service for each thing you sell. Include the address with the Eircode, the phone number, the opening hours and the areas you serve. Test it with Google's Rich Results Test or the Schema.org validator; if those can read it, so can everyone else.

An llms.txt file is a short markdown summary of the site at yourdomain.ie/llms.txt. It is a proposal rather than a standard, and no large AI company has confirmed reading it. It takes half an hour and cannot hurt. We explain [what llms.txt is and how to write one](/guides/what-is-llms-txt) separately.

## Register with Bing, not only Google

Everyone verifies their site with Google Search Console. Far fewer bother with Bing, and for ChatGPT that is the wrong way round, because ChatGPT search leans on Bing's index. If Bing has not crawled your new services page, ChatGPT may not know it exists.

Go to [Bing Webmaster Tools](https://www.bing.com/webmasters), sign in, and either verify the site or import it from your Search Console account, which takes a few clicks. Submit your sitemap. Bing also supports IndexNow, which lets your site tell Bing the moment a page changes instead of waiting to be crawled; many hosts and plugins can switch it on.

## Get mentioned somewhere other than your own site

A model trusts a business more when other pages mention it. You do not need press coverage. Think about the pages that already exist around a local business:

- Directories: Golden Pages, your county council's business or tourism listings, trade association member lists.
- Suppliers: a coffee roaster's stockist page, a paint brand's approved decorator list, a tyre maker's dealer locator.
- The community: the GAA club you sponsor, the Tidy Towns page that thanks you, the parish newsletter that went online.
- Local news: a new opening, an award, a charity day.

Each one is a page with your name, your town and what you do on it. Never buy fake mentions or fake reviews. Apart from being wrong, they are exactly the pattern these systems are built to ignore.

## The part nobody controls

ChatGPT's answers change from one day to the next and from one phrasing to the next. It makes things up, and it sometimes recommends a business that closed years ago. Nobody can promise you a mention, and anyone who does is selling something.

What you can do is check. Once a month, ask ChatGPT about your trade in your town and about your business by name, and note what it gets wrong. Then fix the source, which is nearly always your own site or a listing. Watch your analytics for visits arriving from chatgpt.com. When they appear, the work is working.

## What we do for clients

AI search readiness is part of Essentials, so every site we build leaves with the groundwork in place: a robots.txt that lets the search crawlers in, structured data for the business, its services and its questions and answers, an llms.txt file generated from the same data as the pages, and the site verified in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. The question and answer content comes from what the owner actually gets asked, not a generic list.



On Complete we go a step further and connect the booking calendar to AI assistants, so a customer can ask ChatGPT or Claude to book an appointment and the assistant makes the booking. How that works is on the [AI assistants page](/services/ai-agents).

We do not promise placement in anyone's answers, because nobody can. We do the work above and the monthly report shows what came of it. The wider picture is on the [AI search page](/services/ai-search).

## Get your business into ChatGPT answers

1. Ask ChatGPT about yourself. Ask it what it knows about your business and about your trade in your town. Note every wrong or missing fact. That list is your to-do list.
2. Let the crawlers in. Open yourdomain.ie/robots.txt. Make sure OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User are not blocked, and decide knowingly whether to allow GPTBot.
3. State the facts plainly. Put your services, prices, hours, address with Eircode and the areas you cover in plain text on the site, and add a question and answer page.
4. Match the facts everywhere. Make your Google Business Profile, Facebook, Instagram and directory listings carry the same name, address, phone number and hours as the site.
5. Add structured data. Add LocalBusiness, FAQPage and Service schema so the facts are machine readable, then test it with Google's Rich Results Test.
6. Publish an llms.txt file. A short markdown summary of the site at yourdomain.ie/llms.txt. Cheap to add, unproven, and harmless.
7. Register with Bing Webmaster Tools. ChatGPT search leans on Bing's index. Verify your site at bing.com/webmasters and submit your sitemap.
8. Earn mentions and check again. Get listed in local directories and mentioned by suppliers, clubs and local news. Ask ChatGPT again in a month and fix whatever is still wrong.

## Questions about this

**Can I pay to appear in ChatGPT answers?**

There is no form to submit your business and no way to buy a place in the answer itself. The route is to be findable and clearly described on the open web: your own site, your Google listing, directories and review sites, all saying the same thing. Anyone selling guaranteed ChatGPT placement is selling something they cannot deliver.

**Should I block GPTBot?**

Blocking GPTBot keeps your pages out of training data for future models, but it does not affect ChatGPT search, which uses OAI-SearchBot. For a shop whose site is hours, prices and services, we see little to protect and some upside in the model knowing you exist. If you publish original writing you want kept out of training, block GPTBot and leave the other two alone.

**Does my Google Business Profile matter for ChatGPT?**

Yes. Your Google listing is often the most complete public record of your hours and address, and it is the one most likely to disagree with your website. When sources disagree, AI answers hedge or skip you. Keep the two identical, and reply to reviews, because review text is something these tools read.

**How long before ChatGPT mentions my business?**

Nobody can say. Bing needs to crawl the changed pages, which can take days or weeks, and the answers themselves vary from one question to the next. Make the changes, then ask again a month later. If the facts it gives are now right, the work has taken. If it still leaves you out, look at whether other sites mention you.

**Is this different from normal SEO?**

Mostly it is the same work with a different reader. Plain facts, consistent listings, structured data and a fast site help Google and ChatGPT alike. The extras for AI search are allowing the crawlers, verifying with Bing, writing real question and answer content and adding an llms.txt file.

---

# How to take deposits online in Ireland

How to ask for and collect a deposit online in Ireland: a sensible amount, the tools that work here, the consumer law points, and the VAT timing to get right.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/how-to-take-deposits-online-ireland. Last updated 6 November 2026.

The simplest way to take deposits online in Ireland is to switch on the deposit setting in your booking system or, if you do not have one, send the customer a payment link from Stripe, SumUp or Revolut Business. Ask for a share of the price rather than the full amount, put the cancellation terms in plain words where the customer reads them before paying, and let the tool send the receipt. Irish consumer law has no problem with deposits, but the terms have to be fair and shown up front, so the wording deserves as much care as the technology.

This guide covers why deposits are worth asking for, how much to ask, which tools suit which kind of business, what the CCPC and the Consumer Rights Act expect, and the VAT timing point that catches people out.

## Why a deposit is worth the awkward conversation

A no-show on a fifteen minute trim is an irritation. A no-show on a three hour colour, a full day tattoo sitting or a wedding cake you have already bought the ingredients for is a hole in the week that nobody else can fill at short notice. The deposit is not really about the money you keep. It gives the customer something at stake, and that is what makes them turn up or ring ahead.

The businesses that gain most are the ones selling time in big blocks or making things to order: [tattoo studios](/websites-for/tattoo-studios), cake makers, beauty salons doing lash and brow work, photographers, kitchen fitters, anyone hiring out a marquee or a bouncy castle for a date. If a cancellation costs you more than a few minutes, a deposit belongs in your process.

There is a second effect that owners mention after a few months. The people who were never going to come stop booking, and the ones who do book treat the slot like a dental appointment rather than a maybe.

## How much to ask for

No Irish law sets a deposit amount. The usual practice is a share of the price, somewhere between a fifth and a half, scaled to how much you lose if the slot goes empty. The table is what we suggest to clients, not a regulation.

| Kind of booking | Usual deposit | Why that level |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Short appointment (trim, blow dry, consultation) | None, or a small flat amount | The slot is easy to refill and a deposit puts people off |
| Long appointment (colour, lashes, massage, tattoo sitting) | Roughly 20 to 30 percent | Covers the hours you cannot resell |
| Custom order (cake, framing, alterations, jewellery) | Roughly 30 to 50 percent | Pays for materials you buy before the customer sees anything |
| Date-based hire or event (photographer, band, marquee) | Roughly 20 to 50 percent, sometimes a fixed booking fee | The date leaves your diary the moment you accept it |

Two cautions. A deposit close to the full price stops being a deposit and starts looking like prepayment, and customers resist it. And the bigger the deposit, the more carefully the refund terms need to be written, because a large non-refundable amount is exactly what a consumer body looks at hardest.

## The tools that work in Ireland

Irish customers pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Revolut without thinking about it, so any of the mainstream tools will do. The real question is whether you want the deposit tied to a calendar slot or sent as a one-off request.

| Tool | Best for | How the customer pays | What to watch |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Deposit setting in a booking system (Fresha, Booksy, Phorest, Timely, Square Appointments) | Salons, barbers, studios, clinics | Card or wallet at the moment they pick the slot | The system's own fees, and whether deposits are included on the plan you are on |
| Stripe payment link | Anyone with a website, custom orders | A link sent by WhatsApp, text or email, paid on a hosted page | You need a Stripe account and a bank account in the business name |
| SumUp payment link | Shops already using a SumUp card reader | Same link, same account as the counter payments | Keep online and in-person takings separate in your records |
| Revolut Business payment link | Sole traders already banking with Revolut | Link or QR code, paid by card or from a Revolut account | Make sure it is a business account, not your personal one |

Every one of these keeps a percentage of each payment. The rates differ by provider and change often, so compare them when you set up rather than relying on anything written here.


If you already take [online bookings through a system](/guides/how-to-take-online-bookings), use the deposit feature built into it before adding anything else. One tool, one set of records. If you are still choosing, the differences between them are set out in [the best booking systems for Irish salons and barbers](/guides/best-booking-systems-for-irish-salons-and-barbers).

## What Irish consumer law expects

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission publishes plain guidance on deposits at [ccpc.ie](https://www.ccpc.ie), and it is worth ten minutes of your time. As we understand it, the main points are these.

A deposit is part of the contract, so the terms attached to it have to be agreed before the customer pays, not announced afterwards. If someone pays and only then learns the deposit is non-refundable, that term is on shaky ground.

Terms have to be fair. The unfair terms rules, now part of the Consumer Rights Act 2022, let a court strike out a term that tilts the deal too far towards the business. A clause that keeps the whole deposit for any cancellation at any notice, while giving the customer nothing if you cancel, is the kind of clause that gets struck out. A reasonable cancellation window, and a refund when you are the one who cancels, keeps you on the right side.

The amount kept should bear some relation to your real loss. If a customer cancels a week ahead and you fill the slot, holding on to a large deposit is hard to justify.


One more point for anyone taking bookings through a website. Contracts made online are distance contracts, and the Consumer Rights Act gives consumers a fourteen day cooling-off period on many of them, with exceptions for services tied to a specific date. Whether a given appointment falls inside or outside those exceptions is not something we would state with certainty. If you rely on non-refundable deposits for big bookings, ask the CCPC helpline or a solicitor once and write the answer into your terms.


## Writing the policy in plain words

The policy needs to be short enough that people read it and specific enough to settle an argument. Put it on the booking page, in the payment link description and in the confirmation message. This is the shape we use, as an example only, with the numbers changed for each business:

> A deposit of 30 percent holds your appointment. Cancel or move it with 48 hours' notice and the deposit carries over to your new date or is refunded, whichever you prefer. With less than 48 hours' notice, or if you do not arrive, the deposit covers the time set aside for you. If we have to cancel, you get the deposit back in full.

Avoid "no refunds under any circumstances". Avoid legal words you would not say across the counter. Say what happens, in the order it happens.

## Receipts, records and VAT

The payment tool emails a receipt automatically, and you should leave that switched on. For your own records, note the deposit against the booking so whoever is on the till knows the balance owed. Revenue expects business records to be kept for six years, and deposits are part of those records whether or not the customer ever turns up.

If you are registered for VAT there is a timing point. As we understand it, VAT on a deposit falls due in the period you receive the money, not when the service is delivered, and if the customer forfeits the deposit the VAT generally still stands. Your accountant will know how to book it, but tell them deposits are coming in so it is handled correctly from the first one.


Deposits also mean you are holding names, phone numbers and payment references, so the basics in [GDPR and cookies for small business websites in Ireland](/guides/gdpr-and-cookies-for-small-business-websites-ireland) apply: say what you collect and why, and do not keep it longer than you need.

## What we do for clients

Deposits sit in our Complete plan, which is €1,499 to set up and €100 a month. The booking system on your site takes the deposit when the customer picks the slot, sends the receipt and the reminder, and the money lands in your own bank account rather than passing through ours. Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay are included, and gift vouchers can run through the same setup.

If you already use Fresha, Booksy or another system and it is working, we connect it to the site instead of replacing it, and we keep its deposit settings. We also write the cancellation wording with you so it is plain, fair and visible before anyone pays.

For a business that only needs the odd deposit on a custom order, a payment link from one of the tools above costs nothing to set up, and we will say so rather than sell you the bigger plan. The two plans are compared on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## Take deposits online

1. Decide which bookings need a deposit. Start with the slots that hurt most when someone fails to show: long appointments, custom orders and anything you buy materials for in advance.
2. Set the amount and the policy. Pick a share of the price, usually between a fifth and a half, and write down in plain words when it is kept, refunded or moved to a new date.
3. Choose the tool. Use the deposit setting in your booking system if you have one. Otherwise create a payment link in Stripe, SumUp or Revolut Business.
4. Show the policy before payment. Put the cancellation terms on the booking page and in the payment request so the customer reads them before the money leaves their account.
5. Send a receipt and record it. Let the tool email the receipt automatically, then note the deposit against the booking so the balance is right on the day.
6. Settle the balance and keep the books straight. Take the remainder at the appointment and, if you are VAT registered, account for the deposit in the period you received it.

## Questions about this

**Can I keep the deposit if a customer cancels?**

As we understand it, only if the customer saw the term before paying and the amount you keep is reasonable against what the cancellation actually cost you. A blanket no-refunds rule on a large deposit is the sort of term the CCPC warns about. Give a fair notice window, offer to move the booking where you can, and refund in full when you are the one cancelling.

**How much should a deposit be?**

There is no legal figure. Most Irish businesses ask for between a fifth and a half of the price, with the higher end for custom work where materials are bought up front. Keep it well short of the full price or customers will treat it as paying in advance and push back.

**Do I need a booking system to take deposits?**

No. A payment link from Stripe, SumUp or Revolut Business does the job for occasional deposits on custom orders. A booking system earns its keep when you take several appointments a day, because it collects the deposit at the moment the slot is chosen and sends the reminders for you.

**Do I charge VAT on a deposit?**

If you are registered for VAT, then as we understand it the VAT falls due when you receive the deposit rather than when the service happens, and it usually still applies if the customer forfeits it. If you are not registered, there is no VAT either way. In both cases, tell your accountant deposits are coming in.

**What should the deposit policy say?**

The share you take, how much notice is needed to cancel or move without losing it, what happens with less notice or a no-show, and that the customer gets a full refund if you cancel. Four sentences in plain words, shown before payment and repeated in the confirmation message.

---

# How to take online bookings

What a booking system does, which kind fits your business, how to connect it to your site and Google, and how to handle deposits, reminders and customer data.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/how-to-take-online-bookings. Last updated 6 November 2026.

If you are working out how to take online bookings, you need three things: a booking system that knows your services, your staff and your hours; a Book now button on your website and your Google Business Profile that opens it; and a short cancellation policy the customer sees before they confirm. A barber, a physio, a dog groomer or a driving instructor in Ireland can have all three working in an afternoon, either with an app such as Fresha, Booksy, Timely, Setmore, Square Appointments or Calendly, or with booking built into the website itself.

The steps themselves are short. The rest of this page is the thinking behind each one, because the system you pick matters less than the decisions you make before you pick it.

## What a booking system does

At its simplest it is a calendar that customers can write into. Underneath, it holds a list of your services with a length and a price for each; a list of your staff with the days and hours each one works; the gaps you need between appointments; and your opening hours and days off. When a customer picks a service and a person, the system shows only the slots that genuinely fit, takes their name and number, and writes the appointment into the diary.

Around that core sit the features that make it worth having: a confirmation by text or email, a reminder the day before, the option to hold a card or take a deposit, a list of every customer and what they had done, and a link you can put anywhere. A good system also lets the customer cancel or move the appointment themselves, which saves you the phone call.

## The four kinds of system

| Kind | Examples | Who it suits | Watch for |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Marketplace apps | Fresha, Booksy | Salons, barbers and beauty businesses that want new clients from the app's own directory | Fees for each new client the marketplace sends, your page sitting inside their brand, other businesses shown beside yours |
| Plain calendars | Timely, Setmore, Square Appointments | Small teams who already have clients and want a predictable monthly cost | No marketplace, so no new business from it; check what texts cost |
| Meeting schedulers | Calendly | Consultations: solicitors, accountants, mortgage brokers, counsellors, grinds tutors | Built for meetings, not for a floor with chairs and stock; deposits and staff rotas are an afterthought |
| Built into your website | What we build on the Complete plan | Anyone who wants bookings on their own domain, with deposits and reminders, and no per-client fees | Someone has to run it and keep it working, so it comes with a monthly fee |



If you already use Fresha or Booksy and your regulars have the app, there is no reason to rip it out. Put the button on your site and let the app do what it does. The time to move is when the fees start to sting, when you want the booking page to look like your business rather than theirs, or when you want the customer list in your own hands. For hair and beauty specifically, we go through the options one by one in [the best booking systems for Irish salons and barbers](/guides/best-booking-systems-for-irish-salons-and-barbers).

## Services and hours: get the gaps right

The step most people rush is the first one. Write down every service you offer, how long it really takes, and what has to happen before the next person sits down. A colour needs processing time. A deep tissue massage needs the room turned over. A physio needs five minutes for notes. If the system thinks a cut takes twenty minutes and it takes thirty, the whole afternoon slides and the last customer leaves a one-star review.

Hours are the second trap. Enter the real ones, including the half day, and block out the bank holidays now, all ten of them, along with the week in July you already know you are taking. An online calendar that lets someone book on a day you are closed is worse than a phone that goes unanswered.

## Deposits and the cancellation policy

A deposit is not about distrust. It is about the appointments that cost you most when they are missed: the two-hour colour, the tattoo sitting, the wedding trial, the custom cake. For a fifteen-minute cut it is usually not worth the friction. A fair deposit is a share of the service price, taken when the customer books and knocked off the bill on the day.

Under Irish consumer law, as we understand it, a non-refundable deposit has to be reasonable and the terms have to be clear before the customer pays. That means the amount and the notice period on the booking page itself, not in an email afterwards. The CCPC publishes guidance on deposits, and the detail is in [how to take deposits online in Ireland](/guides/how-to-take-deposits-online-ireland).

The policy itself should be two or three sentences a customer can read on a phone while they are booking. An example, written here for illustration:

"Please give us 24 hours' notice if you need to cancel or move your appointment. Appointments cancelled with less notice, or not attended, will lose the deposit. You can cancel or reschedule from the link in your confirmation text."

That is enough. Nobody reads a page of terms, and a long policy makes a small business look as if it is bracing for a fight.

## The button, and where it goes

A booking system nobody can find is a diary. The link needs to be in four places: a button on every page of your website, the booking link field on your Google Business Profile so it appears on Maps, your Instagram bio, and the greeting message on WhatsApp Business so that someone who messages at 11pm can book without waiting for you to wake up. Make the website button say what it does, "Book now" or "Book an appointment", and make it big enough for a thumb.

## Reminders, and why they do most of the work

In our experience most missed appointments are forgotten rather than dodged. A text the day before, with a link to cancel or move, catches the people who had every intention of coming and got the day wrong. Email reminders are cheaper, but most people read a text within minutes and an email when they get around to it, so send the text for anything over half an hour. Some systems include texts in the price and some charge per message, which is worth checking before you pick one.

We will not give you a percentage for how many no-shows a reminder prevents, because the figures quoted around the trade vary with who is quoting them. The honest version is that reminders cut no-shows, and that the size of the cut depends on your trade and your customers.

## Your customers' data

Once you take bookings you hold names, mobile numbers, email addresses and a record of who had what done. Under GDPR you are the controller of that data and your booking provider is a processor acting for you, so pick a provider that is clear about where the data lives and how you get it back if you leave. Your privacy notice needs a line about bookings: what you collect, why, how long you keep it, and that people can ask to see or delete it. The Data Protection Commission is the regulator in Ireland.

Two practical points. Appointment reminders are messages about a service the customer asked for, so as we understand it they do not need separate marketing consent. A text offering money off colour this month does, so keep the marketing tick box separate and unticked by default. And export your customer list every so often, because the day you want to move systems is the day you discover whether the export works. More in [GDPR and cookies for small business websites in Ireland](/guides/gdpr-and-cookies-for-small-business-websites-ireland).

## What we do for clients

Online bookings are part of Complete, which is €1,499 to set up and €100 a month. We either build the booking system into the site, with staff, services, reminders and deposits, or connect the Fresha, Booksy or other system a client already uses so the button on the site opens it. Payments, including deposits, go straight to the client's own account.

For the built-in system we also connect AI assistants, so that a customer asking ChatGPT or Claude for an appointment can be booked in directly. We do not promise any particular number of bookings from that; it is groundwork, and whatever comes through it is in the monthly report. How it works is on the [AI agents page](/services/ai-agents).

Essentials, at €499 and €50 a month, has an enquiry form to email and WhatsApp rather than a calendar, which suits trades who quote before they book. Both plans are on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## Take online bookings

1. Write down your services. List every service with how long it takes and what it costs, including the gap you need before the next appointment.
2. Set your hours and your staff. Enter opening hours, each staff member's working days, and the bank holidays and holidays you already know about.
3. Choose a booking system. Pick a marketplace app such as Fresha or Booksy, a plain calendar such as Timely, Setmore or Square Appointments, a meeting scheduler such as Calendly, or a system built into your own website.
4. Decide on deposits and write the cancellation policy. Choose which services need a deposit and how much, decide how much notice you want, and write the policy in two or three plain sentences.
5. Put the booking button everywhere. Add the booking link to your website, your Google Business Profile, your Instagram bio and your WhatsApp greeting.
6. Turn on reminders. Switch on a text or email reminder the day before, with a link that lets the customer cancel or move the appointment.
7. Book yourself in. Make a test booking from your own phone on mobile data and check the confirmation, the reminder and what appears in the calendar.

## Questions about this

**Do I need a website to take online bookings?**

Not strictly. Fresha, Booksy and the others give you a booking page on their own domain and you can link to it from Instagram and Google. The catch is that the page carries their brand, other businesses nearby shown beside yours, and their rules. A booking button on your own site sends people to the same calendar without the detour.

**How do I cut down on no-shows?**

Three things, in order: a reminder the day before with a link to cancel or move, a deposit on the appointments that hurt most when they are missed, and a cancellation policy the customer sees before they confirm. Most no-shows are forgetfulness rather than malice, so the reminder does the bulk of the work.

**Can I take a deposit through a booking system?**

Yes. Fresha, Booksy, Timely, Square Appointments and a system built into your site can all hold a card or take a deposit at the time of booking. Under Irish consumer law the terms have to be fair and shown before the customer pays, so put the deposit amount and the notice period on the booking page, not just in a confirmation email.

**Which booking system is best for a barber or salon?**

It depends on whether you want new clients from a marketplace or just a calendar that works. Fresha and Booksy bring the marketplace and charge for it. Timely, Square Appointments and Phorest are subscriptions without one. We compare all of them, including the Dublin-built Phorest, in the guide to booking systems for Irish salons and barbers.

**Can customers book through ChatGPT?**

With a booking system built into your site, yes. We connect it so that AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude can check availability and make a booking on a customer's behalf. It is early days for this and we do not promise any particular volume from it, but the groundwork costs nothing extra on the Complete plan.

**What do I have to do about GDPR when I take bookings?**

Names, phone numbers, emails and booking history are personal data. You need a privacy notice that says what you collect and why, you should keep the data only as long as you need it, and you need to be able to hand someone their data if they ask. Appointment reminders are fine without extra consent; marketing texts are not. Pick a booking provider that is clear about GDPR.

---

# Signs your website is costing you customers

Fourteen things to check on your own website from your phone in ten minutes, why each one sends customers elsewhere, and what fixes it.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/signs-your-website-is-costing-you-customers. Last updated 6 November 2026.

Turn off the wifi on your phone, search your business name on Google and tap through to your own site the way a customer would. If it takes more than a few seconds to appear, shows the wrong hours, has no prices, will not let you tap the phone number, or looks like it was last touched years ago, it is quietly sending people to the business down the road. Below are fourteen signs you can check in about ten minutes, why each one costs you customers, and what fixes it.

Nobody tells you when this is happening. A person who gives up on your site does not ring to say so. They ring the next name on the list.

## How to run the ten minute check

Use your phone, not a laptop, and use mobile data, because that is how a customer on a street or a bus sees you. Google your business name, then Google your trade and your town ("nail salon Drogheda", "electrician Tralee"). Tap your site from the results and count the seconds. Then go through the list below, and finish by comparing what the site says with what your Google Business Profile says.

| Sign | What the customer does | The fix in a line |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Slow to load on 4G | Closes it and taps the next result | Smaller photos, no sliders, better hosting |
| No padlock in the address bar | Sees "Not secure" and does not trust the form | Free SSL certificate from your host |
| A "coming soon" page | Assumes you are not open yet | One real page with hours, phone, address |
| Wrong or missing hours | Drives to a closed door once, never again | Hours you can edit yourself, bank holidays included |
| No prices | Assumes expensive, rings a competitor who lists them | Prices or "from" prices on every service |
| Phone number not tappable | Cannot be bothered to copy it | A tel link and a call button |
| No Eircode or map | Cannot find you, especially outside towns | Full address, Eircode, directions button |
| Old photos | Thinks the place has gone downhill | Fresh phone photos every season |
| Last news post years ago | Wonders if you are still trading | Delete the blog or keep it current |
| Menu or price list as a PDF | Pinches, zooms, gives up | Menu as a normal page |
| Broken booking link | Books with someone whose link works | Test every link monthly |
| Instagram only, no site | Cannot find hours or prices, may not have the app | A one page site Google can read |
| No reviews visible | Looks for them elsewhere and finds a rival's | Show real Google reviews, ask for more |
| Name differs from Google | Thinks it is a different business | One name, everywhere |

## Slow, insecure, or not really there

A slow site is the costliest line on the list, because it stops people before they see anything else. The usual causes are photos uploaded straight from a camera at several megabytes each, a rotating slider on the home page, a video background, and hosting that costs a few euro a year for a reason. Run the address through Google's PageSpeed Insights; if the mobile score is poor, start with the images.

The padlock matters more than it used to. Phones now show "Not secure" beside a site without an SSL certificate, and nobody types their phone number into a form under that warning. Certificates are free from almost every host, so this is a ten minute fix or a reason to question your host.

A "coming soon" page is worse than no site, because it tells Google and customers that you are not open. If the full site is months away, put up one page today with your name, what you do, your hours, your phone number, your address with the Eircode and a single good photo. That page will do more for you than the finished site ever will if the finished site never arrives.

## The basics are wrong or missing

Wrong hours cost you twice. The customer who arrives on the October bank holiday to find the shutters down does not come back, and they tell people. The fix is not just correcting the hours today; it is having a way to change them yourself from your phone, so bank holidays, early closes and staff holidays go on the site the moment you know about them. If you need to ring a designer to change your hours, you will stop ringing, and the hours will drift.

No prices sends people elsewhere quietly. For trades who quote every job, give a call-out fee or three typical examples. For salons, barbers, clinics and classes, list the price list in full. Price pages are also what people search for, so the page earns visitors as well as trust.

A phone number that is not tappable, often because it is in an image or typed as plain text without a link, means copying and pasting on a phone. Most people do not bother. Make the number a link, add a call button and a WhatsApp button, and check both from your own phone. Likewise the address: the full street address with the Eircode and a directions button that opens Google Maps. Outside the cities, the Eircode is how people and delivery drivers find you, and a site without one is a site that is hard to reach.

## It looks abandoned

Photos date a business faster than anything. The old sign, the staff member who left two years ago, the Christmas window in June: each one says nobody is minding the place. Take fresh photos on your phone each season, in daylight, of the actual shop, the actual work and the actual people. Stock photos of smiling strangers are worse than none.

A news or blog page whose latest post is from years ago does the same job in writing. Either delete it or turn it into a short announcements list you will genuinely update: new opening hours, a new service, closed for the bank holiday. Three dated lines from this month beat thirty posts from 2019.

## Hard to use

A menu or price list as a PDF makes sense for printing and nothing else. On a phone it downloads slowly over mobile data, needs pinching and zooming, and is rarely updated because changing it means a designer. Google and the AI tools people now ask for recommendations read it poorly, so your dishes and prices do not show up when someone searches for them. Put the menu on a page as ordinary text and keep the PDF as an optional download for people who want to print it.

A broken booking link is money leaving the building. It happens when a booking system is cancelled, a link changes or an old widget stops working, and nobody notices because the owner never books with themselves. Tap every link on the site once a month, and especially the booking and contact ones.

## Not matching the rest of your listings

A business that lives only on Instagram is invisible to the people who search Google for "barber Westport" and to anyone without the app. Instagram also hides your hours and prices behind scrolling. Keep Instagram, and add at least one plain page with your hours, prices, phone number and Eircode. We go into the trade-offs in [do we need a website if we have Instagram](/guides/do-i-need-a-website-if-i-have-instagram).

Customers look for reviews before they ring. If your site shows none, they go to Google to find them, and the results page shows them your competitors as well. Put a handful of real Google reviews on the site with a link to the rest, and ask for more after each visit; our guide to [getting more Google reviews](/guides/how-to-get-more-google-reviews) sets out how to do it without breaking Google's rules.

Finally, compare the name on your sign, your site and your Google listing. If they differ, people assume they have found a different business, and Google's own rules say the listing should match the sign. Pick one name and use it everywhere, as described in [setting up a Google Business Profile in Ireland](/guides/how-to-set-up-google-business-profile-ireland). Our checklist of [what a small business website should include](/guides/what-should-a-small-business-website-include) is the positive version of this page.

## What we do for clients

The sites we build pass this list by design rather than by effort. They are built from fast templates with compressed images, SSL, call, WhatsApp and directions buttons on every page, the Eircode in the address, prices on the services page, and structured data so Google can read the hours. The owner gets a private edit page that opens from an email link, so when the bank holiday comes they change the hours themselves and the site is right that minute.

Essentials covers all of that, along with the Google Business Profile set up and verified to match the site. Complete adds online bookings that we keep working, and a text or email after each visit with a direct link to leave a Google review. The monthly report shows calls, direction requests and visitors, so you can see whether fixing the list changed anything. The plans are on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## Questions about this

**How do I know if my website is losing customers?**

You will not hear it from customers, who simply ring the next business. Look instead: open your site on your phone on mobile data, check the hours against your door, try to call from the page, look for prices. Then watch the calls and direction requests on your Google Business Profile from month to month after you fix things.

**Is a slow website really a problem for a small shop?**

Yes, because your customers are on phones, often on mobile data, standing on a street or sitting on a bus. A page that takes several seconds to appear gets closed. The usual causes are huge photos, sliders and video backgrounds, and cheap hosting. All three are fixable without a redesign.

**Should I put my prices on my website?**

For most trades and shops, yes. People searching for a barber, a cleaner or a physio want to know roughly what it costs before they ring, and a site with no prices reads as expensive or evasive. If every job is different, give 'from' prices, typical examples or a call-out fee. Something beats nothing.

**Is a PDF menu really that bad?**

On a phone, yes. It downloads slowly on mobile data, needs pinching and zooming, and is rarely updated because changing it means a designer. Search engines and AI tools also read it poorly, so your prices and dishes do not show up when people search. Put the menu on a page as text, and offer the PDF as an extra for printing.

**Can I just use Instagram instead of fixing the website?**

Instagram is good for showing your work and keeping regulars interested, but it does not appear when someone searches Google for your trade in your town, it hides your hours and prices, and some of your customers do not have the app. Keep Instagram, and have at least one plain page with your hours, prices, phone number and Eircode that Google can read.

---

# Website builder vs web designer

Who should build their own site, who should hire a web designer, the third option that includes the running, and the questions to ask any Irish designer first.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/website-builder-vs-web-designer. Last updated 6 November 2026.

Website builder or web designer? Build it yourself if you have spare evenings, you enjoy fiddling with layouts, and all you need is a simple page with your name, your hours, a few photos and a phone number. Hire a web designer if your time is worth more than the builder's subscription, if you need bookings or payments, or if you want Google handled by someone who does it every week. The website builder vs web designer question has a third answer that suits most Irish shops and trades best: a designer who builds the site and then runs it for a monthly fee, so it never goes stale.

This page is about the decision, not the tools. If you want Wix and Squarespace compared screen by screen, that is in [Wix vs Squarespace vs hiring someone](/guides/wix-vs-squarespace-vs-hiring-someone). Here we want to help you work out which kind of owner you are, and what to ask before you give anyone money, us included.

## The real cost is your evenings, not the subscription

Builder adverts sell the site as free or nearly free, and the software often is. What they do not mention is the twenty or thirty hours between signing up and having something you would put on the side of a van. Picking a template is the quick bit. Writing the words, cropping photos so they do not look stretched, working out why the menu disappears on a phone, connecting a domain, setting up the contact form so it actually sends: that is where the weekends go.

Work out what an hour of your time earns in the business, multiply it by twenty, and put that number beside the designer's quote. For a lot of tradespeople and salon owners the "free" site turns out to be the dearest option on the table.

## You should probably use a builder if

- You like computers and you have evenings free. Not "could find the time", but have it.
- Your needs are simple: one page, hours, photos, where you are, how to ring you.
- The business is new and you are still testing whether it is a business. A builder site is a cheap way to find out.
- Instagram is already doing the heavy lifting and you just want a home for your hours and prices.
- You will keep it updated. Be honest about this one.

A finished builder site that is kept current beats a lot of designer sites. A builder site that has sat at "coming soon" since March is worse than no site, because Google finds it and so do customers.

## You should probably hire someone if

- You are time poor. Most owners are.
- You need bookings, deposits or payments. Builders can do these through add-ons, but it is where the weekends really go, and it is where things break.
- You want Google looked after: the Business Profile verified, the site in Search Console, structured data so your hours show up correctly.
- You sell something where trust matters before the first call: a dental practice, a childminder, a solicitor. A half-finished site costs you the enquiry.
- You already tried a builder and it is still not live.

## The third option: a designer who also runs it

A once-off designer hands you the keys and leaves. That works for a year. Then the hours change for the summer, the software behind the site needs an update nobody applies, the contact form quietly stops sending, and the designer is busy or gone. Two years on, the site is a liability with your name on it.

The third option is a designer or a small studio that charges a set up fee and then a monthly fee that covers the running: hosting, backups, security updates, small changes when your prices move, and someone watching the Google listing. This is how we work, and we are not the only one in Ireland who does. The test is not the monthly figure, it is what the figure covers.

| | Website builder | Designer, once-off | Designer who runs it monthly |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Your time | Evenings and weekends until it is done, then every time something changes | A few hours answering questions and sending photos | The same few hours, then a WhatsApp message when something changes |
| Money up front | Nothing, or a paid template | A build quote | A set up fee |
| Money each month | The builder's plan, plus the domain | Hosting and domain, usually arranged by you | One fee that should cover everything |
| When it breaks | You, with the help pages | The designer, by the hour, if they are still trading | Included |
| Google Business Profile | You | Sometimes, ask | Should be included |
| Bookings and payments | Add-ons at an extra monthly cost | Quoted as extra | Depends on the plan |
| Leaving | Hard to export; usually a rebuild | You keep the files if you asked for them up front | You should keep the domain and content; check the notice period |

## Questions to ask any web designer in Ireland

Ask these of everyone you talk to, and write the answers down. The price will make more sense once you have them.

**Whose name will the domain be registered in?** Yours. Not the designer's, not the studio's. A .ie domain is registered through the .IE registry via an accredited registrar, and the registrant should be you or your business. If the designer registers it in their own name you cannot move without their say-so. We have set out the process in [how to register a .ie domain](/guides/how-to-register-a-ie-domain).

**What happens if we leave?** Can you take the site with you, or only the text and photos? Is there an exit fee? How much notice? A fair answer is thirty days, no fee, and your content handed over in a usable form. The practical side is covered in [how to move your website to a new provider](/guides/how-to-move-your-website-to-a-new-provider).

**What exactly is included each month?** Hosting is the minimum. Ask about backups, security updates, how many changes you get, how fast they are done, and whether anyone touches the Google listing. "Maintenance" on its own means nothing.

**Is VAT included in that price?** Irish quotes are normally given before VAT, and the standard rate is 23%. A sole trader below the registration threshold may charge none at all. If you are VAT registered you claim it back; if you are not, the difference between two quotes can be almost a quarter of the price.

**Who writes the words and takes the photos?** The most common reason a site never launches is that the owner was supposed to send the text. Ask who is doing it.

**How do we change a price on a Tuesday night?** If the answer involves emailing the designer and waiting, you will stop updating the site within six months.

**How long until it is live?** Weeks is normal for a once-off build. If the answer is months, ask why.

## What we do for clients

We are the third option. Essentials is €499 to set up and €50 a month, and that covers the site, a .ie domain in your name, hosting, daily backups, a private page where you change hours and prices from your phone, small changes by WhatsApp, and the Google Business Profile set up and verified. Complete is €1,499 and €100 a month and adds bookings, deposits and payments, a chat assistant, business email and the monthly Google work.

The answers to the questions above, in our case: the domain is yours, there is no contract, you can leave with thirty days' notice and no exit fee, and you keep the domain, the content and the customer data. Prices on the [pricing page](/pricing) are before VAT, and we say so there rather than in the small print.

If a builder genuinely suits you, we will tell you that in the first chat and save us both an afternoon.

## Questions about this

**Is a website builder good enough for a small business?**

Often, yes. If your needs stop at hours, photos, a phone number and a contact form, and you will finish it and keep it current, a builder site does the job. It stops being good enough when you need bookings, deposits or payments, when nobody has time to update it, or when it has sat at 'coming soon' for months.

**What should I ask a web designer before hiring them?**

Whose name the domain will be registered in, what happens to the site if you leave, exactly what the monthly fee covers, whether the quote includes VAT, who writes the words, and how you change a price yourself. A designer who answers all six plainly is one you can work with.

**Can I start with a builder and move to a designer later?**

Yes, and plenty of people do. Register the domain in your own name from day one so it can move with you. Your text and photos will move too. The design itself will not, because builder sites cannot be exported as working sites, so expect the designer to rebuild rather than transfer.

**Should the web designer own my domain?**

No. The domain should be registered to you or your business, with your own login at the registrar. A designer can manage it for you with your permission, but if their name is on it you cannot move without their cooperation, and that is a bad position to be in if they close or you fall out.

**Does a web design quote in Ireland include VAT?**

Usually not. Irish business quotes are normally given before VAT, and the standard rate is 23%. If you are VAT registered you reclaim it, so it makes little difference. If you are not, it is a real extra on top of the quote, so ask for the figure including VAT before you compare two designers.

---

# What is AI search and why it matters for a local business

AI search tools answer questions by reading websites, Business Profiles and reviews instead of listing links. What that means for a local business and what your site needs.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/what-is-ai-search-and-why-it-matters-for-local-business. Last updated 6 November 2026.

AI search is when a tool such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot or Google's AI Overviews answers a question in full sentences instead of handing you a list of links. For a local business the question is usually something like "best barber in Rathmines that does walk-ins on a Saturday", and the tool answers by reading websites, Google Business Profiles, reviews and directories, then naming two or three places with a line on each. It matters because if your hours, services and prices are not written somewhere a machine can read, the tool names someone else.

Nobody knows how big a share of local searches will end up in these tools. It is growing, and that is as far as we will go, because the honest position is that the groundwork for being readable by them is the same groundwork that helps you on Google today.

## The tools, and where they get their facts

| Tool | Who makes it | Where it mainly gets local facts | Shows its sources? |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| AI Overviews and AI Mode | Google, inside normal search | Google's index and Google Business Profiles | Yes, as links beside the answer |
| Gemini | Google, as a standalone assistant | Google Search and Maps data | Usually |
| ChatGPT search | OpenAI | Its own crawlers over the web, leaning on Microsoft's Bing index as we understand it | Yes, as citations |
| Copilot | Microsoft | Bing's index | Yes |
| Perplexity | Perplexity AI | Its own crawler and index | Always, prominently |

Which of these features appear in Ireland, and how they look, changes as the companies roll things out, so treat the table as the position when this was written.


Two things stand out from that table. First, Google's Business Profile data sits behind the two Google tools, so the work described in [what local SEO is](/guides/what-is-local-seo) carries straight over. Second, Bing matters again, because ChatGPT and Copilot lean on it, and most Irish small businesses have never looked at Bing in their lives.

## How a tool answers "best barber in Rathmines"

It helps to picture what happens in the few seconds after someone types that.

The tool works out what is being asked: a barber, in Rathmines, probably open soon, probably for a man's haircut. It then goes looking, either in a search index it has already built or by fetching pages live. It reads whatever it finds: Business Profiles with their ratings and hours, barbers' own websites, review text, a directory listing, maybe a Reddit thread or a local news piece. Then it writes an answer that picks out two or three names and says something specific about each: open till eight on Thursdays, walk-ins welcome, known for skin fades, good reviews mentioning a particular barber.

Notice what it needed. It needed facts, stated in words, that it could match to the question. "Walk-ins welcome until 7pm" is usable. A photo of a chalkboard that says the same thing is not. A page that says "a premium grooming experience" tells it nothing it can repeat.

## What changes for a small business

The questions get longer and more particular. People do not ask an AI tool for "barber Rathmines". They ask whether you take walk-ins, whether you do children, whether there is parking, how much a beard trim costs, whether you are open on the bank holiday Monday. Every one of those is a fact that is either on your site or is not.

Being clear beats being loud. The tools are not impressed by adjectives. They are looking for the business whose details answer the question, and they tend to repeat details that agree across several sources: your site, your Business Profile, your reviews, a directory. If your site says you open at nine and Google says ten, the tool either picks one or leaves you out.

Reviews become evidence rather than decoration. When a tool says a place is "known for skin fades", that phrase came from reviews. The more customers describe what they actually had done, the more the tool has to work with. A direct review link sent after each visit, and never a paid or invented review, is the way to grow them.

And the answer often arrives without a click. Someone asks, gets your name, hours and a line about you, and rings or walks in. You may never see that visit in your website statistics. That is a reason to make sure the facts the tools find are right, not a reason to panic about traffic.

## What your site needs so machines can read it

Most of this is plain good practice, which is the reassuring part.

**Facts written as facts.** Name, what you do, where you are with the Eircode, opening hours including bank holidays, prices or "from" prices, and which areas you cover. In text, not in images or PDFs.

**Questions answered in full sentences.** A page or a section that asks the questions customers ring about and answers each in a paragraph: "Do you take walk-ins?", "Is there parking on Rathmines Road?", "Can I book for two people together?". This is the content the tools quote most readily, because it is already shaped like an answer.

**Structured data.** A block of code (LocalBusiness, with FAQPage for the questions and Service for each service) that repeats your facts in a form any machine can parse without guessing. Google has used it for years; the AI tools benefit from the same clarity.

**Crawlers allowed in.** Your robots.txt file should not block GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot or Bingbot. Some website builders and security plugins block them by default, and the owner never knows. If you want to be found, the door has to be open.

**A fast, plain page.** Tools fetching pages live give up on slow ones just as people do. Text on the page beats text loaded by scripts.

**An llms.txt file.** A short markdown file at yourdomain.ie/llms.txt that summarises who you are and links to your key pages, following the proposal at [llmstxt.org](https://llmstxt.org). The big AI companies have not confirmed they read it, so we will not pretend it is decisive, but it costs nothing and takes ten minutes. We have written up [what llms.txt is](/guides/what-is-llms-txt) separately.

**Bing Webmaster Tools.** Submit your site there as well as to Google Search Console, since two of the tools above draw on Bing.

For the practical steps in order, see [how to show up in ChatGPT answers](/guides/how-to-show-up-in-chatgpt-answers).

## What not to do

Do not stuff your pages with every town in Leinster. The tools are reading for facts, not counting words, and a page that claims to serve everywhere reads as serving nowhere. Do not write or buy reviews; they are banned under the Consumer Rights Act 2022 and the tools lean on exactly that text. Do not pay anyone who promises to get you "ranked in ChatGPT". There is no ranking to buy, and the people selling it know that. And do not block the crawlers out of a general unease about AI if your aim is to be found.

## What we do for clients

Every site we build comes with the groundwork above as standard: facts in plain text, a question and answer section written from the calls you actually get, LocalBusiness and FAQPage structured data, crawlers allowed, an llms.txt file, and the site submitted to Bing as well as Google. That is part of the Essentials plan at €499 to set up and €50 a month, and the detail is on the [AI search services page](/services/ai-search).

The Complete plan goes a step further. As well as reading about you, an AI assistant can act for a customer: book an appointment through ChatGPT or Claude using a standard connection called MCP, or chat on your own site with an assistant trained only on your details that hands the conversation to your WhatsApp when it reaches the edge of what it knows. That is described on the [AI agents page](/services/ai-agents).

What we will not do is promise you will be named in anyone's answer. We put the facts where the tools can read them and report each month on what we can measure.

## Questions about this

**Do I need a separate website for AI search?**

No. The same site serves Google, ChatGPT and the rest, as long as it states the facts plainly, answers the questions customers actually ask, carries structured data and lets the crawlers in. A site built for people and written clearly is most of the way there already.

**Can you get my business recommended by ChatGPT?**

Nobody can promise that, and we will not. What we can do is make sure everything the tools need is in place: clear facts, question and answer content, structured data, open crawler access and an llms.txt file. Then we report each month on what we can measure, including visits that arrive from AI tools.

**Is AI search replacing Google?**

Google is itself becoming AI search, with AI Overviews at the top of many results. So it is less a replacement than a change in how answers are presented. Your Business Profile and your website feed both the old results and the new summaries, which is why the groundwork is the same.

**Should I block AI crawlers from my website?**

For a local business, generally no. Blocking makes sense for a publisher whose words are the product. Your words exist to bring customers through the door, so you want the tools to read your hours, services and prices and repeat them accurately.

**Does my Google Business Profile matter for AI answers?**

Yes, a great deal. Google's AI Overviews and Gemini draw on Business Profile data for local questions, and the other tools read your reviews and the directories that republish your details. An out-of-date profile feeds out-of-date answers.

---

# What is llms.txt?

llms.txt is a proposed markdown file at the root of a website that summarises it for AI tools. What it is for, what goes in it, and a skeleton you can adapt.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/what-is-llms-txt. Last updated 6 November 2026.

llms.txt is a plain text file, written in markdown, that sits at the root of a website (yourdomain.ie/llms.txt) and tells AI tools what the site is, which pages matter and where to find them. It was proposed in 2024 as a convention, in the same family as robots.txt and sitemap.xml, and it is entirely optional. No large AI company has confirmed that its tools read it, but it costs nothing, takes under an hour, and is a useful exercise in writing your business down plainly.

That is the whole answer. The rest of this guide covers where the idea came from, what goes in the file, a skeleton you can adapt, and an honest view of whether it is worth your hour.

## Where the idea came from

The proposal was published at [llmstxt.org](https://llmstxt.org) in September 2024 by Jeremy Howard, who runs the research group Answer.AI. His argument was simple. AI tools can only hold so much text at once, and a normal web page is mostly menus, scripts, cookie banners and footers. A short markdown file that says "here is what this site is, and here are the pages worth reading" gives a tool the shape of the site without the clutter.



It helps to see how it sits beside the files a website already has.

| File | Who it is for | What it says |
| --- | --- | --- |
| robots.txt | Crawlers | Which parts of the site they may and may not read |
| sitemap.xml | Search engines | Every page address, with no description |
| llms.txt | AI tools | What the site is, and the important pages with a line on each |
| llms-full.txt | AI tools | The full text of the site in one markdown file |

robots.txt controls access. A sitemap is a list. llms.txt is the only one of the four written for a reader, which is why it is worth writing well.

## What goes in it

The format is deliberately light. The only required part is a top level heading with the name of the business or site. After that, in order:

- A blockquote with a one line summary of what the site is.
- A few short paragraphs of plain detail, with no headings.
- Sections, each with a heading, containing a list of links. Each link has a title, the address, and a short description after a colon.
- An optional final section headed "Optional" for links a tool can skip if it is short on room.

For a small business, the detail paragraph is the valuable bit. Put the name exactly as it is on the sign, what you do, the town and Eircode, the areas you cover if you travel, the opening hours, a price range or "from" prices, the phone number and how to book. Write it like a good directory entry, not an advert. Nobody is persuaded by "passionate about hair" in a file meant for software.

Keep the links to the pages a customer would need: services and prices, hours and directions, booking, questions and answers. Five to ten links is plenty. The whole file should fit on one phone screen.

## A skeleton you can adapt

Replace everything in square brackets. Every link should be a real page on your site.

    # [Business Name]

    > Independent [trade] in [Town], County [County], open six days a week and serving [nearby areas]. Walk-ins welcome, online booking available.

    [Business Name] is run by [Owner] at [Street], [Town], [Eircode]. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm, closed bank holidays. Prices start from €[amount] for a [service]. Phone [number]. Book online using the link below.

    ## Services and prices

    - [Services](https://[yourdomain].ie/services): every service with a price
    - [Gift vouchers](https://[yourdomain].ie/vouchers): bought online, sent by email

    ## Visiting

    - [Hours and directions](https://[yourdomain].ie/contact): opening hours, bank holiday changes, Eircode and parking
    - [Book an appointment](https://[yourdomain].ie/book): choose a service, a staff member and a time

    ## Questions

    - [Frequently asked questions](https://[yourdomain].ie/faq): walk-ins, parking, children, cancellations and deposits

    ## Optional

    - [About](https://[yourdomain].ie/about): who runs the business and since when

For a live one, read [halfpenny.ie/llms.txt](https://halfpenny.ie/llms.txt). It is longer than a shop needs because it lists every guide and area page on this site, but the shape is the same: heading, summary, a paragraph of facts, then sections of links.

## llms-full.txt

A companion convention grew up alongside the index file. llms-full.txt is the whole site's text in one markdown document, so a tool can read everything in one go without following links. Mine is at [halfpenny.ie/llms-full.txt](https://halfpenny.ie/llms-full.txt) and contains the pricing, the services, the questions and answers and every guide.

For a one location business with eight pages, the short file may be all you need. If you publish a lot, such as a clinic with a page per treatment or a restaurant with several menus, the full file saves a tool from having to find and read each page separately.

## Does anyone actually read it?

Here is the honest position. The proposal has been adopted by a good number of software companies and documentation sites, and plenty of ordinary businesses have added one. What nobody has shown is that OpenAI, Google or Anthropic use it when answering questions. As we understand it, none of them has said their tools read the file, and Google has said it does not use it for search.



The only way to know whether your file is being fetched is to look at your server logs for requests to /llms.txt. Some owners see them, some do not. So the trade is an hour of your time against an unproven but harmless benefit, and the hour is not wasted even if the file is never read, because writing your facts down plainly usually shows up what is missing from the site itself. Our checklist of [what a small business website should include](/guides/what-should-a-small-business-website-include) is the place to take that list.

Do not pay anyone for "llms.txt optimisation". There is nothing to optimise. The things that are known to matter for AI answers are a crawlable site, plain facts and consistent listings, which we cover in [how to show up in ChatGPT answers](/guides/how-to-show-up-in-chatgpt-answers).

## How to put it on your site

It depends on how the site is built.

If the site is hand built or static, the file goes in the folder that holds robots.txt and favicon.ico, and it is live when the site is deployed. If the site is WordPress, upload it to the root folder by FTP or through your host's file manager; some SEO plugins can now generate one for you. If the site is on a builder such as Wix or Squarespace, check whether the builder lets you place a plain text file at the root of the domain. Some do not, and the answer changes from year to year, so search the builder's help pages before spending time on it.



Whichever way you do it, open yourdomain.ie/llms.txt on your phone afterwards. It should appear as plain text, with no login and no redirect, and your robots.txt should not block it. Save the file as UTF-8 so that euro signs and fadas survive.

## Keep it true

A file that says you open at 9am after you moved to 10am does the opposite of what it is for. Treat llms.txt like the price list on your door: whenever hours or prices change on the site, change them here the same day. The best arrangement is to have the file generated from the same data as the pages, so it cannot drift. That is how the one on this site works: it is rebuilt every time the site is, from the same source as the pages.

## What we do for clients

An llms.txt file is part of the AI search readiness that comes with Essentials, alongside structured data and question and answer content. We do not hand write it. It is produced from the same data as the site, so when an owner changes their hours or prices on their private edit page, the pages and the file update together.

We are clear with clients that this is a small, cheap piece of a bigger job, not a trick that gets a business into ChatGPT. The bigger job is the plain facts, the structured data, the matching listings and letting the crawlers in. What that looks like in practice is on the [AI search page](/services/ai-search), and the plan it belongs to is on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## Write an llms.txt file for your business

1. Write the one line summary. One sentence that says what the business is, where it is and who it is for. It goes in a blockquote under the heading.
2. List the facts that matter. A short paragraph of plain text: services, price range, opening hours, address with Eircode, phone number and how to book.
3. Choose the pages worth linking. Pick the five to ten pages a customer would need: services, prices, hours and directions, booking, questions and answers. Skip the rest.
4. Write it in the format. A top level heading with the business name, the blockquote, the facts paragraph, then sections with one link per line and a short description after a colon.
5. Put it at the root of the domain. Upload it so it loads at yourdomain.ie/llms.txt as plain text. Open it on your phone to check.
6. Keep it in step with the site. Whenever prices or hours change on the site, change them here too. A stale file is worse than none.

## Questions about this

**Is llms.txt an official standard?**

No. It is a proposal published at llmstxt.org in 2024 that many sites have adopted. No standards body has ratified it and no major AI company has committed to reading it. Treat it the way you would treat a well written directory entry: harmless, cheap, and possibly useful.

**Does llms.txt help my Google ranking?**

Not as far as anyone has shown. Google has not said it uses the file, and it is not part of how Google ranks pages. Write it for the AI tools that might read it, and do the ordinary local search work for Google: a verified Business Profile, plain facts on the pages, structured data and a fast site.

**What is the difference between llms.txt and llms-full.txt?**

llms.txt is the short index: a summary and a list of links with a line on each. llms-full.txt is a companion convention that puts the full text of the site into one markdown file, so a tool can read everything without following links. A small business site is often short enough for both to be reasonable, but the short one is the one to start with.

**Can I add llms.txt to a Wix or Squarespace site?**

It depends on whether the builder lets you place a plain text file at the root of your domain, and that changes from builder to builder and year to year. Search the builder's help pages for 'llms.txt' or 'upload a file to the root'. If it cannot be done, you lose little. The facts on your pages matter more.

**Should I block AI crawlers instead?**

That is a separate decision. llms.txt does not control access; robots.txt does. If you block the crawlers in robots.txt, they will not read your llms.txt either. For a local business that wants to be found, we allow the search crawlers and publish the file. If you publish original writing you want kept out of training data, block GPTBot specifically.

---

# What is local SEO?

Local SEO is the work that gets a business shown when someone nearby searches for what it does. Here is what Google looks at, what is worth doing, and what is not.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/what-is-local-seo. Last updated 6 November 2026.

Local SEO is the work that gets your business shown when someone nearby searches for what you do: "plumber Drumcondra", "nail salon near me", "dentist Naas", "car service Swords". Most of that work happens in two places, your Google Business Profile and your own website, and Google says it ranks local results on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. You cannot change where you are, so local SEO comes down to being clearly relevant and visibly trusted.

That is the whole idea. The rest of this guide explains what each piece means in practice for an Irish shop, salon, clinic or trade, and which parts of the industry that has grown up around it you can safely ignore.

## Two kinds of result on the same page

Search for "barber Stoneybatter" on your phone and you get two different things. Near the top is a map with three businesses pinned on it, each with a star rating, hours and a call button. People in the trade call this the map pack or the local pack. Under it come the ordinary results: web pages, directories, the odd news article.

| | The map pack | The ordinary results |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What it shows | Three businesses from Google Maps with ratings, hours, a call button and directions | Pages from the web, ranked by how well they answer the search |
| Where the information comes from | Your Google Business Profile, plus reviews and what Google knows about your site | Your website's pages, their titles and their content |
| Who it suits | Anyone with a premises or a service area, searched for by people nearby | Services people research before choosing, and businesses with a catchment wider than a few kilometres |
| What moves it | Profile completeness, category, reviews, distance from the searcher | Page content, titles, links from other sites, speed on a phone |

A barber lives almost entirely in the map pack. A solicitor or an architect gets a good share of enquiries from the ordinary results too, because people read before they ring. Most local businesses need to be in both, and the good news is that the same work feeds both.

## The three things Google says it looks at

Google's own help pages for business owners name three factors for local ranking, and they are worth taking at face value.

**Relevance** is how well your profile and your site match what was typed. If someone searches "gel nails Rathmines" and your profile category is Nail salon, your services list gel nails and your site has a page about them, you are relevant. If your profile just says "beauty" and your site is one page with a phone number, you are a weak match.

**Distance** is how far you are from the searcher or from the place they named. You cannot move the shop, but you can make sure Google knows exactly where it is (the pin in the right spot, the Eircode in the address) and, if you travel to customers, which areas you cover.

**Prominence** is how well known you are, as far as Google can tell: the number and quality of reviews, mentions of your business on other websites, and how established your own site is. This is the slow one. It builds over months, which is why starting now matters more than any trick.

## Your Business Profile does the heavy lifting

For the map pack, the Business Profile is the main event, and it is free. The name must be the name on your sign, with no extra words. The primary category should be the most specific one that fits (Barber shop rather than Hair salon, Physiotherapist rather than Clinic). Hours need to be right, including the Irish bank holidays and the Christmas week, because wrong hours produce the one-star review that says "drove over and it was shut". Add your services with short descriptions, your own photos of the premises and the work, and answer the questions people leave.

If you have not claimed yours yet, [how to set up a Google Business Profile in Ireland](/guides/how-to-set-up-google-business-profile-ireland) goes through it step by step, including verification. If the profile exists but the pin is in the wrong estate, [how to get your business on Google Maps](/guides/how-to-get-your-business-on-google-maps) deals with fixing it.

## What your website needs

The website is where relevance is built in detail. Five things cover most of it.

The title of your home page should say what you do and where, in that order: "Plumber in Tallaght and south Dublin | Byrne Plumbing" rather than "Home" or "Welcome". It is the first thing Google reads and the first thing a person sees in the results.

Give each service its own page. Boiler repair, bathroom fitting and emergency callouts are three different searches, and one page called Services cannot be the best answer to all three.

If you serve several towns, a short honest page for each one you genuinely work in (what you do there, how to reach you, a job or two you have done) gives Google something to match when someone types the town name. Do not make forty of them with the town swapped. That is the kind of thing Google has learned to ignore.

Put your full address with the Eircode, a map and your opening hours on the contact page, matching the Business Profile word for word. Behind the scenes, structured data (a block of code describing your business as a LocalBusiness, with the same name, address, phone and hours) lets Google read those facts without guessing. It also feeds the AI tools, which we have written about in [what AI search is and why it matters for a local business](/guides/what-is-ai-search-and-why-it-matters-for-local-business).

And the page has to be fast on a phone on a bus. Most local searches happen on a mobile, often on patchy 4G, and a slow page is abandoned before it loads.

## Reviews and directories

Reviews feed prominence and they feed the person reading. Recent reviews matter more than old ones, replies matter (Google says so and customers can see them), and a steady trickle is better than a burst. Never buy them, never write them yourself and never offer a discount for one: Google removes them and fake reviews are banned under the Consumer Rights Act 2022. The honest approach, a direct review link sent after each visit, is set out in [how to get more Google reviews](/guides/how-to-get-more-google-reviews).

Directories, which the trade calls citations, matter less than they did but still count. Golden Pages, your local chamber, your trade body's member list, and the council's business directory if there is one. The one rule: your name, address and phone number must be identical everywhere, down to "Street" versus "St". Inconsistency makes Google less sure you are one business, and less sure means lower down.

## What is not worth paying for

Local SEO attracts cold callers, so here is the list we give clients.

Guaranteed rankings. Nobody controls Google's results. Bulk submissions to hundreds of directories, most of which no customer has ever visited. Keyword-stuffed business names on your profile, which risk a suspension. A virtual office address in a town you do not work in, which is against Google's rules and gets listings removed. Monthly "SEO reports" that show numbers but list no work done. Link packages from sites unrelated to your trade or your county. And any SEO at all for a site that has no content to work with: fix the site first.

## What we do for clients

Every site we build starts with the local SEO foundations in place: a title that says what and where, a page per service, the Eircode and hours on the contact page, LocalBusiness structured data, a sitemap, and Search Console connected so we can see what Google is doing. We set up and verify the Google Business Profile as part of the same job. That is all in the Essentials plan at €499 to set up and €50 a month.

On the Complete plan we manage the profile every month (posts, photos, review replies drafted for your approval, questions answered), add content and local pages over time, and track the searches that matter to you. We report the numbers each month and we do not promise positions, because nobody honest can. The detail is on the [Google services page](/services/google).

## Questions about this

**Is local SEO different from ordinary SEO?**

It is a branch of it with its own rules. Ordinary SEO is about ranking a page for a topic anywhere in the country. Local SEO is about being shown to someone within a few kilometres of you, and it leans heavily on your Google Business Profile, your address and your reviews, none of which matter much for a national site.

**How long does local SEO take to work?**

Changes to a Business Profile, such as a corrected category or new photos, show up within days. Changes to the website take weeks to months to settle as Google recrawls and compares you with the businesses around you. Anyone promising a position by a date is guessing. What you can expect is steady, reported progress.

**Is a Google Business Profile enough on its own, without a website?**

It gets you on the map, which is a start. But the profile has nowhere to point, Google has less to read about what you do, and you are renting space on someone else's platform. A plain site with a page per service gives both Google and customers the detail the profile cannot hold.

**Should I put keywords in my business name on Google?**

No. Your profile name has to match the name on your sign and your paperwork. Adding words like 'best plumber Dublin' to it breaks Google's rules and can get the profile suspended, which costs far more than the words ever gained.

**Can anyone guarantee the top spot on the map?**

No. The map results change with where the searcher is standing, the time of day and the words they use, and Google adjusts how it ranks them without notice. We do the work and send the numbers each month. Anyone who guarantees a position is either guessing or planning to charge you before you find out.

**What does local SEO cost?**

Agencies in Ireland charge monthly retainers that vary widely, and the price says little about what is actually done. In our plans, the foundations and the Business Profile setup are in Essentials at €50 a month, and the monthly profile management and content work are in Complete at €100 a month.

---

# What should a small business website include?

A checklist for a small business website in Ireland, with the reason behind every item, the technical bits behind the scenes, and the things better left off.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/what-should-a-small-business-website-include. Last updated 6 November 2026.

What should a small business website include? About a dozen things, and most of them fit on a single long page: your name and what you do in the first screen, phone, WhatsApp and directions buttons that work with one tap, your hours including bank holidays, prices or "from" prices, photos of your own work, a short page for each service, a few real reviews, a line about who owns the place, a way to book or enquire, your Eircode with a map, and a privacy page. Behind the scenes it needs structured data for Google and AI search, and it needs to load quickly on a phone on mobile data. Everything else is decoration.

The list below is the one we check every site against before it goes live. Each item is there for a reason a customer would recognise.

## The first screen has to answer three questions

Someone lands on your site from Google, usually on a phone and in a hurry. Before they scroll, they need to know what you do, where you are, and how to get hold of you. A plumber's first screen should say plumber, the area covered, and a number to ring.

Most sites fail this test with a big photo and a slogan. "Quality you can trust" tells nobody anything. "Electrician, Dublin 15, same-day call-outs" tells them everything.

## The checklist, and why each item is on it

| Include | Why it matters | Where it usually goes wrong |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Name and trade in the first screen | People decide in seconds whether they are in the right place | A slogan where the trade should be |
| Call, WhatsApp and directions buttons | On a phone, a button is one tap; a typed number is a copy and paste | Phone number as an image, or buried in the footer |
| Hours, including bank holidays | "Are they open now?" is what most people want to know first | Hours on Google that disagree with the site |
| Prices or "from" prices | People who cannot find a price assume it is high | "Contact us for a quote" on everything |
| Photos of real work | Proof you exist and do what you say | Stock photos of models in a salon you do not own |
| A page per service | Google matches pages to searches, not whole sites | One "Services" page listing everything in a paragraph |
| Reviews | The reassurance a stranger needs before ringing | Reviews that are three years old, or none at all |
| About the owner | People buy from people, especially trades coming into the home | An "About us" page with no name and no face |
| Questions and answers | Answers what people type into Google and ask ChatGPT | None, or a list of made-up marketing questions |
| Booking or enquiry | The reason the site exists | A form that goes to an inbox nobody checks |
| Privacy page | Required under GDPR once you collect a name or an email | Copied from a UK template with the wrong regulator |
| Eircode and map | Directions that actually arrive, especially outside towns | An address with no Eircode and a map pin in the wrong place |
| Structured data | Tells Google and AI tools your hours, address and services in a form they can read | Missing, or wrong, which is worse |
| Fast on a phone | Slow pages lose people on 4G before they see anything | Full-size photos straight off the camera |

## Hours, and the Irish bank holidays

Opening hours are probably the most looked-up fact about any local business, and in our experience the most often wrong. Put them on the site and on your Google Business Profile, and make them agree. Then deal with the days that catch everyone out: St Brigid's Day in February, St Patrick's Day, Easter Monday, the May, June, August and October bank holidays, Christmas and St Stephen's Day. If you close for a fortnight in August, say so on the site a month ahead, not on a sign in the window.

The fix is a way to change hours yourself from your phone. If it means emailing someone, it will not get done.

## Prices, photos and the page per service

A price list is a filter that works in your favour: people who are happy with your prices ring you, and people who are not go elsewhere without wasting your time. Trades who cannot give a fixed price can give a call-out charge and a "from" figure for the common jobs. Salons should list the whole menu, and cafes should put theirs on the page as text rather than a PDF.

Photos of your own work, taken on a phone in daylight, beat anything from a stock library. A before and after of a real bathroom, the shop front, the team at the counter, the plate as it actually arrives.

One page per service matters because of how search works. Someone types "boiler service Tallaght" or "balayage Ranelagh", and Google looks for a page about that thing in that place. A single page that lists fourteen services in one paragraph competes with nobody for anything.

## Reviews, the owner, and a way to get in touch

Real Google reviews, shown on the site and kept fresh, do more for a stranger's confidence than any paragraph you could write. If you have few, the fix is a direct review link sent after each visit, which we cover in [how to get more Google reviews](/guides/how-to-get-more-google-reviews). Never buy or write reviews; it is against Google's rules and, as we understand it, against Irish consumer law since 2022.

The about section needs your name and your face. For a trade going into someone's home, or a therapist someone is about to trust, this is the page that decides it.

Then, a way to act. For a trade, that is an enquiry form that lands in your email and your WhatsApp. For an appointment business, it is a booking button, and we have written up the choices in [how to take online bookings](/guides/how-to-take-online-bookings).

## The legal and location bits

Once your site has a contact form, it collects personal data, and you need a privacy notice. The Irish regulator is the Data Protection Commission, and the notice can be short and plain. You only need a cookie banner if you set cookies that are not essential, which a simple site need not do. The details are in [GDPR and cookies for small business websites in Ireland](/guides/gdpr-and-cookies-for-small-business-websites-ireland).

If you trade as a limited company, as we understand it the Companies Act requires the company name, registered number, place of registration and registered office address to appear on the website. Most people put them in the footer.


Put your Eircode on the contact page and in the footer, beside the address. Google Maps understands it, and anywhere outside a town it is the difference between a customer arriving and a customer ringing you from the wrong boreen. Embed a map and check the pin from a different phone.

## The bits nobody sees

Structured data is a block of code that tells Google and the AI search tools, in a form they can read without guessing, that you are a local business at this address with these hours, this phone number and these services. It is also what lets a question and answer page be understood as questions and answers. A short llms.txt file does a similar job for AI assistants. We explain the approach on the [AI search services page](/services/ai-search).

Speed is the other invisible item. Test the site on your own phone, on mobile data, outside the shop rather than on the Wi-Fi. If the first screen takes more than a couple of seconds, the usual culprit is photos uploaded at full size.

## What to leave out

- **Sliders.** Nobody waits for slide three, and the one thing that mattered ends up on slide three.
- **Stock photos.** The handshake, the smiling headset woman, the salon that is not yours.
- **Music or autoplaying video.** Closes the tab in any quiet office.
- **Pop-ups.** A newsletter box before anyone has read a word, covering the whole screen on a phone.
- **"Welcome to our website."** They know. Start with what you do.
- **A "coming soon" page.** Worse than nothing, because it gets found.
- **PDF menus and price lists.** Unreadable on a phone and invisible to search.

## What we do for clients

The checklist above is built into the templates we start from, so a client does not have to remember it. We need about ten minutes of their time, their hours, their prices and whatever photos they have, and the first screen, the buttons, the service pages, the Eircode and map, the privacy page and the structured data are in place before the site goes live. Most sites are live within a few days of the first chat.

Every client gets a private page, opened from a link in an email with no password to lose, where they change hours, prices, photos and announcements themselves. That is how the bank holiday problem gets solved: they change it from the sofa the night before.

All of this is in Essentials at €499 to set up and €50 a month. Bookings, payments, review requests after each visit and a chat assistant come with Complete. The full comparison is on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## Questions about this

**How many pages does a small business website need?**

Fewer than you think. One good page covers most shops and salons: who, where, hours, prices, photos, how to get in touch. Add a page for each service you want to be found for, and a privacy page. A plumber doing boilers, bathrooms and emergencies might end up with five or six pages. More than ten is usually padding.

**Should I put prices on my website?**

Yes, or at least 'from' prices and your call-out charge. People who cannot find a price assume it is high and ring the next name. Trades can give a range and say the final quote follows a visit. Salons and barbers should list the full menu. The only time to hold prices back is when every job is genuinely a custom quote, and even then say so.

**Do I need a blog?**

No. A blog that stops in 2023 makes the business look closed. If you have things to say, a short question and answer page you add to twice a year does more good, because it answers what people actually type into Google and ask AI search tools. Write it once, keep it true.

**Does a small Irish website need a privacy policy?**

If it has a contact form, a booking form or analytics, it is collecting personal data and you need a privacy notice under GDPR. It does not have to be long. Say what you collect, why, how long you keep it, who else sees it (your booking system, your email provider) and how someone can ask for their data. The Data Protection Commission is the Irish regulator.

**Should my menu or price list be a PDF?**

No. A PDF is hard to read on a phone, cannot be tapped to call or book, and Google cannot match it to a search as well as a normal page. Put the menu or price list on the page as text. If you need a printable version for the counter, keep that as a separate file and update both when a price changes.

---

# Wix vs Squarespace vs hiring someone

An honest comparison of Wix, Squarespace, a freelance designer and a run-for-you plan on cost, your time, who fixes things, ownership, Google, bookings, payments and .ie domains.

Page: https://halfpenny.ie/guides/wix-vs-squarespace-vs-hiring-someone. Last updated 6 November 2026.

Wix or Squarespace is the right answer if you have the evenings to build the site and finish it, your needs are a few pages and a contact form, and you are happy to be the person who fixes it when a price changes or a page breaks. Hiring someone is the right answer if your time is worth more than the fee, you need bookings or payments that work first time, or you want the Google side handled by someone who does it every week. The real difference is not how the page looks on launch day. It is who does the work in month six.

This guide puts the two builders, a freelance designer and a run-for-you plan side by side on the things that decide the outcome, says plainly where the builders are the better choice, and sets out what to check before you hand money to anyone, us included.

## Side by side

| | Wix or Squarespace | Freelance designer | Run-for-you plan (how we work) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Upfront cost | Nothing, or a template you buy | A one-off build fee | €499 or €1,499 |
| Monthly cost | A subscription, higher on the plans that remove adverts and take payments | Hosting and domain you arrange, plus an hourly rate for changes | €50 or €100, everything in |
| Your time | Evenings and weekends to build, then an hour or two every time something changes | A few meetings, plus writing your text and gathering photos | Ten minutes to send hours, prices and photos, then a WhatsApp when something changes |
| Who fixes it when it breaks | You, with the builder's help pages and chat support | The designer if you can reach them, at their rate | Us, included |
| Ownership and moving away | You own the domain if you bought it. The design and layout stay with the builder | You own the domain if it was registered in your name. Check the contract | Domain in your name, you keep content and customer data, 30 days' notice, no exit fee |
| Google set up | Yours to do; the builders give you the tools | Sometimes included, often an extra | Business Profile set up and verified, structured data, sitemap, Search Console |
| Bookings and payments | Built-in or add-on apps with their own monthly fee, plus card processing | Usually a plug-in or a third party system you then run | Included on Complete, or your existing Fresha or Booksy connected |
| .ie domain | Register it with an Irish registrar and connect it; the builders mostly sell other endings | Depends on who registers it and whose name it is in | Registered in your name as part of set up |

On the builder prices: a Wix or Squarespace plan that connects your own domain and removes the adverts costs roughly €12 to €40 a month on an annual plan, more if you pay month to month, and more again for the plans that take payments or add bookings. Squarespace has no free plan, only a trial. Wix has a free plan with Wix adverts and a Wix web address, which is fine for testing and not fine for a business.



## Where the builders are the better choice

We are not going to pretend the builders are bad. For a lot of people they are exactly right.

They suit a side business that does not need to be found on Google because the work comes by word of mouth. They suit a photographer who enjoys design, has the eye for it and wants to rearrange the gallery every month. They suit a personal trainer with five clients, a club or society with a committee member who likes this sort of thing, or anyone whose site is a brochure that will not change for years. If you have the time, you like the work and you will actually finish it, a builder site costs less than any other route and you answer to nobody.

The honest test is the last clause. Will you finish it? The builder's template is done in an evening. The about page, the service pages, the photos, the Google Business Profile, the hours and the privacy page are the months after that, and a half-finished site with placeholder text still on the second page is worse than no site, because people find it.

## Where the builders catch people out

**The subscription is the small cost.** The real cost is the evenings, and then the Saturday morning three years in when the booking app stops syncing and the help article is written for a version of the editor you cannot find.

**Add-ons add up.** Bookings, a proper shop, email on your domain, a second language and some of the forms are extra apps with extra monthly fees. A site that started on a modest plan can end up costing as much as having it run for you, with you still doing the running.

**Nobody is watching Google.** The builder gives you the tools to set page titles and connect Search Console. It does not set them. Most builder sites we are shown have the same title on every page and no Business Profile linked, because the owner did not know those were jobs.

**Moving away is harder than moving in.** As we understand it, Squarespace can export pages and posts in a format WordPress reads, with the design and some content types left behind, and Wix has no full export at all. You keep your domain if you registered it yourself, your text if you saved it somewhere, and your photos. The site itself stays. The [guide to moving a website](/guides/how-to-move-your-website-to-a-new-provider) sets out what to do before you cancel.



**The .ie domain is a separate job.** Neither builder, as far as we know, registers .ie domains directly, so you register one with an Irish registrar, show your connection to Ireland and connect it to the builder yourself. It is not hard, but it is one more thing. See [how to register a .ie domain](/guides/how-to-register-a-ie-domain) for the steps.



## Hiring a freelance designer

A freelancer gives you a site that looks like yours rather than like a template, and you get a person to ring. The cost is higher up front, and the thing to understand is what happens after launch. Many freelancers build and leave. Hosting is in your name or theirs, changes are billed by the hour, and the Google work is included or not depending on who you picked. That is not a criticism; it is a different job from running a site.

The questions worth asking any designer in Ireland are the ones that reveal the month six picture. Whose name is the domain registered in? What does a price change cost after launch, and how long does it take? Is the Google Business Profile part of the job? Is VAT included in the quote? What happens if you stop trading or we want to leave? We have written more on choosing between doing it yourself and hiring in [website builder vs web designer](/guides/website-builder-vs-web-designer), and the fuller picture of what each route costs in Ireland is in [how much a website costs](/guides/how-much-does-a-website-cost-in-ireland).

## The run-for-you option

The third route is a designer who also runs the site for a monthly fee: hosting, security, backups, changes when your prices move, and the Google listing watched. It is how we work and how a growing number of small studios work, and it is not for everyone either. You are paying every month for someone else's time, and that only makes sense if the alternative is your time or a site that quietly rots.

Whatever the plan is called, check three things. The domain must be in your name. The notice period must be short and there must be no exit fee. And the monthly fee must include the running, not just the hosting, or you are back to doing the work yourself with a bill attached.

## What we do for clients

Our two plans are built for the owner who wants the site finished, kept right and never thought about. Essentials is €499 to set up and €50 a month. For that you get a mobile-first site built from our templates, a .ie domain registered to you, hosting, SSL, daily backups and monitoring, a private page where you change hours, prices and photos from your phone, small changes done over WhatsApp, your Business Profile created and verified, and the structured data and question-and-answer content that AI search tools read. Complete is €1,499 to set up and €100 a month. It adds online bookings with deposits, card and Apple Pay payments into your own account, review requests after each visit, a chat assistant trained on your details, email on your domain, and monthly work on the Google listing.

Prices exclude VAT, there is no contract, you can leave with 30 days' notice and you take the domain, the content and your customer data with you. Dublin clients we meet at the premises; everywhere else starts with a phone or video call and runs the same way afterwards. The full comparison is on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## Questions about this

**Is Wix or Squarespace better for a small business in Ireland?**

They are closer than the adverts suggest. Squarespace has tidier templates and suits photo-heavy sites; Wix gives more freedom to move things around and has a bigger app market. Both let you connect a .ie domain you register elsewhere. Pick the one whose editor you find less annoying after an hour's trial, because you will be the one using it.

**Can I use a .ie domain with Wix or Squarespace?**

Yes. Register the .ie with an Irish registrar, where you will need to show a connection to Ireland, then point it at your builder site using the DNS settings the builder gives you. As far as we know neither builder sells .ie domains directly, so this is a separate step. Keep the registrar login in your own name.

**Can I move my Wix or Squarespace site to another provider later?**

You can move your domain, your text and your photos. You cannot move the site itself. Squarespace exports some content in a format other systems can read; Wix, as we understand it, has no site export. Plan for a rebuild, and make sure the domain was registered in your name so it comes with you.

**How long does it take to build a site on Wix or Squarespace?**

A working first version takes an evening or a weekend. The honest answer is longer, because the first version is rarely the finished site: writing the pages, sorting photos, setting up the Google Business Profile and fixing the page titles are the months afterwards, done in whatever evenings you have left.

**Do Wix and Squarespace sites rank on Google?**

They can. Google does not mark a site down for being built on a builder. What decides it is whether the pages say clearly what you do and where, whether the Business Profile is set up and matches, how fast the site loads on a phone, and whether anyone keeps it up to date. On a builder, all of that is your job.

**What does hiring someone to build a website cost in Ireland?**

A freelance designer typically charges a one-off fee somewhere in the high hundreds to low thousands of euro, with hosting and changes on top. Our own plans are €499 or €1,499 to set up and then €50 or €100 a month with hosting, changes and the Google work included. The cost guide on this site goes through every route.