Guide
Who should own your Google Business Profile, and how to keep control
For owners who never claimed their own Google listing
Salons and Beauty
Bahamian salons are ahead of the country on WhatsApp
The 2026 Bahamas Digital Readiness Index checked 336 salons on Google Business Profile, website, Facebook Page (not a personal profile) and WhatsApp.
Share of 336 businesses with each door open
- Google Business Profile : 56.0%. Country 60.5%.
- Website : 29.2%. Country 38.2%.
- Facebook Page : 34.8%. Country 33.2%.
- WhatsApp : 27.7%. Country 22.7%.
Average score 35.2 of 100 · tied rank 5 of 8
The 2026 index
Salons trail the country on Google Business Profiles.
56.0%
About a third of the salon listings the index found are not claimed, so nobody at those salons can correct the hours or answer a review. Claiming a Google Business Profile is free, and Google’s check takes days to a week or more. Filling it in is an evening if the photos and hours are to hand.
The Google Business Profile, Facebook Page and WhatsApp count most for salons.
New clients find a salon on Google, judge its recent work on the Facebook Page and book the chair on WhatsApp.
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Google Business Profile
Required · 28 points
A new client searches for a salon near them on Google. With no Google Business Profile you miss the moment that decision gets made.
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Website
Recommended · 16 points
A website adds polish and a place to book. The index counts it less here, because a client can find and book a salon through the other three doors.
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Facebook Page
Required · 28 points
A client choosing a new salon wants to see recent work first, and the Facebook Page is where the index can see it. Instagram often does this job too, and this edition does not count it.
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WhatsApp
Required · 28 points
The client who found you on Google books the chair here, and moves or confirms it by message.
Required: central to how this industry’s customers find, trust and contact a business, so it carries the most points.
Recommended: useful, but customers can still find and contact the business through its other open doors.
The points on the four cards add up to 100, the most any business can score in any industry.
How salons compare with the country, door by door.
The website is furthest below the country for salons: 29.2%, where the country is at 38.2%.
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Salons and Beauty open share by door · the 2026 index All eight industries, compared
AI assistants answer clients from the hours, services and prices a salon publishes.
Google builds a salon’s profile partly from what it finds on the web, such as the salon’s own website, so a client may see details the salon never added. Google’s AI Mode works in The Bahamas, and Google names an up-to-date Business Profile among the basics that still matter for its AI answers. Salons are already ahead of the country on WhatsApp, so the step left is putting the same hours, services and prices where a search can read them.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help, how Google sources Business Profile information, read 25 September 2026 · Google Search Help, AI Mode, read 26 September 2026 · Google Search Central, AI features, read 26 September 2026
Of the Four Digital Doors, a salon opens the Google Business Profile first.
A new client who does not have your number yet starts with a nearby search.
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Google Business Profile
Required
New clients find you here. A search for “salons near me” or “open now” shows your hours, work photos and reviews.
Short to start, days to a week or more for Google’s check, an evening to fill in
- Set it up properly
- Claim and verify it. Search the salon on Google and complete the check Google asks for, then add hours and photos of recent work. Claiming is free.
Make it work harder
List your services with prices, where Google offers services for your category. Add your booking link. Ask every client for a review with the profile’s own link, and answer each one. Once a month, read its count of calls and direction requests.
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Facebook Page
Required
This door shows your finished work to people who were not looking for a salon today.
An evening if the photos are to hand, longer from nothing
- Set it up properly
- Create a Facebook Page for the salon. Do not run the business from a personal profile. Fill in the category, About section, hours and prices. Post photos of recent work.
Make it work harder
Post finished work as your own photos and short videos, with the price and the WhatsApp number. Turn on recommendations, so clients can recommend the salon on your Facebook Page. Add the WhatsApp button so a booking can start there. Read Meta Business Suite monthly.
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WhatsApp Business
Required
Clients book, move and confirm an appointment here. A quick reply with the price list answers while your hands are busy.
Short to register, an evening or more to set up
- Set it up properly
- Register WhatsApp Business on a number of its own. A second SIM does it. Fill in the profile and list each service in the catalogue, price in the description.
Make it work harder
Write quick replies for prices, availability and the day-before reminder, which you send yourself. Set business hours and an away message. Put the salon’s name beside the number everywhere. Count the bookings that came through each week.
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Website
Recommended
This is the one door you own. A booking webpage lets a client book at any hour, with a deposit where you take one.
A few evenings with a builder, weeks with a professional
- Set it up properly
- A booking-platform profile counts to start. Your own website needs the services, prices, hours, address and a way to book. Domain and hosting carry a yearly cost.
Make it work harder
Put the book button and the WhatsApp link on every webpage, and point your Google booking link here. Take deposits by a payment link where you use them. Keep prices the same on every door. Check every few months that booking still works.
After the doors are open
Open doors need a weekly habit: the same hours, prices and contact number on every door, and every message answered. A new client can find you on your Google Business Profile, see this month’s work on your Facebook Page and book in WhatsApp Business, and your website can take the booking at any hour. Your WhatsApp chats show which services get asked for and how often a regular rebooks, and a claimed Google Business Profile shows the searches that found you and how many clients asked for directions.
Need help opening these doors or getting more from them? DDigiLeads does this work for Bahamian businesses. Talk to us
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The Bahamas Digital Readiness Index found Bahamian salons ahead of the country on WhatsApp.