Books open. Portfolio up.
People choose the artist first. Show each one's work and say how to get on their books.
What the home page says
Section by section, in the order a visitor reads it.
Each artist's portfolio
People pick an artist for a style. Give each one a page of their own work, named by style, with healed photos if you have them. Stock and generated images have no place here, so replace any before you publish.
Books open or closed
Say which artists are booking, for which months, and when closed books open next. It's one line you can change on the page for free, or a bar across the top that hides itself after its last day.
A request form that sorts
Ask for the artist, placement, size, style and budget, so each request arrives ready to answer. Shingle's forms don't take file uploads, so ask for a link to reference images, or have clients send them when you reply.
Deposits and cancellations
Say how much holds a date, whether it comes off the price, and what happens if someone moves it. The site explains the deposit, and you collect it your usual way, because it takes no payments.
Health and age
Say you're licensed, how you handle needles and sterilizing, and what ID to bring. Age and licensing rules vary by state and county, so check yours. An age check can sit in front of the site if your portfolio shows mature work, though Shingle's terms don't allow sexually explicit material.
Aftercare
A page clients can open at midnight when the new tattoo itches. It saves you messages, and people search for it. Write it the way you'd tell them at the chair, in your own words.
How they search
- tattoo shop near me
- tattoo artist near me
- fine line tattoo artist
- cover up tattoo near me
- walk in tattoo near me
- american traditional tattoo
- black and grey realism tattoo
- tattoo aftercare
What earns their trust
- Each artist's name, style and healed work
- Your shop or artist license, where your state or county issues one
- How you handle needles and sterilizing, in plain words
- Your minimum age, and what ID to bring
- How deposits work, before anyone pays one
- Reviews that name the artist and the piece
- A real photo of the shop, inside
How it gets found
What moves a tattoo shop up in a town's results.
Tattoo shop, then what else is true
Use Tattoo shop as your main category, and add Body piercing shop only if someone there pierces. Keep the shop's name, address and phone the same on your listing and your site.
Describe every photo in words
A search engine can't read a tattoo. Give each photo a line like black and grey koi, forearm, by Kit. People using screen readers get the same words, and Checkup flags any image without one.
Give cover-ups and aftercare a page
Cover-up work and aftercare get searched on their own, and both answer a real worry. A page on each serves those people better than a line in a list.
Ask for a review once it's healed
Someone searching fine line in your town reads reviews for the style. Ask clients once it's healed, send your Google review link, and never trade a discount for a review.
How to sell one
Artists live on Instagram, and that's also the risk. A locked account can take a portfolio and every booking request with it, and DMs eat the evenings. A site gives a shop one address for all its artists and a form that sorts requests before anyone has to reply.
Lead with the request form, since that's the time they get back. Say up front that the demo's photos are placeholders, because a tattooer spots a stock tattoo in a second. Ask for their best pieces from each artist, then send the version with their own work in it.
- “Instagram is my portfolio.”
- Keep posting there. The site holds your best pieces in one place, still works if an account gets locked, and gives people who search by style and town somewhere to land. Each one links to the other.
- “My books are full for months.”
- Then the site is how you close them politely. One line says when they open, and the form collects people for next time, so you're not sitting on a pile of DMs you owe replies to.
- “We all work differently here.”
- That's fine. Each artist gets a page with their own style and their own rules, and a place in the form's artist list. The shop keeps one address, and people still choose the artist they came for.
- “Can it take my deposits?”
- No, the site doesn't take payments. Keep collecting them the way you do now, in the shop or by payment link. The site explains the rule up front, so fewer people argue about it later.
Common questions
Can't find your answer? Read Shingle Help or email [email protected].
A portfolio for each artist, named by style, a line saying whose books are open, a request form, your deposit and cancellation rules, your age and ID rule, and aftercare. A first build makes up to six pages, so a three-artist shop can give each artist a page and still have room for aftercare.
Not with Shingle, which doesn't take payments. The site explains your deposit, and you collect it the way you do now, in the shop or by your own payment link. If a booking tool already collects deposits for you, keep it and point your site's request button at it.
No. Shingle's forms take text, choices and contact details, and have no file uploads. Ask for a link to the reference image, or tell clients to send pictures when you reply. When someone gives an email address, you can answer by replying to the submission email, which makes that thread a natural place for them.
For custom work, usually not, since you can't know the length until you've seen the idea, so use a request form. Shingle's booking page suits anything with a set length, such as consultations, piercings or flash slots, with each artist on their own hours and an email reminder the day before.
No. Only YouTube, Vimeo, Calendly and Typeform can sit inside a page, and an Instagram post becomes a link. Upload your best work to the site itself, up to six photos at a time, each with a line saying what it shows, and link to your profile for the rest.
It can, when a build has no photos of yours. A first build places stock photos and may create images with AI, and neither belongs in a portfolio. Replace or remove them in your site's visuals before you publish, and show only work your shop really did.
Read next
- Website formsForms that email you and send each lead where you work.
- WidgetsCookie banner, age check, chat button, bar and popup.
- Optimize a Google Business ProfileEvery field that matters, from Google's own guidance.
- Google review link generatorA link and QR code that open the review box.
- Edit by askingSay what to change, or type on the page itself.
Websites for other trades
Build your first site
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