What a tattoo shop website needs

The facts here come from primary sources: the FDA's Think Before You Ink consumer update and its tattoos and permanent makeup fact sheet, Google's Business Profile guidelines, Google's help on bookings through a provider, the Maps user-generated content policy, the OWASP File Upload Cheat Sheet, the W3C's explanation of images of text and schema.org's TattooParlor type, all checked on November 14, 2026. This is general information, not legal or medical advice. Where we give our own view, we say so.

The short answer

A tattoo shop website needs a page for each artist with their own healed and fresh work, a consultation form that accepts reference images safely, a deposit and cancellation policy written out before payment, a page on age, ID and health rules that you have checked with your state or county, an aftercare page in plain words, clear walk-in hours, and a name, address and hours that match your Google Business Profile.

Artist pages and portfolios

Clients choose an artist before they choose a shop, so the artist pages do most of the work. Our view: give each artist a page with a real photo, the styles they work in (fine line, traditional, black and gray, realism, lettering, cover-ups), the styles they do not take on, the days they work, whether their books are open, and a button that starts a consultation with them. Put a chosen set of their best pieces on the page, newest first, rather than every piece they have done.

Some artists want their own Business Profile. Google's guidelines describe an individual practitioner as "a public-facing professional, typically with their own customer base". Where several practitioners work at one place, Google says "The organization should create a Business Profile for this location, separate from that of the practitioner", and the practitioner's profile title "should include only the name of the practitioner". Read the full guidelines before an artist creates one.

Photos of real work

Show only work done in your shop, by the artist named next to it. Our view, not a legal rule: ask every client for consent before you post a photo of their tattoo, in writing, and say where it will appear (the website, social media, ads). Tattoos are on bodies, and some placements show more than a client wants on the internet, so offer a tight crop and leave out faces unless the client says yes. Take a photo down if the client asks.

Healed photos matter as much as fresh ones, because they show how the work settles. Label which is which. Do not edit a photo in a way that changes the result, such as smoothing lines or boosting color that is not there. Give each photo a short alt text that says what it is ("fine line floral piece on forearm, healed").

If your flash sheets and price list are only images, people using screen readers or translation tools cannot read them. The W3C's guidance says to "Use text instead of pictures of text", because "People cannot alter how text looks in images." Keep the flash images, and add the names, sizes and prices as text below them.

Who owns a photo is a separate question from consent: the person who took it usually holds the copyright, and a design you copied from someone else is not yours to show. Our guide to website photos and image licensing covers the rights side, and Business Profile photos covers the ones you post on Google.

The consultation form and reference images

Most custom work starts with a request, not a time slot. Our view: ask for the idea in a few sentences, the placement, the rough size in inches, color or black and gray, the artist they want (or "no preference"), when they are free, and up to a few reference images. Ask whether it is a cover-up or rework, since that changes the time and the artist. Say how long you usually take to reply, and what happens next.

Uploads need care. OWASP's File Upload Cheat Sheet lists the basics in plain terms: "List allowed extensions", "Validate the file type, don't trust the Content-Type header as it can be spoofed", "Change the filename to something generated by the application" and "Set a file size limit". For images, it suggests you "decode and re-encode to an allowed image format, explicitly removing unnecessary metadata". For a tattoo shop, our view: accept JPEG, PNG and HEIC only, cap the size, and keep the files out of public folders. Our guides on form design and form spam cover the rest of the form.

Reference images can be photos of the client's own body, so treat them as private. Our view: only the artist and the front desk should see them, delete what you no longer need on a schedule you write down, and say so in your privacy notice; our guide to website privacy basics explains what that notice covers.

Booking and deposits

Most shops take a deposit to hold a session, so write the rules out before the client pays: how much the deposit is, whether it comes off the final price, how much notice you need to move or cancel, when the deposit is lost, and how many times a session can be moved. Our view: put the same short version on the booking page, in the confirmation email and in your terms, and use the same words in all three.

Take the payment through your payment provider's hosted checkout or payment link, so card details never touch your own site; our guide to accepting payments online explains the options. The deposits and cancellations section of our online booking guide covers how to state the policy, and website terms and policies shows where those pages belong.

For flash or short sessions that do not need a consultation, a normal booking screen works. Bookings can also start on Google: Google's help says "Your booking providers will show up on your Business Profile within a week" once a supported provider is set up, and "You can also add your own link to your Business Profile."

Age, ID and health rules

The FDA is clear about who sets the rules for the shop itself: "state and local authorities oversee the practice of tattooing", while inks "are subject to U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversight as cosmetics". Its fact sheet says it again: "The actual practice of tattooing is regulated by local jurisdictions." So the minimum age, whether a parent can consent for a minor, the ID you must see and the forms clients sign depend on your state, county or city.

Our view: put those rules on one short page and link it from the booking form, but only after you have checked them with your state or county health department or the body that licenses your shop. Say which ID you accept, and that you will turn people away without it. Do not copy another state's rules, and do not guess. If your shop license number has to be shown, or you want to show it, put it in the footer.

On ink, the FDA notes that it "has not approved any pigments for injection into the skin for cosmetic purposes", so do not call your inks "FDA-approved". If a client has a reaction, the FDA tells them to "Notify the tattoo artist so they can identify the ink and avoid using it again" and to "Ask for the brand, color, and any lot or batch number of the ink or diluent". Our view: keep that record for each session, and tell clients on the aftercare page that you have it.

An aftercare page

The FDA says: "Your tattooist should advise you how to care for a newly tattooed area and how long you may experience some local discomfort." A web page is the easiest place to keep that advice, and clients can find it again on day four when the printed sheet is gone.

Our view: publish the same steps your artists give in the chair, as text, in the order they happen (first hours, first days, first weeks), and check them against any aftercare your local health rules require. Add the FDA's line on when to get help: "If you notice that the area seems not to be healing or if you notice a rash — redness or bumps — near your tattoo, contact the tattooist and your health care professional, especially if you develop a fever." Do not promise results or give medical advice beyond that, and give a way to reach the shop.

Walk-ins, hours and guest artists

Say plainly whether you take walk-ins, on which days, and what kind of work (small flash, piercings if you do them). Our view: if walk-ins depend on who is free, say so and point to where you post same-day openings. Keep your opening hours the same on the site and on Google. Google's guidelines say "You may set special hours for holidays, temporary closures, or other events", so set them on the profile when you close for a convention and say the same on the site.

Guest artists bring their own following. Our view: give each guest a short page or a section on a "Guest artists" page, with their dates, styles, a few photos of their work and how to book, and take it down or mark it past when they leave.

Reviews and your Google Business Profile

Ask every client for a review the same way, for example in the message after the session. Google's Maps content policy says merchants may not "Offer incentives – such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services - in exchange for posting any review", or "Discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers", and "should not require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises". It also lists "Merchants requesting that staff solicit reviews that include specific content, including content that identifies a staff member." So a discount on the next session for a review, or asking clients to name their artist, are both against the policy. Our guide to reviews and testimonials on websites covers showing reviews on your own site.

Google's guidelines ask you to "Represent your business as it’s consistently represented and recognized in the real world across signage, stationery, and other branding". Use the same shop name, address, phone number and hours on the website and the profile. In structured data, schema.org has a type for this: its hierarchy runs "Thing > Organization > LocalBusiness > HealthAndBeautyBusiness > TattooParlor", described simply as "A tattoo parlor." Our guides to the Google Business Profile and local business schema show how to set both up.

A short checklist (our view)

• A page for each artist with styles, working days, books open or closed and a consultation button.
• Only your own work, with written client consent, healed and fresh labeled, with alt text.
• Flash names, sizes and prices as text, not only images.
• A consultation form with placement, size, artist and safe image uploads.
• A deposit and cancellation policy shown before payment, in the same words everywhere.
• Age, ID and health rules checked with your state or county, on one page.
• An aftercare page in text, with when to contact the shop and a health care professional.
• Walk-in days, regular hours and special hours the same on the site and on Google.
• Reviews asked for the same way from every client, with no incentives.

Salons, med spas, gyms and photographers have matching guides in what a salon website needs, what a med spa website needs, what a gym website needs and what a photography website needs, and the website content checklist covers the pages every site needs. If you would rather have it built for you, our website development service builds custom WordPress and static websites made to load fast, rank well and be easy for your team to edit. See all our services.

Frequently asked questions

Should a tattoo shop website show prices?

Our view: show your shop minimum, your hourly or session rate if you have one, and flash prices as text. Custom work is usually quoted after a consultation, so say that and explain what changes the price: size, detail, placement and time.

Do we need consent to post photos of clients' tattoos?

Our view: always ask in writing first, say where the photo will appear, crop out faces unless the client agrees, and take a photo down if the client asks. Check the privacy rules that apply where you are.

Where do we find the minimum age for a tattoo?

The FDA says state and local authorities oversee the practice of tattooing, so ask your state or county health department or your licensing body. Publish only the rules you have checked for your location.

Can we give a discount for a Google review?

No. Google's Maps content policy does not allow incentives such as payment, discounts or free services in exchange for a review, and it does not allow staff to ask for reviews that name a staff member.