Academy › Build › WhatsApp and customers
The button goes right next to the price, not in the footer
By the end, you'll have a WhatsApp button for every place people see you, each one with its own message already written and tested from your own phone.
By Yodai · Published September 6, 2026 · Updated October 12, 2026
You put the WhatsApp button in the footer, next to the Instagram and Facebook icons. Nobody taps it.
You make it huge, floating right over the price, and the first thing people do is swipe it away with their thumb because it's covering what they wanted to read.
The button doesn't fail because of where the icon sits. It fails because nobody knows what happens if they tap it, or why they should message you instead of calling, instead of sending you a DM on Instagram, instead of checking out the next website.
The question isn't where you put the icon. It's this: everywhere someone is looking at you, your website, your Instagram, the sign in your window, what do they need to read to message you, right now, right there.
The winning spot: next to the decision, not next to the logo
The WhatsApp button goes right under the service listing, not all the way at the top sharing a menu with your social icons.
The reason is simple. When someone gets to the price of a haircut, a consultation, or a table for four, that's the moment they decide. If the button is a finger's tap away, they message you. If they have to scroll up, hunt through icons, and guess which one is WhatsApp, they hesitate and move on to another website.
Next to the button goes a short line that tells the customer what they get by texting instead of calling: "I'll confirm your time right away," "no waiting for us to open," "I'll get back to you today." Without that line, the button is just one more icon among the usual ones.
One link or one per location: the decision that saves you confusion
The wa.me link, the address that opens WhatsApp straight to your number with a pre-written message, can be the same everywhere or different depending on where it comes from.
With just one place where people find you, your website, one link is enough. As soon as you add Instagram and a sign, each link should carry its own pre-loaded message.
- You copy and paste one single link into your website, your Instagram bio, and your sign
- No need to set up anything special for each location
- When a message comes in, you don't know if it came from the sign, Instagram, or your website
- The pre-written message changes depending on where the link comes from
- Your Instagram bio says one thing, the sign on your door says another
- You have to generate and paste a different link for each location, one more thing to maintain
Which one to pick: If you only have one place where people find you, your website, the single link is enough, don't overcomplicate it. Once you add Instagram and a sign, use one link per spot: the difference comes from the pre-loaded message, not the number, and in a month you'll know which spot brings you real customers without even asking, unless someone deletes or changes the text before sending it.
The sign: the shortest path between your window and the chat
The sign is the place with the least room for error: it stays taped to your window for months, and if something's off, nobody tells you. Setting it up right takes four steps, from scratch to print.
- 1Write the pre-loaded message
Don't just put "Hi." Write the line a customer would only send if they actually want something: "I'd like to book an appointment this week." That way, when the message comes in, you already know what they want without having to ask. - 2Generate the link with that text
Any free wa.me link generator asks for your number and message, then hands you the finished link. No need to type anything by hand. - 3Turn it into a QR code
Paste that link into a free QR code generator, one with no watermark, and download it at a large size, made to be seen from a few feet away. - 4Test it yourself before you print
Scan it with your own phone, send the message, and confirm it lands on the number you actually check every day. It's the easiest step to skip.
With this, your button stops being just another icon and becomes the shortcut: the customer knows what to write, you know which page it came from, and the number on the other end is the one you actually check every day.
What shows up the moment that conversation opens, before you've replied to anything, is the next piece of the channel.
- The WhatsApp button is next to the price or the service, not in the footer with the social media icons
- Next to the button is a line that tells the customer what they get by texting instead of calling
- Each place (your website, Instagram, a sign) has its own link with a different pre-filled message
- The link on the sign has been tested from your own phone, against the number you actually check every day
Test yourself
Answer before opening each one. If one gives you trouble, go back to the section that explains it.
1. You have a hair salon with a website and a very active Instagram, but no physical sign yet. How many different links do you need to set up, and why?
Two: one for the website and one for the Instagram bio, even though it's the same number behind both. Without a sign in the mix, you don't need a third one, but with two active channels, it's worth knowing where each message comes from.
2. A customer visits your website, reads the price of a consultation, and doesn't see any button until they scroll up to the menu, where WhatsApp sits next to Instagram and Facebook. What's the first change to make?
Move the button to the service page, right below the price, along with the line about what the customer gets by texting. The problem isn't that the button is missing: it's too far from the moment the customer decides, and that's where you lose them.
3. You've had a sign in your storefront window with a QR code for two months, and almost no one mentions the sign when they text. What's the first thing to check?
Scan the QR code yourself with your phone and check which number the message lands on, and whether someone actually checks it daily. It comes first because it takes a minute to verify, and if it fails, nothing else matters.
The button already gets the person texting you with the message pre-filled; what happens in the first few seconds after they tap decides whether they keep waiting or go somewhere else.
In Yodai the WhatsApp bot answers with your prices and your hours, and hands the chat over when someone asks for a person. See how the WhatsApp bot for your business works.
NextThe storefront that sells without you writing a word