Service Categories

Categories help you organize your services into logical groups, making it easier for customers to find what they need on your booking page and for your team to manage a growing service catalog.

Why Use Categories

As your service catalog grows, categories become essential for both customer experience and internal organization. Here is how they help:

• Customer clarity – Customers can quickly browse grouped services rather than scrolling a long flat list
• Booking page structure – Categories appear as collapsible sections or tabs on your public booking page
• Reporting – View revenue, bookings, and trends by category
• Staff assignment – Assign staff to entire categories instead of individual services
• Filtering – Filter your service list by category in the dashboard

For example, a wellness center might organize services into Massage, Facials, Body Treatments, and Packages. A consulting firm might use Discovery Calls, Strategy Sessions, and Ongoing Retainers.

Creating a Category

To create a new service category:

1. Navigate to Settings → Services
2. Click the Categories tab at the top of the page
3. Click + Add Category
4. Enter the category details:
   • Name – The display name (e.g., "Hair Services")
   • Description – Optional text shown on the booking page beneath the category name
   • Color – A color label for visual identification in the dashboard and calendar
   • Image – Optional featured image for the category
5. Click Save Category

Editing Categories

To update an existing category:

1. Go to Settings → Services → Categories
2. Click on the category you want to edit
3. Modify any of the fields (name, description, color, or image)
4. Click Save

What Changes Affect

When you edit a category:

• The updated name and description appear immediately on your booking page
• All services in the category reflect the new category name
• Calendar events update with the new color label
• Historical reports retain the original category name at the time of booking

Assigning Services to Categories

There are two ways to assign a service to a category:

During Service Creation

When creating or editing a service, use the Category dropdown to select the appropriate category. If the category does not exist yet, you can create one inline by clicking + New Category in the dropdown.

From the Category Manager

1. Open the category in Settings → Services → Categories
2. Scroll to the Services in this Category section
3. Click Add Services and select from your existing services
4. Click Save

Moving Services Between Categories

To move a service to a different category, simply edit the service and change its category assignment. The service retains all its settings, bookings, and history. Only uncategorized services appear in an "Other" group on the booking page.

Reordering Categories

The order of categories on your booking page determines what customers see first. To rearrange them:

1. Go to Settings → Services → Categories
2. Click Reorder to enter reorder mode
3. Drag categories using the handle on the left side of each row
4. Click Save Order when finished

Reordering Services Within a Category

Within each category, you can also control the order of services:

1. Open the category
2. In the Services in this Category section, drag services into your preferred order
3. Save your changes

This is useful for placing your most popular or highest-value services at the top of each category group.

How Categories Appear on the Booking Page

SeroBook offers several display options for how categories are presented to customers on your public booking page:

Grouped List

Services are listed in a single scrollable page, grouped under category headings. Each category heading shows the category name and optional description. This is the default layout and works well for businesses with fewer than 20 services.

Tab Navigation

Each category appears as a tab at the top of the booking page. Customers click a tab to view only the services in that category. This works well for larger catalogs where scrolling would be inconvenient.

Card Grid

Categories are displayed as visual cards with images. Customers click a category card to drill into its services. This is ideal for image-heavy businesses like spas, salons, and fitness studios.

To change the display style:

1. Go to Settings → Booking Page → Layout
2. Under Service Display, select your preferred style
3. Preview the changes and save

Deleting a Category

To remove a category you no longer need:

1. Go to Settings → Services → Categories
2. Click the category to open it
3. Click More → Delete Category
4. Choose what happens to the services in this category:
   • Move to another category – Select a destination category
   • Leave uncategorized – Services become uncategorized
5. Confirm the deletion

Category Visibility Settings

Control which categories are visible on your booking page:

• Visible – The category and its services appear on the booking page (default)
• Hidden – The category is hidden from the public booking page but its services can still be booked via direct links or by staff
• Internal Only – The category and its services are only available when staff create bookings manually from the dashboard

This is useful for services that require consultation before booking, staff-only offerings, or services still being prepared for launch.

Best Practices

Follow these guidelines to get the most out of service categories:

• Limit to 5-8 categories – Too many categories can overwhelm customers. Merge similar groups where possible.
• Use consistent naming – Stick to a naming convention (e.g., all plural nouns like "Massages", "Facials", "Packages").
• Put popular categories first – Order categories by popularity so most customers find what they need immediately.
• Add descriptions – A brief category description helps customers who are unfamiliar with your services.
• Review quarterly – As your business evolves, reassess whether your categories still make sense and consolidate or split as needed.

Next Steps

Now that your services are organized into categories:

• Add more services to your catalog
• Set up pricing, taxes, and discounts
• Configure availability for each service
• View your services on the calendar