Open feliperapucci.com on a laptop and the mouse pointer turns into a small tattoo machine. The first screen is a realism cat in full colour, “TATTOO ARTIST.” in tall letters, and a booking calendar is one scroll away. It is the most carefully built website we have seen in this series. Then search Google for “felipe rapucci” and Google asks whether you meant “felipe repucci”. The website isn’t on the first page, and the Google profile says he is open until 6am. We read all 76 Google reviews of Felipe’s artist profile, went through the site page by page, and looked at how his reviews now split from Good Honest Tattoos, the Hamilton East studio he co-founded.
At a glance
- Felipe Rapucci is a São Paulo-born tattoo artist working from Good Honest Tattoos, Lovegrove Lane, 394 Grey Street, Hamilton East. His website says he has tattooed for more than 25 years and specialises in black and grey realism.
- Google: 5.0 from 76 reviews since August 2025, 74 of them five stars. Clients write most about the banter and about how he shapes their idea into a design.
- Prices on the website: small tattoos $150 to $350+, medium $350 to $900+, half sleeves $1,000 to $2,500+, full sleeves $3,000 to $8,000+. A $100 deposit books a date; vouchers are $180 an hour.
- The reviews come in waves: 16 on one day in August 2025, then 8 and 9 on single days later.
- SEO4 Audit Score: 18 out of 30, with 9 out of 10 for marketing, the best marketing score in the series. Search is where it falls down: 3 out of 10.
Contents
What 76 reviews say
Seventy-four reviews give five stars and two give four. There are no low reviews at all. One of the four-star reviews has the most honest line in the set: brilliant work, but he “talks your ear off”.
That chat is the biggest theme. Twenty-six of the 68 written reviews mention banter, laughs or long conversations, and they mean it kindly. Close behind, 25 describe the design process: arriving with a loose idea or a half-finished drawing and leaving with something better, or a placement that works with the body. Fifteen are about big work over several sessions. Long-time clients turn up too: one got a first tattoo from Felipe 15 years ago, another says almost 20 years, and one remembers the studio’s earlier homes in Claudelands and Dinsdale.
The timing is unusual. The profile started on 18 August 2025, and on 31 August it received 16 reviews in a single day. December 2025 had 8 on one day and July 2026 had 9. Between the waves, some months bring none. That pattern usually means review requests going out to a list of past clients in one go. Asking is the right idea. Doing it in bursts is riskier: Google’s filters watch for sudden jumps, and requests after each session tend to bring more reviews over a year.
Almost every review has a reply, 72 of 76. They are written as the studio: “We’ll pass along…”, “Felipe did an amazing job”, and 59 of them use the word “thrilled”. On a profile with Felipe’s own name on it, clients would expect to hear from Felipe.
Open till 6am
Google says Felipe is open until 6am. For a realism artist, that is real commitment to the shading.
One artist, two profiles
Felipe co-founded Good Honest Tattoos in 2014 with Adym Kohi, according to the studio’s website. Before August 2025, clients who wanted to praise him reviewed the studio: 16 Good Honest reviews named him by then, and he was the artist its reviews named most. Since his own profile started, 76 reviews have gone there and only 9 Good Honest reviews have mentioned him.
For Felipe, a personal profile makes sense. Clients choose an artist, and his name now has its own 5.0 in Google’s map. For the studio, it means its most-named artist no longer adds to its count. Both profiles sit at the same address. Good Honest shows the postcode 3204, Felipe’s profile 3210 and his website 3216. Google uses those details to decide which listing to show, so they should agree.
Prices and booking
Felipe is one of the few artists in Hamilton to publish a budget guide. On 30 October 2026 the home page listed:
| Piece | Budget guide |
|---|---|
| Small tattoo | $150 to $350+ |
| Medium custom tattoo | $350 to $900+ |
| Half sleeve | $1,000 to $2,500+ |
| Full sleeve | $3,000 to $8,000+ |
| Cover-up work | Quote needed |
| Deposit | $100 to confirm a date in the booking calendar |
| Gift vouchers | $180 per hour, GST included |
| Referral credit | 10% of a referred friend’s session value, from $50 |
Booking is the simplest we have seen: a calendar on the home page and on the booking page. Pick a date, pay the deposit, and Felipe gets in touch about the design. The website gives studio hours as Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 5pm. There is no phone number anywhere, on the site or on Google, so the calendar, email, Instagram and a chat bubble are the ways in.
Plan a piece
Plan a piece with Felipe
Felipe’s website publishes a budget guide, a $100 deposit and an hourly voucher rate of $180. Pick the size of piece you have in mind and see the budget, the likely hours and how many sittings it could take.
From feliperapucci.com, viewed 30 October 2026: budget guide (small $150 to $350+, medium custom $350 to $900+, half sleeve $1,000 to $2,500+, full sleeve $3,000 to $8,000+, cover-ups by quote), a $100 deposit to confirm a date, and gift vouchers at $180 an hour including GST. Hours are the budget divided by $180, as a rough guide only. A guide, not a quote.
How the planner works
The budget ranges come from Felipe’s own guide. To give a rough number of hours we divide each end of the range by $180, his hourly voucher rate, and round up. Sittings are those hours divided by the longest sitting you enter. Cover-ups are quoted in person, so the planner doesn’t guess. The $100 deposit and voucher rate are from feliperapucci.com on 30 October 2026.
How it compares in Hamilton
In barely over a year, Felipe’s profile has collected 40 reviews in the last 12 months, more than Good Honest (25), Skinks (14) or Paradiso (19), and answered 37 of them. Futureink is still far ahead on volume. His 4.97 sits level with Futureink’s 4.98, just behind Jacob Cross’s 5.0 from an even newer profile.
The website up close
From here the review is mainly for Felipe and other artists. If you just want a tattoo, the common questions are at the end.
Felipe also designs websites and apps under LAXXY Technology, which built this site on the same platform as the Good Honest site. It shows. The pointer is a tattoo machine, the first screen is real work, and the title, “Felipe Rapucci | Tattoo Artist Hamilton NZ | Good Honest Tattoos”, and the H1, “Tattoo artist in Hamilton, NZ.”, both say exactly what people search. The home page carries a budget guide, a “what style should you choose” section, FAQs, three tattoo guides, Google reviews, a free stencil tool, vouchers and a referral scheme. The About page tells the São Paulo to Waikato story and has Person schema. The first gallery images have descriptive alt text, though most of the rest just say “Black & Grey” or “Colour”.
Good sites still have rough edges. These are the ones we found:
- The counters under the heading count up from zero. On our phone test, a few seconds after loading they read “1+ years, 200+ tattoos, 0 awards”, and the plain text Google reads says “0+ YRS, 0+ TATTOOS, 0 AWARDS”. The real figures, 25+, 5,000+ and 13, should be in the page from the start.
- A note meant for the site owner is visible on the home page: “This section gives Google, ChatGPT, and your clients clear answers while showing the quality of your work beside the advice.”
- The meta description ends with a run of 13 search phrases, one of them misspelt (“realisitic tattoo Hamilton East”). Google ignores keyword lists and may rewrite the snippet.
- The business schema on every page is named “Good Honest Tattoos”, at feliperapucci.com, described as an “award-winning tattoo studio” with 25+ years. The studio dates from 2014; the 25 years are Felipe’s. On several pages its opening hours include Monday, 10am to 11am.
- An FAQ answer in the schema says Felipe “is considered by many one of the best in his areas, fast, reliable, confidente”. Google prefers neutral answers, and “confidente” is a typo.
- The three tattoo guides open inside the home page, so they have no addresses of their own. A site: search shows only three pages of the site.
- The About page title is “Felipe works fast because of experience, not shortcuts.”, without his name. The voucher page title says Good Honest Tattoos.
- Made-up addresses load the home page instead of a “not found” page.
- The first screen takes a few seconds to appear while the intro animation plays.
About 15 seconds in, a referral pop-up covers the whole screen on a phone, with the chat bubble below it. The offer is good, 10% of a friend’s session as credit. On a first visit, it lands before the visitor has seen any work.
The cursor
Felipe’s website turns your mouse into a tattoo machine. It is the only one in Hamilton you can wave around without signing a consent form.
Search and the Google profile
Google autocomplete doesn’t know the name yet: typing “felipe rapucci” suggests other people, and the results page asks “Did you mean: felipe repucci”. On 30 October 2026, the first page for “felipe rapucci” showed his Google profile, Facebook and Instagram posts, TattoosWizard and the Good Honest Instagram. His own website wasn’t there. A site: search shows only three of its pages.
The Google profile has strong photos and a video, the right category (tattoo artist), the website, and an Appointments link to the booking calendar. Three things need fixing:
- The hours run overnight: Tuesday 10am to midnight, then Wednesday to Friday from midnight to 6am and 10am to midnight. Google shows him as “Open · Closes 6am Sat” on a Friday evening. The website says Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 5pm.
- The address is typed in lower case, “394 grey street, Shop 7/Lovegrove Ln, hamilton”, with postcode 3210; the site says 3216 and the studio’s own profile 3204.
- No phone number, and no services list.
SEO4 Audit Score: 18 out of 30
The same thirty checks we use for every business, from Paradiso Tattoos (18) and Good Honest Tattoos (16) to Skinks (14). It scores what clients and Google can see online, not the tattoos.
| Part | Passed | Failed |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews (6/10) | 5.0 average; 40 in the last 12 months; replies to 72 of 76; no low reviews; every review names the artist | 76 reviews; days with 16, 9 and 8 reviews; replies in one template voice; no second platform confirmed |
| Search (3/10) | Plain Google name; tattoo artist and Hamilton in title and H1; meta description; business schema | No phone on Google or the site; mobile speed not tested (scored 0 for now); guides and styles without their own pages; no tap-to-call; made-up pages load the home page; own site not on page one for his name |
| Marketing (9/10) | A clear promise on the first screen; a published budget guide; a clear speciality (black and grey realism); real work; booking in one click; Google reviews on the site; Instagram post within 60 days; price question answered; no competitor ads on the name | No guarantee or touch-up policy explained |
How we score
- Reviews: (1) rating 4.8 or higher; (2) 100 or more reviews; (3) 20 or more in the last 12 months; (4) no day with 5 or more reviews in the last two years; (5) replies to most reviews; (6) replies to every review at 3 stars or fewer; (7) replies are personal, not one template; (8) reviews at 3 stars or fewer under 5%; (9) a second platform with 10 or more reviews; (10) staff named in 10% or more of reviews.
- Search: (1) the Google name has no added keywords; (2) the Google phone and website match the site; (3) service and suburb or city in the page title and H1; (4) a meta description; (5) mobile PageSpeed score of 50 or more; (6) LocalBusiness schema; (7) a page for each main service; (8) tap-to-call on mobile; (9) HTTPS and no broken key links; (10) the business’s own site in the top 3 for its name.
- Marketing: (1) a clear promise above the fold; (2) prices or “from” prices; (3) a guarantee explained; (4) a clear speciality or offer that sets the business apart; (5) real photos or case studies; (6) a quote or booking within two clicks; (7) reviews shown on the site; (8) a social media post in the last 60 days; (9) the top “People also ask” question answered on the site; (10) no competitor ads on the brand name, or the business defends it.
- Each check scores 1 or 0. A check we couldn’t run on the day scores 0 until we can, and we say so. With no low reviews, check 6 passes.
Are you Felipe?
We’ll send you the full checklist behind this review, free: all 30 checks with what passed, what didn’t and how to fix each one, starting with those 6am opening hours. No call, no obligation. Ask for your checklist.
A plan for more bookings
The marketing is done; very few artists in New Zealand have a site this good. Nearly everything left is plumbing, and most of it takes minutes.
| What | Why | Effort | Likely effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fix the Google hours to match the site | Google shows him open until 6am | Very low | High |
| Verify the site in Search Console and submit the sitemap | Three pages in a site: search; not on page one for his name | Low | High |
| Schema in Felipe’s name, with one postcode everywhere | The schema says Good Honest; three postcodes in use | Low | High |
| Give each guide and style its own page | Sleeve costs, cover-ups and realism vs colour have no URLs | Medium | High |
| Write replies as Felipe, in the first person | 59 of 72 replies say “thrilled”, in the studio’s voice | Low | Medium |
| Ask each client the day after, not in batches | 16 reviews on one day in August 2025 | Low | Medium |
| Put 25+, 5,000+ and 13 in the page from the start | The counters show 0 to Google and slow phones | Very low | Medium |
| Show the referral pop-up later, or only on return visits | It covers the first screen on a phone | Very low | Medium |
| A phone number, or “book online only” said clearly | No phone on Google or the site | Very low | Low to medium |
Ideas that fit this artist
- Publish the awards properly. The site names Best of Show at the NZ International Tattoo Festival 2015; a page listing all 13 awards, with the year, the festival and a photo of each winning piece, would back up the counter.
- Turn the long reviews into case studies. A sleeve or a leg over many sittings, with the healed photos and the client’s words, is the best sales page a realism artist can have.
- Agree with Good Honest who appears where. Felipe’s own profile for his clients, the studio profile for walk-ins and the team, with each linking to the other.
- Use the free stencil tool for search. A page called “free tattoo stencil maker” can rank on its own and bring people to the portfolio.
For tattoo artists
Artists with their own profile live and die by reviews. Here is the difference between asking in batches and asking every time:
Ask after every session, or in batches?
Many artists send review requests in a burst to old clients. It works, once. Asking each client while the tattoo is fresh usually brings more reviews over a year, and avoids days that Google may treat as unusual. Try your own numbers.
Your own estimates; nothing here is data from Felipe Rapucci or Good Honest Tattoos. Batches assume every client since the last batch is asked at once.
Quote and Job Organiser: SEO4’s free app
Large realism pieces run over many sittings, and every one needs the plan, the deposit and the photos in one place. Quote and Job Organiser is a free Android app on Google Play for exactly that. No account, no subscription, no ads, and the data stays on your phone.
- A quote with hours, sittings, deposit and GST, sent as a PDF by email, SMS or WhatsApp.
- An accepted quote turns into a job with the client and price carried over.
- Reference images, stencils and progress photos saved with each client.
- Notes for the next sitting, so the plan survives a gap of months.
If you want more, we build custom apps for artists and studios: bookings by artist, sitting reminders, review requests the day after. Send us your idea, even a rough one. They cost less than most owners expect. Tell us what you need.
Common questions
His clients think so. On 30 October 2026 his Google profile had 5.0 from 76 reviews, 74 of them five stars and none lower than four. Reviewers praise his realism, how he develops their ideas into a design, and the conversation in the chair.
His website’s budget guide lists small tattoos from $150 to $350+, medium custom pieces $350 to $900+, half sleeves $1,000 to $2,500+ and full sleeves $3,000 to $8,000+. Cover-ups are quoted. Gift vouchers are $180 an hour.
Through the booking calendar on feliperapucci.com: choose a date and pay a $100 deposit, and Felipe gets in touch about the design. You can also email or message him on Instagram. No phone number is listed.
Black and grey realism: portraits, animals, memorial pieces, religious themes and large projects such as sleeves. He also does colour, Māori-inspired work and cover-ups.
At Good Honest Tattoos, Shop 7, Lovegrove Lane, 394 Grey Street, Hamilton East. His website gives studio hours as Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 5pm.
Sources and how we checked
- Google reviews: SEO4 collected every public Google review of Felipe Rapucci’s artist profile (76) on 30 October 2026, and of Good Honest Tattoos (187), Futureink Studio Tattoo Art (602), Skinks Tattoo Studio (144), Paradiso Tattoos (96) and Jacob Cross Bridge City Tattoos (59) on 28 and 29 October 2026, with date, stars and owner reply. Themes are keyword matches in reviews with text; reviews are paraphrased without names.
- Google search: “felipe rapucci”, “felipe rapucci tattoo hamilton”, “site:feliperapucci.com” and autocomplete, 30 October 2026, from New Zealand. Results depend on where and when you search.
- Website: feliperapucci.com home, tattoos, about, booking and voucher pages, the page code and schema, viewed on a phone and on desktop, 30 October 2026. Awards and years of experience are as stated on the website.
- Instagram: @feliperapuccitattoos, 30 October 2026.
- PageSpeed Insights: not run on 30 October 2026.
- Screenshots of Google and feliperapucci.com are used for review and criticism and credited in each caption; the chat avatar is cropped out.
About this review
SEO4 is not connected with Felipe Rapucci, Good Honest Tattoos or LAXXY Technology. They are not our clients and did not pay for or see this review before publication. We review what clients and Google can see online, not the artwork.
If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will correct it: contact SEO4.
Corrections: none so far. Facts checked on 30 October 2026.
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