Designing a Time-Saving and Effective Therapy Website
RECOMMENDED CONTENT THAT WILL SUPPORT YOUR PRACTICE
Managing a therapy business is unique in a lot of ways. You're not selling products, nor are you selling a one-time service. Someone seeking a therapist is looking for something more personal and nuanced. For many potential clients, their first encounter with you will be through your website. Crafting an inviting online presence that makes visitors feel safe is an art, but it’s totally doable.
When designing websites, I aim to keep things simple and efficient. For therapists in particular, I’ve found there are some specific perks to having a thoughtfully designed, effective website.
Perks of an Effective Website
Better-qualified clients
Less time answering basic questions from potential clients
A system for helping clients find you and helpful resources
More time to focus on your craft and helping others
So what do you need to design a fantastic, time-saving, and super-effective website? The following pages are a great place to start:
Welcome Page
About Me
Services
Resources
Contact
You can always add more items, such as a blog or a testimonial page, but it's always easiest to start simple. Here's a look at each page and what content I recommend including:
Welcome Page
Identify the problem
When someone seeks therapy, there's usually a problem involved, such as physical or emotional pain. Identifying right off the bat that you understand their need is beneficial to a visitor so that they know they're in the right place.
How you can help
What do you offer that can help them solve this problem? Provide a high-level overview of what your services include. You'll detail these more on your actual services page.
Testimonials
People find comfort in others' stories, so if you have former clients willing to share a positive experience, your welcome page is an excellent place to include this.
About Me
Professional background
Consider including your years of experience, where you studied, and what degrees you've earned. Allow a potential client to see that you are a credible therapist. And, if you're brand new to the field, don't stress. Be honest and upfront. Before you know it, you'll have trusted clients and years under your belt.
Personal notes
This section can sometimes be tricky because people either want to overshare or share nothing. Keep it simple by including some of your hobbies and interests. If relevant, you can mention that you have children or animals. However, leave out the names and ages of family members, except for pets, because furry friends don’t need as much privacy 😊. You can decide how much personal information to share once you start working with clients, but keep this part brief on your website.
Services
Empathetic note
As the therapy provider, the visitors to your site often need help. Before they read about your specific services, it's nice to show that you empathize with what they're going through.
Your services
This part is pretty straightforward. What are your services? You can divide these into categories such as individual therapy, couples therapy, virtual therapy, or timelines like 30-minute, 60-minute, and 90-minute sessions.
Your approach
Give your potential clients a peek into what a session with you might look like. Do you use a specific style of therapy or particular equipment? Offering a preview makes seeking help less scary.
FAQs
As a client, I wish every therapy site had a frequently asked question section. FAQs will save you, the provider, and your potential client so much communication time. You can answer a ton of questions just by having this section. Are you accepting new clients? Do you offer insurance? If so, what providers do you work with? If not, what's your out-of-pocket cost? What is your availability? How long are your sessions? This information is a great way to qualify your clients without having to communicate back and forth with someone who isn't going to fit with you in the long run.
Resources
Crisis information
This information is more specific to those who provide mental health therapy. Sometimes people will come to your website looking for help and realize they are in more crisis than they thought. Offer local or national crisis hotline numbers or links to crisis websites here.
Helpful websites
Through your education and work experience, you've probably found numerous websites that have been helpful to you and your clients. You might think this would turn off a visitor by sending them somewhere else for help. However, it actually builds credibility by showing you understand that there’s lots of information available and that you don't hold the key to everything. In fact, this may make them feel more at ease knowing you are aware of and willing to share available tools.
Book and article recommendations
A previous therapist of mine would recommend specific books to her clients related to their struggles. I would have loved it if she had a website with direct links to purchase these books.
Contact
Phone
I recommend setting up a link with your phone number so that if someone is visiting your site on a mobile device, they can click on the number rather than having to remember it and type it in their keypad.
You can also add a link to your e-mail.
Address (Map)
A fun feature in Squarespace (my favorite web design platform) you can add is a map. You can even link it to open up in Google directions which is super helpful.
Response time
This information often goes overlooked, but letting your potential clients know your turnaround time in returning phone calls and e-mails is very helpful. It's great to give a window when they can expect to hear from you. That way, they're not wondering what's taking so long.
Important Tools
Links
When you think about your visitors, imagine them navigating your website. You can help guide them by adding buttons that link to other pages throughout your website. For example, on your Welcome page, you'll want a link to your Services and possibly your About page. On your Services page, you'll want to add a button with a link to your Contact page. Definitely don't overdo it with buttons, or you'll confuse your visitors. Keep it simple and helpful.
Quotes
I'm a sucker for a good quote when it comes to therapy. Again, your visitors likely have a problem they're trying to solve. You can offer them motivation while they're exploring your site by way of hopeful quotes and positive messaging. I suggest sticking with one quote per page so it doesn't feel cluttered.
Header and Footer
Your header and footer will show up on every page. In the header, you’ll want to include your business name, links to each page, and a button for your contact page.
In the footer, you‘ll want to include page links, contact information, and a copyright notice (© Your Business 2023) to protect your original content. The footer is also where you'll want to include links to your legal pages, such as privacy, terms and conditions, and disclaimer.
Legal Jargon
Because of HIPPA laws, You likely will not collect personal data via your website. However, I recommend that anyone with a website get basic legal protection. Is this the most fun part of designing a website? No, it is not. However, I have some good friends over at a company called Termageddon that has made this extraordinarily painless and, dare I say, fun. They've offered my visitors a 10% discount on their services, which you can check out HERE. Use code LANNING
Accessibility
Web accessibility is the practice of making websites usable to ALL visitors, including those with disabilities, impairments, and limitations. It’s always a good idea to consider this when designing your site. Remember to keep things consistent and add alt text to images.
You can access the Free User Way widget HERE to add more support to your site. This icon appears at the bottom right corner of your website and offers enhanced web accessibility with helpful options such as Dark Contrast and Bigger Text.
Social Links
If you use social media for your therapy business, you can include a social icon that links to your account in either the header or footer. I personally prefer including these in the footer.
Favicon
This is the image a visitor will see in their browser tab when visiting your website. You can use your logo or create a simple icon using Canva.
Now that you know what content to include, you're ready to start the fun part, which is designing your website! There are lots of web design platforms you can choose from, though my biased recommendation is Squarespace.
If you'd prefer to save time and energy, check out my CUSTOM WEBSITE DESIGN options.
I sincerely respect and appreciate everyone who serves as a therapist. Without mental health therapy, I would not be where I am today. And without physical, speech, and occupational therapy, my daughter would not have the skills she has today. My hope in serving this community is that people will more easily be able to connect with quality therapists, and those of you providing therapy will have more time to focus on those in need.
Thanks for taking the time, and happy designing!
I’d love to learn about your business and discuss how I can support your goals!
