What Should Private Practice Therapist Websites Include?
Having a professional therapist website is essential for private practice therapists in 2023.
Are you a private practice therapist looking to create a website that will bring in your most ideal clients? An effective website is key to success in today's competitive landscape, so it's important to make sure yours stands out. But what are the essential components that make up the best therapy websites? In this post, I’ll talk about the top 5 qualities of the best therapy websites, and how you can ensure your website incorporates them to stand out amongst the rest.
Visually Pleasant Design
A visually appealing website can make all the difference in helping prospective clients choose you as their private practice therapist. A great website should be designed to be aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate. To make sure your website stands out:
Keep it simple.
Choose a minimal design that is easy to read and move through
Use visuals such as photos, icons, and graphics in an intentional and specific way—too much visual content can be overwhelming.
Ensure your website also guides visitors to the right places with intuitive menus and thoughtfully placed CTAs (Call-to-Actions).
Utilizing good web design principles will ensure your website is easy to use and helps potential clients find the information they need quickly and easily.
Clear Language That Describes Your Services & Specialties
Take time to write clear and descriptive content for your therapist website.
Private practice therapist websites need a clear, easy-to-understand language (also known as “copy” or “content”) that conveys their services and specialties. It is important to avoid using jargon, wordiness, or being overly clinical in the descriptions on the website. Prospective clients will also be very interested in learning more about who you are as a therapist, so having a good “About Me” page is another essential piece of content to consider.
Visitors to your site should easily understand what kind of help you offer and how it may benefit them. It's also best practice to give each specialty its own page on the website, so visitors can get more detailed information about the types of therapy services you provide or the specific issues you treat. This will also make it easier for search engines to index and rank your website when someone searches for particular mental health services.
By creating specific pages for each of your services that are rich with original and relevant content, you'll be able to ensure that the most relevant information is presented for each service and that prospective clients can easily locate what they need. Search engines like Google are getting smarter and smarter all the time, and they are specifically looking for content that demonstrates expertise and relevance to what people are searching for. This means that when you’re writing about yourself and your service, you’ll do much better when you can demonstrate that your services are relevant to what the site visit is looking for, and that you know what you’re talking about.
"Call to Action" Buttons and Links
As mentioned above in the “Design” section, it’s important to have prominent "Call to Action" (CTA) buttons and links on a therapy website is essential for prospective clients to be able to take the next steps to start therapy. Clear, concise, and easy-to-find "CTA" can help people understand what to do to start the therapy process.
Additionally, having clear and accessible CTAs may increase the "conversion" rate of a site visitor to a consultation, as it gives them an easy way to reach out. By “conversion,” I mean that a client may be more like to schedule an intake meeting with you because they were able to clearly understand how and where to do so. If you have a private practice website, your CTA buttons must be easy to find and understand so that potential clients know what steps to take when they are ready to start therapy.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Therapist Websites
Search Engine Optimization for therapists can help your website stand out amongst the competition.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an important tool for private practice therapists to get their websites seen. SEO involves using the right keywords to draw potential clients to your site. Therapists should use SEO keywords related to mental health, such as "therapy," "counseling," and "psychotherapy," while pairing them with location-based keywords.
For example, if you’re a therapist in Dallas, you’d want to use a keyword like “Dallas therapist” or “Counseling in Dallas” throughout your website. Additionally, if you are—like me—someone who provides professional/non-therapeutic services, like supervision, consultation, or coaching, you might also use those words on your website… something like “Business consultation for private practice therapists” or “Counselor coach.”
Using a combination of keywords can help improve the chances that your website will apepar in more searches, which means you’ve got a better chance at your ideal clients coming across your website when they’re on Google or Bing or Yahoo looking for a therapist in their area.
Another great resource for therapist website SEO is to list your private practice on Google My Business. This is a free service from Google that allows you to establish your practice locally, and will make it more likely that your business will show up in local searches and in searches where people are using Google Maps. Note: This option is available primarily to those who have brick-and-mortar practices, as Google doesn’t allow you to register a business using a P.O. Box or a virtual mailing address. To get around this restriction, some therapists may choose to connect with colleagues in their desired service are who have a brick-and-mortar practice and ask to “rent” the use of the local address, so that they can use that address for their Google business listing.
To learn more about SEO for therapists, try a resource like TherapieSEO or this guide from Avalanche Creative.
For mobile responsive designs that are easy to create, I personally love using Squarespace.
Mental Health Resources
A blog on your therapy website that links to helpful books, articles, and podcasts is essential for providing additional value to prospective clients. This is especially true for articles and podcasts related to mental health topics that you specialize in, as it gives them more context and can help establish you as an expert.
In addition, it's important to provide resources for local crisis services or access to services that can benefit those who may need additional help or support. Sometimes, someone needs more immediate support than you can give—or they need a different or higher level of care than your private practice can offer—and so having a list of resources available is a great idea. This list of resources is usually better as its own page on your website, rather than as a blog post.
Having these resources available shows that you are well-informed and have taken the necessary steps to ensure that those seeking help can find it quickly and easily.
Final Thoughts
Creating a great therapist website for your private practice will help your business soar in 2023 and beyond.
Private practice therapists can benefit from having a well-designed and optimized therapist website. A visually pleasing design helps keep visitors on the site, while clear language describing your services and specialties gives people the information they need. Having "call to action" buttons and links, as well as SEO optimization, helps potential clients easily find your website and be able to contact you for therapy. Finally, making sure to include mental health resources, a blog, and other helpful links allows your website to stand out from the rest.
Building a great therapist website is key to reaching new clients, so make sure to put in the effort to create a great website for your private practice. If you’ve got a therapist website but aren’t sure if or how it might need to improve, check out my therapist Website Audit service. With this service, you’ll receive an individualized, 30-45 minute Loom recording where I’ll review your website in depth and give you specific pieces of feedback and suggestions to improve readability, flow, messaging, brand adherence, SEO, and prospective client conversions.
I also provide in-depth, personalized coaching for therapists that helps support therapists who want to learn how to improve their website copy and marketing materials. As a coach for therapists who is also a counselor, I combine my 10+ years in the marketing and content creation world with my 5+ years of therapy experience to help therapists learn how to market their services, speak to their ideal clients, and grow their private practices beyond what they thought was possible.
To learn more and get started with counselor coaching, check out my Coaching for Therapists page, or schedule a free 30-minute consultation with me.