In today’s digital age, having a well-designed and informative website is crucial for therapists to establish a strong online presence and connect with potential clients. Your therapy website serves as a virtual storefront, offering a window into your practice, services, and expertise. However, building and developing a website can be a daunting task, especially if you’re new to the world of web design and development. So, if you are ready for your first website, or you have a website and now realise it’s not quite what you need, this is for you. 

In this episode, Jane and I delve into various aspects of therapy website development, exploring topics such as website planning, design considerations, content creation, search engine optimization (SEO), user experience, and more.

Getting your first therapy website

When you start out in private practice, getting your first website can be a minefield. 

To start with, you might not have much money to invest in it. But also, you don’t actually know what you want, what you need or what you don’t need. So of course, you do your best with what you have… and you make something, or get something made and think cool, that’ll be just fine! 

Only a little further down the line, you realise that actually, it’s not quite what you need. 

Developing your therapy website

If that’s you, or you are about to embark on your first website don’t worry – you don’t have to rush this, you have time to learn about what you want.

Today, me and Jane discuss, amongst other things:

• The importance of owning your own website

• Dealing with web designers

• The necessity for regular updates

• Keeping it simple

• The importance of content marketing for therapists (blogs, videos and podcasts)

• Mobile responsiveness

• Changing web platforms

• Dropping the perfectionism

• The importance of SEO

• What if I break my website!?

• How much will it cost?

• Google Analytics

• What pages do you need on your website

A website is never finished

However, it’s important for you to recognise that a website isn’t a ‘one and done’ process. It’s a constantly growing and evolving entity. So perfection is never the objective, because there is literally no such thing. All you can do is your best, but remember, you can change things at any time. 

We cover a lot in this podcast! So it’s well worth a listen. Just click the play button on the podcast details above. 

Your input on your website is important

It’s important to remember that a web designer is (hopefully!) experienced in creating amazing websites.

However, don’t automatically think they know best when it comes to designing YOUR website, because in my experience they very rarely understand the needs of a therapist or their clients. The way we market out practices is very different to how most other businesses are marketed.

This is why in my membership, I have the Your Website Blueprint course, which walks you through everything you need, including what pages you need and what to include on each of those pages.

You finish with a complete document you can either use to create your own website, or share with your web designer. 

If that sounds useful to you, checkout the Grow Your Private Practice membership.

Making mistakes is normal!

Important: realising that you need to change something fundamental about your website is a pretty normal right of passage. It happened to me, and it happens to lots of people.

You don’t know what you don’t know, so you do your best with what you have. 

If you’ve realised that your website isn’t working for you, it’s frustrating. But please don’t beat yourself up about it.

Treat it as a valuable learning experience. Now, you are in a far better position to make a website that you will be proud of and that works hard to attract the clients you want and need. 

Links to follow

You’ll find Theo HERE

Theo’s Digital Marketing Glossary

My podcast ‘Demystifying Marketing Terms’

‘From I can’t write to published author’ with Zoe Clements

6 reasons you must have a website with Sarah Gershone

5 commonly held website myths that could be holding you back, with Sarah Gershone

And 4 mistakes that make your website copy ineffective, with Kat Love