14 Essential Elements of A Therapy Website
These tips can lead to better SEO, more qualified leads, and can protect your therapy business.
As a Squarespace* website designer who has created several therapist and counseling websites, I’ve done my research and created sites that have led to an increase in client inquiries and loads.
After looking at countless therapist, counselor, psychiatrist and other mental health professional sites, I noticed that there are often vital website elements missing that really should be there.
Some of the following tips are about performance, and some are just about basic must-haves that will signal professionalism, increase trust with your potential client, and protect your business!
Whether you’re building your own therapy website, DIYing a template like this one I created for private practice therapists, or hiring a website designer like myself, make sure that your site has the following elements!
*Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. For all legal language and HIPAA concerns I recommend you speak to a lawyer or qualified HIPAA consultant. Also, this post contains affiliate links, and I may receive a commission if you click and purchase (thanks!). That said, I only recommend software that I love.
Sections from a website I designed for therapist Robyn Garrett, LCSW
First, let’s establish the main objectives and goals of your therapist website:
Keep the visitor engaged enough to stay on the site and keep reading
Help the visitor understand whether you would be a good fit as a therapist
If the client feels you are a good fit, the goal is to get them to take an action to contact you
Ensure that your visitor’s sensitive health information is protected
Without further ado, here are my top 14 essential elements for your therapist website:
1. About page with a bio and headshot
This page is mandatory. Your potential clients want to know where you went to school, what trainings you’ve taken or certifications you hold, and they want to put a face to the name.
How long should my bio be?
Most people don’t have huge attention spans—keep your bio to 2-5 paragraphs that are broken up, so that there aren’t huge blocks of text.
Can I use a selfie as my headshot?
Ideally, no. Have a professional headshot taken—it shows that you take your business seriously. If you’re on a budget, at the very least have a friend take your photo using natural light.
Where should I put the myriad of trainings I’ve taken?
Below your bio you can include a Trainings + Certifications section. You can include the name of the training or certification, dates, location, and teacher.
About Page I designed for therapist and holistic health coach, Nadia Fiorita, LCSW, CHC
About Page I designed for therapist and psychiatrist, Fatima Noorani, MD
(Like this design? You might like my Squarespace template specifically designed for private practice therapists.)
2. Your Approach, Philosophy and Therapeutic Techniques
Give your clients an idea of how you work, and what philosophies inform your sessions. This can show up on your homepage, your About page, and/or your Services page.
Where it goes depends on how much you want to go into these topics—it’s important to make sure it flows and fits aesthetically and functionally with the other content on your site.
(Figuring out where things go is part of the service I offer to my website design clients!)
Regardless of how you decide to display it, it’s important to share this information with clients because your philosophies or approach may not be a fit for them. It saves both of you precious time to be upfront about how you work. In addition, your use of EMDR or a psychodynamic approach may be the reason someone picks you.
3. What disorders, issues or life challenges you treat
Potential clients are looking for that one word—anxiety, depression, life transitions, divorce—they want to know you have experience in what they’re going through, and they want it called out (they want to be seen).
Also, they might search “couples therapist in NYC specializing in separation”—so you want to make sure that you are calling out and using keywords that would match a user’s search term, as this could cause your website to surface on a search engine results page.
What do you specialize in?
Don’t leave out your specialties! If you have extensive experience in OCD or working with transgender teens, call it out, especially if you want to attract more clients who are going through that specific experience.
4. Terms of Use, Privacy Policy + Disclaimer
Okay, here is the less fun part for some.
Privacy Policy
You own a business now, which means that you need to comply with laws and protect your business via your website. Privacy policies are required by law and disclose to visitors how and what information is collected and used, and how to opt out from this. You can get privacy policies online for free or for a fee (but I recommend you pass any and all legal language by a lawyer you trust).
Terms of Use
Terms of Use AKA Terms of Service protects your business, stating the terms of use for the site. If someone is offended by some of your content or your rates aren’t updated, you can release your business from liability. Again you can obtain a policy online.
Disclaimers
I often see disclaimers on websites for therapists—they are slightly different than Terms of Service in that they warn the visitor that information on the site or related social media accounts are not a substitute for therapy, that you’re not liable for third party links, that information on the site is solely for educational purposes.
*Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and thus you should consult one for any legal language on your site.
5. Your rates and insurance information
Rates
Save your clients and yourself a headache and time wasted on an initial consultation: Be upfront about your prices, and if you’re willing to come down on your rates for certain people, state that you do have sliding scale rates for those with financial hardship.
Insurance
If you take insurance, specify whether it’s in-network or out-of-network, and whether you submit insurance claims on a client’s behalf. This information could be the difference between someone contacting you or not.
6. Your full name or a logo at the top of the site
Your name or the name of your practice or group should be at the top of the website.
Do I need a logo?
If you are just starting a therapy practice and you’re a solo therapist, I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to have a logo. It’s possible to use fonts (at least on Squarespace) in a way that makes your name look very professional and almost like a logo. If you have a therapy center, however, I do recommend going the extra mile with branding.
If you plan to have signage for your office, stationery, or business cards, you’ll need a logo and ideally logo variations.
7. A keyword-rich headline with the H1 tag
Your potential clients may not stay on your website long, so give them a quick snippet of what you offer as soon as they land on the site.
If you only offer online therapy, use that in the headline. If you’re only in NYC, use “NYC” or “New York City” in the headline, or get even more specific with the borough i.e. “Brooklyn” - that way when someone searches “Brooklyn therapist” Google can potentially match that with your site.
Your headline signals to Google what the page is about. Use the “H1” tag or Heading 1 for that headline to have a better chance at showing up in search for that search term.
8. Services page
Do you offer a few different services, such as individual, couples, group, teens, women? Do you specialize in certain populations, such as LGBTQIA or postpartum women?
The Services page is an opportunity to elaborate about how you work with specific populations. If you have a lot to say about each of these services, you may use the Services page as a landing page for all of your services, and then have little blurbs about each services that leads into individual pages for each of your services.
So for example, your Services page could lead to the interior pages Individual Therapy, Group Therapy, Couples Therapy. It’s good to have specific pages for these services because then, if someone searches “individual therapy,” Google can see that you have a whole page for that, and maybe your URL for that page is www.yoursite.com/individual-therapy which is good for SEO.
If you don’t have a lot to say about each service, or want to keep it simple, just have a Services page and then use the H2 tag or Heading 2 for each of your specific services, which will help search engines understand that you offer those specific services.
9. A secure, confidential, HIPAA compliant way to contact you
It’s important that you have a contact page, but be careful about the information you put there. I recommend not putting your email address unless you have a HIPAA compliant email service and are okay with anyone having your email address and using it.
It’s not HIPAA compliant to have a contact form on your site unless you have a signed a Business Associates Agreement (BAA) with any companies where the data might be transmitted through or accessed, which could mean your web host and builder, or the company that hosts the information on the form i.e. Hushmail. If you use Squarespace, you should not use the contact form block as it’s not HIPAA compliant; rather, you can use an embedded form via software services such as Theranest, Simple Practice or Hushmail that allow you to sign a BAA.
You can link to your cell phone, but there are HIPAA compliance risks to using your cell phone. Here’s more information from tech and HIPAA compliance expert, Roy Huggins of Person Centered Tech, about phone numbers and HIPAA compliance, as well as VOIP services that are HIPAA appropriate.
*Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, so please discuss your site’s HIPAA compliance with a lawyer.
10. Address, map and link to Google Maps
Make sure you disclose your location if you have a physical address or office. If you are purely an online therapist, do not have these elements on your site because it will confuse your potential clients.
Having said that, if you are an online therapist who only serves certain regions or states, do disclose that on the homepage and make it super clear. Use a H1, H2, or H3 tag for your location if you only serve certain areas; that way your clients might be more likely to find you on Google search.
11. Clear and uncluttered top navigation
Don’t give your clients too many options to sift through. Keep it simple, and anything that isn’t totally necessary to have on the top navigation, such as Forms, link to the Client Portal, or Resources, can go in the footer.
12. A clear call to action and what to expect
Make it 100% clear what the client has to do to move forward in the therapeutic process. Do they need to call you for a free 15-minute consultation? What happens then?
Call-to-action (CTA) Buttons or links
Buttons are great here—if you want people to call you, have a button that says “Schedule an Initial Consultation” and link to your telephone number (have the link be tel:[your number here with no spaces], i.e. “tel:5555555555”)
13. Address your client’s challenges
Speak to what your client might be going through. Empathize with them. Tell them how you will help them heal those issues with specific techniques.
14. Strategic colors or images
When a client first comes to the site, you have the opportunity to quickly communicate who you are and what you have to offer, as well as help them feel a certain way.
What colors should I use on my site?
Bright, jarring colors may be too activating. Relaxing tones may set the mood better. Too many colors may feel disjointed. Think about how you want the client to feel. If you only work with kids, make sure your colors are kid-friendly colors. The colors you use should reflect your ideal client—take into account geography, income level, gender and age.
What images should I use on my site?
Images can give the client a sense of whether a therapist is right for them. They can create a sense of belonging. I’ve designed sites for therapists where their values were inclusivity and diversity, so I made sure that the imagery reflected that—see an example of this below:
There is so much thought that goes into creating a website for a mental health practice. Using the above elements will indeed help your site be more easily navigate-able and hopefully have a better chance at being found on search engines. I hope you find it helpful!
Want a starting point and blueprint for your private practice therapy website, strategically designed to lead your clients to book a consultation?
If you feel overwhelmed by all of the details and want to hire a professional therapist website designer, I offer brand and Squarespace website design for psychotherapists, counselors, psychiatrists and therapy collectives.
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