Your therapy practice is rooted in creating safe spaces and building trust. If you’re marketing your services online, this journey begins long before a client steps into your office or books an online session. It starts the moment they land on your website.
Effective website design matters across industries, but website design for therapists has unique challenges. You must balance professional credibility with approachability, make sure your new website is compliant, and convey your authentic approaches – all while building trust through thoughtful visuals and empathy pieces
Use these website design tips (and get inspired by our design agency’s real-life examples in this post!) to build a private practice website that attracts your ideal clients.
Why Website Design for Therapists Matters
Your therapist website is often the first point of contact for someone taking the courageous step to seek help. Your potential clients are likely feeling vulnerable, uncertain, and looking for signs that you’re the right therapist to guide them through their journey. Basically, we don’t want to give potential clients any reason to get the ‘ick’ if you know what I mean.
The data reinforces this reality:
- In just 0.05 seconds – about the time it takes to blink – potential clients form their first opinion of your practice through your website.
- Web design influences 94% of all first impressions and can either attract clients or push them to close the tab and continue their search elsewhere.
- 75% of potential clients evaluate your credibility based on website design alone. As a therapist, you know that trust and credibility are fundamental, so this statistic has an even deeper meaning for mental health professionals.
So, to be successful, your web design needs to embody the same qualities you bring to your therapy sessions: professionalism, empathy, and a deep understanding of your clients’ needs. Here are a few helpful tips to help you get started.
Therapist Website Design Tips
1. Use Storytelling
Your therapist website needs to convey who you are as a mental health professional and the transformation you offer your clients. The best way to do that is through brand storytelling.
Strong brand messaging and strategic branding (backed by psychology, our specialty) help potential clients understand if you’re the right fit for their healing journey.
Share your therapeutic approach, your background, and what drives you to do this work. Don’t be afraid to get a little personal and break the stereotype that therapists are always calm and sterile. Your unique perspective, personality, and experience matter – it’s how your potential clients connect with you – so let them shine through.
2. Make It Easy to Navigate
When someone visits your private practice website, they shouldn’t have to dig deep to find essential information. Make sure that they can easily navigate all pages and clearly communicate the following crucial details:
- How your therapy services work (initial consults, screenings, packages, etc.)
- Session fees
- Whether you accept insurance and which providers
- What the entire process of scheduling the appointment and working with you is like
- What states your therapy services are available in
- Your specialties and treatment approach
Your website visitors are often making the decision to reach out during vulnerable moments, so make their journey as smooth as possible. Another consideration is that many clients may be looking for a very specific type of therapy.
For example, our client Melissa Goldsmith, PhD offers CPT and PE therapy for those with PTSD and Anxiety disorders. It was essential to highlight this on the site and ensure SEO efforts were made to show up for these types of searches. Additionally, we wanted to combat a major pain point for her clients, which is “Why not EMDR?” – the ‘golden child’ of PTSD treatment – so this was also worked into our strategy.
3. Make Sure It’s Compliant
Compliance is important for protecting your private practice and clients.
Most of the time, therapy websites need secure forms for collecting patient information – typically embedded via a source like SimplePractice or they can only have a simple contact method and will need to collect patient information on the initial consult calls. Additionally, proper privacy policies, terms, and disclaimers are important for therapist websites.
This is why it’s important to work with web designers who understand these requirements and can help guide you to meet regulatory standards without sacrificing a welcoming feel.
4. Start a Blog
A well-maintained blog serves two important purposes.
First, it helps potential clients find you through search engines when they’re looking for support with specific challenges. This is called SEO (search engine optimization), and it’s especially important if you have a new site – both on the blog and on-page.
Ask your web designer if they’re well-versed in SEO – along with these other important questions.
Second, your blog demonstrates your expertise and approach to therapy. It helps clients feel more confident in choosing you as their therapist. So you should blog about relevant topics that your clients are searching for, whether it’s depression, anxiety, eating disorders, trauma, or another specialization.
5. Invest in Professional Website Design
Template websites and DIY solutions might seem cost-effective, but they often fall short of creating the professional, trustworthy impression your private practice needs to stand out. So, they actually cost you money in the long run.
Investing in high-quality design services means you’ll have a much more impactful website (and a stress-free experience creating it!).
If you’re considering working with a professional design team, take a look at our Portfolio to get an idea of what your website and marketing materials can look like. When choosing a designer, make sure they have experience working with therapists and mental health professionals.
RESULTS THAT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
Download our case studies + client experiences to review the impact of our website design and brand strategy services have beyond the stunning deliverables you’ll find in our portfolio.
Therapist Website Examples
Bellflower Therapy
Bellflower Therapy, founded by Ranann Bell, is a Portland, Oregon-based therapy private practice that offers a unique approach of outdoor therapy. She booked a brand + website design package with us, and we created her site on Squarespace.
Cura Integrative Health
Cura Integrative Health‘s co-founders, Jenna and Rachel, specialize in psychotherapy and somatic awareness. They booked a custom brand + website design package with us, and we created a WordPress website that perfectly balanced Cura’s professionalism with the feeling of being deeply understood.
Force Art Therapy
Victoria Force is an art therapist and educator who specializes in helping people heal through creative expression when words aren’t enough. She booked a custom brand package and then used her new branding assets to build a mini-website herself. Her therapist branding feels like a safe space that evokes curiosity and opens your mind.
Ash Tree Consulting
Ash Tree Consulting is a woman-owned company offering virtual therapy in North Carolina and specializing in life transitions, depression, anxiety, and LGBTQ+. She booked a custom brand + website design package, and her main goal was to launch a private practice website that communicated acceptance and understanding.
Check out more therapist website examples.
FAQs
How to Make a Good Therapy Website?
High-quality website design for therapists is very important. Your website needs to communicate your expertise to build credibility, as well as your brand story and personality, to establish a connection with your target audience. It should also have a clear layout and a logical customer journey so that your potential clients can easily find the important information they’re looking for, such as how your therapy services work and how much they cost. Last but not least, make sure to set your business up for success with strong SEO.
Is Online Therapy Becoming More Popular?
Yes, online therapy is becoming increasingly popular, and there are many new opportunities in the space. Telehealth visits jumped tenfold during the pandemic, and overall mental health service use grew by 39%, according to RAND’s research. People have discovered the convenience of online therapy, and they’re not looking back because it’s usually much more convenient and accessible than seeing a therapist in person. Naturally, website design is especially important for virtual therapists.
How Can a Therapist Get More Clients?
There are a few different ways for therapists to get more clients, but your website is always going to be the home base for all your marketing efforts. Social media apps, such as Instagram, have been becoming more and more popular with therapists and can help you grow your influence and build stronger connections with your best-fit clients. But once your audience wants to know more about you, they’ll go to your website, so it’s important to keep it in top shape.
Another way to get more clients as a therapist is through SEO. Publishing high-quality blog posts on the topics that your target audience is interested in will help you show up in Google searches so that more people find out about your private practice. Again, your web design is very important here. If your website doesn’t immediately help potential clients feel comfortable and understood, they’ll bounce and keep looking.
Can Therapists Ask Clients for Reviews?
Client reviews are tricky territory in therapy. HIPAA’s privacy rules make it risky because even a simple review could accidentally reveal that someone is in therapy. The American Psychological Association specifically prohibits asking for testimonials because clients are in a vulnerable position. Even if a client wants to leave a review, responding to it could unintentionally confirm they’re your client. Some therapists ask for anonymous reviews. This approach protects your current clients but still helps potential clients understand if you’re the right fit for them. Here’s a helpful article from the APA on online reviews.
Unearth Your Therapist Website Design
High-quality website design for therapists can help you feel more confident about your private practice and attract clients who are a better fit.
If you’re just starting out, you may settle for DIY-ing your website or using a template, but custom website design allows you to stand out and position your brand in a meaningful way to your clients and strategic partners.
Bethany Works specializes in psychology-backed brand strategy and website design for therapists, mental health professionals, and other fierce visionaries and tenacious creatives on a mission to make a real impact.
Learn more about our design services to start speaking straight to your people’s hearts (and wallets).
