How to Structure your Therapy Website
A website can be a powerful tool to reach potential clients and provide them with the information they need to make an informed decision about choosing you as their therapist. However, creating a therapist website can be daunting if you don’t know where to start. One question I am often asked is, “How should I structure my content?” The outline below is just a suggestion for a basic structure. You are free to organise your material as you wish, but consider the perspective of a potential client: they will normally land on your homepage and from there, will probably not read every page of your website, but rather will jump about to find the information they want. It is important that that information is easy to find.
As a minimum, you will usually need the following pages:
Home Page
Your home page is the first thing potential clients will see when they visit your website, so it’s important to make a good first impression. Your home page should include an introduction to you and your practice, a brief overview of the services you offer, and a clear call-to-action to schedule an appointment or learn more. Bear in mind that the goal of your home page is to get potential clients to take the next step, whether that’s contacting you directly or exploring your website further.
About Me
Your About Me page is where you can provide potential clients with more detailed information about you and your background. This is where you can share your qualifications, training, and experience. Some therapists like to share something about their personal experience as a way of connecting with clients; others prefer to stick to sharing their professional experience. Including a photo of yourself can help potential clients feel more connected to you, but again, this is a matter of personal preference.
Services
Your Services page should provide potential clients with an overview of the different types of therapy you offer, as well as a more detailed description of each type of therapy. This is where you can explain what clients can expect from each type of therapy and how it can help them. You may also want to include information about any additional services you offer, such as group therapy or workshops.
If you are offering a single therapy, such as counselling, you could instead have a page headed “Counselling”, which could provide details of your philosophy and your counselling approach, as well as information about any areas of expertise or specialisations you have.
Whether you offer multiple services or just one, a section on “What to Expect” is also helpful; what can the client expect from a first session, for example, and what is the commitment expectation going forward? Put yourself in the client’s shoes and think about how they feel and what they need to know in order to feel safe.
Fees
Your Fees page should provide potential clients with a clear explanation of your fees and payment policies. It’s important to be transparent about your fees to avoid any surprises for potential clients. You could also include information about any insurance plans you accept and how clients can use them. If you offer a sliding scale for clients who need financial assistance, make sure you include that information here as well.
Contact
Your Contact page should provide potential clients with a simple and user-friendly way to get in touch with you. This can include a contact form, phone number, email address, and/or physical address. You could also include your hours of operation and any other relevant details about how clients can get in touch with you.
Resources
A Resources page is an optional but helpful addition to your website. It can provide potential clients with links to the websites of helplines, professional organisations and low-cost therapy organisations. As therapists generally don’t provide an emergency service, it is helpful to point clients towards organisations they can call immediately, such as Samaritans or Mind. Not all clients can afford the full rate for counselling, so point them towards ways they may be able to get counselling which is affordable to them.
The above is just a basic outline, and there are many options for organising a counselling website. The main principle to bear in mind is that clients need to find the basic information quickly. Some will read every page on your site, but most won’t. They just want to know something about who you are, how you can help them to feel better, how much it’s going to cost, and how they can contact you for an initial session.
I hope that helps.
Creating a Blog for Your Therapy Website