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Whether you're a therapist or counselor running your own practice or part of a group, it's important to have your own website. Having your own web presence makes you easier to locate, helps new patients discover you, and creates a central location for learning about your services. Most importantly, you'll have full ownership of your professional brand and the way you present your work.
To make starting your own site easier, here are six things that every therapist's website needs to build an online presence and simplify your workflow.
1. A website template designed for your needs
A well-designed therapist or counselor's site can communicate competence and even your perspective on your practice. The colors, fonts, and images that make up your site are the first impression that potential clients get when they visit. The right design will help put potential patients’ minds at ease and make them more interested in contacting you.
Start with a website template to get your website set up faster. Templates come with an initial structure, colors, and fonts for your site. You can then customize any element to fit your preferences.
Try starting with a template like Almar, Clove, or Meriden, which are built with therapy, counseling, and coaching in mind. If you want something more unique, use Squarespace Blueprint AI to build your own template by making several quick style and structure choices. From there, you can quickly fill out your site with free licensed stock images and the Squarespace AI copy-generating tool.
See our guide to designing your website
2. A convenient way to share your location
If you're seeing patients in person, it's important that they know where your sessions will take place. Keeping your location and address easily accessible ensures clients can make a plan for how to visit your office regularly. And they won't have to contact you for those details if, for example, they're running late.
To make that as simple as possible, add a contact page with a map to your site. Map blocks on Squarespace can embed an interactive map to any location.
Even if you meet with patients virtually, sharing some basic details can help someone make a decision about working with you. For example, you can share which platforms you use to conduct virtual sessions. Or you can share where you’re located and where you’re licensed to practice.
3. A contact page with a custom intake form
Once a client is interested in your site, it's vital that they can contact or book with you as easily as possible. A dedicated contact page ensures that the option to contact you is easily visible on your site. A good intake form ensures that you get all of the information you need to decide whether the client is a fit for your practice and prepare for their initial consultation.
While you're building a contact page, you can add a contact form to collect and organize basic information from interested new clients. You can customize this form to collect any information you need, like:
Name
Age
Previous experience with therapy or coaching
Current goals or topics of interest
Contact information
Insurance provider
You can set up your form so that responses go to your email or a spreadsheet.
Learn how to automate your appointment booking forms
4. Scheduling tool
These days, people tend to prefer the convenience of online scheduling. It saves time for you and your patients since you don’t have to manage each appointment manually. But it's not only a matter of convenience. Offering a quick way to schedule online can help you stand out and convert more interested visitors into clients.
Give visitors to your site the option to schedule an initial consult or adjust ongoing appointments by using a scheduling tool like Acuity Scheduling. Acuity is integrated with Squarespace, so you can build your calendar into your booking page. Plus you can manage appointments, invoicing, appointment reminders, and client information in the same place you manage your site.
See ways to save time with Acuity
5. Sliding-scale payment options
Collecting payment in person as an appointment is wrapping up can be awkward or take up valuable time for you and your client. It's easier for everyone if payment is smooth, automated, and—for therapy and counseling—includes options for the common practice of sliding-scale payments.
If you book appointments and manage invoices using Acuity, you’ll be able to take in-person, digital, and mobile payments. You can automate invoicing and payments and offer pay-what-you-want pricing. That allows patients to pay anything they want over a set minimum amount, which you can set as low as $0.
Learn more about offering alternative payment options
6. Marketing tools
It can be hard to stand out online among ads, therapist directories, and competitor options. The ability to market yourself is more important than ever. The more places you can reach potential clients and conveniently share information about your services, the easier it will be for new clients to discover you.
There are a handful of places you can start your marketing, and Squarespace has tools to help you at every stage.
Read our full guide to promoting your website
Search engine results
You can optimize your site for visibility in search by naturally including common search terms in your website copy and page titles. For example, including the types of therapy you practice and the city you’re based in could help someone find you by searching “CBT therapist near me”.
Social media
Social media is a great way to connect with peers, explore professional opportunities, and help new clients find you. You can use the space to share general mental health tips, share about your journey to becoming a counselor, or offer helpful exercises in a digestible format. This will also help people get a sense of how you speak and operate as a therapist.
Email marketing
Start a newsletter to share your advice or perspective on mental health topics or recommend mindfulness practices or helpful resources. Give people the option to sign up for the newsletter on your website. This way, even people who aren’t patients get to hear from you and may be more likely to work with you in the future.
Analyze your website traffic
Every piece of information you have about clients and potential clients can help you better serve or reach them. Use your website traffic data to look at:
How people are discovering your site
Which pages are visited most often
Where people tend to exit your website
These details can help you make adjustments to your site and marketing strategy. For example, if you’re getting a lot of visitors from search but not from social media, you may want to adjust your social content or share your website link more often. Or if people are exiting your website before getting to your About or Contact pages, you may need to update your design or copy.