If you're thinking about designing a new website for your private practice, you should think long-term. After all, it's about your online presence, and you want it to help you achieve your business goals, right? What do you want to do with this website? How will you promote your business? Usually, the answer is either SEO or Google Ads (or both).
However, these two types of marketing are quite different, and they require different elements on your website. And that's what we want to discuss. Read on to see how to design a winning website that's ready to:
Grow on Google
Reach your ideal target audience
Help you convert visitors into clients
Showcase your therapeutic process in the best possible way
Let's dive in!
Website design for therapists: Should you even distinguish these two strategies?
The answer is probably not. In the ideal scenario, your private practice's website should be both search-engine-ranking-ready and prepared to run PPC (pay-per-click) ads for your counseling services.
However, we have to acknowledge that many PPs have a limited marketing budget. If that's the case with you, too, you may have to choose what to focus on in the first place: Google Ads or SEO.
Usually, our recommendation is to start with Google Ads (since it's a much cheaper and faster marketing strategy) and then scale to SEO as you build your caseload and want to scale even further. But you can go either way, we've seen successful therapists utilizing both strategies.
And yes, SEO and Google Ads have a lot in common. For instance, they are both based on keywords that you want to target. However, there are still some vital differences to consider when talking about therapy websites.
Let's take a look at them!
Google Ads vs. SEO: Website structure
When it comes to websites for therapists, the first thing to consider is the website structure (sometimes referred to as website architecture or simply navigation). In practice, website structure can usually be seen by viewing the menu with all its subpages, just like in this example:
So, for example, if you offer family therapy and individual therapy, your website structure could feature the following subpages:
Family therapy:
About family therapy
Family therapy intensives
Parent coaching
Teen therapy
CBT for family therapy, etc.
Individual therapy:
Anxiety
Depression
Relationship issues
CBT
EFT
Therapy for men
Services for therapists, etc.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
If you're focusing on SEO for your therapy practice, you should strive to build so-called topical authority. We will discuss this term in detail in one of the upcoming blog posts!
For now, just a short explanation: Therapist websites can build topical authority by creating extensive structures that are made of:
Multiple subpages discussing different aspects of your offer
Blog posts
Other pieces of content showing your expertise
Take a look at one more example of the website structure of one of our private practice owners:
Other elements in the menu also have whole lists of subpages. From an SEO perspective, this is golden because it allows you to fill your website with valuable content that will enable you to gradually build topical authority.
What's also important is that blog content is just great when it comes to showcasing your approach to therapy (it's very important if you want to establish this crucial emotional connection with your ideal client), as well as giving your website a more personal touch.
TIP: While a domain name doesn't affect your SEO directly, it's good to have a nice, easy to remember name for your potential clients.
Blog
If SEO is your therapy practice's main focus, you should consider creating a blog for your website. It's a great way of building authority and putting more relevant keywords on your website (plus, we've already mentioned the importance of this personal connection with your target audience).
For your blog to be effective, you need to consider a few elements:
Publish regularly: Ideally, you should put a new blog post on your website at least once a week. The more high-quality content you have on your website, the better.
High-quality content: Forget about ChatGPT. Write all blog posts yourself, and don't copy-paste from other websites. Try adding something unique to the question you're talking about. Focus on producing high-quality, helpful content.
Keyword research: Before you start writing a blog post, run keyword research (you can do so for free in Google Ads). What's the popularity of the main keyword you want to target? What other keywords should you use in your post?
Add photos: Make your blogs live and attractive. You can do so by adding photos, videos, infographics and other visual elements that make your blog posts more interesting to read.
Google Ads
On the other hand, if your focus is on Google Ads, you don't need an extensive website structure. All you need are just a few basic subpages, such as:
About us
Our services
Our team
Contact
And that's pretty much it.
Landing pages for Google Ads
However, if you want to be effective with Google Ads, you should think of creating specific landing pages (LPs) for specific services that you want to advertise on Google. In most cases, you'll need two or three such LPs, and you're good to go!
Just like in this example where we have a landing page devoted just to trauma therapy:
A landing page is a one-page offer that refers to just one specific type of service. It can be trauma therapy; it can be couples therapy; it can be depression counselling, you name it. Whatever it is you want to advertise on Google deserves a separate LP.
In the LP, you should include several crucial elements that will guide your clients from the initial interest to booking a session with you. This includes:
What is the service you are advertising about
Why is it important to take care of the issue?
What to expect during a therapy/counselling session
What are the conditions (time, payment, cancellation, etc.)
What benefits the client can expect
How to book with you (it's good to include a booking calendar or a contact form at the bottom of the LP)
Good LP should have photos, icons, and videos to make them attractive to potential clients. If you can use specific visuals to resonate with your ideal client - even better!
Technical optimization AKA on-site SEO
In both cases, your website should be top-notch when it comes to technical optimization. There are a few things to consider here:
SEO
On-site SEO is one of the three main pillars of search engine optimization. Your website must be:
Fast
Optimized for mobile devices
Free of excessive code
You can easily check whether your website is optimized for SEO yourself. All you need to do is run a quick Google Lighthouse test. To do so:
Go to Chrome -> Turn the Incognito Mode on -> click the three dots in the upper right corner -> select More Tools -> select Developer Tools -> select the Lighthouse tab in the upper bar menu -> select Navigation (keep all the categories on) and run 2 tests (1 for desktop and 1 for mobile)
Ideally, you should see green results everywhere, just like we do:
If you see yellow or red results, this means you should work on your website's on-site optimization.
Google Ads
With Google Ads, it's also important to have your website fast and mobile-friendly. However, with GAds, you don't have to worry that much about getting all the results green. As long as your website gets a green result in the performance category and is mobile-friendly, that's all you need.
Conversion tracking
As a vital part of your Google Ads activities, you should have conversions set up and monitored regularly. If you're not familiar with this term, here's a quick explanation:
Conversion is an activity a potential client performs on your website, an activity that you want them to perform because it leads to you getting a new client or a booking.
Examples of conversion tracking:
Send a contact form
Book an initial consultation
Send an email
Call your company
Sign up for your newsletter, etc.
All these conversion actions can be measured via either Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager. If you want to succeed with Google Ads, you need to optimize your website and install all the necessary tags/code snippets/pixels in your website to make this conversion tracking possible.
If you work with us, we take care of conversion tracking so that you don't have to worry about that. All mental health professionals working with us get this done as part of our standard service package, so you don't have to pay extra for conversion tracking.
Other elements: Personal brand and your offer
Lastly, we want to discuss two more elements that are vital for both SEO and Google Ads.
Personal brand
This is especially important for SEO purposes. If you want to build visibility on Google, you should invest in your personal brand to gradually build authority and recognizability. You can do so by creating an extensive About Me page and running one or two social media profiles (Facebook + Instagram?) where you showcase yourself and your work. This way, you will be able to gain your potential clients' trust and interest.
Social media can also be a good source of new clients!
And what about client testimonials? We know you can't really ask for them, and that's ok. Many of our clients decided to go with anonymous testimonials and reviews. They are 100% authentic, just not signed (not even with the first name) to protect their client's privacy. Perhaps that's something you can consider as well?
In fact, they don't even have to be testimonials! You can use quotes to convey how your clients felt before and after therapy. You just need something that your prospective clients can identify with. Take a look at this example:
Good offer
Do some research. Is there a need for the service you want to advertise in your area? Run keyword research and check other therapists' websites. Do they offer the same/similar services? What are their prices? Are your prices similar? If you are more expensive than the majority of your competitors, you may struggle to get more clients.
People compare options and think twice before booking with you. If you want to target high-paying clients, you can do so in Google Ads, but be aware it may take more time to actually get them. Plus, in this situation, you also need a strong personal brand to justify your high prices.
A few words about clean design for your website
Therapist website designs should focus on creating a calming and inviting experience for visitors, primarily through the thoughtful use of a soothing color palette. Soft colours such as pastel blues, greens, and neutrals are ideal for conveying a sense of serenity and trust while avoiding overwhelming tones.
Bright colors can be incorporated sparingly as accent elements to draw attention to key design elements, such as call-to-action buttons or headings. Also, keep in mind that a well-chosen color palette sets the tone for the site, ensuring it feels professional yet approachable, which is vital for potential clients seeking therapy services.
Take a look at some of the websites we designed to see real-life examples of therapist website designs:
Using balanced design elements, such as banner images, further enhances the visual appeal of a therapist's website. High-quality, relatable images of nature, calm spaces, or abstract patterns can reinforce the website's sense of safety and warmth. These visuals should align with the soft colors used throughout the site to maintain consistency.
Clean layouts and plenty of white space help to create a soothing experience for visitors, enabling them to navigate the site effortlessly. By combining these visual elements with intuitive design, the website can effectively communicate the therapist's professionalism and empathy while making clients feel at ease.
Wrapping up
Take all these elements into account when working on your website, whether you're redoing it or building a brand-new one. And if you're looking for help with web design, we're here to help! You can take a look at the linked page or just book a free consultation with us (no, it doesn't obligate you to order a website).