5 Quick Wellness Checks for Your Human-Like Therapy Website
A therapy website is similar to a human being.
They need regular well-being check-ins.
It is okay for them to change and improve over time.
Their approach to engaging with people matters.
It’s helpful if they are clear and direct communicators.
People will form opinions about your practice and you as a therapist within seconds of clicking on your website. As a therapist myself, I know that we want people to feel connected and safe with us. When they click on your website, you want them to feel welcome, confident in your skills as a therapist, and hopeful that they have found a professional who can help and support them.
Can a website really do all that?
Yes!
The answer is a resounding yes!
I know your time is valuable and there are a million things on your plate, so let’s take a look at 5 quick wellness checks you can do for your website this week. These will help you make sure the first impression you are putting out there for potential clients is the one you want.
1. Check Your Content
Your content matters! You may not have time to rehash all of the copy on your website, but you can at least check for spelling and grammar mistakes. An easy way to get this accomplished is to copy and paste your text into Grammarly. There are a lot of great options within their free version. You can set goals for how you want your writing to come across, and their software will check your spelling, grammar, punctuation, and readability. It will also rate the clarity, engagement, and delivery of your text based on the writing goals you select. I will add that this is not a complete replacement for having a writer/editor proofread your website copy, but it is a great tool for a quick double-check.
2. Follow Those Links
As a therapist, you provide tools and resources to clients for them to use on their own. I think I can safely assume that these are tools and resources you trust and that you are intentional about not leading your clients astray. You want the same to be true when it comes to links on your website. Potential clients need to end up in the correct spot when they click links on your pages. You don’t want a user to be browsing your page and then get stuck with a broken link or sent to the wrong place. This can impact the user’s confidence in you as a professional, even though you’re an excellent therapist!
Different back-end website issues may mess up links from time to time, so the best practice is to go through each of the links on your pages from time to time to make sure they are working properly. Ensure that your content form, action buttons, tabs, and links to resources are all in working order.
3. Mobile Responsiveness
Most potential clients will view your website from their cell phones instead of a laptop or desktop. A website’s spacing and formatting changes when going between a desktop/laptop, tablet, and phone, and can mess up your page layout. As a therapist, you’re here to help clients through chaos, so you don’t want your website to look chaotic. For this wellness check, pull out your smartphone (ask a colleague for help if you don’t have one) and make sure your website looks good on the phone. If you have time and access to a tablet, check out how your website looks there too.
4. Call to Action
Users who click on your website in search of counseling have taken a big step to seek out help. You want to make the process of getting connected to you for counseling clear and easy logistically. Your website is designed to help you get clients, so let’s make it easier for that to happen. I would recommend having at least one action button on each page that a website user can click on to start services with you. Clearly label the button in a way that communicates what it is for (e.g. Request an Appointment; Schedule an Intake, Book Your Initial Consultation).
You can decide where the action button takes them and the type of contact that works best for your practice. The action button could link to a contact form that they submit, a page with your number or email and instructions for them to contact you directly, or a calendar to schedule an initial consultation. Whatever your process is for clients to start therapy, make that next step clear and available on each page of your website.
5. Let Them See You
Put a high-quality photo of yourself on your website. A warm and professional photo of yourself helps clients begin to trust you. It also removes a little of the uncertainty that comes with starting therapy with a new counselor. Make sure it has good lighting and isn’t a selfie in the front seat of your car or one you cropped your ex out of even if you look great.
Don’t have a headshot and aren’t in a place to hire a photographer? Not a problem!
Here is a great article from Career Contessa: How to Take Your Own Professional Headshot
We, therapists, are all about being resourceful, right?
BONUS QUICK TIP: Break-Up Text
Large paragraphs of text can be overwhelming to a viewer. You may not have time in your schedule to go through and slim down your text, but you can go in and at least break it up. Split large blocks of text into smaller paragraphs. I would also insert some headers, so readers know where they are headed and what they’re about to read next. This goes back to the idea that we want to set clear expectations for our clients, and this begins in small ways on our websites.
Set a goal for yourself to complete these website wellness checks this week, or break it up over a week or two.
Need help accomplishing these five tasks or want to overhaul your website content completely?
Let me know!
I’m a licensed professional counselor with a techy/design side to her. I help therapists and coaches with website copy and content, email newsletters, blog writing, design, and social media.
If the online sphere of your practice feels overwhelming or time-consuming, schedule a free consultation with me, and we can talk about services that would best support your practice. Let’s give you back your time, so you can do more of what you love…helping your clients!