You probably know that a website is essential for growing a successful private practice. But if the site is confusing, uninviting, or outdated it could instead repel potential clients.

So how do you make sure your website works for you (and not against you)? Today we’ll name the top 10 things you can do to make your therapy website super effective!

The Private Practice Website 10 Essentials Checklist

Keep your menu bar simple and uncluttered.
Use high-resolution images for your site (and make sure you choose the “right” ones).
Pick a maximum of two easy-to-read fonts (and keep that consistent on every page).
Be consistent with your color scheme.
Have an updated headshot. Bonus points for having a video!
Make sure the mobile version of your site looks great too.
Use client-centered copy and don’t use “walls of text.”
Have a clear “call-to-action.”
Make sure your contact info is easy to find on every page.
Proofread. Proofread. Proofread.

If this all makes sense to you then great, read no further 👍

But if you’re like “Huh?” keep reading, I’ll explain it all step-by-step.

1. Keep your menu bar simple and uncluttered

What’s a menu bar? Your menu bar is the thing at the top of the page that has the tabs for the different sections of your website. It’s a small but important piece of real estate on your site, and it can easily start to look visually overwhelming.

When you are designing your website, remember that simple is always better. You want to make it so that people can find things really easily. Here are a few tips:

Consider nesting similar items into a “drop-down” on your menu bar. So for example instead of listing “Couples Therapy” “Individual Therapy” and “Groups” all spelled out along the top, just have one tab that says “My Services” and have each of those be an item that drops down from there.
Make sure you create an experience where, if possible, the person has to only click once to get what they are looking for. It’s OK to repeat things on multiple pages, like your contact info, if it means that people don’t have to click around too much. And remember, hard as you worked 😉most people aren’t going to read every page of your site anyhow.
What menu items should you have? Generally speaking, you want to have a “services” tab, an “about me” tab, and a “contact” tab or button. It really depends on your practice, but these are good rules of thumb.
One thing people often ask about is “FAQ” pages. You can certainly have one and put it in your menu bar, but if you are trying to declutter, it’s not necessary as you can fold it into one or two of the other pages. Usually what people are looking for is information about insurance and fees.

2. Use high-resolution images and choose the “right” ones

The technical (but important) part

Your images should look crisp and not blurry, pixelated, or grainy. This is going to give your website a professional feel. Your images need to look good whether someone is using a little screen, like on a cell phone, or a huge screen like a home laptop. You’ll notice some photos don’t look as crisp once you’ve blown them up. This is because the resolution isn’t high enough to withstand the size increase.

On the flip side, you also have to make sure you aren’t choosing images that are too big because these are going to make your website slower to load. If your website is taking too long to load people are going to look elsewhere and it will also affect your SEO rankings.

There are some in’s and out’s about image sizes, but a general rule of thumb for file size is less than 500KB. If it’s a full-screen background image, you can go as high as 1MB. If it’s a photo the file type should be a JPEG (or JPG) and if it’s a graphic (like a logo or infographic) it should be a PNG file. Making sure it’s the right file type will help optimize it for your website.

To find out the size and the file type of your image on a PC you should be able to right-click on the image, choose “Properties” and then the “Summary” tab which will give you that info. Or if you’re on a Mac, you can Ctrl+click on the image file in your finder window and select “Get Info.”

The (more fun) design part

A few pointers about choosing your photos:

Don’t choose a bunch of pictures of people looking sad. This will subconsciously (or consciously) repel people from your site. Instead choose photos that evoke the way you hope your clients will feel after using your services (aka happier, more connected and engaged).
Don’t use a lot of photos that don’t have any people in them. It’s OK to use some but people are more attracted to photos that have a human element in them, especially when you are talking about the very human service of therapy! Even if you don’t want to use faces, you can use hands, and feet to give it a human feel.
Try to keep with a theme & color scheme. Beach, forest, mountains, city, the circus-whatever your thing is! You should choose a theme and keep your photos within that theme. Photos on your website matter because more and more people skim websites, and photos communicate at a glance in a way that words cannot.
Have at least one photo of you! (See below re: updated headshots 😊).

Read More About Finding Stock Photos:

3. Use just 1-2 easy-to-read fonts, and keep them consistent on every page

I know there are so many pretty fonts out there, and it might be tempting to use a bunch of them.

However, you want to be decisive and stick with just one or two because it makes the information you share much easier to take in and looks more polished.

Also, do not use a decorative/cursive/handwritten font for more than just a few accent words. They can be difficult to read and it can cause accessibility/legibility issues. Don’t put crucial information in this type of font.

4. Choose a color scheme and stick with it

When it comes to making your site look polished, choosing just a few colors will go a long way. There are courses upon courses dedicated to color theory but we’ll try to sum up a few important points:

Choose a color that you like. Don’t go with something just because it’s a trendy color or because you like it on someone else’s site. You want to feel good about it when you see it. it should bring you joy!
But also think about your ideal client and how certain colors may impact them. Your color choice should speak to that client. You can do a simple online search and find tons of information about the meaning of different colors. However, you don’t want to choose something just because you think it’s going to appeal to your client. Strike a balance between what you like and what that color communicates.
Explore and have fun! I can spend hours (literally) on color palette generators. Here are two that I like (they are free to use):
- Adobe Color (this one includes a contrast checker, to make sure your pairings are accessible to people with visual impairments)
- Coolors (this one is addictive, watch out!)

5. Have an updated headshot (bonus points for a video!)

It’s really important to have an updated headshot. How often to update it isn’t an exact science, but consider things like big changes in your appearance, how dated it looks, how your business has changed, etc. If you aren’t sure about how (or why) to get a great headshot, check out my post How to Get A Great Headshot as a Therapist.

As far as video, this is not a “must” for everyone, but it’s fast become the main way people consume things online (versus reading). You want to strongly consider making a video if you serve mostly teens or millennials.

One service I often recommend to my clients (and FYI, this is currently only available in the US in certain areas right now) is a company called ZenCare. You can get a really nice-looking therapy listing and included in your membership is the production of a video, headshots, and photos of your office. And they are yours to keep whether you stay with their service or not. It’s really an excellent value!

6. Make sure the mobile version of your site looks great too

Over 50% of your website visitors will be viewing your site from their phone. And that number is only growing!

The good news: if you use Squarespace Fluid Engine, it’s super easy to customize the mobile view of your website.

Read more about making the mobile version of your website look great:

How to Customize the Mobile Version of Your Squarespace Website

7. Use “client-centered” copy, and don’t use “walls of text"

Client-centered copy

The writing on your website should be mostly about your client, not about you. Think about it this way: in your therapy sessions with clients, do you spend 75% of the time talking about yourself? Do you spend most of the session discussing clinical research? How about DSM diagnoses? Or the fact that you graduated with honors? Which awards you’ve received? The answer here should be a resounding “NOPE.”

Your website is like giving potential clients a sneak peek into what it’s like to be your client. So just like in session, it’s not going to be mostly about you. Here’s how you do it:

Write like you speak! Many therapists are academic nerds at heart and there’s nothing wrong with that! But in person, most of us are down-to-earth, warm human beings. Use that voice on your website and give the old academic hat a well-deserved rest.
Show your experience by speaking in exquisite detail about your client’s experience (not about your credentials). This will speak many more volumes to your clients than spelling out all the letters after your name or citing all your research. Think about the things clients say when they first come to therapy and try to use the essence of those words (obviously without getting so specific that you’re violating HIPAA).
Clients aren’t going to say, “I’m having a major depressive episode” they are going to say, “I feel like I’m walking through mud. And like everything is on top of me. I have all these things I know I need to do, but I can’t do any of them. I don’t even want to get out of bed some days. I feel like it’s all pointless.”
See the difference?
Know your audience down to the type of shoes they wear. OK, so I don’t mean the part about shoes literally, what I’m suggesting is that you make sure you have a clear picture in mind of who your best-fit client is before you ever start typing a word.
If you don’t have a really clear picture from the beginning, you risk writing copy that is broad and generic and doesn’t help the reader understand what makes you different from another therapist, and why they might be a good match for you.

Ultimately, your aim is to give potential clients sense of knowing, liking, and trusting you. This will lead them to be more likely to get in touch with you.

Don’t use “walls of text”

The average well-written sentence will have about 15-20 words. But for writing online? Toss that rule out the window completely. One-word sentences? Sure. Starting a sentence with the word “and” or “but”? But of course!

There are many reasons for this, but people are less likely to read longer sentences or blocks of text online. One explanation is that 50% of your readers will be viewing your site on mobile, and shorter sentences just work better on small screens.

There’s no hard or fast rule, but you could aim for 12 words or less and be in good shape.

Breaking up your sentences makes your copy more readable. It’s not about “correctness”, but more about “flow”.

Need help writing your website content?

Check out our Therapist Website Writing Guide

You’ll find step-by-step guidance on what to write on each page, help clarifying your message, and tons of SEO support to make sure clients can actually find you online!

Explore the Guide

8. Have a clear “call-to-action”

The “call-to-action” is marketing-speak for “what you want your reader to do.” For therapists, in most cases, it’s to contact you for a phone screening. But it also might be to buy your book, or sign up for your e-course, or your workshop, or to listen to your podcast. So think about what your goal is and then include that instruction on each page in clear language:

Get in Touch
Get Started Today
Schedule a Session
Sign Up for The Workshop
Buy The Book

That’s it. Keep it simple!

9. Make sure your contact info is easy to find on every page.

One of the worst offenses I see on websites is hiding or completely omitting contact information. Again, remember that you want to make it easy for your clients to find what they are looking for, and easy to take action. Eliminate any friction!

Whatever way you want your clients to contact you (email, phone, etc.) make sure that it’s super-duper clear on every page. On the websites I make for my clients I often include a contact button in the header and footer, as well as throughout the site where it makes sense, so there is no way for the user to miss it.

10. Proofread. Proofread. Proofread.

Again, your site is a way to show your clients who you are, and how you work, so if it’s clear you haven’t proofread, it will come across as unprofessional. Of course, it’s human to make mistakes, and it’s good for our clients to see that! But typos can really take them out of the moment and make them more likely to bounce from your site, so just do your best to avoid them.

My best proofreading tips? Have at least a couple of people read your site. And then also run it through this free program that I love called Grammarly. Seriously. It’s like having a room full of copy editors, and it’s easy and fun to use. Using a program like this does not mean that you still shouldn’t proofread the old-fashioned way, but for me, it actually helps with that process.

We hope this post makes you feel more confident about making a website for your practice!

If you want step-by-step guidance for building your website, check out our website templates for therapists and our website consultation services for more 1:1 support.