The big mistakes therapists make when building a website.
As I blog more and more and grow my online presence I'm becoming obsessed with therapists websites. The most shocking fact is that most of them suck. I literally googled therapists near me and this was the first one that popped up.
Now, you might say this website isn't bad. It's just a normal website. But ask yourself:
Do warm and friendly people work here?
Do you immediately know how to set up an appointment?
Are you really going to read all that text?
If you didn't say "yes, yes, yes," then the answer is clear. This website... sucks.
And let's be honest, yours probably does too.
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Success is the enemy of a good website.
I know why your website sucks.
It's because your successful. You've got a new client waitlist nearing 200, your current clients are going on session 66, and you've stopped eating lunch so you can squeeze returning clients into your 12pm slot.
You already had clients streaming out of your ears, and then 2020 hit and we've been in a mental health crises ever since.
You're website sucks because you don't need a website. It's basically an expensive business card.
So why change?
I don't know if you should change. Really. If your word of mouth referrals are keeping you full then don't change. If you're happy seeing 25-ish clients a week for the next 30 years, then stop reading now. This post is not for you.
But some of us need something different. Not all of us can do this work full time.
Private practice is unforgiving. Sitting in peoples pain, day in and day out, for years and years is hard. It can burn you out bad. Also, we only get paid when we see clients. Which means if we burn out and take time to recover that money is just gone. Forever. We sell our time, and we're not getting any more of it.
The only way out is to supplement our income with other things like offering trainings, doing supervision, selling online courses, etc.
Which means we need a good website. Heck, not just a good website, a killer website. We need a website that when people look at it they go "W🤩W" and want to take our course or sign up for our newsletter.
We need a website like Ben's.
What a good therapists website looks like
I stumbled upon Ben's website and instantly thought, "this is the most beautiful therapist website of all time."
First, in really big easy to read letters Ben introduces himself and let's us get to know him. Great! This feels warm and personal. (Also, for those of you wondering - this type of opening paragraph is where you want to put your key words because that makes it easier for people to find you online. #SEO)
Second, his design is so clean and clear. After his introduction, his website leads us to sign up for his newsletter. This is clearly the main idea of his website! He's building a email list.
Finally he points us to his blog. Why subscribe to his newsletter? Well he wants me to read his blog that's why. And when do new blogs come out? Every other Wednesday, that's when.
Ben's website clear and it intuitively conveys who he is and what he wants you to do. That's what makes it a good website.
Remember back in high school when you got your first iPod and you instantly grasped how a click wheel worked? It just made intuitive sense. That's what Ben's website does. It just makes intuitive sense.
The Trick to Building a Killer Website
You don't have to know website design tricks to do this. I don't think Ben knows that much about website design, yet he has a killer website.
How?
He uses a template he got from studiopress. In fact lots of website builder sites have awesome templates now. It's pretty easy. If you're still confused on where to start check out Melissa Rae. She's got a great free template and other resources.
Some of you, despite having gotten this far, still won't put the time in to build a better website. You're afraid. And that's okay. Let me offer this last bit of encouragement.
You're a good person. I know this because you became a therapist. You became a therapist because you want to help people. You are kind. You are thoughtful. You are dedicated.
A good website demonstrates all of those qualities. A bad one hides them. Let your website reflect who you are.
Grace and Peace,
Jordan (the Counselor)
P.S.