Are you starting a private practice, or considering building a website for your practice? In our webinar replay and blog post below, we share why we use Squarespace and WordPress for private practice websites.
I hear from so many therapists who are struggling to draw new clients to their private practice. Because I really want therapists to succeed and at the very least, be able to stay in their field, I have created this webinar to detail the options you should consider when you’re deciding how to market your business online.
Last year, CounselingWise analyzed 93 therapy sites, and we noticed a pattern of major weaknesses. There’s huge lack of understanding about what drives success online, and there are lots of cheap and easy solutions available that don’t actually work.
This webinar teaches the six main things you need get started promoting your practice online:
- Which therapists need to be concerned about these problems, and why?
- The biggest traps to avoid when you’re choosing a website platform.
- The three most important criteria to consider when you’re choosing a website platform.
- What you must provide on your site, not matter which option you choose.
- The most important part of your website to focus on to keep costs reasonable.
- And, how we can help.
1. Which Therapists Need to be Concerned About These Problems
If you’re in a competitive market, like a big city or your specialties are general, utilizing the right marketing tactics will be sink or swim for you. If you’re in a small town, only need to work five hours a week or have very niche specialties, cheaper and easier website platforms may work just fine for you
2. The Biggest Traps to Avoid When Choosing a Website Platform
There are tons of website platforms available out there. Many of these market exactly to what you want– something cheap and easy. Be very cautious about these offers, as you often get what you pay for. Some of these options include Wix, Weebly and Therapy Sites.
As you know, cheap and easy is rarely the solution for things that matter. Did you choose your spouse or partner, the university you attended or the trainings you continue to attend because they are cheap and easy? I hope not.
Thinking this way, cheap and easy, that’s the big trap to avoid. There’s always more than meets the eye.
3. The Three Most Important Criteria to Use When Choosing a Website Platform
Does the website platform you’re considering allow you to add and improve these three main aspects?
- Visibility: Can people find your site on search engines? It’s getting harder and harder to be found online by your potential clients, and this will make or break you.
- Content: Content is the most important element of your site. The more, the better. You will not be found unless you have rich, plentiful content.
- Engagement: You want your visitors stay on your site after they arrive. Make sure you provide them with lots of things to look at, lots of options, so that they want to hear more. You want them to find your content intriguing. And make sure you stay in touch by setting up mailing lists and incentives for users come back and read more.
4. What You Must Have On Your Site
No matter which website platform you choose, you need full, in-depth, impactful, thoughtful content and the ability to easily add new content as needed on your site.
Here, size really does matter. A big site will rank better on Google. The easiest way to add content to your site is by blogging. If you don’t have a built-in blog, you will need to get one. Make sure your website platform allows you the flexibility to add new, relevant content continuously.
When you add new content, make sure it’s engaging. You want each visitor to stay on your site, look at multiple pages, read more and feel impacted. You can increase the amount of time spent on your site by providing clear navigation. Make sure people can immediately see what your specialty pages are, and that blog posts are positioned correctly. Your specialty pages should appeal to people with specific problems. If someone Googles anxiety treatment in Denver on Google, for example, Google will serve up the best site. Qualities like “good” and “bad” here are determined by tracking which site receives the most visits and user page time. If your site talks about anxiety but only provides one paragraph on the subject, for instance, Google will think your site is not an authority on that subject.
You also need real SEO on each page. Some sites say they offer SEO services, but you need to check that those actually work. WordPress and Square Space offer the most comprehensive SEO options. You can check if platform’s SEO works by Googling the name of a site they’ve created with its location to see if it actually gets served up. If it shows up on the second or third page, you’ll know that site’s SEO is not well executed.
5. The Most Important Part of Your Site
Content matters most and is increasingly becoming more and more important in your sites ability to rank. Make sure your content:
- Is not thin or vague
- Provides full, rich, in-depth, impactful, thoughtful and well-written information.
- You have the ability to continually add new content
6. How CounselingWise Can Help
CounselingWise provides all the resources you need to get your online marketing strategy rolling.
All of the webinars and resources in our Smart Therapy Websites Program are free. Although these webinars are free, they are not quick or easy. A good marketing strategy takes time and persistence.
If you don’t have the time to complete all of these steps, CounselingWise can build your SquareSpace or WordPress website and marketing strategy from the ground up. We are not the cheap or easy option, but the option that actually works. If you’re interested in these webinars or in becoming a client, go to www.counselingwise.com/smart to get started, or set up a free 30-minute consult by visiting our Contact page.