What makes a good therapist website?

It says who you work with, how you work, your fees and insurance, where you can see people, and what happens when someone reaches out. Add your license, a real photo and a plain note on what to do in a crisis. Keep the form short, with no questions about why someone is writing.

Can clients contact me safely through my therapist website?

They can ask for a call, and that's all the site should do. Shingle's forms and booking aren't HIPAA-compliant tools, and each submission also arrives by email. Ask for a name, a way to reach them and if a voicemail is okay, and ask them not to share details. Your own adviser can tell you what a private practice should do beyond that.

Can I see therapist website examples?

Shingle doesn't have a gallery of real practices to show yet. Strong therapist websites say who the therapist helps, how sessions work and what they cost, in a warm, plain voice. To see your own, write a few lines about your practice and build a private demo in a 7-day trial for $1.

Do I need a therapist website template or a builder?

A template gives you a layout and leaves the hard part, the writing, to you. Shingle writes a first version from your notes in a fresh design, then you edit it on the page or ask for changes in plain words. Either way, the words about your clinical work should be yours, so rewrite them.

Should I put testimonials on my therapy website?

Many therapists leave them off. Rules on testimonials vary, so check your state board's rules and your professional code before you use any. In Shingle, review quotes stay off unless you turn them on. If you build from your Google listing, your rating can start on, so turn that off as well if you need to.

Does a therapist's website have to show a home address?

No. If you build from your Google listing, turn your address off when you choose what to include. If you describe your practice instead, leave it out and give the area you serve in Details. Without a street address, the site shows no map, and you can tell clients where to come once they've booked.

Asking for help starts with a search

Someone is reading your site to decide if you're safe to talk to. Write it for them.

What the home page says

Section by section, in the order a visitor reads it.

Who I work with
Speak to one person in one hard moment. “Adults rethinking everything after a loss” reaches further than a list of 20 specialties. Name the three or four things you know best, in the words clients use.
How I work
Someone new to therapy doesn't know what CBT or EMDR means. Name your approach, then say what a session actually feels like, and who you're probably not the right fit for.
Fees and insurance
Money is the question people are shy to ask. State your session fee, the plans you take or that you're out of network, and what a superbill is. Ask your adviser if your site needs a good faith estimate notice for people paying their own way.
Where I can see you
Give the office address if clients come to you. For online sessions, name the states you're licensed in, since that's the first thing a reader from out of town checks. If you work from home, leave your address off.
Your first step
Say who replies, how soon and what the first call covers. Ask for a name, a way to reach them and if a voicemail is okay, and nothing about why they're writing. Shingle's forms and booking aren't HIPAA-compliant tools, so clinical details wait for your client portal. If you book intro calls through Shingle, keep the service name general.
If you're in crisis
Say plainly you aren't an emergency service, and point people to 911 and the 988 Lifeline, which takes calls and texts at any hour. It protects the person reading late at night, and it sets a fair expectation of how fast you reply.

How they search

therapist near me
anxiety therapist near me
grief counselor near me
couples counseling near me
online therapist north carolina
EMDR therapist near me
therapist who takes my insurance
sliding scale therapy

What earns their trust

Your license type and the states it covers
A real photo of you, and a few lines in your own voice
Who you see, and who you'd refer elsewhere
Session length, your fee and how insurance works with you
What you'll never ask on a form, and how you keep things private
What to do in a crisis, in plain words
No client testimonials until you check your state board's rules

How it gets found

What moves a therapist up in a town's results.

Leave hours off if by appointment
Google's guidelines say a business that works only by appointment shouldn't list hours. If that's your practice, leave them off your listing and say “by appointment” on your site.
One profile, and your real name
Google gives a practitioner one profile, with no extra ones for each specialty, and doesn't allow search terms in the name. “Grief Therapist Asheville” can't be your listing's name, so put those words on your pages.
Know if you qualify for a listing
Google's guidelines describe a business with a place customers can visit, or one that travels to them. An online-only practice may not qualify, which makes your site and directory profiles carry more of the load.
Write a page for each focus
“Grief counseling in Asheville” and “anxiety therapist” are separate searches. Write one real page for each, in your own voice, and link to your site from your directory profiles.
Pick the markup that's true
schema.org has no therapist type, and its Psychiatric type describes a branch of medical science. MedicalClinic is the nearer fit for most private practices, and Shingle uses it when a site starts from a counselor's Google listing.

How to sell one

Therapists in private practice need a steady trickle of right-fit clients, and many already pay for a directory profile. They buy a site so people can find them by name and decide before the first call. They distrust hype, and they'll read every line you write.

Drop the sales language and show a calm demo with their own name on it. Point out the form that asks almost nothing, the crisis note and the fee section. Then hand it over, because every word about their clinical work should be theirs to rewrite.

“I'm on Psychology Today. Isn't that enough?”: Keep it. It sends people looking, and many then search your name. A site lets you speak in your own voice at any length, and it stays yours if a directory changes its fees.
“I don't want to look salesy.”: Agreed, and the page shouldn't. No countdowns and no big promises. It says who you help, how you work and what it costs, and someone can leave without feeling chased.
“Is it HIPAA compliant? Can clients message me through it?”: No. Its forms and booking aren't HIPAA-compliant tools. Someone can ask for a call, and everything clinical waits for the client portal. Send the therapist to their own adviser for the rest, and don't argue the law yourself.
“My practice is full.”: Then the site can say so, with a waitlist note or colleagues you trust. It saves answering the same email every week, and it's ready when a space opens.
“What about reviews and testimonials?”: Leave them off until the therapist has checked their state board's rules and their professional code. Review quotes stay off in Shingle unless the owner turns them on, and the Google rating can be turned off as well.