Putting Yourself in Your Client's Shoes: 5 Things New Clients Are Looking for on a Therapist’s Website

In this blog post, I talked about the importance of prioritizing your website in order to prevent marketing burnout. But simply having a website isn’t enough. Your private practice website needs to connect with potential clients in order to work hard on your behalf.

I’ve talked at length about how your website copy and design work together to connect with website visitors, but today, I want to go back to basics and talk about the five things potential clients are looking for when they first visit your website. If you keep these things in mind, you can create a website that not only reflects the way you hold space, but meets the needs of your clients before they ever sit on your couch.

What clients aren’t looking for on their first visit

Before I begin, I want to mention what clients aren’t looking for on their first visit to your website. Many therapists assume that the first things clients are looking for are information-based things, like what services you provide, and what modalities you use. I see so many therapy websites that begin with giant banners that showcase their services (COUPLES COUNSELING / MARRIAGE COUNSELING / CHILD COUNSELING), or a cluttered list of upcoming groups.

Some therapy websites start with a long area of text in which the therapist talks about themselves; going into lengthy details about education, work history, and credentials. While it may feel like you have to pitch yourself to potential clients, your website is not a resumé. It’s not a place to only talk about yourself.

It’s important to clearly describe your services and inform visitors about who you are, but these don’t usually do much to appeal to new website visitors and in fact, may overwhelm therapy seekers and turn them away. The first thing private practitioners should be focused on, when it comes to their websites, is connecting.

1. Pictures of you

When potential new clients click over to your website, they’re trying to decide if you’ll be the right therapist for them. Since they’ll be sharing their most vulnerable experiences and emotions with you, they want to know more about you as a person. How you smile, how you dress, and how you do your hair says a lot about who you are and can help potential clients discern their comfort level with you.

Of course, there’s so much more to you than what you look like, and showcasing pictures of yourself might feel uncomfortable, conceited, and counterintuitive - especially since I said your website shouldn’t only focus on you. But remember, prominently featuring pictures of yourself on your website is in service of your potential clients. They need to see who they will be sharing their vulnerabilities with.

I always recommend using professional photos of yourself on your website, so if you need some help getting started, check out this post.

2. A clear description of who you help

New clients are scanning your website, asking the questions, “Can you help me? Do you understand my unique experience?” While I’m sure you’re capable of skillfully holding space for a wide variety of experiences, if clients don’t see their unique experience explicitly spelled out on your website, they’ll have a hard time trusting that you can hold space for them. This may prevent them from booking an initial session.

Further, it’s important to use language that they resonate with. Saying that you work with people struggling with “attachment trauma” probably means nothing to folks who have never heard that term; stay away from clinical jargon and focus on the experience of the person you most want to help.

3. Your personal story and approach

Again, when new clients are scanning your website for the first time, they’re trying to discern if they can trust you. Sharing the parts of your personal story that are relevant to your work shows your dream clients that you “get it.” It shows that you understand their experience because you’ve experienced it too.

We all want to be seen and heard. While clinical skill allows therapists to hold space for a variety of experiences, clients feel most seen and heard when they know their therapist has experienced something similar. This isn’t to say that we can only help the people who have experienced the same things we have. Rather, it’s helpful to find the overlap between your personal experience and the experiences of your clients and connect through that, especially at first.

After sharing your personal story at the level in which you’re comfortable, talk about how your approach helps said experience. This is how you cut through the clinical jargon and connect. Explain why you use the modalities that you use, and why they’re best suited for what your potential clients are experiencing.

4. Current information and design

Nothing turns potential new clients away like an outdated website. If your website looks like it was built in the 90s, doesn’t work well on a smartphone, and features a picture of you that’s 10+ years old, it’s time to update. When potential clients have a less-than-optimal experience on your website, they may conclude that working with you feels the same way. 

Make sure your website features current headshots of you (up to 5 years old), lists your current contact information, your current services, and a modern, user-friendly interface. While it doesn’t have to be perfect or complex, your website design can connect or repel your dream clients. Take my free personality quiz to find out if your fonts, colors, and design are connecting with the right people.

5. Something different

Lastly, when therapy seekers land on your website, they’re desperately looking for something different. They’ve likely cycled through countless vague, poorly designed therapy websites already, and they’re getting tired. If they see a therapy website with a fresh, modern design, current headshots, and copy that actually makes sense to them, they’ll breathe a sigh of relief and more importantly - book a session.

Since therapists don’t learn about marketing and design in grad school, therapy websites tend to look the same. When therapy websites look the same, it becomes really difficult for potential clients to make informed decisions about their mental healthcare. Creating a unique online space will catch therapy seekers’ eyes and allow them to slow down, learn more about your practice, and decide if you’re the right fit for them.

If your website needs an update, but you’re unsure where to start, consider using one of my Squarespace templates. They were created for the specific and unique needs of therapists and designed to connect with therapy seekers of all kinds.

Shop Squarespace templates for therapists:

Folk

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Bridge

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Shop Squarespace templates for coaches:

Flora

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Sol

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A quick exercise

It’s so easy to get caught up in our own expertise and forget what it’s like to be a beginner. To put yourself in your new clients’ shoes, take off your “therapist hat” and imagine yourself as a therapy seeker. Then answer the following questions:

• What are you looking for when researching therapists? 

• What makes you click on a directory profile or website to learn more? 

• What are you looking for when you land on a therapist’s website?

• What types of things make you want to leave a therapy website?

Use your answers to inform your own website. Sometimes, all it takes to connect more effectively with the people we want to connect with is putting ourselves in their shoes.