Writing an Awesome Home Page For Your Therapy Site: Nailing Your First Impression
When searching for a therapist online, the first place a prospective client lands is on your private practice home page. Immediately when they land on your website, they are taking in your picture, the feel of your site, and the header.
Within 3 seconds your prospective client makes the decision of whether to stick around and explore or click on to another page.
Your homepage is your first impression. Your site, the copy, and the branding help the reader to learn a little bit about the feel of your practice and who you are. The picture you have on your home page helps them to get to know you and decide whether they like and trust you. The branding and the copy if consistent continue that goal.
The biggest hurdle is to encourage the people who would be your ideal clients to stick around and find out if you are the therapist for them.
This initial decision is based on two things: the general feel of your website and the information they can see at the top of your website or what we call….
Above the Fold (What is it?)
On average 57% of the time on any website is spent on the part of the website that can be seen without scrolling. This section is called Above the Fold.
The website user makes a critical decision before they start scrolling the website of whether or not they're going to continue to scroll down or leave the site. They experience the the general feel of the website; whether or not it’s really old, it takes forever to load, or feels stressful or calm. They check out the colors, plus branding, and make a decision.
You want this part of your website ~really all of your website~ to feel professional and have the same feeling that you want your clients to have in the therapy room with you.
You want to ask yourself these questions
Do the colors fit with their beliefs about themselves? Or does the site feel like someone else? For example, you don’t want bright pink if you work mostly with men or couples.
Does the site feel like what the client hopes to feel once they leave therapy? If you are hoping your clients will feel calm when they come to see you, you want your website to feel that way.
Also in this section, the header should tell your prospective clients whether they are in the right place. Is this a therapist who works with people like me? The header should describe your ideal client in the that they would describe themselves at the beginning of therapy.
If all of this feels right to the prospective client they’ll read the first few lines of your copy. At that point, if the copy engages them they’ll continue to scroll and learn more about you. If it doesn’t resonate with them they go to someone else’s website.
So you want the first couple of lines of your copy to grab their attention and show them you understand them. That you understand what they are going through on their worst day, the days they don’t tell anyone else about. This will keep them reading.
Is The Home Page on Your Therapist Website Actually Important?
Not only is your home page your first impression on your prospective clients but it’s also the map to the rest of your website. As well as the guide for your clients on their journey towards therapy with you.
Your home page helps the person who knows a little about you decide whether to schedule a consultation. Tthe person who doesn’t know you at all gets an overview of who you are so they can decide if they want more information.
The home page gives the reader a general overview of who you are and what you do. They learn all of the details of where you practice, who you work with, and how you work with them. It also gives a little bit of your story and why you do what you do.
This is the page that begins to build trust with your reader or prospective client through consistency in your pictures, colors, and word choices. The whole site helps the person to learn about who you are as a therapist. They also help them learn if they want to sit in a therapy room with you.
Through the copy on your home page, you build a connection with your prospective clients by showing them that you understand what they are going through.
This also helps the person reading your website determine if you are not the right fit for them. I know that if you don’t have enough clients this might seem wrong. But if you are only attracting the clients that you work well with, then you are saving everyone time with consultations that don’t turn into a therapeutic relationship.
The Important Pieces of Your Therapist Home Page
Writing a great home page for your therapy private practice means making site that feels both professional and welcoming. Let’s look at what your clients need to see on your home page.
Create The Beginnings of a Therapeutic Relationship
Through the use of colors, photos, and word usage your home page should set the stage for what it is like to be in the therapeutic room with you. Even though you talk about pain points in your copy you want to create a sense of hope and realistic optimism while also keeping the amount of professionalism appropriate for your ideal client.
This positive, calming environment should extend throughout the prospective client’s experience of your website from the copy to its navigation.
Consistent and effective communication
In easily understandable language as close to what you would use verbally, you want to connect with your prospective clients. Show them in their own words rather than clinical terms you understand what they are going through and what they are hoping for.
We communicate that we understand their struggles and hopes while writing as clearly as possible. Show that you understand them but on the home page they don’t need all the details. Show them that you understand their internal experience almost like you are in their head on their worst days.
Communicate in writing the way that you speak. The goal is for the client to feel like they already know you from your website when you first them.
Required information
Once you’ve connected with your ideal client and shown them you understand. It’s time to briefly tell them what your specialties are and how you can help them.
Share a short bio that focuses on why you are the best therapist for them. Focus on your experiences both professional and personal (if comfortable and appropriate) that are most important to your ideal clients. Don’t go too far into details because most of those will go on your About Me page.
Your home page should also provide a clear overview of all the services you provide without going into too much detail (we’ll save that for the specialty pages). Think of this as a navigation menu that leads to your specialty pages.
Your prospective client also needs to know some basic information including whether you are online/in person, your service area, payment options including whether or not you take insurance. When it comes to online your clients need to know what your service area is.
You don’t need to give them all the detailed information just enough to know whether or not they should find out more.
Not only does your ideal client need this information to be on your Home Page but they also need to be able to find it…
Navigation and Structure
The structure and navigation of your therapist home page should contribute to the feel of your overall website. We want it to be as safe, calming, and relaxing as you want your clients to feel in session.
As part of this goal, we want your clients to be able to find their way around your home page easily and quickly. They should intuitively know where to find everything on your page without questioning where to find certain information.
A website that loads quickly is the first step to having a calming atmosphere on your home page. The next step is having an easy-to-use menu and page that makes sense.
You want to make sure that your home page matches the rest of your website when it comes to tone and feel. Keep the structure and the words light and airy. The whole page should feel clean and uncluttered.
Last you want the page to work well on all devices from desktop to mobile.
Once they get through your home page your clients need to know what to do.
Your Call-to-Action (CTA)
The most important piece of your home page is your call-to-action or CTA. This is the part of your home page that tells your prospective client what step to take next.
Your CTA should feel like the natural next step in their journey toward healing. In your CTA you need to use clear and open language that tells them what step to take. Try something like “Reach out by email now” or “Schedule a free consultation here”.
You want your CTA in multiple places on your homepage. Good places to put them are above the fold, at the bottom, and at least one in the middle of the page. You want your clients to be able to find the next step quickly when they decide to move forward.
Don’t assume that the client or reader knows what to do. Make sure that you are clearly telling them the next step.
Avoid These Mistakes When Writing Your Therapist Home Page
Certain things on your therapy website’s home page can distract from the calming feel and drive clients away. Here are 5 mistakes to avoid on your home page;
Cluttered Content and Large Text Blocks
Chunky paragraphs and text can overwhelm potential clients. If you break sections into short easy chunks they are easier to take in. Large chunks of text can be a lot and when viewed on cell phones can cover the whole screen. This can drive potential clients away.
Too Much Visual Stimuli
Too many images, colors, or design elements (no matter how cool) can feel chaotic and stressful. We want the opposite for your page. We want it to feel organized and peaceful. Kind of like a luxury spa versus a Reno hotel.
Technical Speak
For most of us, our ideal clients aren’t other therapists. Clinical terms and professional speech like lists of symptoms and diagnoses can leave clients feeling like you don’t understand them. It can leave them feeling like you aren’t approachable or like you think you are better than them.
Use the words and terms that your clients use to describe what they are going through. Use plain every day words on your home page so your clients don’t have to think too much about what you are saying.
Autoplay Videos
Videos or music that play automatically can be surprising and feel stressful especially if they don’t load smoothly and are cause other issues with your site. They can also:
Negatively impact your SEO rankings
Distract from your message
Create accessibility issues
Use too much bandwidth on mobile devices
Poor Mobile Capability
Most searches about healthcare (up to 60%) come from mobile devices. So your website needs to work and look good on phones and tablets. When a site takes to long to load on a phone it can chase prospective clients off. Save your clients some stress and make sure your website loads well.
Your home page should feel like a cozy, warm place just like your practice. We don’t want it to feel confusing and stressful for potential clients.
Social Proof
Testimonials -also known as social proof- on therapy sites are very controversial. It’s important to look at your ethics around confidentiality. Other businesses have not problems with client reviews.
But because of our ethics codes posting specific testimonials is frowned on even with client permission. Avoiding testimonials protects the therapeutic relationship and client confidentiality.
Most therapists choose to leave this section off of their websites. But others use a couple of run-arounds that allow for social proof without breaking ethics codes and confidentiality. One of these is to identify peers that are familiar with your work and have them write testimonials for you.
Another option is to post sentiments that you have heard from multiple clients in a very generic way. “Many of my clients say…” or “Often my clients report…”
For many therapists these still feel pretty uncomfortable and as stated above they leave this part out.
Other options for social proof are certifications, speaking engagements, or other media appearances (these get you good backlinks too).
Your Private Practice Home Page
Your private practice’s home page isn’t just a webpage- it’s your prospective client’s introduction to you. It invites the right clients to reach out for help by helping them learn about who you are and what you do.
Easy navigation and calming design are the background for engaging copy that allows the client to feel like they know you and learn whether you are the right therapist for them.
A good home page helps your clients feel understood and heard. We want them to feel like they know you well enough to start therapy.
I love showing off the healing work that other therapists do. I help others by helping you reach your ideal clients. I’d love to do the same for you. Click here to schedule a free consultation and find out how I can help your ideal clients find you.