Having a therapist website is so important for private practice therapists looking to connect with potential clients. But if you notice your website is not performing as expected, it might be time to roll up your sleeves, look under the hood, and diagnose the underlying problem and find a fix.
Random adjustments could eventually land you on the right-fit fix, but wouldn’t it be easier to get guided by an expert so you know how to identify what’s actually wrong and get suggested solutions?
That’s what we’ll do in this post. Let’s explore a systematic approach to diagnosing and fixing your therapist website so it can go from not working to delicious efficacy.
The Three Most Common Ways Therapist Websites Aren’t Working
When we say a website is “not working,” what we typically mean is it’s not working to fill a therapists’ practice with their best-fit clients.
But what exactly is the underlying problem? We can usually categorize a website that isn’t “working” into having at least one of three problems:
- Websites that are not getting traffic. No one is visiting the site.
- Websites that are getting traffic, but no calls. You know people are visiting but no one calls for a first consult or session.
- Websites that get a lot of calls, but not from best-fit clients. Calls happen, but none of the callers are a good fit meaning either they want to use insurance, they can’t afford your fee, or they aren’t the type of client you do your best work with.
Diagnosing If Your Website Is Not Getting Enough Traffic
If you feel like your website isn’t working, the first question you should be asking is, “is my website getting enough traffic?”
While creating a website is undoubtedly an essential step, a website alone does not guarantee a flood of clients.
Having a website is like having an island. You need to get people to the island. Not just own it.
Here’s a quick quiz to evaluate if your website might not be working due to low traffic:
- Am I regularly promoting my website?
- Do my marketing efforts consistently drive traffic to the website?
- Do I offer services in a highly saturated city where there are a lot of websites competing for attention?
- Have I optimized my website for search engines (SEO)?
- Do I have an online presence beyond my website including things like social media, online directories, or other platforms to reach a broader audience?
- Do I have a robust referral network that is likely to be sharing my website link with referrals?
If you answered no to one or more of these questions, your website may not be working due to no or low traffic.
If you’re running analytics on your website, you may also have data gathered about how many visits your website is getting – which can also support your diagnosis of the problem.
Top Three Fixes For Websites That Are Not Getting Traffic
Build a Referral Network: Establish a network of people who refer clients your way on a regular basis. Identifying who your ideal referral source is and adding them to your network means your website’s traffic will increase. Most referrals will hand out your website link.
Collaborations and Speaking Engagements: Get out of your office and connect into the community! Partnering with other professionals and organizations can increase your visibility. Consider guest blogging, giving talks, or putting on webinars. Such collaborations can drive traffic to your website.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Search engine optimization is a great long-term strategy. (Long term meaning that if you start optimizing today, you can see increases to traffic in 12-18 months). Optimization includes a set of best practices for increasing the likeness of a page of your website coming up in search results. If your website ranks on page one of google, imagine how much traffic you will get. Just keep in mind SEO takes a lot of time and financial investment too if you need to hire someone.
Diagnosing If Your Website Is Getting Traffic, But No Calls
But what if you are getting website traffic to your therapist website? And just not getting calls?
The best way to diagnose if this is the case for your website is by setting up and evaluating your website’s analytics.
You don’t have to become an analytic expert – just take a look at how many visits per month your website gets vs. how many calls.
As a general rule of thumb, 2-5% of your website visitors should be calling.
So If you want to get 8 calls per month, you need to get 160-400 visits per month.
If you’re getting that many visits and no calls, you have diagnosed that your website is getting traffic but not calls.
In addition to analytics, some other ways to identify if your site is getting traffic but no calls:
- Ask Incoming Clients: ask incoming clients how they found out about you. If a significant number mention the website, it suggests that the website is getting traffic and calls.
- Check Website Inquiries: if you have a contact form or scheduler set up on the website, you can regularly review and respond to inquiries that come directly through them. If a significan number are coming through, it suggests the website is getting traffic and calls. Or if a decrease is noticed, that may indicate a need for improvements on the website.
Top Three Fixes For If Your Website Is Getting Traffic, But No Calls
Improve The Design: A clean and professional design that reflects your identity is more likely to inspire a visitor to reach out. Your website design should reflect your warmth, credibility, and trustworthiness.
Improve The Words (aka: The Website Copy): Review the content on your website and evaluate if it effectively conveys your expertise and empathy. Tailoring the message to your best fit client, ensuring your niche is clear, and having clear invitations for a website visitor to reach out can dramatically increase calls.
Create and Embed Videos: Videos are an instant and powerful way to establish a personal connection with potential clients visiting your website. You can create intro videos, sales videos, or educational or inspirational content for a blog. All types of videos are proven to increase the number of visitors reaching out.
Diagnosing Websites That Get A Lot Of Calls, But Not From Best-Fit Clients
A website not attracting best-fit clients is probably the easiest problems to diagnose as well as one of the most frustrating ones too. You’ve done the marketing, you’ve created a great website, visitors are reaching out!
But instead of celebrating, you notice those calls aren’t leading to clients.
To more officially track if this might be your website’s problem, make sure to ask every caller how they found you. This data can help you identify which sources in your marketing are leading to mismatched clients. If you notice your website is consistently providing the wrong clientele, consider the below fixes to inspire better quality inquiries from your website.
Top 3 Fixes If Your Website Gets A Lot Of Calls, But Not From Best-Fit Clients
Write Clearer Content: If you’re seeing a trend around people calling in and not being a fit for a particular reason make sure your website is conveying as clearly as possible about that. Think of your website like a filter that discourages bad-fit clients and encourages best-fit clients. It could be around being cash pay or around your niche, values, or personality. Don’t be scared to ‘scare people off’ – that’s the point.
Market To Best-Fit Clients: Where do clients that match your vibe hang out? And are you marketing there? If the traffic to your site to begin with aren’t best-fit clients then you need a marketing solution. Are you networking with referrals that are likely to refer cash pay? Are you showing up on the right channels where your best-fit clients may be? Marketing to best-fit clients and referral sources that will send you them can lead to more best-fit clients reaching out through your website.
Build A Stronger Identity: A powerful presence is like a magnet to your best-fit clients. Imagine having who you are and what you do coming through so clearly, there is no denying that you’re the right fit for the clients you most want to work with. Beyond writing content on your site, a strong identity is built through things like social presence, community connections, and content (like a blog or videos!). Make your best-fit clients know you’re the obvious fit and they will be the ones calling.
Fixing Your Website: Possible With Intelligent Inquiry and Insight
For many therapists with a website that is ‘not working,’ the problem is a lack of traffic to their websites. But taking the time to identify the true problem is crucial before you start putting effort into fixing. Throwing spaghetti against the wall can be a time-consuming and ineffective approach to uncovering what may work. Your time and energy are precious, so use them wisely by taking the time to diagnose the true problem and work on your best-fit fix.
By systematically evaluating your therapist website, you can pinpoint areas that require improvement and invest your resources effectively. Whether it’s getting into the community, enhancing your design and content, or refining your referral network, taking a strategic approach to improve your website’s efficacy is a valuable step toward building a thriving therapy practice.