Reasons why therapists have a hard time making their own websites

Reason 1: They’re cheap or “broke”, so they DIY into the ground

Many therapists I’ve spoken to (and whose stories I read in online forums) have tried Wix or Wordpress to design free or cheap websites themselves. These website builders often have a lot of limitations, in spite of their claims of 100% customizability. And, most therapists are interfacing with these technologies for the very first time. Unless you are experienced, adding necessary functionalities (e.g., advanced scheduling integration widgets and fillable forms) can quickly become overwhelming, frustrating, and time-consuming. People give up or end up hiring someone to program/code their existing site. Many people ask me where to find these web development professionals before switching to a more user-friendly platform. This initial penny-pinching turns a "cheaper" solution into a got-what-you-paid-for problem. 

For a fraction more, Squarespace enables consumers to use their templates, stock images, and AI-generated copywriting as well as free domains for a year and Google Workspace integrations (which you can make HIPAA-compliant). Squarespace is also pretty hard to mess up. Many therapists, especially when they’re just starting out in private practice, tell themselves they can’t afford $16/month for their least expensive plan; (most therapists do not need the higher tiers– most don’t send marketing emails and most don’t have shops). Using upgrades for scheduling makes very little sense, and no one uses the payment platform- both are better suited for the EHR without duplicating costs.

The problem with the cheapskate approach is that if you spent 40 hours learning how to design your site & tweaking it endlessly, & you paid yourself your hourly therapist rate, (let’s say it’s $140), you would have spent $5600 on the website, (which is more than twice what I charge). But it’s not going to be well-designed because you’re not a designer. We can’t be in two places at once. While you may not have been seeing clients all of those hours, it does take away energy and free time you could be developing your business in meaningful ways like creating referral networks, creating your intake forms, or setting up online profiles like Yelp.

Unfortunately, this leads to websites that look less professional, are cumbersome to navigate, or lack accessible features (e.g., buttons linking to a client portal so that prospects can book their own consult call instead of emailing back and forth for days).

Stay tuned for more reasons & check out out website portfolio.