Episode 7: Having your own website is a non-negotiable in your practice
Simplify your marketing and connect with your ideal client using the power of a well-crafted website.
Welcome back, everyone! If you tuned in to last week’s episode of the Raised to Empower podcast, we delved into the importance of simplicity in marketing your private practice. This week, we’re taking it a step further and zeroing in on one of the most essential tools in your marketing toolkit: a website. So, buckle up as we explore why having a website is crucial for your practice and how you can get started, whether you're a tech novice or a seasoned pro.
Why Every Therapy Practice Needs a Website
In today’s digital age, having an online presence is not just an option; it’s a necessity. Statistics show that 97% of consumers search online for local businesses. While this statistic isn't exclusive to therapy practices, it underscores a significant point—people go online first when looking for services, including therapy.
Imagine you're searching for a new restaurant in town. Chances are, you'll Google it first, read reviews on Yelp, and then visit the restaurant's website for the latest menu and updates. The same process applies to potential clients searching for therapy services. They might start on social media or a therapist directory but will eventually want to visit your website for comprehensive information.
Even if someone recommends you by name, that potential client is likely to go online to find out more about your services. Therefore, having a website acts as a direct line for clients to learn about you and what you offer, enhancing your credibility and making it easier for them to reach you.
Getting Started: Choose the Right Platform
Okay, so you're convinced that you need a website. But where do you start? You don’t need to become a web design expert overnight to create an effective site. There are user-friendly platforms like Squarespace and WordPress designed to make the process as simple as possible.
I personally recommend Squarespace due to its ease of use, customizable templates, and excellent SEO capabilities. The drag-and-drop features make it simple to design a beautiful, professional-looking site without a coding background. Plus, it's cost-effective, with plans under $300 per year, and even some under $200.
Squarespace offers tutorials and support, so you're never truly alone in the process. While you might consider hiring a professional designer, platforms like Squarespace are so intuitive that you can genuinely do it yourself and maintain complete control over your site.
The Cost-Effective Starting Point: Secure Your Domain
Maybe you're not ready to dive headfirst into building a full-fledged website. That’s okay! Start by securing your domain name. This URL will be the address people type in to visit your website.
I often advise therapists to go with their own names as the domain name. For example, if your name is Rebecca Jones, consider purchasing rebeccajones.com. If that’s taken, you can add your qualifications, like rebeccajoneslcsw.com. Using your name makes it easier for referrals since people are more likely to remember your name than your practice’s creative name.
Domains usually cost around $20 a year, and once you have it, it's yours to keep. You can even create a simple one-page site or landing page using platforms like Canva for free. This allows you to present vital information about your services, making it look professional and credible, giving clients a place to start when they find you online.
Crafting Compelling Website Copy
A well-designed website won't do much good if the content doesn’t resonate with your ideal clients. Here’s where many therapists stumble—they focus heavily on their qualifications and specialties rather than addressing the client’s needs.
Your website copy should speak directly to your ideal client's struggles, feelings, and needs. Outline their pain points and how your services can help. This approach not only builds credibility but also forms an emotional connection, making potential clients more likely to reach out.
Creating an ideal client avatar can be incredibly beneficial. This involves detailing the demographics, challenges, and preferences of your ideal client, which helps guide your copywriting efforts. When done correctly, your website acts as a virtual handshake, building trust before you even meet your clients.
Resources to Help
Writing website copy can be overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone. My workbook, Raise Your Voice: A Workbook for Writing Website Copy that Attracts Your Ideal Client and Fills Your Online Practice, breaks down each section you should have on your site. This resource is excellent for those starting from scratch or revamping an existing website. As a special offer for podcast listeners, use the code PODCAST at checkout to get the workbook for just $10.
Remember, building your website is a marathon, not a sprint. Start small, even if it’s just buying a domain, and build from there. Each step you take brings you closer to connecting with your ideal clients and growing your practice. Stay tuned for next week’s episode, where I’ll discuss more about leveraging your website for SEO with Jessica Tapana from Simplified SEO Consulting. Happy website building!
Transcript for Episode 7
[00:00:00] Ashley Comegys: You are listening to the Raised to Empower podcast. I'm your host, Ashley Comegys, a licensed clinical social worker with a multi-state online therapy practice. I have a passion for empowering women and mom therapists to break free of the fear, overwhelm, and oppressive systems that hold them back from taking action and building the private practice of their dreams.
[00:00:23] My goal is for you to boldly believe in yourself as a clinician and business owner. If you are looking for a place to learn, practice, building, strategy and skill, while also claiming your own power as a woman and a therapist, then you are in the right place. Welcome to the show. Welcome back to The Race to Empower podcast.
[00:00:44] This week's episode is a bit of a piggyback off of last week's episode, episode six, where I talked about simplicity in marketing your private practice. We don't need to do it all. We can sometimes get really overwhelmed when we're [00:01:00] marketing and we may fall victim took a sense of we have to do it all.
[00:01:05] If you didn't listen to last week's episode, I highly encourage you to either pause this one and go back and listen or go back after you finish this episode and listen to it. Last week I talked about how sometimes we do end up doing too much when we're trying to market our practice and we end up spending a lot of time and money on things that aren't actually giving us a return on our investment.
[00:01:28] If you are listening, I recommended only picking three to five marketing strategies to focus on. , and while I don't believe that there is one specific way that you have to build or market your practice, I think everybody can do it differently. I really do believe that there are two marketing tools or strategies that are kind of a non-negotiable for me.
[00:01:49] Two that I think you absolutely need to have, especially in this day and age. And those two are having a. And networking with others about your practice. So today [00:02:00] I'm going to be talking about why you need a website and key things that need to be part of your site to help attract your ideal client. I wanna get a little bit more into like, why do we need this website?
[00:02:11] Why is this so important in 2023 when this is being recorded? Having an online presence is so important. It is so vital, especially if you are a therapy practice that is only online. You absolutely need a website. There's some statistics out there that show that 97% of consumers, now granted this isn't just for those searching for therapy, but 97% of consumers will search online for a local business.
[00:02:41] So they'll go online and, and look up. The location of that business services that they offer, where they're located, but they're going to be searching online. They're not going to the phone book. They're going online. Now, that doesn't mean that 97% of searches are directly on a website, meaning [00:03:00] like they aren't going to that website immediately.
[00:03:03] Think about it this way. If you are searching for a restaurant, you may go online and Google it and find information, but you may also go to. An app like Yelp, you're gonna read reviews there. You're gonna try and see pictures that people are putting up because the restaurant or the business can't necessarily put their own information up there.
[00:03:25] A lot of it has to come from people who are reviewing it or who have been a patron of that establishment. So you're gonna kind of check things out, and then most likely you're gonna wanna click and go from Yelp to their. Because everything isn't necessarily on Yelp, what somebody has posted as the menu may be from four years ago.
[00:03:46] Cause it's a picture they took. So you're gonna go to their website to see what is the most up to date, what is most accurate. Same thing. If you're searching for a local shop, you may look on Google, but then beyond [00:04:00] searching through that search engine, maybe you find their Google business profile, you're gonna go to their website from there to see, okay, what do they actually have listed in stock?
[00:04:10] Can I pick this up at that store? The same thing happens when clients are searching for a therapist. They are going to go online and search. It may be that they're scrolling on social media, or maybe they are looking at a therapist directory. Both of those can be okay. Those can be good, but they're a starting point because both of those options really have limitations with what you're able to share about yourself and your services.
[00:04:38] Someone's not necessarily gonna go through all of your posts or your reels to see what is her pricing here. What, um, types of therapy do you provide? What are the options for working with you? Do you take insurance? Right? They're gonna go beyond that, and you're gonna need to have a website for them to find that information out.[00:05:00]
[00:05:00] A potential client wants the option to go beyond that initial search to your website to learn more about you and your services in more. Even if somebody recommends the name of a therapist to someone, they're going to go online and search for that therapist. Your neighbor might recommend you and say, oh, I know so-and-so is a therapist, and they work with children.
[00:05:22] If that's what that potential client is needing. Yeah, they see children and yeah, they would be a great fit for you. Most likely that potential client's gonna. Do they have a website? I can look them up on being able to direct somebody there at the first step. Not that, okay, well go to this thing and then you can go from there, but that it's a direct way for them to contact you, for them to learn more about you is a great way and an easy way for you to begin connecting with that potential ideal client.
[00:05:50] By having a website where you are able to speak to your ideal client can really help them to see the benefits of working with you specifically, and they are more likely [00:06:00] to connect with you and then want to work with you. You can speak directly to their pain points and I encourage you to write your copy in a way that connects directly to them.
[00:06:13] So the website is the way to do that. A lot of times when you have a directory listing, You're very limited on what you're able to put there. They have limitations on word count. You may not be able to put images and things that you want as a way to connect. Having that website can help you with building credibility and trust with that potential client.
[00:06:33] Think of it as that first at the door moment where they get to see what is it like to work with you? Why do they want to come to you? If you're saying, okay, I get it. Oh, having a website is important. But what am I supposed to do now? Right? Maybe you're saying, okay, it is time for me to get a website, so where should I start?
[00:06:54] Two of the most recommended options that are kind of do it yourself, were really [00:07:00] easy to work with without having to have somebody to build it and, and make things really complicated. But two of the most recommended options are Squarespace or WordPress. There are a lot of different options out there.
[00:07:13] You can. Website builders or website, do it yourself. D i y. And you'll see there's a lot of different options out there, but in my experience and in talking with other experts and research, these are recommended due to pricing, ease of building, like you don't have to be a web designer to work with these, and flexibility in how you want things to look, as well as the ability to rank easily for search engine optimization or seo.
[00:07:45] I have built my therapy practice and my consulting businesses both on Squarespace, and I highly recommend them. When somebody is asking me or working with me about starting a website, Squarespace is usually where I will direct them because. [00:08:00] It is so simple to use their customizable templates. They have drop and drag design or interface, and they are really good for s e O ranking.
[00:08:12] It is easy to rank with a Squarespace page, so that's really who I recommend. If you are going to do it yourself, you absolutely could hire someone to design it for. But with something like Squarespace, it is really, really easy to use. They have a lot of tutorials and support, and the, the truth is you could have a website for under 300 for the entire year.
[00:08:35] They have some for even under 200 for the entire year, and you have complete control over it. , you don't have to pay like a monthly subscription fee, like you have to do with some, what I call kind of like big box therapist website builders that require you to use their services with very little flexibility and really they don't have that creative seo.
[00:08:54] I used to use one of them, and that was before I understood how websites work [00:09:00] and the importance of. So I really encourage you if you're finding that your website is not working for you, or you're like, okay, look, it's time for me. I've gotta do the thing. Go check out Squarespace. I'm not an affiliate or anything for them.
[00:09:14] I have no stake in this game, but they're just who I highly recommend checking out if you are gonna try to do it yourself. We've all been told we need to network in our private practice, but no one actually tells us how to do it or what to say. Enter comprehensive connecting effective scripts that expand your networking community and actually fill your online practice.
[00:09:38] This free guide will give you effective scripts to connect with fellow clinicians, medical professionals, and community stake. To build strong networking relationships that will help fill your practice. In this guide, you will get tips and tricks for building relationships that will lead to referrals in your practice.
[00:09:55] Real life examples of messages used to connect with referral sources and [00:10:00] customizable plug and send scripts for your specific practice needs. So download your free script guide today by going to bitly slash comp Connecting. Hey, hey. Hey, you may be listening and saying, okay, yes, I do see the benefit of having a website, but I'm not ready to fully dive into a website.
[00:10:22] That's okay. Maybe again, you see the benefit, but it's not in the budget, or you just don't have the time to really put in the effort that it takes to get the thing. So if that's you, I would recommend if you haven't already, go ahead and just get your domain name. This is the U R L that you use. So for example, for my consulting business, it's raised to empower.com.
[00:10:48] For my therapy practice, it's ashley commies.com. That's the domain. That's the title or the thing that somebody will type in and they will be able to go directly to your. You can get [00:11:00] one for 20 bucks, maybe even cheaper than that. Squarespace, you don't have to use their website, but you can get a domain there.
[00:11:07] Pretty simple that way. Once you are ready to build your website, You have your domain name. This is where a lot of times people will get hung up, especially when starting a practice. What is my practice name? What am I going to call my therapy practice? You do not have to know that right now. You do not have to use your therapy practice for your domain name.
[00:11:33] If you are starting out as a solo practice, it's just you. I highly recommend getting the domain name in your name. So if your name is Rebecca Jones, get rebecca jones.com. If that is already taken, you could add whatever your credentials are. So like Rebecca Jones lcsw.com. For me, it was ashley commies.com.
[00:11:55] Before I was married and my name was changed and I had a website like with [00:12:00] one of those big box websites. I had a different domain that I eventually let go, and my maiden name was Clark. So I had tried to get Ashley clark.com. That domain was taken up, so then I tried to get Ashley Clark counseling.com and that was already taken up, so I went with Ashley Clark counseling services.com.
[00:12:18] That was a lot, right? Like that was a a lot for people to put in. But the reason I do recommend if you can, just using your name is it's simple. When somebody goes to refer to you and they're saying it's that person, whether it's a client they have worked with you before, or somebody that knows you, or it's a referral that you've been working with and they're referring somebody to you, most likely the first thing that's going to come to their mind is your.
[00:12:49] They're gonna say, Ashley, you need to work with her or Jessica Smith. You need to work with her. They're going to give the [00:13:00] name and they're not gonna say, oh, you should check out their practice. It's called Butterfly Effect Therapy Services, or whatever name you want it to be. They're going to come up with your name.
[00:13:12] And so that is a simple thing for somebody to then go in and. They can write it down for them and they can go in and search for that website. Going back to looking at a way to do this really cheaply and just to get something started, if you're like, I'm not ready to start building, but let me go ahead and just get the domain name so I claim it, nobody else can have it.
[00:13:33] Go sign up. You can get those again, like at um, I think GoDaddy has some of them. I know Squarespace has some and so 20 bucks for the entire year and you have your. If you decide to start building your website with somebody else or with a business or a website builder and then decide to switch to a different company, you can always take your domain name with you.
[00:13:57] So once you have it, it's yours Now, [00:14:00] you may not be ready to go full in with a complete website with lots of different pages and, and all of that. So what you could do is you could create a simple one page website using your domain. You create a one page website or landing page. You could do it through Canva for free.
[00:14:17] If you haven't checked them out, they're great. You have a place to send people when they wanna learn more about you. On that one page, you're able to really describe what your ideal client is going through. And you're able to include information about yourself, your services, and how a client can work with you.
[00:14:35] And it looks really professional. It looks like something of yours and not just, okay, it's posted somewhere else. And then when you're ready, you can move into something like Squarespace or WordPress, and you'll already have that domain set. And you may already have a bunch of your copy prepared and ready to go for making that change.
[00:14:54] So that's a simple way. You could do it for 20 bucks. You can have a website, a webpage for the year, and it's a [00:15:00] great place to start to at least kind of start building that credibility, kind of playing around with what connects with people, how do they find you, and get a sense of how this might work for you.
[00:15:10] Now, having a website is the first. And knowing what to write on that page or on that website is the next big hurdle and can be where people can really get hung up. When I was starting out, it was really hard for me. I didn't know what to do. I was writing things, talking about myself and who I am. That was not really helping me to get my ideal.
[00:15:36] You can have a beautifully designed website, but if it doesn't say the right things to help your ideal client feel seen and heard, then that website really is doing you no good. The key thing to keep in mind when you are writing your website copy is you're not actually writing about yourself. You're writing about your client or your potential client.
[00:15:57] You're speaking to their struggles, how they [00:16:00] feel, their emotions, why they are seeking therapy. This can be really hard because we can feel like we have to sell ourselves, right? We need to talk about, this is what I have this specialization in. These are the degrees I have, this is what I'm passionate about.
[00:16:16] But when we're doing that, we're just talking about ourselves. The client really isn't that interested in that. They wanna know, do you understand what it's like living in my shoes? Do you understand the pain I'm feeling? Do you understand my. When we're writing our copy, what we're doing is we're really showing our clients that we understand them and that we can help them.
[00:16:38] And the way that we do that is by speaking directly to them. So one of the things you're gonna wanna do is create what I call like an ideal client avatar. This is really looking at who is the ideal person that would be sitting across from you or on screen with. What is their name? What is their gender identity?
[00:16:58] What is their [00:17:00] ethnicity? What is their background? What do they enjoy doing? What are their struggles? How are they employed? Go down to the minute detail and you create this ideal client avatar, and then you're using them. And keeping them in mind when you're writing about your services and about the work that you do, the specialties that you work with as a way to help you support clients.
[00:17:25] I know because this has been my struggle at times. Writing your copy for your website can feel overwhelming and daunting. If you're looking for a little help and you're saying, yeah, you know what? I either need to change up my copy, or it's time for me to like do the thing. Finally, I do have a workbook called Raise Your Voice, a Workbook for Writing Website copy that attracts your ideal client and fills your online.
[00:17:50] This workbook helps you go through each page or section that you should have on your website and helps you actually put pen to paper and write copy that speaks to your [00:18:00] ideal client. While it is geared towards people who have an online practice, it absolutely is transferrable and applicable if you have a brick and mortar practice.
[00:18:10] The only thing that's a little different is that trying to. Get your website seen or notice or speaking to somebody who is coming for online therapy can be a little bit different than writing to somebody who is seeking to come in person. So this really helps you to make sure you have things on your website that will help you to rank with s e o as well as attract somebody who is looking for an online therapist.
[00:18:35] And as you go through the five parts of the work, When you are finished, you have everything that you need to put on your website. You can just take that workbook and copy and paste it directly to your site. Or if you are having somebody design your webpage, you could absolutely just give it to them and they can take that copy and put it there for you.
[00:18:53] If you wanna check out the book, you can just go to raise to empower.com/voice, and I'm [00:19:00] using a special promo code for podcast listeners. If you use the code podcast at checkout, you get the book for only. So this is a great tool to just have, whether you have already built your website or are thinking of starting it, sometimes we need to go back and tweak things and rearrange things to just speak better to that client that we really wanna work with.
[00:19:22] So again, you can check that out@raisetoempower.com slash voice, and that'll also be linked in the show notes. Here's what I want you to take away from today's episode. Number one, if you don't have a. You can begin planning and prepping now to have one in the near future. Again, it may not be that tomorrow you're gonna go do the thing, but I want you to begin thinking, how can I be working towards that?
[00:19:47] What is the deadline or the timeline you can set for yourself to get one? And if you aren't ready to jump right into having that full website, can you at least go and get that domain, the [00:20:00] more inexpensive route for now, and just get that domain and set a time for you to create that single page through Canva or something similar to that so that you can just direct people somewhere.
[00:20:12] A website really does not have to be daunting, but it really can be your biggest asset to your business and help bring in clients. Start small. Maybe it is outlining what you want to have on your website. Maybe it is just designing that ideal client avatar. Maybe the workbook is the first place you start to begin writing your copy so that you're ready to go.
[00:20:36] Once you have the time to build your website, and once you say, yep, this is it. I'm ready to get it going. Next week I'm gonna be talking with Jessica Te from Simplified SEO Consulting, and we're gonna be talking more about the benefits of having a website versus a directory building off of what I talked about today in ways that your website is actually an asset to your business.
[00:20:58] I really hope you'll join me [00:21:00] next week. It was a great conversation and so much for you to learn from that. So thank you again for joining this week, and I hope you'll tune in again next time. Thank you so much for listening to the Raise to Empower podcast. Check the show notes for all links and resources mentioned in the.
[00:21:18] If you found today's episode helpful or inspiring, be sure to share it with your therapist friends, and don't forget to subscribe to the show and leave your five star rating and review. It truly means so much to me and will help us get our message of empowerment out to other women and mom clinicians, and I'd love to connect with you in our Facebook community.
[00:21:37] So check out the show notes for the link or head to Bitly slash raise to empower to join us. I'll see you back here next week.