Do you need a website for your therapy practice?

What a directory can do

BACP, Counselling Directory and similar listings put a short profile in front of people who are already looking. That is useful while a practice is new. The profile is still their page: the fields, the order and the contact button are theirs.

What your own site adds

Your domain can spell out each service, the fee, whether you work in a room or online, and how a first message should be written. Search and colleagues can send people to that page. A directory cannot be that page for every question.

• Early practice, few enquiries, facts still changing: a listing may be enough for now.
• People ask about fees, place or a named service and the listing cannot answer: a site is the next step.
• You already have a site that hides those facts: a review is more useful than a new listing.

If you decide to build

We do not start from a theme. The usual way in is Managed: £149 setup and £49 a month, or £249 and £69 a month when each service needs its own page. Prices include VAT. Buying outright is £650 or £995. The domain stays in your name.

The build includes the search structure and the markup an answer engine can read, because those are the same facts a person needs: the work, the place or the online scope, the fee, and how to write without sending a clinical history. A site does not guarantee clients. If you already have one and it hides those facts, ask for the free review instead of a new build.

Sources

• BACP — using the therapist directory
• Google Search Central — SEO starter guide