9 Elements Every Therapy Website Must Have (Part 2 The Fit Factors)
In this series, part 1 covered the practice logistics that are the important information that helps potential clients figure out if they can actually work with you. These logistics are the gatekeepers. Without this information, clients move on before they even consider fit.
But once someone knows they can work with you, the next question is: "Is this someone I can work with?"
This is where most therapist websites fall flat. They're professional, polished, and completely forgettable. Every site talks about creating a "safe, non-judgmental space," but none of them help clients understand who the therapist actually is or who they work best with.
As both a therapist and a copywriter, I've seen this pattern hundreds of times. Websites that actually check all the logistics boxes (many don’t) but fail to help the right clients recognize themselves in the copy.
This second part of the series focuses on the four fit factors that answer "Is this someone I can work with?" These are the elements that help your ideal clients feel seen, understood, and confident that you're the best therapist for them.
The 4 Fit Factors Every Therapist Website Should Cover
1. Use Real Words
You worked hard on your degree, and yes, you understand what a “dysregulated nervous system” is and what “Traumatic incident” means. But most of your clients don’t.
You aren’t talking down to them by using language that they understand. Remember, your clients are often in a crisis when they are searching for help. The last thing they should have to do is decode therapy jargon into plain English when you can do it for them.
If your website is full of therapy jargon, you are creating an extra wall between you and your clients. Plus, jargon makes some clients feel like “therapy isn’t for people like them”.
They don’t need you to prove you’re smart, just that you understand what they are going through.
Write like you are talking to a friend. Instead of “I focus on cognitive restructuring and behavioral modification to help you achieve a regulated nervous system,” try “I help you to change your thoughts and actions so that you can feel calmer”.
Keep it clear and simple. So they know you understand their world, not just the textbook version.
When you make it easy and they feel understood, your clients can picture themselves
with you, which makes reaching out feel less intimidating.
2. Who You See (Your Specialty)
This is a place where many therapist websites struggle, they’re trying to reach every possible person they could work with.
The problem is that then they don’t connect with anyone including the clients they really want to see. I understand the impulse to want to include everyone but honestly you don’t do your best work with them all.
There are clients you fit with and there are clients you don’t. We want to attract your best fit clients not the clients you struggle to help. It’s okay to tell the wrong people you aren’t for them.
It helps them to figure out who the right fit therapist is for them.
When you claim you work with everything your clients can’t tell if you work with them.
As a therapist when I’m making a referral I’m looking for a specialist. When you have everything on your site I have no idea what you are good at or even who you actually see.
Clients are looking for the therapist that understands them, not everything and everyone. Show the clients you do your best work with that you are the right fit for them.
Be specific, tell the people who are reading your website what you are good at and who you specialize in. If your favorite clients are post-partum women, say that. Do you love helping burnt-out therapists find their passion again? Put it out there.
Explain to the people looking for you what you do.
The more clearly you claim your specialty, the better. It makes it so much easier for your ideal clients to recognize themselves in your words. This helps them feel confident in reaching out.
Don’t worry about chasing away the people you aren’t meant to work with. Help us (referrers and clients) find you by saying out loud what you do.
3. Your Experience (And Why It Matters to Them)
As therapists, we work so hard for our licenses, and often the experience we collect is hard fought for in the trenches. All of this experience does matter, but not for the reason that most therapists think.
When most clients (and even referring therapists) land on your “About” page, they aren’t looking to check off boxes or see how many years you’ve been in practice.
They are asking themselves if this therapist can actually understand my problem and help me get to the other side.
Instead of listing your degrees and certifications like a resume, tell your clients what this means to them. Many clients don’t understand the difference between our degrees anyway.
Instead of “I have been a therapist for 15 years,” try “I’ve spent 15 years helping people move through depression, so I know what it feels like to not be able to get up in the morning and lose the motivation to do the things that you love, and I’ve learned exactly how to find your way back.”
Don’t just tell them you are trained in Brainspotting or IFS. Explain to them how these modalities actually help. For example, “As a brainspotting therapist, together we’ll help process the trauma that is holding you back.”
Your background helps clients choose to work with you, but only when clients understand that you can help them. When you connect your degree and experience to what they are going through, you’ve shown them you are qualified in a way that really connects to them.
Show them you’ve walked this path with others and you know the way through.
4. Be Yourself
One of the most frustrating things about searching for a therapist is that it seems like all of the websites are exactly the same. They talk about creating a “warm, safe space that is judgment-free”. In reality, this is just the basics of being a therapist.
If your website is polished and professional and just talks about the basics of being a therapist, how do you stand out? How do your clients know that you are the right therapist for them?
Clients need to be able to tell you apart from all of the other therapists out there.
It’s the same thing that the research shows really helps our clients the most. Our personality or the fit between client and therapist. But we have to put ourselves out there so they can see who we are.
Your personality is one of the most useful tools as a therapist. Big picture, it’s what determines whether or not your clients get better. But it also determines whether your clients connect with you. That connection determines whether or not they feel safe and comfortable opening up.
None of us wants therapy clients to be making their decision based on location and insurance/cost on its own. We want them to get better and find the right therapist for them.
This means you need to be open about who you are so your clients get a glimpse of whether they will be able to connect with you.
You need to show this on your website. If you are warm and nurturing, your prospective clients need to be able to see this. If you are direct and no-nonsense, talk about it. If you are sassy and a little sweary, don’t change that in your copywriting on your website.
This allows your clients to know what to expect from you in the therapy room.
This doesn’t mean your website should be casual or unprofessional (unless this is fully your personality), but it does need to sound like you.
The goal of your copy is that when someone reaches out for a consultation, they feel like they already know you. So the decision to work with you is easy to make.
So write your copy the way you talk. Share what matters to you, be specific about what they can expect, and what your values are. Your personality isn’t something that is hidden in the therapy room, and it shouldn’t be hidden on your website. Help the right-fit clients find you.
A Website That Helps Your Ideal Clients Find You
The logistics get clients to your website. The fit factors get them to reach out.
When you use real words instead of jargon, clearly define your specialty, translate your experience into what it means for them, and let your personality show, you're building a connection before the first session even happens.
These four elements language, specialty, experience, and personality are what separate a forgettable website from one that helps the right clients recognize you're their therapist.
You don't need to appeal to everyone. You just need to appeal to your people. The clients you do your best work with, the ones who will actually get better working with you.
When you combine the practice logistics from Part 1 with these fit factors, your website becomes a powerful tool that attracts the right clients and sets everyone up for success from the very first contact.
Your website should work as hard as you do. Make it easy for your people to find you.
If you would like help with how to get all of these elements seamlessly into your copy I would love create unique copy for your website that helps your ideal clients really get to know who you are before they have even met with you.