Five things every wellness website needs
Congratulations! You’re living the dream!
You have a career that not only brings in income, but helps other people.
That’s a major feat in this messed up, crazy world.
From the bottom of my heart: thank you for what you do.
Now, onto the nitty gritty (and let’s face it, my sole focus here):
your website.
As a wellness solopreneur, there can be a lot of competing factors that pull at you in all sorts of directions:
how to best run your practice
finding your perfect office location (noisy neighbors, anyone?)
tracking continuing education credits
staying on top of trainings and integrating them into your work
refining therapeutic techniques
taking excellent care of yourself
giving your best to your clients
marketing your business (socials, referrals and ads, oh my!)
answering phone calls, emails and scheduling appointments
Hiring and training new employees or independent contractors
the to-do list goes on & on…
Somewhere in there we’re supposed to also build and maintain a website?!
Yep. It’s true.
No wonder we all need a massage so bad.
Whether you’re doing it all yourself or considering hiring a professional web designer to do it for you (now there’s some smart delegating!), here are five things every wellness-centered website needs.
An INCREDIBLE “about” page
Whether you work as a massage therapist, mental health therapist or in some other wellness field, you are in the trust business, not the people business.
You work extraordinarily close to your clients, so close you can feel them breathe, notice subtle changes to their bodies and guide them to a deeper state of connection with themselves and the world around them.
Your website should allow your clients to fully understand who you are, the type of work you do, how you are here to help them, and give them an instant feeling of trust and ease.
Components of an incredible “about” page should include:
Professional head shots with a smiling face (people like to feel welcomed with a genuine smile)
Warm colors that convey a sense of ease and relaxation, versus cold or clinical colors
In addition to any professionally-relevant trainings you’ve done, you’ll also want to describe some personal information about yourself that highlights what’s most important to you. This shouldn’t be your entire life story, but meaningful things to you like travel, family, hobbies, pets or whatever else brings richness to your life.
2. Attractive images for YOUR ideal client
When building a website and growing your business, you want to figure out who your ideal client is and let them know they’re in the right place.
Old marketing concepts were that we should market to everyone so we can drum up business. But new marketing techniques have taught us that the best way to grow a business is to get super clear on messaging– to the smallest possible group.
To steal marketing genius Seth Godin’s phrase: “People like us do things like this.”
This may seem counterintuitive, and you may be asking yourself, “Shouldn’t I be trying to get as many people as possible in my door?” The answer is a resounding NO.
We want your ideal clients– and just your ideal clients– to know when they arrive at your website, that they belong with you and you belong with them.
To reiterate, you want to feel assured you are bringing the right people to your business: the ones that bring you delight to work with, the ones who are so grateful for your work, the ones that feel like they really understand and appreciate the work you’re offering the world and are happy to pay whatever you’re charging!
Ok I’m convinced, how do we do that?
Get super clear on who your ideal client is (I offer an ideal client avatar questionnaire to all my web design clients so I know how to best build their website!)
Some things to ask yourself about your ideal client (from the amazing Paige Brunton’s web design course):
Name, age and gender
Where they live and who they live with
Occupation and income
Fav blogs, podcasts, magazines and YouTube channels
Conferences and events they attend
Social media channels they use
Brands, celebrities & influencers they love
Style & looks they like
Now that you’ve figured all that out, add images to your website that those clients would love! (Isn’t it fun to sort of be a mind reader?)
3. Where you’re located
Okay, you might be thinking, this one is obvious!
But if you’re in the trust business, you want your clients to feel like they already know where they’ll be before they arrive at your office.
Sure, you could have “located in Tucson” with your address on your website, but how about beautiful images of the inside of your office?
How about pictures of the cozy chairs they’ll be sitting in, close-up shots of the massage table they’ll be laying on, inviting images of the plants in the waiting area or the peaceful walkway that leads to your door?
These all help your client have a sense of ease that they know where they’ll be while they’re trusting you with their body, mind and spirit.
What if you do a lot of your business online, such as telehealth appointments?
You can still highlight pictures of you talking in front of a laptop, show images of comfy couches and pillows, or two people talking in a professional but friendly manner. You’d be surprised at the stock imagery available these days on platforms like SquareSpace (my preferred web design platform)!
That said, hiring a professional photographer to truly capture you is absolutely the best practice.
It can be an expensive investment but the professionalism it will bring to your online presence is priceless.
And you’ll be able to keep those images for the rest of your life (I’m still using some imagery taken about seven years ago)! Depending on how well you age, they can serve you for a long time. :)
4. Online scheduling
Bare with me, especially if you’re “old school” and this idea sort of scares you and you like to schedule all your clients in your trusty ol’ paper planner.
And believe me, I get it!
I wrote all about the struggle with giving up my paper calendar.
But it really is absolutely essential these days to have an online scheduling platform. While it may take some effort initially getting set up, in the end, you and your clients will find it a much more streamlined, easeful process for scheduling, rescheduling and/or cancelling appointments.
There are a TON of online scheduling platforms available, so it depends on which website platform you’re already using and also what features you want.
A lot of mental health therapists use Simple Practice, and massage therapists frequently gravitate towards MassageBook, Schedulicity (now owned by Vagaro) or Acuity.
One of the nice things about online scheduling is that you can set your regular hours so “when are you open?” automatically becomes one less question you have to answer for your clients!
Over the years, I have received so much positive feedback from my clients that they loved the ease of being able to schedule their massage appointments whenever they wanted without feeling like they were “bothering me!”
Ha!
We all know that scheduling conflicts and sickness can often pop up unexpectedly, and with an online schedule you can clearly set parameters for your cancellation policy. You can even collect people’s credit card information so if they no-show to your appointment, you can still get paid!
Another often unspoken and subtle factor of online scheduling is that it gives you & your business an air of legitimacy.
I don’t know about you, but when I visit a wellness website and see that I have to text or call to make an appointment, I usually wonder if they’re a “real” business and navigate away.
But again, this will depend on your ideal client.
If you work with the elderly or those in hospice care, you may find that scheduling over the phone is absolutely essential to your clients. If you love working with busy moms, you’ll likely do best with a super user-friendly online scheduling platform.
5. Reviews & testimonials
“How do I know if I can trust you?”
This is the biggest question on anyone’s mind when they’re considering booking an appointment with a wellness practitioner. The best way to do this is through what’s called “social proof.”
The very best websites clearly show the positive impact that your business has had on other people’s lives. There are many different ways to showcase and highlight testimonials, be it a “carousel” of quotes on your homepage, an entire page dedicated to testimonials, or online Google or Yelp reviews.
Most successful businesses offer all three of these as a way to highlight their trustworthiness over and over again to their prospective clientele.
If you are a relatively new practitioner, or you just never bothered to set up a Google business listing, I cannot stress enough the importance of getting this done. It should be a top priority for your business.
Start by asking ALL of your clients to leave a review.
Set up an automatic email to your clients that goes out after every appointment, asking them if they’d leave a five-star Google review.
This helps boost your Google business listing and drives a significant number of clients to your door (or at least, to your website)!
Years ago, when I was first starting my business, I simply texted some of my regular clients and asked if they would write a testimonial (this is before I had a Google business listing).
I built a testimonial page on my website so that new clients could read all about the wonderful experiences people had had in my massage studio!
Even if you’re not really seeking to grow your business or are happy with your current client base, including reviews or testimonials on your website is such a nice thing to do.
Remember that your website is essentially a glorified business card, it’s there for anyone to visit and get a clear sense of what you do. Why not include some kind words about yourself (even if it’s just to get a warm fuzzy feeling for the day)?
When that feeling of burnout creeps in (which, inevitably it will), you can look at all those sweet words and glowing accolades folks have written about you and remember all the good you’re doing for the world.
But, most importantly, five-star reviews and/or your “social proof” section should live directly underneath the services section of your website.
This allows people that might feel a little on the fence or uncertain about whether or not they should book with you to gain a sense of confidence that they’re making a great decision.
So! There you have it!
Five things every website should have, especially if you’re in the wellness field.
If you’ve just read this article and you’re like, okayyyy… LOVE these ideas, but when the heck am I ever going to have the time to get all this updated on my website?!?!
Have no fear! You’re in the right place.
Lucky for you, I do website upgrades like it’s my job (umm, because it is).
Not only that, but I totally understand the wellness business backwards and forwards, so I will infuse your website with all the right components to help your ideal clients feel like they just landed in the exact right place at the right time (shangri-la)!
Book a website upgrade so you can focus on your practice. It’s seriously what I’m here to do.
Start by booking a FREE discovery call, so I can hear all about your dreams, goals and aspirations for your website.
From there, I’ll walk you through a quick and easy process (and yep, you’ll get that Ideal Client Avatar questionnaire!) and you’ll be the proud owner of a shiny new(ish) website before you know it (how does one week sound?)!
Then you can sit back, relax and have that glass of wine that you deserve (or better yet, go book yourself that massage you’ve been really needing).
Start today. Book your FREE discovery call and let’s get this show on the road. :)
