Originally published by Sabrina Martinez, Content Manager. Updated and revised by Jennifer Gracey, Web Content Strategist & Writer on 06/15/2023
Your website is the digital storefront for your mental health practice. It’s the digital epicenter of the heart and essence of your brand identity and how well people connect with it determines what gets communicated to your audience. It shows potential clients how you can help them solve the problem they’re having, eliminate their pain points, and address what’s important to them. Things like:
- “What’s wrong with me?”
- “How can I overcome my mental health challenges?”
- “Will I ever be okay?”
- “What do I have to do to feel better?”
- “Where can I get help for…. this?”
Beautifully Designed Websites Matter
Your website is where about 50% of your potential clients visit before deciding whether or not to engage with your services any further. How your brand looks, sounds, and communicates information to website visitors impacts their decision making process significantly. In fact, you only have 10-15 seconds to convince visitors your website is worth their time and attention. Making an excellent first impression with an eye catching web design is imperative if you want potential clients to stick around long enough to discover what therapy you offer.
Solid Web Design Supports Brand Identity
While you may have your name, your practice or your clinic listed in all the prominent mental health directories, your website is the ultimate digital calling card. Having a strong web design is the foundation of building a solid online reputation.
In addition to being visually appealing, giving your existing and future clients a great user experience on your website serves multiple purposes. A well planned and mental health website design:
- establishes trustworthiness, credibility and expertise in your niche.
- sets expectations for the level of service, quality and professionalism your potential clients should anticipate from you.
- educates and informs your audience.
- tells your audience how (and where) to connect with you both on and offline.
- visually signals to potential clients they’re the right clientele for your services
- encourages website visitors to take the next step in their mental health journey by connecting with you.
- creates brand awareness, fosters brand identity and brand recognition.
- displays your services and treatment programs.
- serves as the focal point for all your supporting digital marketing efforts.
Helping Therapists and Patients Connect
As a mental health provider, you know what you do is important. You also know there are countless individuals out there who desperately need your services. However, for them, taking the first step toward getting help is really hard. Nearly 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 6 children have a mental illness, but approximately 50% of people struggling with mental health issues don’t receive the treatment they need.
So how does one build a website that breaks down barriers and builds trust with potential clients online? At Beacon Media + Marketing, making beautiful, yet patient experience centered, UX-friendly mental health websites is a passion of ours. As we’ve supported online marketing efforts in the mental health industry over the years, we’ve discovered a few core principles every therapist website design needs to in order to convert a website visitor into a potential client.
Examples of Beautiful Website Designs
Want to see some beautiful examples of professional mental health websites? These are three of our favorite web designs that not only look attractive but have produced real results for each of our clients.
Tired of cookie-cutter, run of the mill therapist websites? Us too! Click here to learn about our mental health marketing and web design services.
1. Center for Grief and Trauma Therapy
Website Design Highlights:
- Strong call-to-actions on every page
- Clear steps for getting started
- Compassionate, compelling language
- Strong brand and calming imagery
- Detailed therapist bios and video
The Center for Grief and Trauma Therapy is a private practice out of Delaware and they specialize in treating people who are healing from grief and trauma. Our client had a vision for an easy to navigate WordPress website that wouldn’t overwhelm people. We accomplished this by having CTAs or call-to-actions on every page of the site and by making the contact button bright and easy to see in the header. We clearly outlined the patient process in four simple steps. Those steps were then neatly laid out on both the home page and services page.
A mental health website requires clear messaging, it must also authentically speak to what website visitors are feeling at that moment. When someone is struggling, decision making capacity and bravery (or courage) are often in short supply. This internal barrier can make seeking help from professional mental health providers hard. Capturing the right cadence and tone of voice will encourage someone to push beyond their dis-ease, take that next step, and reach out.
For the Center for Grief and Trauma Therapy, we knew we needed an excellent way to connect with potential patients. We needed to create a relatable and compassionate website that someone could visit, identify with and recognize, “That’s my loss.”
Experiencing loss or living through a traumatic event is often difficult to talk about. And many struggle putting into words how intrusive and profound their grief and trauma truly is. We wanted website visitors to feel seen, known and safe. To establish this practice as a judgment-free zone, we utilized phrases like:
- “I feel like I’m grieving wrong.”
- “I don’t know where to start.”
- “I don’t know how I’m going to get through this.”
- “I’m not sure I need therapy.”
- “I feel like I’m totally stuck.”
Establish Yourself as a Credible Business
We also established the therapists at the Center for Grief and Trauma Therapy as experts in their unique field. With a specific niche in the mental health field, we established a strong brand with this website. The mental health website design incorporated the client’s original logo colors: a burgandy red and warm marigold yellow-orange. We also added in an earthy sage green to infuse the color scheme with a calming element. To enhance and build relatable dimensions to the visual aspects of this site, we placed images of nature throughout, to emphasize growth, serenity and calm.
Here at Beacon, we know building trust and credibility is a must in the mental health field. To facilitate this end, we give website visitors an opportunity learn about the therapists they may encounter. The home page features a friendly video of Christina Zampitella, owner of Center for Grief and Trauma Therapy. Additionally, created in-depth bios that highlighted each therapist’s story, a personal quote, their specialties, and relevant credentials.
Want to capture your mental health niche with an incredible website that establishes you as an expert in your area? We can help!
2. NYC Therapeutic and Wellness
Website design highlights:
- Eye-catching header image
- Calming shades of blue
- Conversational, relatable messaging
- Strong, frequent call-to-actions
- Easy-to-find information
- User-friendly contact form
The first web design element you may notice when opening the NYC Therapeutic Wellness website is the calming shade of blue used throughout. In general, blue is a great choice for a mental health practice that specializes in treating anxiety. The header image ties perfectly into the logo and brand colors for this client by displaying a wide, open blue sky and a happy couple in neutral colors at the seaside.
Coming in Strong with A Bold Promise
At the top of the home page is a strong promise: “We’re here to help you identify and break down the barriers that are holding you back.” We kept this concept in mind during our design ideation and build process and were intentional about removing barriers to access.
We knew our target audience for this site was going through a tough patch and needed help navigating the unfamiliar terrain. However, as mentioned in the first example, taking that first step is hard. If finding information or scheduling a first appointment is difficult, it’s easy for distraction, disinterest, frustration, anxiety, or doubt to creep in and cause a potential client to leave your site without ever reaching out.
That’s why we made it as easy as possible for someone visiting the NYC Therapeutic Wellness website to find what they’re looking for. Each page contains multiple call-to-actions guiding people to schedule an appointment or take the first step. Additionally, we placed a grid at the top of the page listing out the practice’s counseling specialties.
The contact button is always strategically located at the top of the header, making it easy to click to the contact page and send an appointment request at any time. And the contact page itself makes the process of booking an appointment simple with options to: select a counselor, indicate one’s preferred appointment day and time, and write a short message.
Want a website that removes all barriers for access and fuels practice growth? Share your website goals with us.
3. Holistic CFT
Website design highlights:
- Inclusive imagery and messaging
- Easy-to-find services
- Multiple call-to-actions
- Calming color palette
- Insurance tab in the main-navigation
Based out of Chicago, Holistic Couples and Family Therapy is a private therapy practice and their specialty is relationship counseling for individuals of all backgrounds. To capture the inclusiveness of Holistic CFT on their website, we used diverse images — including images of LGBTQIA+ couples and families. We also chose images showcasing couples across a wide age range and multiple ethnicities (including bi-racial couples.)
Emphasizing Inclusiveness and Making Visitors Feel Welcomed
Our goal was for couples and families from every background, including “non-traditional” couples, to see images on the website they could personally identify with. As well as non-verbally communicate that Holistic CFT is a safe, judgment-free place. We understand feeling different or unwelcome is a major barrier for people seeking mental health services, so we were intentional about sending a strong “everyone is accepted” message. And to eliminate any doubt, we added to the home page, “We are proud to be LGBTQIA+ allies.”
Insurance coverage also is a deciding factor for patients when selecting their mental health provider. As Holistic CFT accepts most major insurance plans, we made this information easy for new patients to find by including an Insurance option in the main navigation area of the site. On the insurance page we made sure to list the insurance plans Holistic CFT accepts and include direct links to each provider’s page to help patients quickly check if they’re covered.
Want a website that captures the heart of your mental health practice and helps you stand out from other mental health professionals in your area? Tell us about your business.
Bring Your Mental Health Website Design and Patient Experience Goals to Life
Is your current mental health website design unattractive, disorganized, difficult to navigate or poorly functioning? Do you want a unique site that appeals to prospective clients, removes all barriers to entry and beautifully displays the amazing work you do? Beacon Media + Marketing can create a modern, user-friendly mental health website design that fits your vision.
If you’re ready to bring in new clients with a mental health website that converts, let’s talk. Start a conversation with us for more inspiration and to get started.
