What Every Private Practice Website Needs
If you've been staring at your Squarespace trial wondering where to even start or you have a site up but something feels off and you can't put your finger on it?
There's a lot of noise out there about what a therapy website "should" have. Booking widgets, blog pages, resource libraries, client portals, testimonials, photo galleries, and it adds up fast and starts to feel like you need to build a small enterprise website just to get a few clients in the door.
You don't.
A private practice website has one job: turn a stranger into a client who books a consultation. Everything on your site should support that job or get out of the way. Here's exactly what you need, what's nice to have eventually, and what you can skip entirely.
The Pages Every Practice Website Needs
Home Page
Your home page is not the place to say everything. It's the place to say enough; enough to make someone feel like they're in the right place and want to keep reading.
A home page that converts has a few things above the fold (meaning before the visitor has to scroll):
A clear headline that speaks to who you help and what you help them with. Not your name, not your credentials but the problem you solve. "Therapy for anxious adults who are tired of overthinking everything" is more compelling than "Welcome to my practice."
A subheadline or short paragraph that adds a little more context
A call to action button: Book a Consultation, Schedule a Free Call, Get Started, just something that tells them exactly what to do next
Below the fold, your home page can include a brief intro to who you are, a snapshot of your services, a few words about what working with you looks like, and another CTA. Keep it scannable. People skim before they read.
About Page
The about page is often the most visited page on a therapy website and the most underused. Potential clients are deciding whether they trust you enough to be vulnerable with you. This page needs to do some real work.
What belongs on an about page:
A photo of you: not a stock photo, not a logo. You. People are choosing a person, not a brand.
Your story and approach: why you do this work, what you believe about therapy, what it's like to work with you
Your credentials: license type, years of experience, specialties, any relevant training but woven into the narrative, not listed like a resume
A CTA: yes, at the bottom of the about page. Someone who read all the way through is warm. Give them somewhere to go.
Services Page
Your services page answers the question "can you help me with my specific thing?" It needs to be clear, specific, and speak directly to the person you're trying to reach.
For each service or specialty you offer, include:
Who it's for (be specific like "adults navigating life transitions" is better than "anyone who needs support"). Note* I see the word “navigating” a lot but think about how clients speak. Do they really use the words “I need help navigating”. Write copy in their language.
What the problem looks like before they come to you
What working together looks like
What becomes possible after
A CTA to book or inquire
If you offer multiple specialties, you have a choice: one services page that covers all of them, or individual pages for each. Individual pages are better for SEO if you're trying to rank for specific searches ("anxiety therapist in [city]"). One combined page is simpler to build and maintain. Either works but pick the one you'll actually keep updated.
Contact Page
Your contact page should be simple and low friction. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for someone to reach out.
At minimum:
A contact form (name, email, brief message: keep it short, you can get details later)
Your general location (city and state: you don't need your full address)
Whether you offer in-person, telehealth, or both
Your general response timeframe ("I respond to all inquiries within 2 business days")
If you use an online scheduler, you can link to it here or embed it directly. If you use a separate contact form tool, Squarespace's built-in form block works fine for most practices.
Legal Pages
Not glamorous, but non-negotiable. Every practice website needs:
Privacy Policy: how you collect and handle visitor data, required by law
Terms and Conditions: the rules governing use of your site
Disclaimer: clarifying that your website content is not therapy and does not create a therapeutic relationship
These live in your footer, not your main navigation. Most visitors will never read them but they need to be there.
What's Nice to Have (But Not at Launch)
Blog
A blog is a long-term SEO and trust-building strategy. It is not a launch requirement. If you're trying to get your site live and start seeing clients, a blog can wait.
When you are ready, a blog works best when you're consistent like one or two posts a month on topics your ideal client is already searching for. It's a slow build, but it compounds over time.
FAQ Page
An FAQ page can reduce the back-and-forth in your inquiry process by answering the questions you get asked most. Things like: do you take insurance, what's your cancellation policy, how long are sessions, do you offer sliding scale.
You can also fold a FAQ section directly into your home or services page instead of building a standalone page, totally valid, and often more effective because the answers are right there where the questions naturally come up.
What You Can Skip
Resource Library
A resource library sounds like a great idea until you're trying to maintain it alongside a full caseload. Unless content creation is a core part of your business model, skip it at launch. A blog accomplishes the same goal with less overhead.
Client Portal
Most practices handle client communication, intake, and scheduling through their EHR, not their website. Unless your EHR doesn't offer a client portal and you have a specific reason to build one on your site, skip it. Keep your website for marketing and your EHR for clinical operations. If this is easier for your clients then have it live on your website. Do you. Make you life easy however that looks.
Photo Gallery
Unless you have a physical office space that you want to show off, a photo gallery adds visual clutter without adding much value for a potential client. A few good photos of you woven naturally into your about and home pages are more effective than a dedicated gallery page.
Multiple Pop-Ups
One intentional pop-up, like an email opt-in for a freebie, can work. Multiple pop-ups, exit intent pop-ups, cookie banners stacked on top of subscription prompts on top of chat widgets, phew, it's a lot. Keep it simple. Your visitor came to learn about your practice, not navigate an obstacle course.
The One Thing That Matters Most
You can have every page on this list built out beautifully, and your site will still underperform if your copy isn't speaking to the right person. The words on your website matter more than the design.
Before you get too deep into fonts and colors and which template to use, get clear on:
Who specifically you help
What they're struggling with when they find you
What they're hoping therapy will make possible
Write from that. The design makes it look good. The copy makes it convert.