3 Things To Know Before Hiring A Web Designer
You’re ready to hire a web designer to create a website for your private practice, but you’re not exactly sure what you should be looking for... or even what all goes into designing a website.
As your therapy practice’s digital storefront, your website needs to accurately represent the work you do as a therapist, and meet all the functional requirements to make it a great user experience for therapy seekers. Hiring a web designer can be a big investment that impacts how quickly your private practice grows. No wonder it can feel stressful!
I often hear from past clients that the moment they decided to work with me was on our consult call. I’m gonna chalk part of this up to my mission to make #allthingstech approachable and fun, but it’s also because my #1 goal on a consult call is to clarify what you need and how that matches up with what I offer.
The truth is every designer will not be the best fit for what you need. And if you’ve never worked with a web designer before, there’s a good chance that “you don’t know what you don’t know.”
In this post, I’ll walk you through 3 main factors to consider when selecting a web designer. To be honest, I could give you a list of 20 things to consider when selecting a web designer, but these are the 3 things that many therapists overlook and can have the biggest impact on making the right choice for your specific scenario.
#1 Scope of Work
The best place to start when considering who to hire is what exactly you need from your web designer. There’s a ton of variation in what individual designer’s include in their services.
Some web designers will expect you to have all of your content prepared before the project starts including your text content, images, and logo. At the other end of the spectrum, they may help you create the content before building the website.
The scope of work can also explain price variation, and in some cases what appears more expensive upfront may actually save you money (and time!) in the long run.
The main building blocks of an effective website are:
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No one wants to invest in a website just for the sake of having a website. Your website’s job is to help you accomplish something, usually for therapists that means booking more clients, or better fit clients, expanding to a group practice, or maybe even extending the types of services that you offer.
Knowing whether your website designer provides strategic guidance and coaching can help you understand what they’ll be able to help you with and how much. If you are already clear on who you serve, how to communicate your message effectively, and how to accomplish your private practice goals, then it’s less important to find a web designer who can guide you through this process. On the other hand, if you are not sure about how your website fits into your overall marketing plan, it could be a good idea to hire a web designer who is marketing-minded.
💁🏻♀️ 👩🏻💻 Arielle’s Hot Take: I’m first and foremost a problem solver and strategist. I spend significant time upfront with my clients clarifying the problem they’re trying to solve, their short term and long term goals and then develop a strategy and website to achieve those priorities. I believe your website is a vehicle for solving a problem.
To me the process of designing a website is really the vehicle for much more valuable deliverables: getting clear on your unique therapist strengths, creating an online presence that matches the empathetic presence you have in real life, developing a plan that supports your private practice vision. A strategic website can make everything else you do to grow your therapy practice 10x’s more effective.
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Branding refers to the look and feel of the website and elements such as your color palette, logo, font style, photo selection-- any visual elements used to communicate who you are as a therapist and how you help your clients. Some designers will include all of the above, others may require you to hire a graphic designer.
“Knowing where to start when you are trying to "build your brand" feels overwhelming. My initial thoughts were that it was not "that important" to have a professional who understood the world of psycho-therapy but this ended up not being the case. The fact that Arielle has this background brought a "value added" that I could not anticipate. Arielle also brought forward answers to questions I had not asked or even knew to ask.” -Johanna Wickie
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This is the text on your website. Copywriting isn’t usually included in typical web design packages, so definitely ask about this. Do they expect you to have all of your copywriting complete before the project starts? Do they provide guidance or templates to help you write the copy yourself? Or do they work with a full-service copywriter who will write the text for you?
💁🏻♀️ 👩🏻💻 Arielle’s Hot Take: I believe that the words on your therapy website are as important as, if not more important than the visual design of the website itself. I do not offer to completely write the copy for my clients (this would be the equivalent of giving you a fish instead of teaching you to fish, and I’d rather you be fed for a lifetime!) because I believe the ability to communicate effectively with prospective clients about your work is a critical business skill all private practice owners need to master. But I do provide video tutorials, templates, and edits to my clients to guide them on how to write effective and empathetic website copy.
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This is the obvious piece that all designers should include: building the actual website. Beyond taking all of the content and designing an easy to use website, you may want to ask if they provide other best practices like:
Basic SEO setup (a.k.a search engine optimization so google can find you)
Mobile responsiveness (making sure the design looks great on any device)
Technical assistance with setting up your domain, connecting Google Analytics and post-launch support.
Some of the most impactful parts of web design are ‘under the hood.’ The difference between a $500 and a $5,000 website may not always be obvious based on looks alone, but a higher investment is likely getting you a more robust backend that’s designed to meet your private practice goals.
#2 Experience & Background
A degree in computer science is hardly a requirement for a web designer who does great work, but a bit of due diligence can go a long way in helping you understand the specific expertise they’ll bring to your therapy website project.
Take a look at their portfolio to see that they’ve done similar work in the past and that you like their design style. Ideally, the designer will have experience with service-based businesses and even better if they work specifically with therapists (like me!).
Keep in mind that it is a web designer’s job to translate their client’s presence and style, and their own personal style may not be reflected in every project, so consider the functionality and common design elements across their portfolio rather than focusing on a single website.
You can also ask “What about your experience sets you apart from other designers?” to give the designer a chance to tell you what they do differently or above and beyond others.
💁🏻♀️ 👩🏻💻 Arielle’s Hot Take: My answer to that question is that my combination of MSW and MBA means that I have a deep understanding of the clinical work that therapists do.
My background developing clinical programs and technology solutions for the largest non-for profit hospital system in the country means that I am experienced in managing complex technology projects, and creating streamlined processes.
As a result, my clients are well guided through the website creation process so that nothing slips through the cracks and they know they can trust me to think about how everything works together. I also believe that by getting the foundations right you can avoid unnecessary overwhelm, shiny object syndrome, and pursuing strategies that are not in alignment with who you are as a therapist and business owner.
#3 Personality
Creating a website for your therapy private practice can be a big lift and working with a designer who you actually like can make a difference in how enjoyable the experience is for you. In addition to all the tangible factors I’ve already mentioned, I recommend talking with the designer before you hire them to make sure it feels like a good match.
Your web designer will be the person who is responsible for translating your private practice vision into your website, so it matters if you feel like you can trust them. Are they easy to communicate with? Do they seem genuine and dependable? Are they willing to answer your questions and address any concerns you have? All of these can be green lights or red flags to consider when selecting a designer for your therapy website.
“Arielle is so thoughtful, thorough, and organized. The whole process really gave me the clarity that I was missing before working with her, which, in turn, boosted my confidence. All in all, it was an absolute delight working with her! I couldn’t have made a better investment for my business.”
You now know the 3 most skipped factors that you should consider when hiring a web designer:
The scope of what’s included in their design package
What their approach to web design is
Whether their personality feels like a good match for you
And if through reading through this post you feel like I may be the right web designer for your therapy website, get in touch!