Marketing for Psychologists: Why it’s important to have a good website and what it should feature
Creating a homepage or a website is simple and also offers many benefits. In 2018, in the EU, 56% of people between the ages of 16 and 74 used some kind of social network; 89% of households had access to the Internet and 60% bought goods and services online. The search for information and health services via the Internet is increasing, and has become one of the most efficient ways to offer services, hire professionals, get clients and become known as a specialist.
What should a psychologist’s website contain?
The first step in building a website is to choose a domain name where your site will be registered. The best option is to use your first and last name when possible.
Keep in mind that your page – or your website – is your business card, your personal brand so you must decide what professional image you want to project.
Internet users looking for health services typically do so by searching for the problem they want to solve as a keyword: depression, anxiety, autism, for example. Therefore, if you present yourself as a specialist in an area, you will be more likely to appear in searches, since very few do a generic search.
Think about the keywords that define the service you offer, research to see what people are looking for and then include those words in the title and description of the site, to achieve better search engine rankings.
What personal information should you include?
Those who come to your page will do so in search of a quality service or reliable information, so it is important that your resume is updated and that the accompanying photo conveys seriousness, trust and empathy. Make sure that you include links to information such as a professional network like LinkedIn, and any professional publications you have written such as articles published in scientific journals or books you have written.
How to attract visitors and highlight your practice
To be more effective in getting customers, your website should have a specific niche. This can also be a factor that will differentiate you from others. Be sure to describe each specialty well if you have several.
Think about factors such as: What kind of person do you want to help? What are their main concerns? What challenges do they face? It is important that the answers to these questions and others that you consider crucial are clearly expressed on your site.
While every niche can expand and develop over time, in principle you should only define what you want to focus on at the moment.
Make sure visitors to your site can easily contact you
Not only must you include your personal contact information, but you should ensure that all links to your publications, interviews and other professional events are always up to date. Make it easy for other professionals to contact you, in order for you to exchange research, knowledge and links between sites that will give you greater visibility.
Research and get inspired by other sites
In the process of creating your own site, don’t just choose basic templates. Visit and analyze as many psychology sites as you can, pay attention to the place where they appear in search engines, the types of comments that are on their pages, the topics they deal with, the images they use, and where they link to. In short: look for things you think can be useful and adapt them to your needs.
Write quality articles on topics related to your practice
To consolidate your personal brand, you will have to publish articles of interest to your colleagues as well as to a general audience.
You can enable comments for some or all of the articles. If you do allow comments, keep in mind that you will have to respond to those comments, so know how much time you can dedicate to monitoring your site. The comment tool is very important because many potential clients consider comments when contacting a professional.
Publish new articles regularly. Not only is it useful for adding content to your site and increasing its quality, but it also increases your chance of search engines indexing your site, which means you’ll appear in more online searches, making it easier for potential patients to find you.
It is important that you offer readers original and interesting content that is helpful and engaging. Use your expertise to connect with potential patients on topics that you specialize in. It is a good idea to include links to other quality websites as well as to other relevant pages within your site.
The success of your page will depend on many factors: your professional image, the quality of the articles you offer, the external links to additional content, and high-quality design. Once your site is working, it will take some time until it starts appearing in search engines and clientele can find you and contact you.
