What’s The Best Website Builder for Therapists?
Today’s post is part review and part PSA. In all honesty, I’m feeling tired of big tech companies trying to take advantage of therapists. I hope this post helps you be an informed consumer when it comes to your private practice website.
PSA: Beware of subscribing to a website builder that will own your content.
The best website builder is one that:
Allows you to take your content with you if you choose to leave their platform (your website building platform should not own your logo, graphics, photos, content, etc!).
Gives you the ability to easily and quickly update your own website when you need to (without having to rely on anyone else or pay extra to do it).
Before you subscribe to any therapy website builder, make sure you ask what happens to your content if you cancel your subscription–and do your research first!
If you search “best website builder for therapists” you see some big companies come up. I’m not saying they are all bad. But I have now had several clients come to me after really horrible experiences with some of these bigger companies.
Try Googling, for example “Brighter Vision reviews” and see what comes up 😬
Website Builder Reviews
Squarespace vs. Wordpress vs. Wix: How do they compare to therapist-specific website builders?
I would recommend Squarespace, Wordpress or Wix over the bigger contenders in the therapist specific space because they allow you independence and freedom as I mentioned above.
You can update your own content at any time because these platforms are built for “do-it-yourselfers”. You don’t have to go through a third-party to make the updates.
But, if you want to be totally hands off then these platforms are not for you. For a low effort approach that’s when one of the bigger companies would be a better fit (again, as long as you are aware of what you are signing up for).
A note about “pre-generated mental health content”
Some therapy website builders offer “pre-written content”, for example pre-made blog posts or web page content.
I cannot stress enough how bad this is for your business.
1) Bad for SEO. Search engines will rank you lower if you have the same or very similar content as another website.
2) Bad for marketing. Good marketing is all about being specific. There is no way that you can make pre-written content specific enough to be engaging. And consumers are savvy! If they see the same content from website to website, they will go elsewhere.
Squarespace vs. Wordpress vs. Wix
Disclaimer
We sell our templates through Squarespace and we earn an affiliate commission on Squarespace subscriptions. But this is our honest review, having experience with all three of the platforms below.
Squarespace
Best For: Service-based business owners, blogging, selling online courses
Pricing: $16-23 per month (*if paying annually)
Pros
Intuitive “drag and drop customization”. Easy to add new text, pages, or sections yourself.
Beautiful design guardrails are built-in making great for people who don’t have design experience.
They now have the option of building a template using AI instead of only choosing from pre-built templates.
You never have to make any updates to plugins (or use plugins to make a great site).
It’s secure. You never have to worry about making security updates to your website yourself.
All plans integrate with Google Search Console for Advanced SEO analytics and you can use it with SEOSpace, a powerful SEO tool.
24/7 Customer service is available on all plans.
Unlimited storage on all plans.
Cons
They do not have HIPAA compliant forms built-in.
There is a learning curve (which is true of any DIY website builder).
Customer service via email and livechat (no phone).
You have to back up your content manually.
WordPress
Best For: E-commerce, web developers, businesses with multiple locations or employees
Pricing: Starting at $20 month (not including any plugins you may need to install)
Pros
If you are selling products, this platform is hugely powerful.
If you have multiple business locations, and employees this is great.
If you have the tech know-how, and want to build a site from scratch WordPress can integrate with endless amounts of plugins to make it exactly what you want it to be.
You can use it with Yoast, a powerful SEO tool.
Automatic content back up.
Storage space varies depending on your plan.
Cons
Higher degree of tech-savviness required, steeper learning curve than Squarespace or Wix.
You might need to install third-party plugins to get the functions you want.
You will need to make manual plugin and security updates.
Limited customer service unless you are on a paid plan.
Wix
Best For: Small business owners, basic blogging, small websites
Pricing: Starting at $17-36 a month
Pros
Omg, their AI site builder is SO COOL! If you are new to design, comfortable with AI and want some fresh design ideas, you gotta try this!
There is a ton of flexibility with design options.
Good customer support with phone options available.
Good basic blogging features.
Automatic content backup.
Cons
If you are new to design, it can be a little overwhelming because there are almost too many options.
They only offer SEO analytics with the higher-tier paid plans
Limited storage capacity.
Overall Takeaways on Website Builders
Squarespace, Wordpress, and Wix all give you the freedom to build and manage your own website!
Beware of some of the companies who offer to build your therapist-specific website for a monthly fee–do your research!
WordPress is a really robust platform and may be more than you need as a solo provider or small group practice. It also often requires third-party plugins and manual plugin updates to maintain security.
Squarespace is great for DIYers because it’s easy to get started, not too overwhelming.
Wix is great for total flexibility with design and AI tools to make something really unique (but might be overwhelming if you aren’t super tech-savvy).
FAQs
Want to get started with Squarespace?
Check out our Premium Squarespace Templates for Therapists in Private Practice!
Take a look at our templates and find out which one is right for you!