DIY, a Web Designer or an SEO Agency for Your Therapy Website?
By Dr. Nicholas Gehle, Psy.D. · Last updated:
All three routes can work. What matters most is the same in each one: whether the words on the page say who you help, what you treat and where, clearly enough that a person and a search tool can both tell.
Each route handles that job differently. A designer builds a site that looks right and works well. An agency works on rankings and traffic. Doing it yourself costs the least money and the most of your time. In every case, the words about your clinical work have to come from you, because nobody else knows them.
- about 60 seconds
- no email required to see your score
- built by a licensed psychologist, not an agency
The three routes, side by side
This is guidance, not data from our studies. Prices vary too widely by region and provider to quote fairly, so this page compares what each route is good at instead.
Hard part: your time, and knowing what to write and in what order. Builders give you templates for how a page looks. They don't tell you what a careful client needs to read.
Fits when: you are starting out, your budget is tight, or you like being able to change your own site.
Hard part: the designer can shape and polish your words, but the substance (who you help, what you treat, how you work) still has to come from you. If you hand over vague notes, you get a beautiful site with vague words.
Fits when: you want a strong, lasting site and you're ready to bring clear answers to the questions above.
Hard part: it is usually an ongoing cost, and it builds on whatever your site already says. Ranking a page that doesn't clearly state who you help brings visitors who still can't tell if you are right for them.
Fits when: your site already says the basics clearly and you want more people to find it.
The part no route does for you
Whichever route you choose, someone has to answer the same short list: who you help, what you treat, how you work, where you see people, what it costs, and what the first step is. Our research shows how often that goes missing.
The Index didn't record who built each site, so it can't say which route does better. It does show that the basics are often missing, and a good-looking site and a clear one are separate achievements.
How to decide
1. Check what your current site says first. If the words are already clear, a designer or agency is building on something solid. If they aren't, fix the words before you pay anyone to polish or promote them.
2. Write your answers to the six questions. This is the part only you can do, and it is the part every route needs. It makes a designer faster and an agency more effective.
3. Then pick the route for what's left. Want it to look and work better? A designer. Want more people to find a site that's already clear? An agency. Want to do it yourself on a budget? A builder plus a step-by-step guide.
Start with what your page says now
The free Recognition Score reads your homepage the way a careful visitor would and quotes back what it says about who you help and how to reach you. It runs the same deterministic checks as the second-edition Index: no AI in the check path, and no email required to see your score. It works the same whether your site was built by you, a designer or an agency.
If you want the words worked out step by step, Practice Builder: Get Found ($49) includes the templates for doing it yourself and a handoff brief you can give to a web designer.
Common questions
Should a therapist build their own website or hire a designer?
Either can work. Building it yourself costs less money and more time; a designer gives you a polished, well-built site. In both cases the clinical substance (who you help, what you treat, how you work) has to come from you, so write that down first. It makes either route faster and better.
Do therapists need an SEO agency?
Not to start. An agency is most useful once your site already says the basics clearly and you want more people to find it. Promoting a page that doesn't say who you help brings visitors who still can't tell whether you are right for them.
What should be on a therapist website no matter who builds it?
Who you help, what you treat, how you work, where you see people (your city, or the states you're licensed in for telehealth), what a session costs, and one obvious first step to contact you.