5 Easy Ways to Increase Engagement Rate on Your Private Practice Website
Having a website for your private practice is just the first step to connect with your potential clients. You did its marketing, clients are visiting your website, but they are not engaging with your website. They come and go within 10 secs but don’t really engage and convert. That’s really frustrating and bad for the business. In the post, 2 metrics that reveal if your private practice website is losing clients, I wrote about engagement rate as a metric and also told how important it is for having a steady flow of incoming clients.
If a user has spend more than 10 seconds on your website, clicked on a link or page, visited another page on your website, that is considered an engagement session. Engagement rate then is the percentage of engaged sessions on your private practice website. Here is the official link from Google to setup it.
In this post, I have listed down 5 easy ways to increase engagement rate on your private practice website.
1. Write in a Warm, Human Tone
I have seen that many therapists like to write the website copy in a very clinical tone. That’s easy for you but not for your users. They are not from medical field. They are normal human beings without formal medical education. They will not be comfortable understanding the medical terms you will write in the website.
That’s the biggest mistake that I have seen over the years with therapists. And that cost you low engagement with your website. Your therapist website should feel like an extension of the safe space you provide in your office. Instead of using technical jargon, write in simple, compassionate language that speaks directly to your clients’ struggles and hopes. When visitors feel understood, they’re more likely to stay and explore.
You can take help from this copy:
Clinical Tone:
“I provide evidence-based cognitive behavioral interventions to address maladaptive thought patterns, anxiety disorders, and depressive symptomatology. My practice utilizes goal-oriented treatment plans tailored to the client’s presenting concerns.”
Warm, Human Tone:
“If you’ve been feeling weighed down by constant worry or stuck in cycles of negative thoughts, you don’t have to go through it alone. In our work together, I’ll help you find practical ways to quiet your mind, ease anxiety, and feel more in control of your life again. My goal is to offer you a safe, supportive space where you can talk openly and start finding real relief.”
In the clinical tone, you see how technical it can be for a user to understand what you do whereas in the Warm, human tone copy you see that we are addressing the pain points of someone who is suffering from negative thoughts.
From the above example which copy do you think will engage the user much? If your answer is the Warm, Human tone copy than you are right. When you will start writing about the struggles, challenges a potential client might be going through, they will be able to connect with you instantly. That’s not the case when you write in overly clinical tone.
I am not saying that you don’t include clinical terms completely but write more in warm tone. This will increase your engagement rate and you will see users converting into clients.
2. Use Clear and Inviting Calls to Action
If you have your content written in human tone already but the engagement rate is still low, then you need to look at the more deeper cause. Look at your website and check how many CTAs you have on the website and where they are positioned.
Also read: 5 smart places to place CTAs in a private practice website
Maybe your content is just right for your audience but if they can’t contact you easily, they will leave decreasing the engagement rate. As you are already aware, your website users are those who are in middle of a problem and need urgent help. Maybe they are suffering from anxiety, stress, depression, sleep deprivation, etc. and while visiting your website they found you the ideal therapist for their condition, but are unable to contact you because of mispositioned CTAs. What will they do? They will leave your website disappointed, ultimately increasing your bounce rate and decreasing the engagement rate.
Also read: How to reduce therapist website bounce rate
In more simpler terms engagement often drops when people aren’t sure what to do next. They are looking for help and need direction. You should add friendly calls to action like “Book a free consultation,” “Read more about my approach,” or “Get in touch today.” Place them on your homepage, blog posts, and service pages so visitors can easily take the next step.
For your mobile users use sticky CTAs like a button at the footer which remains sticky on the screen. This will ensure that they don’t have to look for the way to contact you.
3. Add Helpful Blog Posts and Resources
In today’s internet age when a person is suffering from some mental health problem he/she search for its solution online first. They ask questions like why I am feeling depressed? why I am feeling low? why my sleep cycle is getting irregular? why my body shivers?, etc. This is natural human instinct. They want answers. You as a therapist understands what are the possible reasons for these causes. Turning them into blog posts will attract such users.
They may not be directly searching for anxiety therapist because they don’t know about its symptoms. You as a therapist is well aware of such problems. When you address these problems through blog posts, FAQs, and guides the user engage with your content. These helpful content and posts will help you position yourself as someone who is expert in this field.
By writing about client-centered topics like managing anxiety, preparing for therapy, answers of their symptoms, or coping strategies, you are making sure that the user engage with your content, helps building trust and ultimately converting to a paying client.
This is a great way to build trust and increase the engagement with your private practice website.
Also read: 5 must have pages for private counselling website
4. Use Real Photos
You are in a profession where users want to see real you. Your website is the first place where they can see you. If your website has stock images it can feel cold and generic to them. The user wants to know who they are going to talk and interact with. Use high-quality photos of yourself, your office, or calming nature scenes. Authentic visuals help visitors picture themselves working with you, which naturally increases comfort and engagement.
By using real authentic images of your clinic you build trust with your website users. They can visualize with whom they are going to have a talk with, how the office looks, what’s the atmosphere there, etc. Using real self photos will help you to build initial connection with your potential clients. This is a great way to increase engagement.
You can include images of yourself standing in the clinic, interacting with clients, images with your team members, etc. These real photos will build trust and security in users eyes.
5. Highlight Client Success Pathways
Everyone loves a plan. Without a proper plan the path looks directionless. And in a practice where most of the users will be in sensitive situations, sharing a detailed plan will help build a trust in your services.
Without sharing private details, you can outline the whole therapy journey like what will be the starting point of the therapy, how the sessions will go, days between the sessions, conclusion of the therapy, etc. This you can call therapy success timeline or pathways where each step of the therapy is mentioned from start to the end.
You can replicate the same timeline on each of your private practice service pages. Like on EMDR therapy page you can share EMDR therapy outline, on anxiety management page you can share anxiety management therapy timeline, etc.
This detailed therapy timeline will help to build trust and confidence among the users. By just sharing detailed therapy timeline, you will be seen as an expert in your field.
Final Thoughts
Just having visitors on the private practice therapy website is not enough. Engagement with the website is the real thing. The more engaged a user will be with your private practice website, the more clients you can expect.
Also, engagement isn’t about flashy design tricks, it’s all about connection. By using warm language, clear calls to action, helpful resources, and a user-friendly layout, your private practice website can feel like a welcoming first step in a client’s healing journey. The more comfortable people feel on your site, the more likely they are to reach out for help.
By implementing these 5 tips to increase engagement rate on a private practice website I am sure that your engagement rate will increase, bounce rate will decrease and ultimately your case load will increase.
