How to Choose a Website Designer for Your Therapy Practice

To choose a website designer for your therapy practice, look for four things. They keep client data off tools that can't protect it. They write accurately about licensure and care. You own the site and domain. And they can show how people will find you. Pretty templates are easy to find. Those four things are not.

This guide gives you the criteria, the questions to ask, and the red flags. It is part of our Therapy Practice Marketing Guide, which covers the whole path from first website to a full caseload.

One note before you start: this is marketing guidance, not legal or compliance advice. Rules vary by state and license type, so confirm anything privacy-related with your compliance counsel or licensing board.

1. Privacy-first build: the non-negotiable

Most therapy websites fail on privacy in small, invisible ways. A contact form sends details to an inbox with no protection. A tracking pixel records which page a visitor viewed before booking. A designer who builds health sites should spot these problems before launch.

Ask how they handle each of these:

• Contact forms. Do they keep forms short and tell visitors not to share clinical details? Or do they route intake to a HIPAA-capable tool?
• Scheduling and intake. For example, Squarespace's own help page (checked 29 October 2026) says Acuity Scheduling is the only Squarespace feature designed for HIPAA obligations. It says other parts of the platform, including the form block, can't be part of a HIPAA-compliant solution.
• Analytics. Google's Analytics help page says Google does not offer business associate agreements for Google Analytics. It says HIPAA-regulated entities must not expose protected health information to it.
• Tracking and ad pixels. HHS published guidance on online tracking technologies. A federal court vacated part of it in June 2024, the part about tracking on public pages that don't require a login. The rest still stands, including the parts about appointment booking and login pages.

A good answer sounds like: "Your forms collect name, email and phone only. Intake and booking live in your EHR or a scheduler that signs a BAA. Ad pixels stay off pages tied to booking." A bad answer sounds like: "Squarespace is HIPAA compliant, so you're fine."

If the designer will touch client data at all, for example by managing your scheduler, they may be a business associate. HHS explains that a business associate is someone who creates, receives, maintains or transmits protected health information on your behalf. Our HIPAA checklist for marketing vendors walks through which vendors need a BAA.

2. Accurate clinical copy and credentials

Your website is a public statement about your practice. Take the APA Ethics Code, if you're a psychologist. Standard 5.02 says psychologists who engage others to create public statements "retain professional responsibility for such statements." Other license types have similar rules in their own codes.

So the designer's copy habits matter. Look for someone who:

• Uses your credentials exactly as your license shows them, not "therapist" for everyone.
• Never calls a nurse practitioner a psychiatrist, and never calls a counselor a psychologist.
• States where you can see clients by telehealth, based on where you hold a license.
• Avoids promises of outcomes ("you will feel better in 8 sessions").
• Includes crisis information. The 988 Lifeline says it can be reached by call, text or chat and is available 24/7/365.
• Knows the Good Faith Estimate basics for self-pay clients. Our Good Faith Estimate guide covers what to put on the site.

Ask to see a sample page they wrote for another clinician. Check whether it reads like a real person or like generic filler.

3. You own everything

Ownership problems show up years later, usually when you want to leave. Settle them before you sign.

A designer who registers your domain in their own name, or who won't share admin access, creates a lock-in you don't need. If you're weighing a builder against a custom site, our Squarespace vs Wix vs WordPress comparison explains the trade-offs.

4. Search, local visibility and accessibility

A beautiful site that nobody finds won't fill your caseload. Ask the designer how they handle:

• Page structure. One page per specialty or service, with clear headings and plain language.
• Local signals. Your name, address and phone should match your Google Business Profile. Google's Business Profile guidelines say to use your real-world business name and a real location, not a virtual office.
• Redirects. If you're replacing an old site, every old URL needs a permanent redirect. Google's site move guidance says to map old URLs to new ones and keep redirects for at least a year.
• Accessibility. The current standard is WCAG 2.2, which the W3C says was published on 5 October 2023. Ask whether they test with a keyboard and a screen reader, not just an automated scanner.
• Speed and mobile. Many people look for a therapist on a phone. Ask for a mobile preview of a past project.

Good designers will also mention AI search, meaning tools like ChatGPT and Google's AI answers. Clear, factual pages about who you help and where you practice give those tools something accurate to quote.

5. Red flags to avoid

Some warning signs are the same in any industry. Google's own page on hiring an SEO says "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google." It also says "you are responsible for the actions of any companies you hire."

Watch for these:

1. Promised rankings or client numbers. No one controls Google or your referral flow.
2. "HIPAA compliant" as a blanket label. Compliance depends on setup and tools, not on the builder's brand.
3. Testimonials from current clients. For psychologists, APA Standard 5.05 says psychologists do not solicit testimonials from current therapy clients.
4. Ad pixels installed by default. Every tracker on a health site should be a choice, not a template setting.
5. No access to your own accounts. You should be able to log in to everything.
6. Copy written without asking you anything. If they never ask about your license, approach or the clients you serve, the copy will be generic.

How to compare designers side by side

Shortlist two or three designers. Then score each one on the same list:

• Have they built sites for licensed clinicians before? Can you see live examples?
• Did they ask about your license type, states and telehealth?
• Did they explain how forms, booking and analytics will handle client data?
• Does the contract give you ownership of the domain, content and accounts?
• Do they include redirects, accessibility testing and basic SEO in the build?
• Is pricing quoted per scope, with what's included written down?

Price matters, but it's hard to compare quotes with different scopes. Our therapist website cost guide explains what drives cost. For our own work, see pricing, quoted per scope.

Next step

If a designer passes this checklist, the next question is who runs the marketing after launch. Read 20 questions to ask a therapist marketing agency before you sign anything. When you're ready, see how eSEOspace builds websites for therapy practices or book a discovery call.

Frequently asked questions