PLAN N ING YOUR

THERAPY WEBSITE A W O R K B OOK F O R PR A C TIT IO N E R S

Hi there! This workbook was designed to guide you through

the planning process for your psychotherapy practice website. The
questions will help you think about, organize, gather, and produce
the content for your website while identifying the key components
and functionality that will be integrated.

Setting aside some time to thoroughly plan your website will help
you to establish measurable goals, determine an ideal look and
feel, outline your content, identify feature requirements, and better
ensure you are happy with the final product.

day is new creative

WEB DESIGN + BUILD
CONTENTS
GETTIN G ST ARTED 3
T H E W EB DEVELO P M E NT P RO CE S S 5
D I SCOVERY / P LANNI NG / S TRATEGY 6
W RI T I NG C O NTE NT FOR YO UR WEBS ITE 8
A D DI T I ONAL RE SOURCE S 9

A BOU T DAY IS NEW CREAT IVE, LLC

Based in Seattle, Washington, Day is New

Creative, LLC is a woman-run small business
led by Heather Larson, who brings over
18 years of web design and development, day is new creative
training, and management experience to WEB DESIGN + BUILD
your project.

Utilizing standards-based web programming,

open-source solutions like WordPress, and
various other tools of the trade, Day is New
Creative has provided clean, intuitive and user-
friendly solutions to a variety of happy clients.
GETTING STARTED

The journey of a thousand miles

begins with a single step.
- C HI N ES E PROV ERB

Answer the following questions to get brainstorming:

What do you want a potential or existing client to do when they visit your website?

Create a list of 3-5 examples of therapist or wellness websites that you like in
terms of structure and design. Note what in particular you like about them.

© 2019 Day is New Creative, LLC | dayisnewcreative.com 3

GETTING STARTED

What image or look and feel do you want your website to reflect?

What goals will you achieve with your website? How will you measure success?

What distinguishes you from other therapists?

© 2019 Day is New Creative, LLC | dayisnewcreative.com 4

THE PROCESS

T HE WEBS IT E D E V E LO P ME N T P RO C E SS
The web development process generally follows six phases:

DI SCOVERY / P L A N N IN G / S T R A T EG Y
Identify goals, audience, architecture, functionality
Compare websites and gather inspiration, branding elements
Copywriting

D ESI GN
Mobile-optimized design based on discovery / planning phase
Create final design files for client review or install existing
theme and customize

DEVELOPMENT
Site infrastructure built within WordPress
Theme (design layer) coding or customization
Additional functionalities configured or developed

QA / TESTI NG
Design quality assurance
Cross-browser and device testing
Code checks

LAUNCH
Website is made publically available at your domain name
Search engine optimization, mailing list configuration (optional)
Share with clients, associates, family & friends. Celebrate!

M AI NTENANC E
Keep WordPress core and plugins up-to-date
Security monitoring and backups
Keep content fresh and up-to-date, broken link checks

Icons by: Maxim Basinski / Noun Project

© 2019 Day is New Creative, LLC | dayisnewcreative.com 5

 DIS COVE RY / P LANNI NG / STRA T EG Y

A
s a web design client, the bulk of your work lies within the
Discover / Planning / Strategy phase. This is where you will plan
out your website architecture, create a list of pages and desired
functionality, create the content (or hire someone to assist you),
organize your existing branding elements (or identify what you
still need to have created), set up a domain name and secure
web hosting.

Here’s a list of the essential steps along with a few worksheets to help guide you.

1 ) CR EATE A LIS T O F PAGES (SIT E MA P )

Use the worksheet on page 7 to list out the pages you will include on your website.

2 ) COPYWRIT ING
Write out the text you will use on each page. Using Google Docs, Microsoft Word or
another text editor, create an outline of the content for each page. Next, fill it in with
copy, review and edit.

3 ) ORGANI ZE BRANDING ELEM EN TS

Use the Branding Elements Checklist (page 7) to gather your existing branding
elements and add to a folder on your computer (using a Dropbox folder is even better
for sharing with your designer). If you don’t have existing branding elements, outline
your plans to create new ones like logo, color scheme, and fonts.

4 ) R EGI STER A DO M AIN NAM E

I recommend name.com after many years of experience
working with them. I would advise against GoDaddy for the
same reason.

5 ) SET U P A WEB HO S T ING ACCO U N T

If you’d like assistance deciding on a web hosting package,
send me a quick note. For most therapy practices just
getting established, the Grow Big plan at SiteGround
works well.

© 2019 Day is New Creative, LLC | dayisnewcreative.com 6

 DIS COVE RY / P LANNI NG / STRA T EG Y

CR EATE A LIST O F PAGES

Create a list of the pages you want to include
in your website. To get started, you might
consider: Home, Services, About, Fees &
Insurance, and Contact. You may also want to
include Appointments, Blog (or News), and other
information pages about therapy and counseling.

B R A N D IN G E LE ME N T S
C H E C K LIST
Home

† †S it e t it le
† †Ta gline ( o pti o n a l )
† †L ogo
† †C olor sc he m e
† †F ont se le c t i o n
† †C a ll( s) t o a cti o n
† †H igh- q ua lit y i m a g es

0
Q U IC K TIP

To find free or affordable stock

photos for your use on your website,
see How to Find Free or Low Cost
Photos for Your Website.

© 2019 Day is New Creative, LLC | dayisnewcreative.com 7

 WRITING CONTENT FOR YOUR WEBSITE

CO PY WRIT ING TIP S F O R TH E R A P IST WE B SITE S

Writing compelling, client-attracting copy is important way to connect with your ideal client
and gently persuade them to seek out your services. It’s important to write in a warm,
inviting way that resonates with their needs and convinces them to get in touch.

† †Identify your specific target audience. What are their needs?

† †Include attention-grabbing headlines with keywords that
focus on and will resonate with your ideal clients.

† †Write directly to your ideal client in a warm, conversational tone.

Use “you” rather than “they” or “we”.

† †Clearly describe the issues for which your ideal clients are seeking help.
† †Demonstrate empathy. Communicate that you understand the
challenges your potential clients are experiencing so that they
feel understood and more inclined to work with you.

† †Highlight the positive solutions, outcomes, and benefits of your services.

† †Use easy-to read vocabulary. When using any field-specific jargon,
explain it as if educating a client.

† †Use short paragraphs (4-5 lines is ideal).

† †Use bulleted lists and occasional bolded words to highlight key points.
† †Include a call-to-action on every page.

© 2019 Day is New Creative, LLC | dayisnewcreative.com 8

ADDITION AL RESOUR CES

How to Find Free or Low-Cost Stock

Photos for your Website

Ten Health and Wellness Websites

Built with WordPress

No-Fuss WordPress Web Hosting

with SSL

WordPress Maintenance & Security

Package

0
REQU E ST AN ES T IM AT E

Visit dayisnewcreative.com and

click Request an Estimate to
receive a quote for your new
acupuncture website.

day is new creative

WEB DESIGN + BUILD
What you leave behind is
not what is engraved in
stone monuments, but what
is woven into the lives
of others.
P ERICLES