How Do You Advertise Yourself When You Offer Multiple Services?
Many therapists and counsellors have multiple offerings or services, and it can quickly become confusing and complicated when you are trying to advertise all services on the same website.
So how do you effectively advertise more than one service?
Do you need a separate website for each service or different pages within your website? Is it confusing or misleading to clients to offer multiple services?
Does what you offer constitute a dual relationship?
If what you offer besides therapy constitutes a dual relationship with your therapy or counselling clients, then you need a separate website.
For example, I’m a therapist, counsellor, and business coach. I have my therapy offerings on my website ReThink Me, and that website is for therapy and counselling clients only.
For my business coaching and mentorship, I have the website Build Your Private Practice. This website is specifically for therapists and counsellors who are launching or growing private practices.
It didn’t make sense to have those offerings on the same website as my therapy services because I can’t be a business coach to someone who is already a therapy client, and I can be a therapist to someone who is already my business coaching client. Those two relationships would constitute a dual relationship, so they need a separate website.
Do you have multiple offerings that a client could choose from?
As a therapist, I have also offered psycho-educational workshops. These workshops are specifically for people who are either already my clients, or who could potentially become my clients after getting to know me through one of my workshops.
A client, or potential client, attending a workshop within the realm of therapy and counselling does not constitute a dual relationship because I am still in my role as a therapist/counsellor. I do have to be mindful of confidentiality, but it is not an issue for a therapy client to also attend a therapy workshop. Therefore, I put those offerings on the same website.
Essentially, if you offer something that you incorporate into therapy (and it is ethical to do so), or you offer something as a counsellor/therapist that would be appropriate for current, former, or future clients to attend, then it makes sense for all those offerings to go on the same website.
If you offer something that would constitute a dual relationship for therapy/counselling clients to engage in with you or something that wouldn’t be ethical or appropriate for former, current, or future clients to attend, then it needs its own website.
How do you structure your website?
For offerings that go on the same website, such as 1-on-1 sessions, couples’ sessions, groups, workshops, etc., how do you advertise them on the same site without it becoming overwhelming or confusing? What should you put on the homepage?
I recommend that you structure your website like a story, and clients get to choose which direction they go. When a visitor lands on your website, the first thing they see should send a message that they are in the right place.
Consider what you want your clients to feel when they first land on your site and structure the top of your homepage to embody that feeling or message.
As your potential client scrolls a bit further down your homepage, they should be able to engage in a story or message that tells them who you are, gives them a sense of what you offer, and speaks directly to their experience, so they feel confident that they’ve landed in the right place. I like to tell a personal story here so my potential clients can get a sense of who I am and start to build a sense of trust.
Through sharing my story, they will likely also get the sense that I have been where they are and that I will be the right person to help them.
By the time they finish reading, they’re ready to select a service. At the bottom of your homepage, there should be two to four “buckets” to choose from. What I mean by “buckets” are service offerings. If they are the right client for you, they will likely already have a sense of how they want to work with you. It’s here where you will ask them to make that choice.
If you offer individual sessions, couples’ sessions, and workshops, then you are going to have three buckets at the bottom of your homepage with a brief description for each one. They will select the option that’s right for them, and that will take them to the service they want to learn more about. The buckets you have at the bottom of your homepage should be the same navigation tabs that you have at the top of each page—to ensure there aren’t multiple, random places for your clients to go on your site.
Once a potential client is on one of the services pages (either by selecting a bucket at the bottom of your homepage, or by navigating one of the tabs at the top), they should be able to read a full description of that service, including who it is for, what they will experience throughout, and what they might be able to expect in terms of outcomes. After that, there should be a contact form or a booking link. Ideally, this is on the same page, but it might be a link to a separate contact or booking page.
Your website should serve a purpose, and in this case, the goal is to turn your site visitors into clients. You should avoid putting too much information on your website, as it might confuse or overwhelm your prospective clients.
Ideally, your client shouldn’t have to read through anything on your site that doesn’t directly apply to them. A visitor to your website should follow a carefully laid out path – from landing on your homepage and feeling like they’re in the right place, to reading or engaging with something that lets them know who you are and allows them to feel connected to you. From there, they should be strategically led to your offerings so they can select what’s right for them, read more about it, and then contact you.
If you have questions about how to advertise your offerings, structure your website, get new clients, or anything else related to building a successful private practice, please feel free to checkout out our Scale Your Practice program.