Someone looking for a therapist on their lunch break is usually on a phone. Thumb, small screen, eight minutes before the next meeting. They are not hunting for your cleverest paragraph. They are checking whether you are a real option for them.
Can they see where you work? Whether you offer online, in person, or both? What you charge, if you publish fees? And how to get in touch without spelunking through three menus?
We build websites for therapists, so we see the same sticky spots every week. Below is a practical phone-first checklist. No rankings. No traffic claims. Just the practical details that help a nervous visitor decide whether to write.
Why the phone version matters
Most first visits arrive from a search or a directory on a handheld screen. If fees, location, and contact only work on a wide desktop layout, you have built a site for the wrong moment.
You do not need to crowd the homepage with everything. You do need those details where someone expects them: Services, Fees, Contact, About, or a clear footer. On a phone that means readable type, links that are easy to tap, and no “hover for more” tricks that never appear on a touchscreen.
A five-minute phone check
Open your site on your own phone (or ask a friend who has never seen it). Time yourself. Look only for:
- Where you practise. Town, clinic name, or “online across the UK.” Hide a home address if clients should not knock. Say enough that people know whether travel is realistic.
- Online, in person, or both. Say it in plain words near the top of a service or contact page. Visitors should not have to infer it from a stock photo of a Zoom window.
- Fees, if you publish them. A clear range, session length, and what is included beats a mysterious “contact for prices” that feels like a closed door. If you genuinely prefer not to list fees, say how someone can ask, and answer promptly when they do.
- How to contact you. One obvious form or email path. Say what happens after Send, with an honest response time you can actually keep.
- Anything urgent. If you are not a crisis service, a kind line pointing to appropriate help is better than silence. Keep it accurate for your membership guidance.
If any of those five take more than a minute to find, the page is working harder than the visitor.
What “good enough” looks like
- Location and format (online / in person) visible without pinching and zooming.
- Fees on a dedicated page or a clear section, updated when they change.
- Contact that works on mobile, including the thank-you or confirmation state.
- The same story in the footer as on the page (phone number, email, town).
- No dead buttons left over from an old redesign.
Gail Marra, a clinical hypnotherapist who moved to a bespoke site with us, put it simply in her review: the team were patient and the result felt worth staying with. Clarity beats decoration.
Common trips we see
Fees buried in a PDF. Fine as a download, awkward as the only place the number lives. Put the headline figure on the page too.
Clinic address on the map, private home in the footer. Pick the story you mean, then match Google Business Profile, letterhead, and site. Our Google Business Profile guide covers the privacy side of that map pin.
“Book now” that goes nowhere. If you do not use online booking, say “enquire” and mean it. A broken book button feels louder than no button at all.
Desktop-only menus. If the fee page only appears in a hover menu, phone visitors never meet it.
A kind habit, not a redesign
You do not need a new brand to fix this. Update the pages people actually use when they are deciding. If your fees or rooms change, change the site the same week, the way you would change the answer you give on the phone.
If you already have a managed site with us, that is exactly the sort of small, honest edit self-edit access is for. If you are still wrestling with a site that hides the basics, tell us what you offer and we can talk through a clearer structure.
Short answers
Do I have to publish fees?
No. If you do, keep them current. If you do not, make it easy and kind to ask.
Where should location live?
Wherever a first-time visitor looks: Contact, About, or a short line on Services. Match what you tell people in conversation.
Is a long homepage better?
Not if the phone user still cannot find the basics. Clear beats long.
What about privacy paperwork?
Separate job from fees and maps. A cookie banner is not the whole privacy story; TheraComply is our optional £24/year route for tailored UK therapy documents if that is on your list.
Thanks for reading. May your next visitor find the practical answers before their lunch break ends.