Your website does not need to be a museum exhibit. It needs to tell the truth about how you work this month.
When fees change, when you take a fortnight off, when the waiting list opens or closes, the page should say so. Not because Google is watching. Because a tired person is about to email you, and they deserve the current version of you.
We look after sites for therapists, so we see both ends: the practitioner who rewrites every comma weekly, and the one who last touched the fees in a different parliament. This post is for the middle path. A small habit. No guilt trip. No talk of sites “rotting.” Just accuracy.
Why accuracy beats perfection
Visitors forgive a simple layout. They get twitchy when the page says £50 and your reply says £70, or when “contact me for a free chat” is still up while you are full until March.
Think of the site as the note on your consulting room door. If the note is wrong, the conversation starts with confusion. If the note is right, you can get on with the work.
A 20-minute pass (once a season is enough for most)
Put a recurring reminder in your diary. Spring, late summer, and early December cover most practices. More often if your diary is lively.
In twenty minutes, check:
- Fees and session length. Same numbers on the fees page, the About page, and any PDF.
- How you work. In person, online, hybrid. Towns you actually cover.
- Availability. Taking on clients, waiting list, or pause. One plain sentence is enough.
- Holidays and cover. Dates, and what happens to enquiries while you are away.
- Contact path. Form still arrives in the inbox you check. Phone number still yours.
- Photo. Still looks like you this year. (We wrote about that separately.)
Tick the list. Stop. You do not need to redesign the logo while you are there.
Fees and “how I work,” said out loud
If you raise fees, change the site the week you decide, not the week the first awkward email arrives. A short line like “Fees from September 2026” keeps everyone honest.
If you stop offering a modality, take it off the services list. Leaving it up “in case” is how unsuitable enquiries are born.
Holidays, waiting lists, and the sentence that saves your inbox
Before you go away, add the dates and what you want people to do. “I am away 12 to 26 August. I will reply after that. If you need urgent support, contact…” is kinder than silence.
If you are full, say you are full. A waiting list line (“email to join the list, I will write when a space opens”) sets a boundary without sounding cold.
If you reopen, remove the pause notice the same day. Leftover “not taking clients” banners are how practices accidentally turn people away for months.
How often is enough?
After a fee change: same week.
After a room move or new phone: same day if you can.
Otherwise: a seasonal pass. Monthly is lovely if you enjoy it. It is not a moral requirement.
The goal is that a stranger could read the site today and not be misled. That is the whole exam.
If you would rather change one line and get on with clients
Managed sites with us already include a simple editor, so you can tweak text yourself. If you would rather we change a fee, a holiday notice, or an availability line for you, just ask. UK support is part of the service. You stay in charge of the words. We just type when you are between sessions.
See how it works or talk to us.
Short answers
How often should I update my counselling website?
When something true changes, and at least a light seasonal pass.
What should I change when my fees go up?
Every place the old fee appears, in the same week.
Should I say I am not taking on clients?
Yes, if that is true. Remove the notice when it is not.
How do I add a holiday notice?
Dates, when you will reply, and where to seek urgent help. Take it down when you are back.
Do I need a full rewrite each year?
No. Accurate beats new.
Thanks for reading. May your next site edit take less time than finding a parking space near the clinic.