<b>Is a Counseling Website Really Important to Your Practice?</b>

Do you ever feel like potential therapy clients are ignoring you? Did you know that the percentage of people making their decisions online increases daily? If you don't have a counseling website to represent your practice online, it could be the number one reason you get ignored by potential therapy clients.

Potential clients may see your advertisement in a newspaper, on a mailer or even on television, but the phone doesn't ring. Instead, they remember your name and they hop online to "Google" your company. If they can't find a website, ready to feed them the necessary information, you may just be helping your competition grow.

With a counseling website representing you and your practice, this won't be an issue any longer. You will have an online presence and potential clients will be able to find you. Of course, you do need to make sure your new website provides the right online representation of your company.

<b>Marketing Opportunities Provided by a Counseling Website</b>

Starting a website opens the doors to a number of new, inexpensive marketing methods you can use. Here are just a few of the top ways you can gain new clients online for a very low cost or even free.

<b>Blogging</b>

A counseling website pairs very well with a blog. The blog provides a place for you to post tips, advice and answers to questions. This could be the first interaction you have with a potential therapy client.

Each blog post you create acts as a small traffic engine for your website. Search engines will pick up your content and list it in their search results for specific keyword phrases that match the content you've created. This can lead to a large amount of free website traffic and new clients.

<b>Search Engine Optimization (SEO)</b>

Blogging fits into any good SEO strategy, but there's more to it than just blogging. With the right SEO strategy, you can gain the top ranking on a local, national or even world-wide level for specific keyword phrases. Imagine how many new clients you could gain if you were listed first on Google for your specialty just in your local area.

<b>Social Media Marketing</b>

The social media world has opened up a number of new possibilities. Again, this is another important part of a good SEO strategy, but social media marketing provides plenty of its' own power, as well.

Visitors to your blog will have the ability to share your blog posts on their own social profile. This can lead to a large amount of free traffic, but it's only one of the many possibilities provided by social media marketing for counseling websites.

These are only three of the many powerful and inexpensive online marketing strategies. You can also use pay-per-click advertising, banner advertising, directory listings and many other strategies to reach your target market.

<b>Where Should You Start?</b>

Once you've decided that a counseling website is a necessity for your practice, you need to know where to start. There are a few decisions you will need to make and they are all very important.

First, you will need to decide if you want to take on the task of designing your website yourself. If you don't want to do the work on your own, you will need to find a professional website designer. Make sure you compare a few choices and find one that provides the best portfolio for your specific needs.

Next, the decision for hosting has to be made. The right hosting company can make a huge difference in how fast your site loads and how much downtime your counseling website experiences.

ITX Design provides the best hosting online today. Our award-winning support team is comprised of experienced industry professionals ready to help you any hours of the day. We provide a number of different hosting packages starting as low as $4.95 per month.

Finally, a marketing plan must be created for your new website. Whether you want to see your website listed high in the search rankings for local terms or you want to cover a larger market, the right marketing plan will make all the difference.

You may need to hire a professional SEO firm to help with the overall strategy. Other professional you may need include freelance writers for blog posts and a social media manager to handle your social media profiles. Some firms provide all of these services in one package.

Get your counseling website started today and reach more potential therapy clients. If you're not sure which hosting package fits best for your business needs, contact our support team for an expert recommendation.