Is Psychology Today worth it?

By far, the most frequently asked question I get from therapists when I sit down for a discovery call is: “Is Psychology Today worth it?” Because often, redoing your website becomes the catalyst for revamping and elevating some marketing strategies (and per my clients, when you have your brand & site professionally redone, you feel more confident about organic marketing and less likely to pay for a service like Psychology Today).

(Exchange Psychology Today with Healthprofs, insurance provider databases, etc. if it applies more to you!)

The quick answer: maybe, but it's not a replacement for a website. And maybe your gut feeling led you there – but let’s take the time to make sure you really understand why a website benefits both the business side of your practice and your clients themselves.

How does a Psychology Today listing work?

When you join Psychology Today, you pay a monthly subscription fee ($30ish) to be listed in the Psychology Today database and be found by new clients. You can write brief, character-limited snippets of copy about your practice philosophy, modalities, etc. to help potential clients get to know you and spark interest in working with you. Clients can also reach out to you directly through your Psychology Today listing, which – NGL – is pretty convenient.

But while Psychology Today advertises a ton of benefits to joining their database, a lot of them don't measure up and might contribute to marketing issues down the line.

Psychology Today & The Sales Funnel

The sales funnel shows the journey that potential clients/customers take when making a purchase. It begins with awareness and concludes when a purchase is made – and in my eyes, it’s like its own chapter of the stages of change model! As people decide that they’re ready for change, they’ll also complete the sales funnel steps somewhere in those contemplation, determination, and action stages.

Psychology Today is great for the first stages of the funnel, when your audience is problem aware – but might be holding your practice back when it comes to sealing the deal with clients.

Does Psychology Today boost your SEO?

This is a (bold) claim on Psychology Today's part, and I'm doubtful at best. The Psychology Today website does have solid SEO, and they pay to be boosted in Google's search results so they're often high on the list, but there's two key reasons I'm staying skeptical:

1. Psychology Today is the site that gets boosted – not yours – which means that you're not building your own domain authority or SEO. So while this works out well as long as you're subscribed to Psychology Today, you're becoming reliant on a paid membership for those views (whereas a website with SEO-focused copy helps build traffic on a platform you own, not rent).
2. You still have to compete for rankings with other therapists inside of Psychology Today itself – so even for clients who make it to the Psychology Today site, they may not actually see your profile.

Want a refresher of SEO basics? Head to this post!

Does Psychology Today give you a backlink, or otherwise benefit YOUR SEO?

Nope, it sure doesn't. While your Psychology Today profile might look like it links to your website, a redirecting service is used to send the user to a third-party site and then your site (in the blink of an eye, and not even noticeably) to avoid giving you the backlink.

To see what I mean, head to your (or anyone's) Psychology Today listing and right click on their “My website” button. Copy the link address, then paste it into a Google doc or new tab to see what it is.

For Honest Therapy's listing, the link this button actually goes to is:

https://out.psychologytoday.com/us/profile/810814/website-redirect?_gl=11fg20tw_gcl_awR0NMLjE3MjEzMjU3OTAuQ2owS0NRanctdUswQmhDMEFSSXNBTlF0Z0dPXzBkYjhCT3hPQlJnMGJMTlJlNU1iLS01YTEzb1h0YTdjREk3UXl0dG9RZ20yTkRDLVY5Z2FBdkpORUFMd193Y0I._gaMzg0NjgyNTEwLjE3MjEzMjUzNjg._ga_5EMHF6S1M6*MTcyMTMyNTM2Ny4xLjEuMTcyMTMyNjg5OS42MC4wLjA.

Instead of her domain, which is simply honesttherapy.org.

Psychology Today is great for getting found, but not necessarily booked.

When it comes to a client actually making a decision and taking action, databases can start to fall short. The further potential clients progress along the sales funnel, the less Psychology Today and other similar databases can contribute to both you and them. 

If many of your competitors have a website linked and you don’t, it may influence someone’s decision about who to reach out to. If you have a website linked, but it’s confusing – you guessed it! Decision = influenced. If clients have more questions than you’re able to answer in your bio and listing, they may assume that the answers aren’t what they want to hear and simply not reach out.

Check out the example above of how much differently your Psychology Today listing and your website can display information and your personality!

When it comes to actually submitting an inquiry with you, there’s also some tech glitches to be aware of that may make it hard to actually connect with potential clients. 

“I had a client reach out to several therapists through Psychology Today, and we thought none replied – until months later when she checked her spam and realized their replies went straight to junk. They lost a potential client, and she had a huge gap in care.”

– Amy Shen, RD, LD, CEDS

So, is Psychology Today worth it?

If you're looking for higher potential to book more clients, quickly (read: potential, because not every therapist on Psychology Today can be ranked on the first page of client searches) – then yes! Psychology Today can be a great way to start your caseload before you niche down, and to gain a little momentum while launching your private practice.

But if I was a therapist starting or growing a private practice, I would still take the time to set up my own website so I could start to build domain authority, have my own online space for referral sources to send clients, and have complete creative control to convey my provider personality.

Bottom line: Databases aren’t a replacement for having your own website, but they can supplement it.

How to Get The Most out of Your Psychology Today Listing AND Your Website

If you only have capacity to live in one place on the Internet (I feel this), it's a website all the way. At $19/month for a basic plan, Showit is about $11/month cheaper than Psychology Today and gives you way more benefits than a Psychology Today listing (see below). If you have the finances for both, you can separate their functions like this:

PS – setting up your site? Use my affiliate link for your first month of Showit FREE!

Psychology Today can…

• Give clients a quick overview of facts about your practice so they can determine whether or not you’re a potential fit
• List the payment methods and insurance plans you accept
• Potentially provide contact methods for you

Your website, on the other hand, has significantly more function in your marketing process.

Your website can and should…

• Help you get new leads (through backlinks from Psychology Today or other traffic sources)
• Introduce you as a provider: give some background information about you, establish your credibility, and help generate interest in working with you
• Showcase the benefits of working with you specifically
• Anticipate and answer questions potential and current clients may have
• Provide a clear, easy way to contact you for the next steps in working together
• Create an easy-to-find and use hub for current clients through clearly listing your contact information and linking out to your client portal + other resources

---

So, is Psychology Today worth it?

Bottom line: maybe, but probably not if you have leads coming in from other sources. If you have listings on provider databases in addition to your own website, here’s how I’d recommend refreshing and updating the content to make it as clear as possible:

1. Audit your current site (or hire me to do it!) to see how it’s measuring up to the list above – is it giving clients the info they need to book with you? Is it making them want to book with you?
2. Give your site a copy refresh with my free guide to writing your About page, to maximize your client conversion & sell your viewers on working with YOU specifically.
3. Use your new copy to update your provider database listings – it’s totally fine to reuse it! See if you can direct people toward your website, and release the pressure to have your listing take on 100% of the conversion process. Its job is now just to get people to your website, where you have creative control & no character limits
4. Considering relaunching your DIY'ed site with a website template that makes it easy to incorporate strategy AND your personality!
5. Don't forget to revisit your referral sources often and pay attention to where they're coming from to see if Psychology Today is worth it for you!