Software
March 25, 2024
Your future clients are looking for you online, right now. According to this 2021 survey, 85% of massage clients find massage therapists through their website. In this article, you’ll learn how to design a massage therapy website that attracts new customers and gets them to book an appointment.
You need these things before you start designing your massage website.
Domain name: A domain name is your address. Usually it’s something like www.YourBusinessName.com. You can search for available domain names using search tools from Google or GoDaddy. If the name you want is already in use, get creative. Choose a name that’s easy for your clients to remember. Buy and register the domain name you settle on. The cost is usually around $15-20 per year.
Web hosting: The next thing you need is a place for your website to live. This is referred to as web hosting. If your domain name is your address, web hosting is your house. This is where all the files that make up your website are stored. You can often purchase a domain name and hosting bundled together. The cost of hosting varies depending on how complex your website is, but expect to pay at least $200+ a year.
Website builder: You also need a tool to actually design your massage therapy website. Unless you’re also a web designer and know how to code, the simplest solution is using a website builder. Platforms like Squarespace and Wix have website builders included with their hosting plans. Website builders come with templates that are easy to customize to reflect your brand. You don’t have to be too tech savvy to create a beautiful website using a website builder.
Brand: Select a color scheme and fonts for your website. Use those colors and fonts on all your marketing material. If your massage therapy business has a logo, use it on your website. If you don’t have a massage therapy logo yet, you can create one using Canva or hire someone to make one for you. This is how people will recognize your business.
Back End System: Use software to connect your website to the daily operations of your business. Clinic Management Software, like ClinicSense, makes it easy to allow clients to book appointments online, pre-pay for sessions, and buy gift certificates. It sounds complicated, but all you do is pay for a subscription and link it to your website. Not tech skills required.
Treatment Packages: Be prepared with a full list of services before you start building your massage website. You need massage package details, service descriptions, pricing, and most importantly a list of benefits for each service.
Your website will consist of multiple web pages. Each page should have a very specific purpose. There’s no rule on how many pages a website needs, but a good rule of thumb is as many pages as it takes to tell your story and share your offerings...and nothing more. Your website should have at least the following pages or sections.
Home: Your homepage is where you grab your visitors' attention, make it clear what you do, and direct them where they need to go.
About: This is where you tell your story, and introduce your practitioners.
Services: Use your services page to outline all your offerings. If you only offer one service, your homepage can double as your services page.
Contact: List your location, phone number, and hours of operation on your contact page. A link to your online scheduling is a good idea too, because that’s often why people want to contact you. Also, set up a contact form that allows people to send you an email directly from your website.
Gift Certificates: It’s easy to sell gift certificates online. If you decide to go this route, advertise the option to buy online on your website. You can create a whole page, or just add a button to the header of your website that links to your checkout portal.
Social Media: If you promote your business on social media, be sure to add social follow buttons to the header and footer of your website. Then link them to your social profiles. Don’t forget to link your online scheduling to your social profiles, so clients can book no matter where they find you.
Let’s take a look at these in more detail.
Your homepage is likely the first page new website visitors see. It’s crucial to make a good impression, and you only have a moment to do that. If a visitor doesn't like what they see or understand what the website is about in an instant, they’ll go someplace else.
How do you tell your whole story in an instant? Do it with a “hero shot”. The image and words at the very top of your homepage, seen without scrolling down, is referred to as a hero shot. Press Modern Massage has an amazing hero shot on their website.
Use an image that your ideal clients relate to and/or are drawn to. The words you use should sum up what you do, who you do it for, and how you do it. Ideally, you describe all that in a single sentence. This is what is referred to as a value proposition. A value proposition quickly describes the value you provide. It can look something like this: “I help [dream client] reduce [pain point] and achieve [desired outcome] by providing [treatment method].
The final thing your hero shot needs is a Call To Action. The goal of your massage therapy website is to get people to schedule an appointment. So, include a “Book Now” button that links to your online scheduling system. That’s it. Don’t put anything else in your hero shot! You can go into more detail farther down the page.
Your about page is where you share your story. People hire people. Use this page to tell the story of your business and introduce yourself and your staff. This is a good place to expand on credentials and specialties each practitioner has.
Since massage therapy is such an intimate experience, potential clients want to know who you are before booking an appointment. The about page is where you show off your experience, expertise and personality. Creating a customer-focused About Us page is a key ingredient to earning the trust of website visitors. Before you begin writing the text for this page, think about who your ideal clients are, what questions they might have about you, and what information they’d appreciate you sharing beforehand.
Massage Heights does a great job with this client focused About page.
Your service page is where your customers find exactly what they are looking for. If you only offer one service, your homepage can double as your service page.
Make a list of every service you offer and highlight the benefits of each one. Include prices for your services, as well.
Every service will have features and benefits. You need to connect the feature, such as a specific massage modality, to a benefit, like pain relief or deep relaxation. The goal is to briefly explain what the service is, and then focus on what the service does for your client.
People buy for emotional reasons, even those of us who believe we are very logical. Putting the emphasis on benefits caters to the emotional desires of your potential clients. Back those benefits up with logic, and your website visitors will soon be customers. Make it easy for people to book the moment they find the service they want by adding a BOOK NOW button to each listing.
Your contact page will be the easiest thing to design on your massage therapy website. All you need is your basic contact information. Add a contact form to make it easy for clients to send you an email, without having to display your email address. This strategy helps cut down on spam. Include your address, a map of your location and hours of operation. Many website builders have easy plug-ins to add these features to your contact page without much effort.
What’s the most common reason people contact a massage therapist? To book an appointment. Add a link to your online scheduling on this page too (if it’s not in a bold position in your header already).
Designing a massage therapy website is the cornerstone of most online massage marketing strategies. Once your website is up and running, you must promote it to drive traffic to your site. Implementing basic SEO strategies for massage therapists can help more people find your website too.
You can promote your website via email marketing, social media, or creating a massage blog that educates or entertains your massage clients. The more avenues that lead people to your massage website, the more clients you’ll have walking through your front door.
The best way to get more clients to book appointments is by offering online scheduling. Without online scheduling, every missed phone is a missed opportunity. Sure, some people will leave a message, but many will just hang up. These days, people are much more likely to schedule with any business, if they can do it online.
ClinicSense is a scheduling solution created specifically for massage therapists. It’s easy to set up, and a breeze for clients to use. It allows you to streamline your whole scheduling process, and eliminate all those phone calls. You can connect online scheduling to your website, with ClinicSense, by simply copy and pasting a code to your website. If that sounds too complicated, you can just use a direct booking link on your website.
This guide walks you step-by-step through how to add online booking to your website, or how to get someone to help you do it. Don’t have an online booking system? Sign up for our free trial!
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