How much does a therapist website cost in the UK?

The short answer

There is no standard price. A therapist in the UK can have a website for the cost of a monthly subscription they set up themselves, or for a project fee that runs into thousands of pounds, and both can be the right decision for a particular practice.

What you are really paying for is not the website. It is how much of the thinking, writing, design and upkeep somebody else does for you, and what you are left holding when they have finished.

Why prices vary so much

Three things account for most of the difference.

Who does the thinking. A template gives you a layout and leaves the hard part — deciding what to say, and in what order — to you. At the other end, somebody works out how the practice should be described before anything is designed. That work takes time, and it is usually the part that makes the difference to who gets in touch.

Who writes the words. Many projects are priced on the assumption that you supply the copy. Writing it for you, from what you have said about your practice, is a significant part of the work, and a common reason one quote is much higher than another.

How much is being built. A single well-made page is a different job from a ten-page site with a blog, online booking and a newsletter. More pages mean more writing, more design decisions and more to maintain.

The common ways therapist websites are priced

A website builder you set up yourself. You pay a monthly or annual subscription and do the rest. It is the cheapest route in money and the most expensive in your time, and the result is only as clear as what you put into it.

A website that comes with a directory listing or a platform. Some directories and practice-management services include a simple site with membership. It is convenient; the page usually looks like everyone else’s, and it tends to disappear if you stop paying.

A fixed-price project with a freelancer or small studio. You pay once for an agreed scope. What that scope contains varies widely, which is why the questions at the end of this note matter more than the headline figure.

An agency project. More people, more process and usually more pages. Right for a larger organisation; often more than a single private practice needs.

A monthly “website as a service”. A lower upfront cost, then a monthly fee for as long as you have the site. Worth checking whether you own anything at the end, and what happens to the site if you stop.

What tends to increase the cost

• Several pages rather than one
• Copy written for you rather than supplied by you
• A custom identity — a logo or wordmark, colours and typography — rather than a template’s defaults
• Online booking, payments, a blog or other integrations
• Photography
• Ongoing changes after launch, if they are not included

When a cheaper option is the sensible one

If you already know exactly what you want to say, are comfortable writing it, and are happy to spend an afternoon or two setting it up, a builder subscription can be a perfectly good answer. If your directory profile is already bringing the enquiries you want, you may not need a website yet at all.

Spending more does not make a practice clearer. It only helps if the money buys work you would not otherwise get done.

What “cheap” can leave out

The gaps are usually not visible on launch day. They show up later:

• The domain registered in somebody else’s name, so you cannot move
• No way of getting your site out if you stop paying
• Nobody to fix it when something technical breaks
• Words that describe any therapist, not you
• Every small change after launch charged separately, or not possible at all

None of these is a reason to avoid a cheaper option. They are reasons to ask about them before you choose.

What a therapist actually needs

Less than most websites contain. Someone arriving on your site wants to know whether you work with people like them, what it is actually like, what it costs, that you are a real person, and how to get in touch. What belongs on a therapist’s homepage goes through those five in order.

For many private practices that fits on one carefully made page. More pages are worth paying for when you have more to say, not because a website is expected to have them.

What Alexander Watson Studio charges

These are this studio’s prices, not a figure for the market.

The Practice Identity & Website is £495 for the first three practices, then £995 for the same work. It includes the written Practice Fundamentals, the identity, the words, one complete responsive page with an enquiry form, two feedback stages, domain connection and launch, and the first year of Practice Care. After that year, Practice Care is optional at £120 a year, and additional work is £55 an hour or a fixed quote.

The full scope, the payment terms and what is not included are on what it costs, and the collection shows three concept websites with the thinking behind each one published in full.

Questions to ask before you choose someone

1. Is the domain registered in my name, in my own account?
2. Do I own the finished website, and can I take it elsewhere?
3. Who writes the words, and from what?
4. What exactly is included, and what would cost extra?
5. How many rounds of feedback are there, and what counts as one?
6. What does a change cost after launch?
7. What happens if I stop paying for hosting or care?
8. Is the price written down before I commit?

Whoever you choose, a clear answer to each of those is worth more than a lower headline figure.