Does Your Website Reflect What It’s Like to Work With You?
In this episode, I dive into the importance of making sure your website truly reflects what it feels like to work with you as a holistic health practitioner. I share why aligning your brand, website, and client experience is crucial for building trust and attracting the right clients. Through a real-life example and three practical gut-check questions, I guide you on how to evaluate your website’s copy, design, and user journey so they genuinely represent your personality and practice. I also offer simple tips, like updating photos and tweaking your colors and messaging, to help your site resonate with your ideal clients. Think of your website as the waiting room for your practice—setting the tone for everything that comes next. If you’re unsure whether your site reflects the care you provide, submit your website for a free review.
Key Takeaways
Your website should feel like working with you — not just look professional or polished.
When your site, social media, and in-person experience feel disconnected, it quietly breaks trust.
The design, colors, and photos you use should reflect your true personality and client experience.
Your website copy should sound like your voice, not like a template or AI wrote it.
Clear navigation and calls-to-action should guide visitors the way you guide your clients.
Small updates — like authentic photos or refreshed colors — can instantly make your site feel more aligned and welcoming.
Transcript
[00:00:00] Samantha Mabe: I am Samantha Mabe, website designer and founder of Lemon and the Sea, and this is Elevate Your Practice. If you're a holistic health practitioner ready to grow your practice without wasting time on things that don't work, you're in the right place. Each week I share a website, SEO, and marketing advice along with guest experts so you can bring in the right clients and feel confident about how you are showing up and serving the people that you help. Let's get started.
[00:00:38] Here's a quick gut check for you. Does your website actually reflect what it feels like to work with you? I talk to so many practitioners who have beautiful and functional sites, but when I ask if it matches their client experience and the personality that they bring to their work, they hesitate. Or maybe you have a website that's just barely there. You used a template and followed the colors you thought you were supposed to use, but it doesn't feel like you.
[00:01:09] In this episode, I'm gonna share why the alignment between your brand, your website, and what your clients experience matters so much, a quick story to showcase what I mean and some questions you can ask yourself to see if your site feels like you so that you can attract more of your best fit clients.
Your Website as the First Impression
[00:01:32] Your website is often a potential patient's first impression of you. If they found you on Google or if they were referred to you, they probably searched for or typed in your website, and that is what they saw first. If it's not the first impression, then it is going to be an impression. Even if they came across you on social media, with all the effort you've put in marketing there, they're going to click over to your website.
Why Brand and Website Alignment Matters
[00:02:03] If your site feels muted generic or clinical, but working with you is warm and colorful and personal, it can create confusion and that erodes trust even when our conscious brains don't see it. If you are recording fun reels at your practice and sharing them on Instagram, but somebody comes to your website and it looks like it was designed 15 years ago and is run by an old white man, people are gonna feel a little confused. And when we don't trust something, we're not gonna buy.
[00:02:40] So much of this is all under the surface, right? We're not actually thinking, 'oh, I don't trust them because this doesn't feel like their voice.' It's subconscious. But that is so important to building trust and booking clients that are aligned with who we are and who we want to work with.
[00:03:01] Clients need to feel the same energy in your Instagram feed, on your social media, in your emails, on your website, and in your office. It should feel like it's all done by the same person who is just using marketing to share more of their message. We don't want to lose the trust that we are building with people because there's an inconsistency or because things don't quite match up.
[00:03:32] That's why thinking about your website design as an extension of your brand, thinking of it as one piece of your whole marketing effort is important. Because when somebody lands on your instagram and then clicks over to your website, it should feel like it belongs to the same person. They should know that they're in the right place.
A Real Client Example: When “Muted and Calming” Misses the Mark
[00:03:54] I do a lot of website reviews for people, and recently I got one where their struggle was regarding their brand design. She said, 'I don't love my colors. I originally had hot pink and orange, which I liked, but all the recommendations for health sites are more muted.' And so she switched her site to be more green and blue and tan, and all those calming colors that we see everywhere online. The problem is she works with children. My advice was to lean into those colors that she loved, bold, playful colors, send the message that she understands kids and creates a welcoming environment. She's not going over the top with all neon in a way that is going to turn parents off, but she is recognizing that part of the work that she does is connecting with kids and so that is going to be reflected in her brand. It's also a part of her personality. So if she's going to always be wearing pink and orange in her photos and she's got a bubbly personality on Instagram, but they come to a really muted a site that looks and feels just like anybody else, there is a disconnect.
[00:05:15] When your site looks like you, it resonates with the people you most want to reach, and that's an important part of website design and marketing as a whole.
3 Gut-Check Questions to See If Your Website Feels Like You
[00:05:28] So here are three quick kind of gut check questions you can ask yourself as you are looking through this and as you are trying to figure out, okay, how do I make sure that my website is a reflection of my time with my clients?
Does your copy sound like you?
[00:05:44] Number one, does your copy sound like you or does it sound like ChatGPT spit it out and you made no edits. Or maybe you bought a template from somebody and just changed out a couple of words here and there. Clients should hear your voice, not marketing jargon, not AI generated content. It should sound like talking with you at their consultation would.
Does your design match your client experience?
[00:06:11] Number two, does your design match your client experience? Fonts, colors, images, they all communicate what it's like to work with you. Is your site calm and inviting or playful and bright? Based on this, through the colors that we choose, through the images that we put on our website, and through the little design elements that bring everything together.
[00:06:34] My biggest piece of advice here is not to go with standard stock images of a desktop or an ocean or a sunset. Make sure the imagery you're using on your site, whether it's something you had done in a brand photo shoot or stock images that you are sourcing, look like the types of clients you work with and the outcome that they want to achieve. People should be able to see themselves in, the images that you choose.
Does your site guide people the way you guide clients?
[00:07:05] Your third gut check question is, does your site guide people the way that you guide clients? Just like in a session when you're working with people, they need clear next steps. If your navigation is confusing or if your call to action doesn't actually tell people what's going to happen next, their experience is going to be confused, which makes it harder for them to book. But it also doesn't reflect how supportive you are in real life. You want to make sure that that journey from landing on your website to booking and becoming a patient is clear, it's easy, and it doesn't add extra frustration or questions to somebody.
[00:07:50] We wanna answer all of that upfront and make it a reflection of the experience that they're gonna get, that you are the expert and you can be trusted to tell them what they need to know so that they can get to where they want to be.
Small Fixes That Make a Big Difference
[00:08:03] If you feel like your site doesn't feel aligned with your brand and your personality, there are a couple of small things you can do that will make a big difference. First, swap out some stock photos for ones that reflect your actual space. That's the best option, or what your clients are experiencing and the outcome that they want to have.
[00:08:25] Two: think about your copy and rewrite it the way that you would actually talk to your clients or the way that your clients would describe what they're experiencing and what they're getting out of working with you.
[00:08:39] And number three, adjust your colors to better match your brand personality and patient experience, especially if you work with patients who are younger or like more fun things. That can be very different than most of the sites you probably used as inspiration, so we wanna make some adjustments. But even if you are working with millennial moms for their health and wellness, you can add some fun in the colors that you have through accents or small design pieces.
Think of Your Website as the Waiting Room for Your Practice
[00:09:15] Think of your website as the waiting room for your practice. When you're thinking about the design, it should set the tone for what comes next. You shouldn't have a waiting room that feels bright and colorful, and then go into a very calm space. You want it all to feel consistent, and that's what the design of your website is going to do.
[00:09:36] When your website reflects what it's like to work with you, potential clients can feel that alignment before they even schedule a call, and it makes them so much more excited to become your patient, and it makes it easier for them to make that final decision.
Next Step: Get a Free Website Review
[00:09:53] If you're not sure whether your site matches the care that you give, let me take a look. You can get a free website review at lemonandthesea.com/review, and I'll tell you exactly what's working and what's not, with a couple of suggestions on what you can do to improve your design, your functionality, and make sure you can book more patients into your practice.
[00:10:17] Thanks for listening to Elevate your Practice. If you enjoyed today's episode, follow the show and leave a review. It helps more practitioners find these tips and start growing their practices with confidence. And don't forget to check out the show notes for links and resources from today's episodes. I'll be back next week with more strategies to help you build a thriving practice.
