If you’ve recently raised your fees—or you’re thinking about it—this episode is essential.

Because here’s the reality: when your fee goes up, your website has to work harder.

Not because your clients are “pickier”… but because they’re human. And when we make higher investment decisions, we naturally slow down, look closer, and seek more certainty.

In this episode, Anna breaks down what that actually means for your website—and why a “good enough” site may no longer be enough to support the level you’re stepping into.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

1️⃣ Why higher fees require higher levels of trust—and how your website either builds or diminishes that trust

2️⃣ What happens in the first five seconds on your website (and why it matters more than you think)

3️⃣ The difference between generic copy and “sticky” messaging that makes clients feel deeply understood

4️⃣ How to ensure your website reflects the current level of your work—not an outdated version of your practice

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• Birthday Sale: https://walkerstrategyco.com/bs26
• Confident Copy: https://walkerstrategyco.com/cc
• Squarespace Templates: https://walkerstrategyco.com/templates
• DIY Brand Kit (DBK): https://walkerstrategyco.com/dbk
• Done-for-you Services: https://walkerstrategyco.com/services

Connect + Subscribe

Enjoying the podcast? Subscribe so you never miss an episode—and feel free to share it with a fellow therapist who’s building their private practice. Explore more marketing support for therapists: https://walkerstrategyco.com

About Marketing Therapy

Marketing Therapy is the podcast where therapists learn how to market their private practices without burnout, self-doubt, or sleazy tactics. Hosted by Anna Walker, a marketing strategist and founder of Walker Strategy Co, each episode brings you clear, grounded advice to help you attract the right-fit, full-fee clients and grow a practice you feel proud of.

Hey there.

2

Welcome back to Marketing

Therapy, episode 67.

3

Today we're talking about something

very, very human and how it

4

applies to your therapy website in

particular, and your therapy clients,

5

especially as you raise your fees.

6

Now, a lot of therapists will raise their

fee and then inquiries will slow down.

7

There's a lot of reasons for that.

8

People that are up for paying.

9

200 versus 100 or 300

versus one 50, right?

10

400 plus a session.

11

There are often fewer of them.

12

So seeing a slowdown in inquiries is not

necessarily a sign that anything is wrong.

13

However, sometimes the fee, the increase

isn't the issue, but the way that you

14

are putting yourself out there is because

here's something that a lot of therapists

15

often don't realize when they make this

decision, is that the higher your fee.

16

The more trust your website has

to cultivate the bar that your

17

website has to clear as your

fee increases, raises with it.

18

The higher the fee, the more trust

your website has to cultivate.

19

You would not expect a lemon, right?

20

A card that has a whole ton of

issues and is barely driving

21

to drive like a Porsche, right?

22

And you cannot expect a low trust.

23

Low caliber website to convert premium fee

clients simply because your rate went up.

24

That's what we're getting into today.

25

Now, as I mentioned, this

is not unique to therapy.

26

I'm not talking about the quality of

premium fee clients versus other clients.

27

Like, that's not the issue here.

28

This is what we do when we

make decisions about our money.

29

Think about any high investment

decision you've made.

30

If you are deciding to book a $500

a night hotel for a staycation with

31

your partner versus a $90 Airbnb

because you had to run back to help a

32

family member in your hometown, that

experience is gonna look a lot different.

33

And if you are booking that $500 a

night hotel, you are gonna read reviews,

34

you're gonna study photos, you're gonna

scrutinize the cancellation policies.

35

Your decision making criteria is

gonna be a whole lot different

36

if you need an attorney.

37

To help you with your practice or

another issue in your life, hiring

38

a $400 an hour one versus a hundred

dollars an hour one, you are gonna

39

be doing your research, right?

40

You're gonna be looking for signals

that that person is worth it.

41

But you're also gonna know

that if you decide to.

42

Hire that $400 an hour attorney

that it's probably 'cause

43

they're very good at their job.

44

This is what this comes down to.

45

When something costs more, we naturally

slow down, we look harder, and we seek

46

out more certainty before we commit.

47

That is not a therapy thing.

48

That is a human thing.

49

That is what we do with our money, and it

means that as your fee grows, as it well

50

should the bar for your website grows too.

51

Premium fee clients are

not pickier in a bad way.

52

This isn't about vanity.

53

They're just doing what any of us do.

54

When the stakes are higher, they're

not simply coming to your website

55

and learning about you wondering,

Hmm, can this therapist help me?

56

They're wondering why this

therapist at this price.

57

The higher the investment, the less your

website can afford to feel uncertain.

58

That's what we're

talking about here today.

59

Now, it's really important to

acknowledge that your website

60

does not operate in a vacuum.

61

It is not make beautiful

website, get premium fee clients.

62

Unfortunately, it's not that simple.

63

However that website lives

inside of a larger system.

64

That system is what we call the

client conversion engine, right?

65

It's the thing that turns

strangers first into inquiries

66

and then inquiries into clients.

67

So there's three parts of

that client conversion engine

68

if you're new around here.

69

The first is confident identity.

70

That is knowing what you do, who

you serve, what sets you apart.

71

There's confident presence, which is

how you put yourself out there and

72

how you are received, and then there's

confident connection, how you're actually

73

making sure people know you exist.

74

If one of the elements in your

engine is weak, then the whole

75

thing is gonna struggle to run.

76

So today we're talking about that

confident presence piece because that

77

is where your website lives and that's

where this trust gap starts to show up

78

most visibly when you increase your fees.

79

Now, why is trust so critical?

80

I've talked about this a lot recently.

81

We have a episode on the trust recession,

which I'll link in the show notes, but

82

the fact is that trust is at an all

time low, and therefore your marketing's

83

job is above all to cultivate it.

84

People need to feel like they trust you

in order to take the next step with you.

85

And we have to be really careful

about where trust is being

86

either supported or diminished.

87

And often we end up unintentionally

diminishing trust because

88

we're focused in other areas.

89

We're focused so much on getting people to

the website that we're failing to look at

90

if the website itself is doing the work of

growing that trust or taking away from it.

91

Now when you land on a website,

trust building starts before

92

anyone reads a single word.

93

Okay?

94

This is where design is leading the

subconscious to make a decision.

95

Studies show us that people.

96

Take less than a second to make a

split second judgment about a brand

97

and the halo effect, which is a proven

psychological concept, tells us that

98

if it is not a good first impression,

then that plays into how this person

99

perceives the brand moving forward.

100

They say that you only have one

first impression, and that is true.

101

The halo effect tells us that if someone

lands on your website and immediately

102

has a feeling that introduces doubt,

uncertainty, unprofessional that the

103

rest of your marketing is on an uphill

battle in order to earn that trust back.

104

On the flip side, if they land and have

an immediately positive response to your

105

website, then they have a halo effect.

106

They are looking at your brand

through rose colored glasses

107

in every future interaction.

108

That's why this first

impression is so important.

109

So that's that split second and subliminal

reaction to how a site looks and feels.

110

You know, when you've landed on

a website that feels premium.

111

I'm not talking about therapy,

I just mean in general.

112

I have team members in multiple

different states, and so anytime we

113

hire someone in a new state, we have

to initiate tax setup in that state.

114

And those websites, you

know what I'm talking about?

115

You pay your taxes, you land

on them, and they are archaic.

116

They are terrible and so outdated and you

know the minute you've landed on one, that

117

this is gonna be a not fun experience.

118

Right.

119

You know what I'm talking about on the

flip side, if you land on a website

120

for a really premium, high-end brand

of a product that you're looking at,

121

you know, or maybe a spa that you're

interested in or a another service

122

provider, you know, when you're landing

on something that is going to offer an

123

experience that is far more positive

than that tax setup one, right.

124

You've experienced this

too, and so do your clients.

125

I think therapists expect that what

clients are going to believe or

126

assume about them is different than

what they would believe or assume

127

about other websites they land on.

128

But the fact is these are judgments

we make regardless of the service

129

or product that we're seeking out.

130

Okay?

131

From there, from that initial subliminal

reaction, that is driven primarily by

132

design, then the next test happens in

the first five seconds, and that is your

133

client knowing, am I in the right place?

134

Is this for me?

135

Is there something specific to me here?

136

Or could this be any therapist

for literally any client?

137

Is there something calling out to me?

138

You know the name of the game right now.

139

Specificity.

140

If your client cannot get a taste

of that without even scrolling,

141

they have the subliminal split.

142

Second design thought about whether

or not you are trustworthy and

143

the halo effect that follows.

144

And then we have them reading

the copy for the first time.

145

Is there something for me here?

146

That's what's happening

in less than five seconds.

147

And this is where the copy has to start

to do its job and do that heavy lifting.

148

No surprise here, but the difference

between copy that's gonna go ahead and

149

build trust and copy that doesn't is going

to come down to how specific you are.

150

How many websites have you landed on

that, say, does this sound familiar?

151

And then it's a list of six bullets

about feeling overwhelmed and anxious,

152

or relationships are struggling or.

153

Your child is acting out, right?

154

So, so, so generic, so, so, so

applicable to literally almost

155

anyone seeking out therapy, right?

156

What instead?

157

Builds trust right now is

painting a visceral word picture.

158

We call this stickiness in confident copy.

159

But using your copy to paint the word

picture of laying awake at 2:00 AM

160

replaying that conversation with your boss

and questioning absolutely everything that

161

is what helps someone feel seen whether or

not they actually were awake at 2:00 AM.

162

When you paint a visceral word picture, it

displays a deeper level of understanding

163

of that particular client than a bullet

about feeling overwhelmed and anxious

164

or second guessing conversations.

165

Is about creating something visceral

and specific in your client.

166

Now, when you're raising your fees,

there's also a page that I often

167

recommend adding to your website,

168

we actually developed a template

specific to this that was recently

169

added to our Confident copy bonus

fault, but that is your fee page.

170

There is a delicate dance to

communicating your fees on your website.

171

Now your fees belong on your website

and we can do an entire podcast episode

172

on that, so I will die on that hill.

173

Assuming that we agree on that

and that your fee is going to be

174

represented, we wanna be thoughtful

about how it's represented.

175

You are allowed to charge what makes

sense for you for your session fees.

176

Absolutely.

177

This isn't about that.

178

What this is about is not apologizing,

but instead positioning your fees

179

as the investment that they are.

180

Giving people the context and

often the education that they

181

don't have to understand what it

means to pay out of pocket, what

182

it means to not use insurance.

183

There's a delicate balance and dance

to strike here, and so I think this is

184

another spot that as your fee increases,

your website also needs to kind of meet

185

that higher standard is in relation

to how you're communicating those

186

fees, offering just enough education,

offering just enough context that

187

your client is going to understand

and ultimately come to agreement.

188

About why this fee is what it is

and be okay moving forward with it.

189

Now, sometimes I see clinicians very,

very, very well intentioned attempt to

190

build trust on their website, but they

end up shooting themselves in the foot,

191

and that is when they overemphasize

the pain that your client is in.

192

I've landed on websites before,

and the homepage is a mile

193

long, which I'm not afraid of.

194

Long copy.

195

If you've been around for a while,

you know that, but the page is a mile

196

long and you know what most of it is?

197

It is just belaboring the

pain that this client is in.

198

There is a really fine line between

acknowledging what brings someone

199

to therapy, saying, Hey, I see the

fact that you're laying awake at

200

2:00 AM and absolutely piling on

how miserable they already are.

201

And so I've landed before on these

websites where I just scroll and

202

scroll and scroll, and there are some

specific examples, but the story is a

203

literal novel of how terrible things

are right now, a premium fee client.

204

We've talked recently about the

premium fee mindset, and we can

205

link that in the show notes as well.

206

But we've talked about how a premium fee

client knows they are ready for therapy.

207

They don't need to be convinced,

they don't need to be reminded.

208

They want to see evidence that

you understand them, but this

209

isn't a question of whether or not

they're going to seek out therapy.

210

And when you overemphasize pain points,

you end up speaking to someone who

211

needs that level of convincing, which

we know your ideal client does not.

212

And so the site can become very, very

hard to connect with and so, like I said,

213

that's a very well-intentioned way of

displaying your level of understanding.

214

But we need to be really mindful about

how much of that we're doing and how

215

much we should be balancing that with

where your client actually wants to go.

216

Casting the vision, as we say on

your website of what is possible.

217

Okay.

218

So that's one of those mistakes I often

see when it comes to trust building.

219

Now I talk to so many clinicians

who say my website for a

220

long time was good enough.

221

It's been good enough for a long time,

but I'm noticing a shift that is a

222

huge theme in the conversations I've

been having with therapists recently.

223

And the fact is that like a

simple, straightforward website,

224

it can work at certain stages.

225

And something is always better

than nothing for sure, but

226

there's a ceiling to that.

227

There's a ceiling.

228

As you choose to break into higher fee

structures, at a certain point, good

229

enough is gonna stop being good enough.

230

And so having a website that is generic

or dated or unclear could potentially

231

end up undermining the very fee you're

trying to charge and the very fee you

232

are worthy of and capable of calling in.

233

But we know that in a saturated market

where clients have 7, 9, 10 tabs open,

234

a weak website doesn't just fail to

impress, but it can actually create doubt.

235

And as we've talked about recently,

doubt is expensive at lower fees.

236

People may overlook a mediocre website,

but at higher fees, they usually won't.

237

And those stakes are rising

along with your fees.

238

Now the most common version of this

that I see and that I talk to when

239

I sit down with y'all in, you know,

discovery sessions and things like that,

240

is the therapist who's decided to depa.

241

So for a long time, your website

worked well enough, but you're ready

242

to drop insurance, you're ready

to get focused, and your website

243

hasn't yet made the transition.

244

That's the most common one.

245

So your website was working well enough

when referrals were flowing, when

246

insurance was filling the caseload a bit

more easily, but now you're asking your

247

website to do a different job for you

and therefore the website has to change.

248

There's also the therapist whose fees have

just simply outpaced their site over time.

249

I just sat down with a

therapist yesterday who.

250

In her pre-call inquiry basically

said, I know I do really, really,

251

really great therapy work, and

I'd like to be paid accordingly.

252

Amen, sister.

253

Absolutely.

254

But when you visit her site,

it feels incredibly dated.

255

There is not a premium experience

being communicated here.

256

I don't have a deep sense of her niche.

257

I would really have to dig around to

see myself in that website to find those

258

signals of specificity and authority.

259

So it's not that the website itself was

bad, but it was in no way communicating

260

that high caliber clinician.

261

She knew she was.

262

And as she had grown in her

abilities as a clinician, her

263

website hadn't grown with her, right?

264

And so her fees, which she

had just recently raised, had

265

outpaced the website experience.

266

And she was realizing disconnect

was starting to cost her.

267

So while the practice had grown and the

work had deepened, the rate had climbed.

268

The website was still belonging

to an earlier version of herself.

269

And then finally, there's the referral

scenario that I'll hear about sometimes,

270

and that is where someone is very,

very well known in a specific niche.

271

Like you get calls for this thing whether

you like it or not, you're actively

272

getting clients through word of mouth.

273

But you're also concerned that if

a potential client was doing some

274

research and wasn't just calling you

directly off the back of a referral.

275

Maybe they're weighing you against

someone else, that the website

276

is likely to raise some doubts

or some questions to potentially

277

undermine that decision to reach out.

278

Rather than support it.

279

Do you fall into any of those camps?

280

Are you someone who knows your

website needs to step it up a notch?

281

Are you a clinician who has stepped

into kind of a higher version of

282

yourself and your practice, but

your website isn't communicating it?

283

Or are you quite frankly doing really

well and really well known in your niche?

284

And if all clients ever had to

do was call you, you'd be good.

285

But if they're visiting your website,

286

maybe you're not, if you fall into any

of those camps, that's why I created this

287

episode is to get you thinking about how

much harder your website may need to work

288

considering where you find yourself today.

289

Considering what we know about

how clients are making decisions.

290

I heard recently from one of our

done for you clients, we both

291

wrote and designed her website.

292

She specializes among other things

in working with women going through

293

divorce and relationship challenges.

294

And so she was meeting with a kind of

high-end divorce mediator, which is a

295

hello, a great networking conversation.

296

And the mediator noted early on in

her conversation, this was their first

297

meeting, how impressed she was by the

website, how it spoke directly to a

298

woman who needed to feel empowered

in this process, which is exactly

299

who this client was going after.

300

That is the sign of a

website doing its job.

301

This clinician charges premium fees.

302

She stands behind them.

303

And her website is backing her

up, and this mediator called

304

that out, which was really cool.

305

Another one that I've heard from recently,

a clinician specializes in faith-based

306

work and she heard from clients how

grateful they were that she was explicit

307

about that worldview on her site because

that is what they were connecting to.

308

And because the website was clear and

elevated in that regard, they were

309

far more inclined to reach out to her.

310

They found her because of it,

and then they trusted her before

311

they ever got on the call.

312

Those are signs of a website

doing its job, right.

313

The common thread here is that your

website should be working so well that

314

it is doing the filtering for you.

315

It is doing the trust building.

316

It is doing the relationship

initiating before you ever

317

get on a call with someone.

318

And the higher your fees, the harder

your website needs to work in order

319

to make those things possible.

320

Now, a lot of therapists feel after

they raise their fees or when they're

321

in a new season of practice that

they just gotta go out there and

322

they gotta focus on visibility.

323

And you know what?

324

Good on you.

325

You need to have that expectation.

326

Visibility is critical.

327

Like I said, your website

does not operate in a vacuum.

328

It's not just make pretty

website, get premium fee clients.

329

But focusing only on visibility,

focusing only on traffic,

330

if not followed up by trust.

331

Once people land on your site and

learn about you, then that just

332

leads to more people leaving.

333

It's that pouring water into

a leaky bucket situation that

334

I've talked about so often.

335

We might catch some water, we might,

but we're gonna lose a lot more of it.

336

So if you're going to be out there

and investing in relationship building

337

and investing your time, or your money

or your energy and other marketing

338

strategies, whether that is SEO or Google

Ads, whatever it may be, please make

339

sure that you are leading to a website

that you know is backing you up and not

340

diminishing the trust that is required

for someone to decide, absolutely,

341

this therapist is worth the 2 50,

300, $400 a session that they charge.

342

Promise me you will do that.

343

Okay.

344

It can be easy to assume that

you need more visibility, and

345

sometimes that is the issue.

346

Only if you are sure, first and

foremost, that the website at its

347

foundation, at the foundation of your

marketing is doing what it needs to do.

348

I.

349

So I hope I've gotten your gears

turning, no pun intended, on the whole

350

engine metaphor with this episode,

that in this market, when trust is

351

at an all time low, when it is your

most valuable currency that you can

352

be generating in your relationship

with clients, your website's job.

353

Is to cultivate that, and the higher

your fees, the more trust required

354

and the more trust required, the

harder your website needs to work.

355

Now we have lots of ways

we help you with that.

356

I've mentioned our done for you services.

357

In this episode, our done for you

services are currently on wait list.

358

As I prepare for maternity leave,

they will be opening up again.

359

When I return, and we'll be booking

projects for the summer and fall.

360

You can get details for that

walkerstrategyco.com/services.

361

We're also as this episode drops in the

middle of our seventh birthday sale, and

362

that birthday sale includes all of our

resources for creating a website yourself.

363

That rises to the occasion and we have

so many incredible success stories from

364

clients who have used our Confident Copy

program, our website templates to create

365

websites that are calling in clients

and that they put together on their own.

366

And there's nothing quite

like pushing Launch on a site.

367

You created start to finish.

368

So if you are someone who is interested

in taking advantage of those resources,

369

like I said, confident copy our templates.

370

We have our ultimate DIY bundle

that includes our DIY brand kit.

371

Now's the time.

372

You can get all the details there.

373

Walker strategy code.com/bs

374

26.

375

Those deals are live through

Thursday of this week.

376

We're also giving away a free gift with

all purchases made during our birthday

377

sale, which is our Get Found Coach.

378

A new marketing AI tool that I generated.

379

It was my pre maternity leave project.

380

We've never offered something like

this before and it is the powerful next

381

step after you launch your website.

382

I've gotten so many questions.

383

Hey Anna, my website's live now.

384

What do I do?

385

This Get Found Coach is

gonna give you tailored.

386

Recommendations based on your location

and your niche, your bandwidth, your

387

time, your energy, your money on what

you should be doing in the weeks and

388

months following your website launch.

389

So that's a free gift

we're offering this week.

390

Now, no matter what, if your fee

has grown or you want it to, then

391

the question worth asking yourself

today is, has your website kept up?

392

And if not, what does it need to

do to start rising to the occasion?

393

That's what I'm gonna leave

you with today, I hope.

394

Like I said, I got your gears turning

and I'll see you in our next episode.