Therapist Directory Scoring Criteria
Whether your practice is just getting started or looking to grow, a profile with a therapist directory is essential for ensuring your practice is visible to potential clients. Choosing Therapy can help you make a bit more sense of the many directory options available by providing in-depth, personally researched reviews, as well as multi-category star-ranked ratings. Below you’ll find a list of our therapist directory scoring criteria, including how we define the key categories and features, what we look for when we rate them, and a breakdown of our star rating system
Potential Client Reach
The number of users visiting a given directory on a monthly basis is a direct reflection of the popularity of that directory. If your goal is to expose your practice to as broad an audience as possible, a higher volume of monthly users is preferable. However, higher volumes of users can lead to more therapists using the site and, subsequently, greater competition to contend with.
Star Ratings for Potential Client Reach
5-stars – The main search page of the directory has a monthly organic traffic volume of greater than 500k. This is a very popular directory that has a large volume of users visiting it every day.
3-stars – The main search page of the directory has a monthly organic traffic volume of greater than 250k. This is a relatively high-traffic page that still has a large volume of users visiting it.
1-star – The main search page of the directory has a monthly organic traffic volume of less than 75k. This page doesn’t get nearly as many visitors as the best directories do.
Client Communication Features
The best directories facilitate easy communication between therapists and potential clients and make it easy and seamless for clients to schedule appointments. Therapists should be able to easily update their availability and clients should have a very intuitive way to schedule new appointments without intervention from the therapist.
Star Ratings for Client Communication Features
5-stars – This platform is an ideal example of excellent communication features. There are no barriers to client scheduling, and any errors are easy to resolve. The design of this platform is such that clients and therapists will experience minimal frustration.
3-stars – While this platform is acceptable in its client communication features, it is lacking in design excellence and may have a few hiccups along the way. However, the design should not lead to lost client leads due to frustration.
1-star – The client communication features included with the platform are grossly inadequate and would prove highly ineffective from both the therapist and client sides.
Search Features
The best directories make it simple for clients to find the ideal therapist match for them by including detailed filtering options among other features. The overall design of the directory search system should facilitate good therapist-client matches to eliminate wasted time and frustration.
Star Ratings for Search Features
5-stars – The design of the search features in the platform exemplifies clever design and is highly effective in pairing therapists with clients. It’s easy to see how ideal platforms would improve client-therapist match quality and lead to greater satisfaction overall.
3-stars – Search features are adequate but lack a degree of innovation. The platform provides good quality client-therapist matches or has a detailed filtering system that clients can utilize to good – but not perfect – effect.
1-star – The search features of the platform are inadequate and do not facilitate a good experience for clients searching for a therapist. Therapists find it difficult to appear in search results effectively.
Ease of Use
The directory should be very easy to use overall for both the client and the therapist. The best directories will eliminate barriers for clients and ensure easy profile writing and management for therapists.
Star Ratings for Ease of Use
5-stars – The platform is remarkably easy to use for both therapists and clients. Setting up a profile is straightforward and easy to accomplish, and ranking meaningfully in search results is easy, depending on the targeted niche. Clients would have no trouble navigating the platform.
3-stars – The platform is relatively easy to navigate, but may have some flaws in its design that could lead to frustration in creating a profile, managing a profile, or for clients using the platform. Any flaws in the platform will not be severe enough to render the system unusable.
1-star – The platform is poorly designed and difficult to use. Either the therapist or client sides of the platform will be grossly inadequate and cause a high degree of frustration or lead to lost client leads.
Additional Features Offered
The best therapy directories include more features than just a profile listing. Example features of this category may vary but most often include features for practice management, telehealth, and continuing education.
Star Ratings for Additional Features Offered
5-stars – The platform offers a variety of features which may include continuing education resources, EHR features, or other tools. Therapists will not be required to use these features, and any additional cost is clearly justified and offers great value.
3-stars – The platform may offer one or more extra features. While they may be useful, their cost may not be entirely justified or may be slightly more expensive compared to competitors.
1-star – The platform either does not offer any additional features or what is offered has a cost that is not justified or would not add any meaningful value to a practice’s toolkit.
Relative Cost
The ideal therapist directory will be priced competitively with other options available. Any premium features and associated costs should be justified. Ideally, directories would offer more functionality than its competitors at a lower cost.
Star Ratings for Relative Cost
5-stars – The software offers excellent value for the cost. It offers more features than its competitors at a lower cost.
3-stars – The software costs are in-line with its competitors and do not add any more value for the relative cost.
1-star – The software is unnecessarily expensive and the features don’t justify the price.
Fit & Finish
Directories, like website builders, have to be on the forefront of design fit and finish. Clients will be less likely to use a directory that looks ugly or outdated. Therapists want their profile listings to look modern, beautiful, and accessible, so the overall design of the directory should facilitate this.
Star Ratings for Fit & Finish
5-stars – The platforms are beautiful and cleverly designed. It has an exceptional quality of design that is both pleasing to look at, intuitive to use, and offers frequent improvements to functionality.
3-stars – The software is usable, dependable, and looks nice, but the design is not innovative or does not add any functional value. It is not as easy to use or intuitive as the ideal platform is.
1-star – The platform either looks extremely outdated, or it is just hard to read, and, in some way, the design decreases the functionality of the software.
Reliability & Longevity
The best directories should have a long history of linking prospective clients to their ideal therapist match. Ideal directories should have many years of experience without being marred by negative user reviews or other problems.
Star Ratings for Reliability & Longevity
5-stars – The platform has been around for at least 5 years and has been consistently updated and held in high esteem for the entire time.
3-stars – The platform has been around for at least 2 years. It might have been around longer, but hasn’t been well maintained over that period of time. Maybe it was well-regarded at one point but isn’t as widely used anymore.
1-star – The platform is brand new and hasn’t had many users review it, or the platform’s history is marred by difficult situations or negative publicity.
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This content was last updated 09/19/2023 by the Choosing Therapy team.
