SimplePractice Website Builder Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons, Cost, & Who It’s Right For

SimplePractice Website Builder Review – Key Takeaways

• SimplePractice Website Builder is built into the SimplePractice platform and is an excellent option if you already use SimplePractice’s EHR.
• Building a website with SimplePractice is a bit restricted in terms of options, but remarkably easy.
• A professional website with SimplePractice integrates well with SimplePractice’s other features.
• SimplePractice Website Builder is limited in terms of premium features like robust SEO management, and eCommerce features.

What Is SimplePractice Website Builder?

SimplePractice Website Builder is a self-service website-building tool offered by SimplePractice to its EHR users. SimplePractice Website Builder provides your practice with various website-building tools, such as hosting management and customization tools. SimplePractice Website Builder is included in the cost of certain SimplePractice subscriptions, starting at $69 monthly.

Types of Website Builders

SimplePractice is designed specifically for therapists that use the SimplePractice EHR. It is an entirely DIY platform that provides you with all of the tools you will need to build your therapist website without any of the additional features that you don’t need. Unlike website-building tools like Brighter Vision, SimplePractice Website Builder does not offer professional guidance in the design of your website.

Website builders can range from completely do-it-yourself systems wherein you build the website mostly on your own to fully professionally managed websites designed by experienced web designers. Depending on your experience, budget, and the amount of time you’d like to spend on setup, different options may be better for you.

Simple Practice Website Builder Specs

How Easy Is SimplePractice Website Builder to Use?

SimplePractice Website Builder is very simple and easy to use. It is built with the therapist in mind, so it requires no technical or design expertise. Since it removes some unnecessary features found in other website builders that are not specific to therapists, SimplePractice Website Builder allows you to set up a website in only about 15 minutes.

Since they aren’t commonly needed by therapists, you will not find features for eCommerce or dropshipping, but you will find essential tools for scheduling clients, managing client forms, and monitoring conversion rates of website visitors to clients.

The steps for creating a website with SimplePractice Website Builder are:

1. Create your practice in the EHR platform: During onboarding, you will setup your practice within SimplePractice’s EHR platform. You will add clients, staff, preferences, and other configuration settings. (15-30 minutes)
2. Add professional website: After getting your EHR profile setup, you will navigate to settings and turn on the professional website option. If you are not on the correct pricing plan, the system will let you know how your monthly price will change. (2 minutes)
3. Customize your website: You will go through SimplePractice’s website setup wizard to select design preferences. (10 minutes)
4. Your website goes live: Once this process is complete, you will publish your website.

How Much Does SimplePractice Website Builder Cost?

SimplePractice Website Builder’s costs start at $69 monthly, which are bundled with the cost of certain SimplePractice subscriptions. The $69 monthly subscription gives you access to the SimplePractice EHR and Website Builder, along with other features.

How to Get Started with SimplePractice Website Builder

Getting started with SimplePractice Website Builder is easy. Simply navigate to the SimplePractice website and sign up for a 30-day free trial. After you’re registered, you will be able to customize your practice, set up your EHR, and customize your practice’s website.

To learn more about setting up your practice with the SimplePractice EHR, take a look at our comprehensive review of SimplePractice.

SimplePractice Website Builder Core Features

SimplePractice Website Builder offers a number of features to help get your therapist website off the ground. The platform starts you off with a basic layout allowing you to customize the colors and fonts used. After editing the content to ensure it is relevant to your practice, your website will be ready to go live.

SimplePractice Website Builder is fairly limited in terms of the additional features it can provide. Being built specifically for therapists, it has none of the features that therapists are unlikely to use: eCommerce tools, for instance.

Design Customization

Rather than start you out with a selection of templates to choose from, every website built with SimplePractice Website Builder shares the same basic layout. While designing, you will be able to select the general feel of the website by selecting a theme – either casual, playful, or modern. While these themes don’t change the flow of the website, they do offer slight variations on the shapes of images, fonts, and so on.

After selecting a theme, you will be able to modify the color scheme. Color selection is unintimidating, as the platform will ensure everything coordinates with one another according to modern design standards.

After selecting the general aesthetics, you choose which optional sections of the website you’d like to include: services offered, client testimonials, and the location of your practice. From there, it’s just a matter of adding the details of your practice, configuring the methods by which clients can contact you, and linking to social media.

Finally, you are able to go into individual sections within a page to modify its contents. Swapping out images from a predetermined list, adding logos and headshots, and configuring your specialities, for instance.

Website Integrations

SimplePractice Website Builder offers a couple of integrations that will be useful to your clients on the website. You can configure contact forms that clients can send in, as well as a button to direct them to sign into the client portal – access to which is included in your subscription.

On the backend, SimplePractice Website Builder integrates fabulously with the rest of the SimplePractice suite. Clients can request appointments on your website and, since everything is HIPAA-compliant, their information will be ported directly into the EHR for you to view. Having all necessary information accessible under one umbrella should make your job a lot easier, and, hopefully, enable you to convert a greater number of website visitors into clients.

SEO Tools

One area in which SimplePractice Website Builder is lacking would be SEO tools. There are very few options for customizing or enhancing the way your website will be viewed by search engines. You are however able to change the title of a given page, as well as its meta description.

According to SimplePractice, this lack of features available to you is a good thing – they say they have optimized everything to ensure your website will rank well in internet searches. However, this sort of one-size-fits-all approach rarely works consistently in SEO. It’s unclear whether SimplePractice’s SEO approach is adequate for ensuring your website will gain traction on the web.

Marketing

Included in your subscription to SimplePractice is a listing for your practice on the Monarch Directory – SimplePractice’s proprietary therapist directory that purports to increase client referrals to your practice. Aside from this, SimplePractice does not offer

Keep in mind, if you’re looking for ways to boost your online presence, you can always join Choosing Therapy’s directory at no cost by following the steps laid out in our therapist directory page.

SimplePractice Website Builder Domains & Hosting

Included with your subscription to SimplePractice Website Builder is domain registration and hosting services. If you don’t own a domain name, SimplePractice will assign a basic one to you for free. You do have the ability to assign a custom domain name to your website. However, SimplePractice will not purchase the domain on your behalf, so you must purchase one on your own.

SimplePractice will handle hosting your website and keeping it running 24/7. You won’t have to worry about changing settings regarding hosting your website, as SimplePractice will handle all of this on your behalf.

Who Is SimplePractice Website Builder Right For?

SimplePractice Website Builder is an excellent solution for many; particularly so if you are an existing SimplePractice user, you want to bundle your purchase of an EHR and website builder, or you prefer an easy, quick, and straightforward solution.

Existing SimplePractice Users

If you already have a subscription to SimplePractice, you may already have access to SimplePractice Website Builder. All SimplePractice users with a subscription plan of “Essential” or higher have access to the website builder platform.

People Who Want to Bundle Their EHR & Website Builder

If you are in the market for both an EHR and website builder, SimplePractice may be a good option for you. Since both platforms are housed under the same subscription, it makes billing a breeze. Plus, the website and the EHR seamlessly integrate.

Those Who Want an Easy, Quick, & Straightforward Solution

It’s easy to be intimidated by some of the more comprehensive website builders like Wix, or the long waiting periods of Brighter Vision. If you’d prefer a quick and easy solution that’s tailor-made for therapists, then SimplePractice Website Builder is a great option.

Who May Want an Alternative to SimplePractice Website Builder?

SimplePractice Website Builder is a great solution but isn’t suited for every practice. If you don’t want to use the SimplePractice EHR, want more customization options, or are in need of unusual features, you may want to look elsewhere.

Those Who Don’t Want the SimplePractice EHR

There is no way to purchase access to the SimplePractice Website Builder without purchasing a subscription to the SimplePractice EHR. If you use a different EHR, then a standalone website builder may be a better option.

Brighter Vision, a stand-alone option, offers custom-designed websites for therapists. If you’d like to learn more, look at our Brighter Vision review.

People Who Want More Control Over Design Customization

True to the name, SimplePractice keeps things simple. If you’d like to be able to customize your website in a more detailed way, other options may be better for you. Wix, for example, is a popular website builder with a huge array of design customization options.

To learn more about Wix, take a moment to read our comprehensive review of Wix.

Those Who Need More Unusual Features

SimplePractice Website Builder only offers the most important features for therapists to use. If you need other features like eCommerce functionality, then you may be better served by something like Wix or another more general website builder.

SimplePractice Website Builder Vs. Brighter Vision

SimplePractice Website Builder and Brighter Vision are entirely different products. Brighter Vision allows you to liaise with professionals and AI alike to create a custom website from scratch. As such, the quality of websites with Brighter Vision is far superior, however, it requires a great deal more time (and cost) to set up – Brighter Vision also does not include access to an EHR or telehealth platform.

While Brighter Vision can offer you a more optimized and customized website than SimplePractice can, you will be paying a premium for it. Brighter Vision costs a setup fee of $100 upfront, and ongoing costs are $69 monthly, at least. Keep in mind that this cost is for the website only, whereas SimplePractice costs start at $69 monthly for a website, plus one of the best EHR systems on the market.

SimplePractice Website Builder Vs. Wix

If you’re looking for more robust customization, and don’t mind putting in a bit more effort, Wix is an excellent option. It is one of the most popular website builders on the market and has a low cost. However, unlike SimplePractice, it was not designed specifically for therapists, so will likely have more features than you need.

A basic Wix website can be had for no cost if you don’t need a custom domain or a breadth of features. Premium plans start at $16 monthly. Again, with Wix you’ll only be getting a website, whereas with SimplePractice’s pricier $69 monthly will net you a website and EHR all-in-one.

SimplePractice Website Builder – Our Final Verdict

SimplePractice Website Builder offers great bang for your buck. With a base cost of $69 monthly, you’ll gain access to SimplePractice Website Builder, plus, as we mentioned in our SimplePractice review, one of the best EHR systems available today. If you’re in need of both an EHR and a website or are already a SimplePractice user, then this website builder is a great choice.

However, if you aren’t in the market for an EHR system, or need more exotic features not common to therapists, you may be better served by other options.

You should consider signing up for SimplePractice Website Builder if you:

• Already use SimplePractice for your EHR
• You want a solution with a bundled EHR
• Want a website builder that’s easy to implement

You should consider looking for an alternative to SimplePractice Website Builder if you:

• Don’t want to use SimplePractice’s EHR. A better alternative may be Brighter Vision. You can read our Brighter Vision review for more information.
• You need features not common to therapists. A better alternative may be Wix. You can read our Wix review for more information.
• You want a larger breadth of customization options. A better alternative may be Wix.

FAQs for SimplePractice Website Builder

Is SimplePractice Website Builder HIPAA-Compliant?

Yes. SimplePractice Website Builder was built from the ground up to be HIPAA-compliant and is HITRUST CSF Certified.

Is SimplePractice Website Builder Free to Use?

No, SimplePractice Website Builder is not free to use and does not offer a free pricing option. It can only be used with a paid subscription to SimplePractice EHR.

What Type of Service Is SimplePractice Website Builder?

SimplePractice Website Builder is a self-service website builder that allows you to create a website for your practice that is directly integrated with the SimplePractice EHR.

How Easy Is it to Get Set Up with SimplePractice Website Builder?

SimplePractice Website Builder is very easy to get started with. If you already have an account with SimplePractice, simply navigate into the settings menu to get started building your website. If you are a new customer, you can head over to the SimplePractice website to get your free trial started.

What Security and Safety Features Does SimplePractice Website Builder Offer?

SimplePractice Website Builder is fully HIPAA-compliant and HITRUST CSF Certified. This ensures that visitors to your website will be entirely protected and their personal information is not at risk.

Does SimplePractice Website Builder Offer Help and Support?

All support for SimplePractice Website Builder is handled through the general SimplePractice support site. It has technical support, but no support for helping you design your website.

Does SimplePractice Website Builder Have E-Commerce Features?

No. SimplePractice Website Builder does not offer e-commerce features.

Additional Website Builder FAQs

What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting, in layperson’s terms, is the process of making your website’s data available and accessible to the internet. Web hosting companies provide the storage needed on a physical server, which you would then rent to store your website’s data.¹

What is a Domain Name?

Domain names are human-readable addresses for any given web server accessible on the internet.² This address corresponds to a computer’s IP address which your web browser will use to access the page you’d like to view. Domain names are a way to make these IP addresses easier to read for humans.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. It is the process of optimizing a website to be more visible on the results page of a search engine like Google or DuckDuckGo.³