OT Private Practice Website Checklist: What Parents & Referrers Look For
Your site has one job: survive the 90-second Google a parent or pediatrician does before they reach out. Here's what they check, in order.
Most of your OT clients don't discover you from cold search. They come from a pediatrician, another therapist, a school OT, or a parent in a Facebook group. Someone says your name. Then — before they email — they Google you.
That is the moment your website exists for. Not "brand building." One vetting pass.
The short answer: pass the 90-second test with a real photo, OTR/L + NBCOT credentials, city, specialties (sensory, feeding, hand, pediatric), honest insurance/self-pay info, and one obvious contact path. Everything else is optional.
1. "Is this a real professional?"
- A real photo of you — not stock hands in blue scrub light.
- Full name matching the referral.
- Credentials in one line: OTR/L, NBCOT, state license.
- City / service area (and telehealth states if relevant).
- A domain of your own, not a free builder subdomain with ads.
2. "Do you treat what my child (or I) need?"
- Specialties in plain language: sensory processing, feeding, fine motor, handwriting, hand therapy, ADLs, telehealth.
- Ages or populations served.
- In-clinic, home, school consult, or telehealth — where?
- Whether you're taking new clients (or waitlist).
Parents pattern-match fast. "Sensory vs feeding" is a real question — answer it on the page so they don't have to call to find out you only do one.
3. "What about insurance and cost?"
- Panels you accept, or clear out-of-network / self-pay stance.
- Rate range or evaluation fee if cash-pay.
- Sliding scale or superbills if you offer them.
Hiding fees loses both the price-sensitive parent and the one ready to pay. Publish what you can.
4. "Can I reach you in one step?"
- One primary contact method above the fold.
- Form with few fields — no PHI, no full clinical history on the website.
- Stated response time.
- Route clinical intake to SimplePractice / Jane / IntakeQ — keep the site as the front door.
5. Trust extras (nice, not mandatory)
- Approach in plain words (how you actually work with kids or adults).
- Policies: cancellation, waitlist, telehealth tech needs.
- One verifiable external link (LinkedIn, state license lookup, NBCOT).
What to skip
- An abandoned "blog" tab with one post from launch week.
- Client testimonials if your board or setting restricts them — credentials and clarity do the job.
- Booking mazes before a first human reply.
This checklist is what we build for OTs.
Five to eight pages, insurance and specialties clear, light-touch form, no PHI on the site. $59/mo, month-to-month.
See the OT offer →