What a physical therapist website needs: pages, words and photos

A physical therapy clinic website serves two audiences: patients deciding where to go, and the doctors, surgeons and coaches who send them. Patients want to know if you treat their problem, take their insurance, have a location near them and can see them soon. Referring offices want a fax number, a referral form and confidence that their patients will be looked after. A site that serves both, with real photos of your clinic and therapists, does more than a long list of conditions ever could.

Who visits a PT clinic website

The most common visitors are:

A patient with a referral in hand, often after surgery or an injury, choosing between clinics on a list.
A patient without a referral, wondering if they can come straight to you.
A family member booking for a parent after a fall or a hip replacement.
A referring office, looking for your fax number or referral form.
An athlete or active adult with a nagging injury.

Each looks for different things, but nearly all want the same first answers: what you treat, where you are, insurance, and how to get started.

The pages a clinic needs

Home. Clinic name, town or locations, and a line that says what you do: "Physical therapy for injuries, surgery recovery and balance, in three Tulsa locations." Then a "Request an appointment" button, a tap-to-call number and the insurance line patients look for: "Most major plans and Medicare accepted."

Conditions and services. What you treat and how. More below.

Our team. Each therapist with a photo, credentials and focus.

New patients. The first visit, what to bring and wear, insurance and direct access. The guide on referrals, insurance and first visits covers that page in depth.

Locations. One section per clinic: address, map, parking, hours, phone, photos of the entrance.

For physicians. Referral form, fax number, how you report back on progress.

Patient forms. Intake forms to fill in before the first visit.

Contact. Phone, request form, and the location list again.

Conditions and specialties: write for the patient

A list of fifty conditions in clinical terms does not help much. Group what you treat in the words patients use:

After surgery: knee and hip replacements, ACL repair, shoulder surgery, spine surgery.
Back and neck pain, including sciatica.
Sports and running injuries: sprains, tendon problems, shin splints.
Balance and falls, including dizziness and vertigo.
Work injuries and return-to-work programs.
Specialty care, if you offer it: pelvic health, pediatric therapy, vestibular rehab, hand therapy, concussion care.

For each group, write two or three lines: what a typical course of care looks like and who on your team leads it. Specialties deserve their own short page if you have trained therapists for them; patients searching for pelvic health or vestibular therapy often look specifically for clinics that name it.

Keep claims modest and accurate. Describe what you do and what patients commonly work toward, such as walking without a cane or getting back to golf, rather than promising results.

Your team, with real faces

Patients may spend many hours with their therapist over several weeks, so they care who it will be. For each therapist:

A clear, friendly photo in the clinic.
Name and credentials, such as PT, DPT, and any board certification or specialty training.
What they focus on: "Post-surgical knees and shoulders", "Pelvic health", "Runners and endurance athletes".
Which location they work at.
A sentence in their own words.

Include assistants and front desk staff if you like. The guide on team pages covers how to write about people without it feeling stiff.

Photos that show real care

Physical therapy is hands-on and active, and photos should show it:

A therapist working with a patient: guiding a knee bend, assisting with balance work, explaining an exercise. Use staff as models, or real patients with written permission.
Your gym floor and equipment, clean and well lit.
Treatment rooms or private areas, especially for specialties like pelvic health where privacy matters.
The entrance and parking for each location, so patients using a walker or crutches know what to expect.

Avoid stock photos of models doing yoga on a beach. Patients recovering from surgery want to see a clinic that looks like the one they will walk into.

A request path for patients and families

Many patients will call. Others prefer to send a request, especially family members booking for someone else. Offer both:

A tappable phone number at the top of every page, with hours.
A short request form: patient name, phone, email, preferred location, reason for visit, insurance, whether they have a referral, preferred days.
A clear line on what happens next: "We call within one business day to schedule and check your insurance."

If your form collects health information, use a tool suited to it and check with your compliance advisor about privacy rules for your clinic. The guide on contact forms that people actually fill in helps keep the form short.

A page for referring offices

Referrals keep many clinics busy, and the website is where office staff look for practical details. A small "For physicians" page should give:

Fax number and secure referral method.
A downloadable referral form.
Which specialties you offer and at which locations.
How and when you send progress notes back.
A direct contact person for referral questions.

Keep it short and factual. Office staff want the fax number, not a brochure.

What to leave out

Long clinical explanations of every condition.
Stock fitness photos that do not look like a clinic.
Out-of-date insurance lists.
Locations that have closed or moved.
Pop-ups that cover the request button on phones.

Your next steps

Group your conditions into patient-friendly categories with two lines each.
Collect photos and short bios for every therapist.
Photograph each location's entrance and parking.
Add or update the "For physicians" page with the fax number and form.
Check that the request form reaches the front desk and someone replies the same day.

If your clinic's current site is hard to use on a phone or out of date, you can see your site rebuilt first and decide after you have looked through it.