Building Trust on Your Website: Images, Testimonials, & More [Alumni Check-In Session #5] (Episode 71)
In this fifth alumni check-in episode of Marketing Therapy, Anna answers two thoughtful questions from Confident Copy alumni about the “other” elements of a therapy website — the things beyond the copy itself that still deeply influence connection, trust, and conversion. From colleague endorsements to website imagery, this episode explores how therapists can make intentional choices that support both credibility and emotional resonance online.
Anna breaks down how to ethically and strategically use colleague testimonials, where to place them for maximum impact, and why Google Business Profile matters more than ever for visibility in both Google and AI search results. She also shares a grounded framework for choosing website imagery that helps clients envision hope, healing, and transformation — instead of reinforcing the pain they’re already carrying.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
1️⃣ How to use colleague endorsements on your website in a way that builds trust and credibility
2️⃣ Why Google Business Profile reviews matter more than website testimonials for SEO and AI visibility
3️⃣ How to choose website imagery that emotionally connects with ideal clients
4️⃣ The difference between traditional stock imagery and environmental imagery — and when to use each
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Hi there. Welcome back to Marketing Therapy episode 72. This is our fifth alumni check-in. So if you're new around here, our alumni check-in sessions are designed in the same way that you might have a check-in session with a client after they discharge. It's a way for our Confident Copy alumni, so anyone that has graduated our Confident Copy program to ask follow-up questions.
So after they've graduated, after they've perhaps written their copy and gotten their website out there, other things that they're thinking about in their marketing. And what I would recommend to them. So this is exactly what I would say to these clinicians if we were sitting down together one-on-one and you just get to listen in.
We've heard from many of you that these have been incredibly useful, both our Confident Copy alumni and those who have never joined. So I hope that this one is helpful. Today we're talking about the other stuff you put on your website. I've got two questions, one from Becky Wilson and another from Noor, and both are wondering about the kind of non copy things that you put on your website.
So Confident Copy of course, is all about helping you identify your niche and then write really, really compelling optimized client friendly copy for every page of your website. So your homepage, your about page, your specialties, your fees, your methods, whatever that might be. Well, these questions are about, okay, the other stuff.
So Becky's is about colleague endorsements, right? Testimonials from colleagues, and then Noor's question is about imagery. So I'm excited about both of these. And like I said, the through line here is the non copy things that get added to your site.
What do we do with that stuff to make our sites work even better? And how do we make sure that they're doing their job? So our first question is from Becky Wilson. And Becky asked, do you recommend including colleague endorsements or testimonials on your website? And if so, what would you ask colleagues to include?
Where would you place them? You know, should you spread 'em out across various pages? Should you put him on your about page, a completely separate page. What to do with them now to give you some context, Becky shared that I'm trying to attract self-pay clients by building trust, authority, and credibility.
Dang, straight. I love that. Yes, you are Becky, and you're doing great job. She said as therapists, we're also unable to request reviews from clients, right. But I want them to understand what it might be like to work with me through my C Colleague relationships. I've also been learning that AI is changing the marketing game and wonder if this could help to show up in AI searches.
Clients have been funneling to my website through Psych today, but I'd also like them to be able to find me more through Google. Okay. Excellent. So, Becky, lots of good things happening in this question. You are doing a fantastic job thinking about this. You're thinking about it in the right way. I love that you are being mindful of AI and Google because.
We're not asking clients for reviews of your work. If you were a traditional service provider, those would be included on your website. We call that social proof, and it's incredibly valuable because people get to hear from people who actually know you, right? That's why testimonials are so, so, so valuable.
In therapy, it's different because that's not an option. So colleague endorsements are a great way to still get a little bit of that feel while staying within all of the necessary ethical boundaries and guidelines. Now I love colleague endorsements. I think they are a really nice addition, and I do think that they're in general underused. I think that's something that anyone who has good, solid professional relationships should be leveraging. But one thing that I would just straight up not recommend based on your question here, is having a separate page for them.
If I'm an interested client coming to you, Becky, for, you know, OCD. I'm not going to click over to your endorsements page and scroll through a list of what therapists have to say to you. These are gonna be a lot more valuable in context, right? So not just like a trophy wall of all of you know these compliments of Becky, but instead some insight into how you work as it relates to your specific specialty.
Now. This is not going to surprise anyone. That generic is not going to help you here. Becky's a wonderful therapist with a warm presence in the room. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Not gonna do much for you, Kay. So specificity really is the name of the game. You want an endorsement to actually do some work for you.
So when requesting an endorsement from someone, I recommend that you ask them to name your specialty or specialties what they know about how you work what you specialize in, what your modalities are. That could be a population you serve. Like encourage them to be specific about what they know about you.
They might not understand the full scope of your practice. That's okay. Maybe they know you as an ICBT therapist. Great. Have them mention that. Okay, so instead of. You know, Anna is a really, like I said, wonderful therapist with a warm presence in the room. Like something that would really pull some weight would be something like, I trust Anna specifically with high conflict couples.
She navigates that dynamic with real skill, and I've seen couples experience incredible growth as a result of working with her. Okay, so the high conflict couples, or Anna is one of the most skilled EMDR clinicians I know. I've seen clients experience real relief from trauma and phobias through their work together.
So again, what you treated, how you did it. So encourage specificity here. Essentially, you want the colleague to write some niche relevant copy for you. That also happens to be credible because it's not coming from you. Okay, so that's my suggestion there. When it comes to what to ask a colleague to include.
Now when it comes to placement, this can definitely be added to your website. Like I mentioned, I don't suggest a dedicated page and instead I suggest that they be placed into context. So specialty or methods specific endorsements should go on those pages of your website. So the EMDR endorsement should go on your EMDR page or the high conflict couples endorsement should go on your high conflict couples therapy page.
Because that's where they're going to be landing with the most relevance. If you have something that's a bit more general, then I would place them toward the bottom of your homepage or about page and you can repeat them. You could have, you know, one endorsement on your homepage and have it reflected again on your EMDR page.
But we don't want them to be a hundred percent identical page to page. 'cause then it can sort of start to feel a little bit suspect. So we're talking about sprinkling these thoughtfully throughout the website, not dumping them in one specific place. Okay. Now, like I mentioned, this is good to use on your website, but when it comes to Google and ai, there's another mechanism at play here.
So while putting these on your website is a great move, and there's literally no downside to that. It's not likely to really enhance your Google or AI findability. What's going to be most helpful here is Google Business Profile. I've said it before, I'll say it again. If you are an in-person therapist, you need to run over to Google Business Profile, create it and optimize it right now.
Literally one of the lowest hanging fruits available to you in your marketing. And one of the defining factors about whether or not you are surfaced in Google and AI results right now, Google Business profile at this moment reign Supreme in a lot of ways. Okay? So the most powerful way to leverage endorsements would be for those endorsements to be added as reviews to your Google business profile, rather than placing their words on your site.
And you could also do that when it comes to ranking on Google. Those Google business profile reviews are what are going to pull the most weight for you? They're third party verified, and Google's gonna trust that a lot more than onsite content. They're still gonna treat what you write on your own site as your own content.
Whereas if it is submitted as a review, that is treated differently. So that can impact your local search rankings. That can impact your ability to show up in organic results, star ratings, snippets, things like that.
On the AI side of things, like I said, AI is still looking at Google business profile, so that would be the, definitely the leading. Suggestion here. The onsite endorsements could still potentially contribute, but only if they're very, very specific. Because we know that AI tools are reading for, as you mentioned, authority and credibility.
Expertise. And so a colleague naming your method, your population definitely does add indexable specific content that is signaling that expertise. But it's not like it's gonna launch you to the top of the chances for being surfaced in those results. This is where those generic endorsements about having a warm presence or being a good therapist aren't gonna do anything for you.
Right? AI tools aren't impressed by you being a wonderful therapist nearly as much as they are by you being a very skilled EMDR clinician specializing in phobias. Okay? So to round out this question, Becky. Quality endorsements really great if they are specific, if they are sprinkled throughout your website thoughtfully and in context, and especially if they are placed primarily through Google Business profile as opposed to just being copied that you put on your website.
That's what I would recommend here. Now, if you're asking for a review, I encourage you not to overthink that ask. Right. Colleagues want to support one another. You should have an established relationship with this person. And a lot of people don't even realize it's an option. So give them a little bit of guidance on the specificity.
Request it in good faith, let it be. And then of course, if you know how they are clinically, perhaps you can do the same for them. But keep that easy. Don't put a lot of pressure on that. All right, Becky, I hope that was helpful for you and those listening. ' because I'm seeing more and more clinicians you know, really thinking about this idea of colleague endorsements.
So some good practical steps there. Now let's shift over to Noor's question, and this is all about imagery. So Noor said. I'm wondering if you could talk more about the feel of our website pictures, should they convey how the client is currently feeling, or how they want to feel. Such a good question, Noor and I have a great answer for you.
She shared that she's been updating her specialty page pictures and wanna make sure she's not turning clients away because the, the pictures are too depressing. Now, my fundamental recommendation when it comes to choosing imagery for your website is that almost universally this imagery should communicate to clients where they want to go, not remind them of the pain that they're already living in.
I kind of giggle at the example of, you know, landing on an anxiety page and there being a picture of a woman with her head in her hands or like pulling her hair out, or a depression page and it's someone staring at a rainy window with like their hand on the window. You know what I'm talking about? Like those really kind of cringey stock photos.
That's what we're avoiding here. When I land on your website, I want to be able to see myself in the imagery as an element of vision casting. I want to feel that way. Now there is a time and a place to consider imagery that implies more of where they find themselves right now. But the overarching theme in the imagery that you choose should be positive.
Your client is already on your site feeling that way, right? We're gonna use the words to empathize and to prove our understanding of what's going on. The images don't need to necessarily depict that struggle back to them in that way. So instead, show them what's possible through your work together.
Not remind them of where they are today. I want them to look at your images and think that's what I want for my life. Not, oh yeah, that's what I did yesterday. You know, so my thought for you here, Noor, is that if you feel like your images are too depressing, they're probably too depressing. And I would encourage you to look at those. There are two things to sort of diagnose this one, is it the subject of the image itself? Like that staring at a rainy window? Okay. Or is it just kind of the composition or the aesthetic?
Could it be a little bit lighter? Could it be brighter in terms of color? You know, could it be brightened up? Composition wise without changing the subject entirely. So those are sort of the two things to look at. Like I said, we're all trying to stay away from those really standard cringey stock photos these days.
We want things that feel a little bit more natural, and sometimes it's just a matter of finding an image that feels more positive or light or hopeful, and the actual subject doesn't need to change. The other thing that I will throw in here is that not every image on your website needs to be of people when we are kicking off with a done for you client in a design project.
So sometimes we'll work with a confident copy student to build and design their website. Other times, you know, we'll, we'll write the copy for them, whatever it might be. But when we're kicking off the design portion. One of the questions we always ask them is, what types of stock imagery feel good for you?
One is the more traditional stock imagery that includes people. So that would be, you know, a couple walking on the beach or that woman with the hand on the window or someone writing in their journal. Okay? Those are examples of traditional stock imagery that include human subjects, but then there's a whole other category of what we call environmental stock imagery.
This communicates environment. This could be. A coffee cup. This could be a desk, this could be a couch, this could be a sunrise, right? This is communicating environment. Sometimes environmental imagery is way more powerful than traditional imagery, so don't feel like every single image you choose on your website has to include people.
In fact, we have clients who said, I don't want any people on my website, and so we choose all environmental, and it still ends up communicating the vibe that we want. So don't feel like you are bound only to people imagery, but instead consider environmental imagery because sometimes that can be a great option as well.
Whatever you choose. Noor, I wanna acknowledge how wise it is that you are asking this. Because most people don't stop to evaluate it. Most people don't stop to think about how impactful the images that they're choosing are when it comes to what people experience on the website. Because we know that design is subconscious.
We know that visuals, right pictures are worth a thousand words. These are powerful and we need to be thoughtful about them. We need to be thinking about what it's invoking, how it aligns with your brand, what the aesthetic is. And so I wanna commend you for stopping and considering this. And now, like I said, if.
If your gut is saying it's too depressing, maybe we need to revisit that. Alright, that's our check-in session for this month. And like I said, the through line here is that everything on your site is sending a signal. So yes, your copy is the driving force there, but the other stuff you add or don't add, also pull some weight for you.
They're also saying something or not saying something, and we need to be thoughtful about what that is, whether that's an endorsement, an image, or the absence of one of those. Okay? We've gotta be thoughtful. So the question to ask yourself is, is the signal that this is giving off helping someone take the next step, providing context, or
is it neutral at best, or is it potentially hindering that decision making?
That's it for this month's check-in session. If you are a Confident Copy alumni and you are listening, please do reach out to us. If you don't yet have the link for submitting your questions, I love them. I love seeing them come through, and I'd love to get to answer one of your questions. If you are interested in jumping into Confident copy, of course that is open year round, and you can enroll anytime walker strategy co.com/confident-copy.
Whatever you do. I hope this one was helpful and I'll see you for next month's check-in session. Have a good one.
Resources & Links Mentioned:
Confident Copy: https://walkerstrategyco.com/cc
Done-for-you services: https://walkerstrategyco.com/services
The Walker Strategy Co website: https://walkerstrategyco.com
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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—marketing coach, 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.
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