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Is Your Website an Asset or a Liability? Audit Your Website with Our Free Diagnostic Website Quiz
- Shayah Reed, Founder
- Jan 16
- 6 min read
For many potential clients, your website is the very first place where trust is either built or lost. That’s right… it’s not when they call or when they book or have their first appointment!
It is actually so much earlier in the process, when they’re quietly researching, comparing options, and deciding whether reaching out feels aligned and safe.
In a world where most people begin their care journey online, your website is a decision-making tool. And whether you realize it or not, it’s constantly influencing who contacts you, who hesitates, and who moves on.
This means your website is either an asset or a liability. There’s very little in between.
Why First Impressions Online Matter More Than Ever
People don’t browse websites the way they used to. They scan and skim. They also make quick judgments, usually within milliseconds.
This is especially true in health and wellness, where potential clients may already feel unsure, stressed, anxious, vulnerable, or overwhelmed. They’re looking for signals of trust and professionalism right away.
Your website’s first impression answers questions like:
Do you seem credible and established?
Is it clear who you help?
Does this feel calm and safe, or confusing and stressful?
Can I easily figure out what to do next?
If the answers aren’t obvious, a lot of people won’t take the time to dig deeper. They’ll just leave, not because your services aren’t right for them, but because your website didn’t help them feel confident or secure enough to continue.
Your Website Is Always Working, Even When You’re Not
Your website is one of the only parts of your practice that actually works for you 24/7. How nice! But what kind of work it’s doing depends on how well it’s designed and structured.
When your website functions as an asset, it:
Builds trust before you ever speak to a client
Reduces repetitive questions and emails
Supports steady, aligned inquiries
Reinforces your credibility and expertise
Makes booking feel easy and natural
When it functions as a liability, it:
Creates friction or confusion
Undermines trust, even if subtly
Attracts inquiries that aren’t a good fit
Leaves potential clients uncertain about next steps
Adds invisible barriers to growth
The challenge is that liability websites don’t always look “bad.” Many are quite nice - they’re clean, modern, and well-intentioned. But the issue is that they lack strategic clarity.
How Websites Quietly Become Liabilities
Most practice owners don’t set out to build a liability website. This sort of thing usually happens over time.
You add a new service, tweak your messaging, or write new content as things evolve, and eventually, the website becomes a patchwork of your practice's different phases.
Common patterns we see include:
Messaging that’s too broad to feel meaningful
Service pages that explain what you do, but not who it’s for
Navigation that reflects internal thinking instead of user needs
Calls to action that are unclear, buried, or inconsistent
A site that no longer reflects your current confidence or focus
None of these are failures! They are signs that your practice has grown (yay for you!) but that your website hasn’t caught up just yet.
Signs Your Website May Be Holding You Back
If your website were truly working as an asset, you’d likely feel supported by it and have aligned leads coming in.
If instead you’ve noticed things like these, it may be doing the opposite:
You get traffic, but very few inquiries
People contact you with basic questions already answered on your site
Clients say they weren’t sure whether you were the right fit
You feel hesitant or apologetic when sharing your website
You’ve outgrown the way your services are positioned
Your site doesn’t reflect the quality of care you provide
These are not cosmetic issues. They’re strategic signals worth paying attention to and signs that your website may not be supporting your practice.
Looking at Your Website Strategically (Not Emotionally)
Many people evaluate their business’s website based on how it looks and feels to them.
Things like:
“I don’t like the layout.” “It feels outdated.” “It doesn’t sound like me anymore.”
Those reactions are valid, but they don’t always point to the real issue.
A strategic website review looks at your site through your ideal client’s eyes (not yours!), asking questions like:
Is it immediately clear who this practice is for?
Does the language feel understandable and human?
Can someone easily find the information they need?
Is the next step obvious and reassuring?
How does this compare to other practices offering similar services?
This is where competitive analysis becomes helpful. When you step back and look at your website alongside others in your field, patterns (and gaps) become much easier to see.
Why Self-Assessing Your Website Is So Hard
Auditing your own website can be surprisingly difficult. It’s funny to say, but… you know too much!
You’re emotionally invested in your work, and you might fill in gaps automatically because you already understand your work so deeply. OR you might be trying to over explain.
That’s why many practice owners either avoid reviewing their site altogether or get stuck focusing on surface-level changes that don’t address the root problems.
What’s needed is a structured way to step back and assess your website objectively, without getting overwhelmed or pulled into a full redesign prematurely.
A Clear, Supportive Way to Audit Your Website
To help with this, we created a free Diagnostic Website Quiz designed specifically for therapists and health practitioners.
The quiz walks you through your website from a strategic perspective, helping you identify:
Whether your site is acting as an asset or a liability
Where clarity may be breaking down
Which areas are supporting bookings, and which aren’t
What deserves attention first (and what can wait)
It’s not a design critique! It’s a diagnostic tool meant to give you insight and actionable advice, not pressure or judgement.
What the Diagnostic Website Quiz Helps You See
Many people are surprised by what comes up when they take the quiz and find it super helpful.
It often reveals:
Messaging that feels clear internally but isn’t landing externally
Navigation choices that unintentionally create friction
Missed opportunities to build trust earlier in the journey
Calls to action that don’t match client readiness
You can take the quiz even if:
You’re not ready for a website project
You’re planning future updates
You simply want clarity before making decisions
Just as importantly, it often confirms what is working… so you’re not starting from scratch or assuming everything needs to change.
My team and I worked hard on putting this together and we're excited for you to test it out!
Your Website Doesn’t Need to Do Everything
A common misconception is that a good website has to include everything. But strong websites are really clean, clear, and focused.
They:
Speak clearly to the right audience
Reflect the values and tone of the practice
Reduce uncertainty and friction
Make the next step feel safe and simple
Your website doesn’t need to convince everyone. It just needs to support the people who are already looking for what you offer.
Turning Awareness Into Action
Understanding whether your website is an asset or a liability is a really important first first step.
From there, you can:
Make targeted improvements instead of broad changes
Prioritize what will have the biggest impact
Align your website with where your practice is now, not where it used to be
If you’ve had a sense that something isn’t quite working, trust that instinct. Listen to that intuition, then give yourself a clearer picture.
A thoughtful audit can change how you see your website and help ensure it’s truly supporting your work, rather than quietly holding it back.
Shayah Reed
Virtuwell Balance Founder
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