What a Physical Therapy Website Needs

The facts quoted here come from primary sources: the American Physical Therapy Association's direct access page, Google's Guidelines for representing your business on Google, its Maps policy on prohibited and restricted content, Google Search Central's local business structured data page and the schema.org Physiotherapy and PhysicalTherapy terms, all checked on 13 November 2026. The rest is our view from building websites for service businesses.

The short answer

Put the phone number, address, hours and a "Book an evaluation" button at the top of every page. Then add a page for each main condition or service, a page explaining whether patients need a referral, a new-patient page with forms, an insurance page, a therapists page and clear contact details for each clinic.

Who visits and what they need

• People with a new injury or ongoing pain want to know if you treat their problem, whether they can come without a doctor's note, what it costs and how soon they can start.
• Patients after surgery usually arrive with a referral and a start date. They want to know you work with their surgeon's protocol, where to park, and whether the building is easy to reach on crutches or with a walker.
• Referring doctors and their staff want a fax or referral number, what to send, and how you report progress back. A short "For referring providers" page covers this.

Conditions and services pages

Give each main condition or service its own page: back and neck pain, sports injuries, post-surgical rehab, balance and falls, and any specialty you really offer, such as pelvic health or vestibular therapy. Each page says who it is for, what the first visit looks like and how to book. Use the words patients search for, with the clinical term once in brackets.

Our view: describe what you do, not outcomes. Avoid "pain-free in 6 visits", "cure" or "guaranteed", since recovery differs from patient to patient. Have a licensed therapist review each page and show a "last reviewed" date.

Direct access and referrals

"Do I need a referral?" is one of the first questions new patients ask, so answer it on its own page and link it from the menu. The American Physical Therapy Association says that "As of July 1, 2025, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have either provisional or unrestricted direct access to physical therapist services for evaluation and treatment." It adds that "some provisions tied to treatment absent a referral still persist in a number of states".

So the rules depend on your state, and insurance plans can require a referral even when state law does not. Our view: write the page for your own state with your therapists, say plainly when a referral is needed for your clinic, and tell patients to check their plan's rules before the first visit.

New-patient information and forms

A new-patient page answers what the front desk hears most: how long the first evaluation takes, what to wear, what to bring (ID, insurance card, referral or surgery notes, medication list), how early to arrive, and the cancellation policy. Offer intake forms online so patients can fill them in before the visit; our website forms guide covers keeping them short. Health information on forms needs care; the website side of that is in the dental website guide's privacy section.

Booking

Let new patients book or request a first evaluation online, and let existing patients see and change follow-up visits. Our view: if your schedule depends on the referral or the insurance check, use a request form with a call back the same day rather than open booking. Our online booking guide covers choosing a tool and what to ask for.

Insurance and payment

List the plans you accept on one page with the date you last checked the list, and ask patients to confirm their physical therapy coverage, visit limits and referral rules with their plan. Explain self-pay rates or packages in plain words if you offer them. Our view: give one person the job of keeping this page current.

The therapists page

Patients often choose a therapist. Give each physical therapist and physical therapist assistant a short profile: photo, degree, licences and specialist certifications exactly as held, areas of interest, languages, and which clinics and days they work. Our view: link each profile to booking with that therapist and update it the week someone leaves.

Home exercise content

Our view: short articles or videos on general topics (setting up a desk, warming up before a run, what to expect after a knee replacement) help people find you and give patients something to come back to. Keep them general, show a therapist's name on each, and add a line that they are not a substitute for an evaluation. Exercises prescribed to one patient belong in your exercise program software or patient handouts, not on public pages. Our video on websites guide covers hosting and page speed.

Reviews and Google Business Profile

Google has rules for individual practitioners, a group it describes this way: "Doctors, dentists, lawyers, financial planners, and insurance or real estate agents are all individual practitioners." Where several therapists work at one clinic, "The organization should create a Business Profile for this location, separate from that of the practitioner." Google also says "A practitioner shouldn't have multiple Business Profiles to cover all of their specializations." Our Google Business Profile guide covers setup.

Ask patients for a review at discharge, with a direct link. Google's Maps policy does not allow businesses to "selectively solicit positive reviews from customers" or to offer incentives "such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services" in exchange for reviews. Our reviews guide covers replying. Our view: never confirm in a public reply that the reviewer is a patient.

Local search and schema

• Use the same clinic name, address and phone number on every page as on your Business Profile, and give each clinic its own page with parking and accessibility notes.
• Put your town and service in the home page title, such as "Physical Therapy in [Town]".
• Add structured data. Schema.org's PhysicalTherapy is not a business type: it sits under MedicalProcedure and means "A process of progressive physical care and rehabilitation aimed at improving a health condition." The business type is Physiotherapy, listed under LocalBusiness > MedicalBusiness and defined as "The practice of treatment of disease, injury, or deformity by physical methods such as massage, heat treatment, and exercise rather than by drugs or surgery." Google asks for "the most specific LocalBusiness sub-type possible". Our view: mark the clinic up as Physiotherapy and check the result in the Rich Results Test. Our local business schema guide shows the rest, including opening hours.

Other healthcare practices follow a similar pattern: see the medical practice website and chiropractor website guides. When you want a physical therapy site built along these lines, see our website development service.

Frequently asked questions

What pages should a physical therapy website have?

A home page with phone, address, hours and booking; a page per main condition or service; a "Do I need a referral?" page; a new-patient page with forms; an insurance page; a therapists page; and a page per clinic location.

Can patients see a physical therapist without a referral?

Every US state allows some direct access to physical therapists, but the limits differ by state and insurance plans may still require a referral. State your clinic's rules on the website and ask patients to check with their plan.