The order of the search results changes frequently to give all of our therapists a chance at being spotted by as many potential new clients as possible.
Clients can also sort the search results based on what is most important to them, choosing from the default 'Suggested' order, or selecting one of the sort options below :
Availability (earliest to latest)
Cost (high to low, and low to high)
Location (closest to you)
Star Rating
Retention Rate
In deciding the order of the default 'Suggested' search results, our algorithms take into account many different factors including :
Accurate Availability : regularly updating your availability to ensure this is accurate means you can avoid cancelling or rearranging initial sessions booked by clients. Cancellations and rearrangements due to therapist unavailability (as well as unconfirmed sessions) will lead to the therapist's profile dropping down the search results as it is not a good experience for clients. This is reflected in the Smooth Schedule badge, which highlights therapists with good diary management who usually avoid cancellations and rearrangements.
Responding Promptly to New Client Bookings : therapists who usually respond to new client bookings promptly will have the Speedy Response badge added to their profile. Taking longer to confirm or respond to new client bookings can lead to stress and worry about whether their booking will be confirmed, which is why we boost therapists who usually respond promptly to new bookings as this is a better experience for new clients.
Ongoing Therapeutic Relationships : when the majority of a therapist's clients return for ongoing sessions, the See You Again badge will be added to their profile. This badge aims to highlight the therapists whose clients tend to engage in ongoing in-depth therapeutic work.
With all of the profile badges, these can sometimes drop off therapist's profiles, however, if you usually meet the requirements for the badges, the 'stats' behind the badges will still count towards your ranking in the search results, and the badges will be added back in due course. We have more information about why badges can drop off a therapist's profile here.
Retention Rate : therapists with an above-average number of clients returning for follow-up sessions will appear higher in the search results. We have information about how the retention rate is calculated here as this is slightly different from the See You Again badge noted above.
Star Ratings : therapists with higher star ratings will receive a boost in the search results. Clients can also sort the search results by highest rating, so the higher your star rating, the higher you will appear in those specific searches.
Session Days and Times : if you have sessions available throughout the week, we recommend offering all of your available slots. Most of our clients are looking to start sessions within 72 hours of booking (often sooner), so therapists with availability in the next 72 hours will appear slightly higher in the search results.
Clients can also search for therapists available at certain times of the day, or on specific days of the week, so if a client searches for a therapist with evening availability or sessions available on Saturday, the therapists matching those requirements will appear at the top of search results shown to that client.
In-Person Availability : while we do have a lot of clients seeking online sessions, we have seen a significant increase in demand for in-person sessions. It is also much easier to find a therapist's profile in the search results if in-person sessions are offered, as searches for specific locations lead clients to therapist profiles much more directly. As we have a lot of therapists offering online sessions, it can be harder to be seen in searches for this session type.
Short-Notice Sessions : as many of our clients are looking to start sessions as soon as possible, we offer the option to sort search results by who is next available. This means that offering short-notice sessions can be a good option to increase the number of new clients received.
We have an article here with more information about this option, however, please only select this option if you are sure you will be able to confirm bookings, as cancellations and rearrangements will be detrimental to your position in the search results.
Specialisms and Approaches : this is one of the most important sections of your therapist profile, as the specialisms and approaches you have selected will affect what client searches you appear in. We have more information about these sections here.
Newly approved therapists will also receive an extra boost to help them get started on the Platform. This is why it is important to make sure your Profile is the best it can be prior to your Profile being set live as this extra boost can only be applied once. It is also important to ensure your availability is fully accurate, as any cancellations, rearrangements or unconfirmed sessions will essentially wipe out that boost, meaning it would be harder for you to get started on the Platform moving forward.
As we do have a lot of great therapists on the Platform, the order of the search results will change frequently to ensure every therapist can spend some time appearing in the top few pages of the search results, as well as giving new therapists a chance to get started. We would also note that the order you see will likely differ from what clients see depending on how a client accesses the site, what filters they use, what sort options they select etc. as the choices selected vary greatly from person to person.
Please note that the quality of your profile and the content included is also important, and will always have a significant impact on whether clients choose to book an initial session with you. If for example, you appear at the top of the search results, but your profile contains little helpful info, several typos and a low-quality photo, it is unlikely you will receive new client bookings despite the higher position.
If you have been unavailable for a longer period of time, or if your profile has slipped down the search results, you can use the invite option to help 'boost' yourself, as this will help you to speed up the process of re-achieving the various measures noted above. Some therapists have had a lot of success using this as a temporary option to rebuild their 'stats' and regain momentum with new client bookings.