What a massage therapist's website needs so people book with you

Someone booking a massage is deciding whether to be undressed and alone in a room with a stranger. They ask four things, in this order.

1. Can I book, and will my plan pay?
2. Who is the therapist?
3. What happens, and will I be covered up?
4. What does it cost, and what if I cancel?

I read seven Vernon massage sites. Every one answers the first question. Only one shows a price.

1. Can I book, and will my plan pay?

All seven have a phone number and a way to book online. Six of the seven say they direct bill, and the seventh limits it to the RCMP and veterans. That's the baseline, so a site that skips either one loses people at the first step.

What's left is the questions people ask next:

• ICBC. Four of the seven say they take ICBC patients. A client hurt in a car accident looks for exactly this line.
• RCMP and veterans. Three of the seven bill them. Each group has its own benefits, and the line saves them a phone call.
• Session lengths. Four of the seven say whether they offer 30, 45, 60 or 90 minutes. A first booking is a guess without it, and the guess is what people avoid by phoning.

Put these three lines right under the Book button.

2. Who is the therapist?

This is the choice. Six of the seven give the therapist's name and training: a 3,000-hour program, a graduation year, "18 years". The seventh doesn't.

One more thing you can add: the college keeps a public registry where anyone can look up a licensed massage therapist by name, licence number or city. Say so on your site, and give your licence number. It takes you one line, and it answers the question a nervous client is too polite to ask.

The college is also moving every massage therapist to a new licence number this year, and everyone has to be on the new one by March 31, 2027. If your site shows your number, check that it matches what the registry shows today.

3. What happens, and will I be covered up?

Five of the seven have a "what to expect at your first visit" section, with a line like "Never been to a RMT?" Three go further and say the thing the client is actually worried about:

> You will be draped (covered). You only need to undress to what you are comfortable with.

Only three of seven say it. Say it in the first screen of that section, in your own words, before the paperwork and the parking.

While you're there, add the dull things that spare a rushed first visit:

• Paperwork. Three of the seven say there's a form before the appointment, and one has an online intake. Say whether it's to be done before the visit or when they arrive, and how long it takes.
• What you treat. Five of the seven list the kinds of massage or the problems they see, such as prenatal, neck and shoulder, or headaches. Describe what you do in plain words ("deep tissue for sore shoulders") and leave out claims that it relieves or treats anything. The college limits what an RMT can say in an advertisement.
• Where to park. Four of the seven give an address with parking details. Downtown, that's a real question. "Free 2-hour parking on 29th Street" is a better answer than the street number.

4. What does it cost, and what if I cancel?

This is the question almost nobody answers.

• Prices. One of the seven shows what a session costs, for each length. The other six make the client phone or open a booking tool to find out. A price is the first thing a person weighing two therapists compares, and the one who shows it is the one they can compare.
• Cancellation. Two of the seven state a policy. A late-cancel fee that nobody read is how a friendly client becomes an argument, so write it once, in a sentence: "24 hours' notice, or the session is charged."
• Gift certificates. Two of the seven sell them.
• Hours. Two of the seven give their hours, evenings and weekends included. People book around work, and "open until 8 on Thursdays" is the reason one therapist gets the booking.

The two answers nobody gives

Two answers that almost no Vernon massage site gives:

1. A price for each session length. One of the seven has it. Add yours and you're the second, and one small table answers the fourth question.
2. Whether you're taking new clients. None of the seven says so. A client who finds a booking page with no free slots can't tell if you're full or just not showing them. A line at the top ("Taking new clients this month" or "Booking about two weeks out") tells them whether to wait.

Either one takes a few minutes to add. Together they put you ahead of the other six on what a new client is trying hardest to find out.

Where this goes on your site

Hours, prices and "accepting new clients" belong at the top of the home page, not on a page the client has to find. The Book button sits next to them.

Want it done? Text me your business name at 778 808 5385. I'll look at your site and tell you what I'd change, and the rebuild is free. Here's a massage site I made up, so you can see what it looks like.

Written by Mackenzie Bowes in Vernon, BC. October 27, 2026.