A physiotherapy practice website: online booking and the ad ban

A patient with back pain usually doesn’t call right away. First they search on Google, read the website and check whether they can book on their own. A good physiotherapy practice website answers the questions “where, when, how much and how to book” before anyone reaches for the phone.

In this guide, I show what to put on the website, how to set up online booking and what not to write so that you don’t expose yourself to a charge of advertising medical services. Physiotherapy is close to medicine, so you need to know the advertising rules before you publish your first text.

What must be on a practice website

Start with the basics that a patient wants to see within 10 seconds:

• the practice name, address and a map with directions and where to park,
• a tap-to-call phone number and a booking button visible without scrolling,
• opening hours that match your Google Business Profile,
• a list of services with a short, factual description of each,
• a price list for paid services (usually mandatory under Art. 24(2) of the Medical Activity Act) and the length of a visit,
• who you are: first and last name, education, courses, a photo,
• accessibility information about the practice (stairs, elevator, restroom),
• your entry number in the register of entities performing medical activity (rejestr podmiotów wykonujących działalność leczniczą), if your practice is subject to registration,
• a privacy policy and company details in the footer.

You’ll find a detailed list of company details in the guide on what must be on a business website. Here I add only what is specific to a practice.

Services: describe, don’t promise

Each service has its own subpage, for example “Manual therapy”, “Therapeutic massage”, “Rehabilitation after injuries”. This helps Google understand what you do, and patients find their topic faster.

On a service subpage, write:

1. what the treatment involves and what a visit looks like,
2. how long it takes and how much it costs,
3. how to prepare (clothing, documents, a referral if needed),
4. when it’s worth coming in, in general terms, without promising results,
5. when the treatment is not advisable or requires a consultation with a doctor.

Write in your own words, and don’t copy descriptions from directories or other practices. Texts copied from other websites don’t help in search results and make people distrustful.

What not to write: the ban on advertising medical services

This is the most important part. Art. 14 of the ustawa o działalności leczniczej (Poland’s Medical Activity Act) allows information about the type and scope of services, but the content and form of that information must not have the features of advertising. The Act does not define advertising: the Supreme Medical Chamber (Naczelna Izba Lekarska) describes it as information combined with encouragement to use health services. The line is sometimes blurry and is interpreted differently in regulations and in the positions of professional self-governing bodies, so treat the following as cautious practice, not as a legal opinion.

It’s safer to inform than to encourage:

What to avoid in practice:

• promises of effectiveness and guarantees of a cure,
• comparisons with other practices and terms like “the best”,
• promotions, discounts and contests that encourage people to have a treatment,
• “before and after” photos and stories of specific patients,
• patient reviews about the effectiveness of treatment quoted on the website,
• time pressure along the lines of “last available slots”.

A price list, opening hours, a description of a treatment and qualifications are reliable information. Encouragement, pressure and promises of results are already a risk. If you have doubts about a specific sentence, ask a lawyer or the physiotherapists’ professional self-governing body. Don’t assume that something is allowed just because your competitors do it.

Online booking: how to set it up

More and more patients prefer to choose an appointment themselves, including in the evening. Good online booking looks like this:

1. the patient chooses the type of visit (e.g. a 45-minute consultation, a 60-minute therapy session),
2. they see available slots in real time, without manual arrangements,
3. they enter their name, phone and email, nothing more,
4. they get a confirmation by email and text message,
5. the day before the visit, they get a reminder with an option to cancel.

Text message reminders reduce the number of no-shows, because the patient knows how to change the appointment with one click. Connecting a gateway is a separate SMS API service, and I describe the full calendar with confirmations and a panel for the practice under the booking systems service.

If you’re considering a ready-made platform instead of your own system, calculate the annual costs and the dependence on an intermediary. I did a similar calculation for a hair salon in the guide Booksy or your own website.

The form and health data

Health data is special category data under Art. 9 GDPR (RODO in Polish). That’s why the booking form should collect only what is needed to book an appointment.

Collect:

• first and last name,
• phone,
• email,
• the chosen date and type of visit.

Don’t ask about:

• the diagnosis, course of the illness and medications taken,
• the PESEL number (Polish national ID number),
• test results in a text field.

If a patient wants to send a referral or test results, tell them to bring them to the visit. Don’t collect them through an ordinary form or ordinary email. Below the form, add a short information clause with a link to the privacy policy. When patients themselves ask for an appointment or contact, separate consent is usually not needed, because the data is used to fulfil their request. Protect the form against spam following the rules in the guide contact form without spam.

Google Maps and local SEO

Patients most often search for “fizjoterapeuta Giżycko” (physiotherapist Giżycko) or “rehabilitacja kręgosłupa blisko mnie” (spine rehabilitation near me). In that case, their first contact with the practice is your listing in Maps, not your website.

• choose a primary category that matches your work,
• fill in your hours, phone and address,
• add photos of the practice, the entrance and the reception,
• add a link to online booking in your profile, if Google offers this option in your profile,
• describe your services neutrally, following the rules from the previous section.

The same advertising restriction applies to your profile description and posts, so stick to an informative tone. I complete and manage Business Profiles, and you can check the state of yours in my free Business Profile audit.

Speed, mobile and accessibility

Most patients will open the website on a phone, often while in pain and short on patience. The website should load quickly and have large buttons and readable text. For a rehabilitation practice, accessibility also matters: contrast, text enlargement and keyboard navigation, because some of your patients are older or have disabilities.

Check your website for free with Check your website: in 30 seconds, you’ll get a score for speed, SEO, security and accessibility.

Checklist before publishing

• [ ] The phone number and booking button are visible without scrolling.
• [ ] The address, map and hours match your Google Business Profile.
• [ ] Every service has an informative description and a price.
• [ ] The texts contain no promises of results, comparisons or encouraging slogans.
• [ ] There are no “before and after” photos or patient stories.
• [ ] The form collects only the data needed to book an appointment.
• [ ] There is a privacy policy and a GDPR clause.
• [ ] Appointment confirmations and reminders work.
• [ ] The website loads quickly on a phone.

I write more about what you may say about medical services, how to show prices and what not to ask in a form in Medical practice website: what you are allowed to write.

Summary

A physiotherapy practice website should inform: who you are, what you do, how much it costs and how to book. Avoid an encouraging tone, promises of results and reviews about effectiveness, because the Medical Activity Act restricts the advertising of medical services. For booking, collect the minimum of data.

Want a website with an editing panel and online booking? Write to me, and you’ll get a quote within 24 hours. Also see the turnkey business website and the pricing.

Sources

• Ustawa o działalności leczniczej, tekst jednolity (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 156)
• Krajowa Izba Fizjoterapeutów: Zasady etyki zawodowej fizjoterapeuty (uchwała nr 25/II KZF/2022)
• UODO: Rejestracja na badania musi uwzględniać zasady ochrony danych (16.05.2025)
• Prawo komunikacji elektronicznej (Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1221)