Marceli Del Valle Counseling

A licensed psychologist with real expertise and no digital infrastructure to show for it.

Marceli had the credentials, the clinical experience, and a genuine ability to help couples in crisis — but her digital presence didn't reflect any of it. The challenge in this niche isn't traffic. It's trust. Couples searching for a therapist are in a vulnerable moment. A generic website doesn't close that gap. The brief required something most agencies won't touch: HIPAA-compliant infrastructure, a content strategy that respects patient confidentiality, and a conversion tool that earns trust before it asks for anything. We built all three — and then built the long-term authority system on top of it.

What We Built

• ✓ Squarespace/CSS hybrid site — HIPAA-compliant booking and disclosure infrastructure
• ✓ 20-question relationship self-assessment — research-backed, no email gate, pre-written profiles
• ✓ Disclaimer and liability framework built into the UX, not bolted on after
• ✓ Substack relationship column — fictional scenarios, real clinical insight, patient privacy intact
• ✓ Email list build via column — warm audience for future book launch
• ✓ Authority outreach strategy — podcast placements, press features, backlink targets
• ✓ Ongoing SEO retainer — local authority build, long-form content, citation management

20 questions. No email required. A client cited it as the reason they booked.

Most lead capture on therapy sites is a contact form. That's the wrong tool for this audience. Couples in distress don't fill out forms — they look for a reason to trust before they reach out. The self-assessment was built to be that reason. The mechanics are deliberately frictionless: 20 questions grounded in relational psychology frameworks, 4-5 minutes, no email required, no account, no commitment. The user gets a pre-written profile — one of several outputs based on their response patterns — with a clear, honest reflection of what their answers suggest about their relationship dynamics.

1. 1.
   Homepage card — zero friction entry

   "Something feels off. Name it." — 20 questions grounded in relational psychology. 4-5 min. No email required. The copy earns the click before asking for anything.

2. 2.
   Assessment intro — liability managed by design

   A note before you begin sets the frame precisely: reflective instrument, not diagnostic tool. "This assessment cannot tell you what to do. It can only offer a mirror." Protects Marceli professionally. Creates psychological safety for the user.

3. 3.
   20 questions — 4 to 5 minutes on-page

   Questions drawn from established relational psychology frameworks. Each answer contributes to a response profile. User stays engaged because the questions feel accurate — not generic.

4. 4.
   Result — pre-written profile + two CTAs

   One of several profiles delivered based on response pattern. Honest, specific, non-alarmist. Then two paths: Ready to talk → Free consultation with Marceli. Not ready → Read the relationship column on Substack.

SEO is the floor. The goal is making Marceli the expert couples therapist in San Antonio.

The website and quiz are infrastructure. The authority campaign is the long game. A Substack relationship column — written under Marceli's voice, grounded in clinical insight, never drawing on patient cases — serves three purposes simultaneously: it builds an email list, it creates a content asset for backlink outreach, and it positions her for podcast appearances, press features, and eventually a book. Every piece of that system compounds. A podcast appearance generates a backlink from a reputable domain. The book generates press coverage. Press coverage generates more backlinks. The quiz keeps people on the site and routes warm leads to a booking. None of it is SEO in isolation — it's a reputation architecture built to make her the default answer when someone in San Antonio searches for a couples therapist.

A client cited the quiz. That's direct attribution — rarer than any ranking metric.