I recently found out that Brighter Vision has started to create their websites on their own proprietary platform instead of on WordPress. This also means that if your Brighter Vision website was created on WordPress, any switch to a different Brighter Vision template will require you to move your website to their new proprietary platform (and off of WordPress). Proprietary platforms can make creating a website easy, but there are big issues with them.  In this Episode: Why I Decided to Leave Brighter Vision  My Concerns with Proprietary Platforms  Meet Beam Local!  Why I Decided to Leave Brighter Vision  Recently, I wanted to change the template of my Brighter Vision WordPress website. I hadn't made any significant changes in years and was excited to modernize my website. However, I found out that they had started to create their websites on their own proprietary platform instead of on WordPress.  What this meant was that if the Brighter Vision website was created on WordPress, any switch to a different Brighter Vision template would require moving the website to their new platform, and therefore off of WordPress. My Concerns with Proprietary Platforms  If your private practice grows and you want to add design features to your website, you will be limited on what you can do with your website. If you decide that you want to cancel your subscription, you will lose your website and SEO (you can potentially redirect SEO to a new website but some SEO will inevitably be lost in this process). In general, it's better to keep the same website for SEO if possible. This is because your website has already established authority and backlinks, and it's easier to maintain your existing rankings and traffic than to start from scratch with a new website. So, using a proprietary platform may be fine for your needs in the first couple of months or years of private practice. But as your business grows it may become too restrictive with how you want your website to look and function. And by that time, you will have built up a lot of SEO that will not all transfer if you leave PLUS your website will be deleted. This can put you in a very difficult situation! However, with WordPress websites, it is easy to transfer websites AND SEO (because it is open sourced and not built on a proprietary platform). Plus, you have unlimited options for designs on WordPress! But building a WordPress website on your own can be tedious and/or expensive if you hire a design company. Meet Beam Local!  I am SOOOOOOO excited to introduce Beam Local! The company who has built and hosted my Fearless Practice website since 2018.  This Toronto based, Canadian company is awesome because they build professional WordPress websites for counsellors, maintain the website, and provide unlimited support. Plus, if you ever decide to leave, you have the option to keep your website and SEO! For my Fearless Practice podcast listeners, instead of the standard $2995 CAD setup fee, I've worked out an AMAZING deal where you'll only have to pay a $135 CAD setup fee and then $79 CAD per month (plus tax). With this deal, you'll get:  Selection of modern WordPress templates to choose from. Beam Local will customize the site with your content, colors, and logo. 10 Website Pages 2 rounds of revisions Full-featured blog Unlimited blog posts SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Level 1 Keyword planning for therapists and counsellors Premium stock photography Social integrations 1 free business email address You can go to Beam Local to start your website journey! Connect with me: Instagram Website  Resources Mentioned and Useful Links:  Ep 73: Rawda Tomoum: Building a Private Practice from Online to In-Person | EP 73  Learn more about the tools and deals that I love and use for my Canadian private practice Article: How to Set Up a Canadian Private Practice Website   Listen to my Canadian private practice journey up until now!  Sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice Jane App (use code FEARLESS for one month free)

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