Professional Sports Physio

The Story

Connor and I have been friends since university. We actually met at a climbing wall—we’re both into bouldering. At the time, he was studying to become a physiotherapist and I was doing electrical engineering. Completely different paths, but we connected over climbing and stayed close.

We’re best friends now. I was at his wedding recently. We talk every day. So when I saw his website situation, I wasn’t thinking like a client. I was a mate looking out for another mate.

Where He Started

Connor worked as an NHS physiotherapist at Band 8—the consultant level, basically as senior as it gets in physiotherapy. He was good at his job. But he wanted to branch out into private practice, specifically sports physiotherapy.

He’d already built a reputation working with local basketball teams and combat sports athletes. That experience inspired him to go full-time private. He quit the NHS and needed a website to attract clients beyond word-of-mouth referrals.

So he searched online and responded to a Facebook ad. A company offered to build him a WordPress site for £2,000, advertised as cheaper than usual because a junior developer would build it.

They took the money, built something, launched it, and vanished.

The Pump and Dump

The forms didn’t work. They were connected to some email address Connor had never seen and couldn’t access. He had no login details, no handoff instructions, no explanation of how anything worked.

WordPress is confusing enough for someone technical. For Connor—brilliant physio, zero tech background—it was completely alien. He’d paid a premium price for something he couldn’t use.

It just sat there. A £2,000 dead weight.

The Turning Point

I didn’t wait for Connor to ask. I saw what was happening and told him it didn’t make sense. He was paying for something that wasn’t paying him back.

My first thought was to fix the WordPress site. But when I looked under the hood—the plugins, the messy template, the whole approach—I told him it would be easier to start fresh.

Connor didn’t have another £2,000-4,000 to fork out, and I knew that. So I put him on my monthly retainer instead of asking for payment upfront. £150/month (now £250) for a site that would be ready in weeks, including hosting.

He wasn’t sceptical at all. He was relieved. He knew the previous solution didn’t work but hadn’t known who to ask or how to fix it. He trusted me completely—we’re best friends, after all.

What We Built

The Site Evolution

Like a lot of my projects, we iterated. We started on System.io to get something live quickly, then built a proper custom-coded solution with Astro.

The core pages are straightforward: homepage, about, contact, services, and individual service detail pages. Clear information that gets people to book.

Healthcare-Specific Requirements

Physio websites have unique needs. Medical credibility matters. We made sure his NHS Band 8 qualification was visible. His work with professional athletes is right there on the homepage.

The blog posts are different from other sites I work on. Every claim needs a reference. We cite medical journals so the content holds up to scrutiny and ranks well.

Xanda Booking Integration

Connor uses Xanda, a booking platform specifically designed for physiotherapists. It handles GDPR-compliant patient intake forms, appointment scheduling, and deposits. Patients need to provide certain information before their first session, and Xanda handles all of that.

We integrated the booking flow directly into the site. No more back-and-forth DMs. Patients find him, see his credentials, and book directly.

Google Business Profile

Connor invited me as a manager on his Google Business Profile, same arrangement as my other clients. I monitor reviews, pull them into the site so they stay current, and keep the profile optimised.

The Results

#1 in Three Weeks

Connor saw his site appear on the first page of Google within about two and a half to three weeks. Not months—weeks.

Why so fast? He went after a specific niche. Combat sports and professional team physio. Most of his competition was older sites with high domain authority but outdated table-based designs. His site was faster and easier to use.

And he was targeting local—Cheshire and Liverpool. “Cheshire physio,” “MMA physio,” “combat sports physio.” There aren’t many quality sites competing for those exact terms.

A faster site with better UX and focused SEO just climbed straight past them.

The Numbers

We don’t have exact baseline figures—he wasn’t tracking before because there was nothing to track. But the increase has been roughly 300% more enquiries. He went from not being found at all to being the top result.

Now 60% of his new patients come through Google. The rest are still referrals, but they’re supplementary rather than his only source.

The Clients

The credibility speaks for itself:

• Paddy Pimblett - The Liverpool UFC fighter
• Cheshire Phoenix - The professional basketball team. Connor travels with them to games in Spain and Portugal as their physio
• Multiple MMA athletes and combat sports professionals

Working with athletes at that level builds reputation. More reputation brings more referrals. More referrals bring more website traffic. It feeds itself.

Why This Worked

Keeping things simple was the key. Connor’s site doesn’t try to do too much. It says the right things clearly and makes booking easy.

The flow from homepage to booking is the main strength. Visitors land, see his credentials and notable clients, understand what he offers, and can book immediately. No friction.

The blog posts help with SEO, but they also build trust. When someone’s researching a sports injury and finds well-cited medical content, it’s clear Connor knows what he’s doing.

Beyond the Website

I’ve helped Connor with more than just the site:

• Marketing materials - Posters for when he worked from a climbing gym, signage for his home clinic
• Clinic plaque - The logo and branding for his garage-converted treatment room
• Platform selection - We tried several booking systems before landing on Xanda

This stuff isn’t really a formal service. I don’t package it separately—it’s not something I could productise for everyone. But for Connor, it’s just what mates do.

He’s helped me too—strength and conditioning guidance, injury prevention advice. We’ve supported each other’s businesses and lives for years.

What’s Next

We’re still working together. The site gets regular updates, I manage the Google Business Profile, and we publish blog content once or twice a month.

Connor’s starting a family soon. His practice is established. He doesn’t need to hustle for every patient. The website does its job, the referrals keep coming, and he can focus on being excellent at what he does.

That’s the goal, really. Build something that works so you can focus on your actual work.