David Plotkin, Ph.D. and Associates
A WordPress-to-static rebuild for an LA cognitive behavioral therapy practice — taking the site from an abysmal 49 PageSpeed score and a long list of SEO and accessibility errors to a perfect 100 across all four Lighthouse categories.
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The Challenge
David Plotkin, Ph.D. and Associates — a cognitive behavioral therapy practice serving Westwood and Encino, Los Angeles since the 1990s — was running on a broken 2017 WordPress theme that no longer reflected the caliber of the practice. Google PageSpeed scored an abysmal 49 on mobile — unacceptable for a site that prospective clients in distress reach on their phones. The Lighthouse audit returned a long list of SEO and accessibility errors: missing meta descriptions, images without alt text, broken heading hierarchy, insufficient color contrast in multiple sections, links without descriptive text, and form inputs without associated labels. The site broke at smaller breakpoints, loaded slowly on mobile, and presented the conditions treated, the team of clinicians, and the two office locations through a generic template that could have belonged to any business. For a practice where the first impression of the website often shapes whether an anxious or depressed prospective client picks up the phone, the dated layout, weak call-to-action visibility, and aging design were a real obstacle. The phone numbers, license details, and practitioner bios were all there — buried in a layout that did not invite trust.
Our Solution
We rebuilt from scratch on Next.js with static export — no WordPress, no PHP, no database, no plugins. Every page is pre-rendered at build time and served as pure HTML from a global CDN. The new design leans into a warm, calm clinical aesthetic: soft linen backgrounds, a muted accent palette, serif headings paired with clean sans-serif body text, and generous whitespace that signals warmth and professionalism. The 6-page site includes a homepage with a rotating hero carousel, a Clinical Services page detailing the conditions treated, a Staff Directory with individual bios for all 22 clinicians and direct-dial phone numbers for each, a Research Studies page, a Directions & Parking page covering both office locations with embedded Google Maps links, and a Contact page wired through Formspree with hidden honeypot anti-spam protection. We addressed every Lighthouse finding directly: semantic HTML throughout, proper heading hierarchy on every page, alt text on every image, accessible labels on every form input, descriptive link text, and color contrast that passes WCAG AA across every component. JSON-LD MedicalBusiness schema is built in throughout for both offices and every practitioner — critical for local search visibility around CBT, OCD, panic, and anxiety treatment in Los Angeles. Mobile-first responsive design ensures the site works for someone reaching for help on a phone at 2 a.m.
Results
The new site is live at davidplotkinphd.com with a perfect 100 score across all four Google Lighthouse categories — Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, and SEO. PageSpeed went from 49 to 100, a clean sweep that wipes out every SEO and accessibility error the WordPress original was carrying. Pages are pre-rendered static HTML served from a CDN, with sub-second load times across all 22 practitioner bios and both office detail pages. Direct-dial phone numbers, the contact form, and Google Maps links for both offices are now front and center on every page. The practice now has a web presence that finally matches the quality of the care behind it.
When I decided to redesign my business’s website, I knew I needed both updated aesthetics and high-level functionality. Kevin exceeded all expectations. The new interface is sleek, professional, and well organized, providing an outstanding user experience. Just as impressive is the backend overhaul—the security upgrades are robust. I feel very confident that my data and platform are safe from hackers. I highly recommend Kevin for any business looking for a premium, secure website.
David Plotkin, Ph.D.
Founder & Clinical Director, David Plotkin, Ph.D. and AssociatesTechnologies Used
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