Website Mistakes: 3 Common Ones Private Practice Owners Make

When I am optimizing pages for private practice owners, I have found that there are three common mistakes therapists make with their websites. I see these mistakes come up again and again and again. Let’s take a look at these mistakes, and learn how we can edit our websites to better optimize them for SEO purposes.

SEO Mistake Number 1: Not investing in the website you love

The first mistake I see therapists make is not investing in a website they really love. Often, when I talk to therapists about their websites, for SEO purposes, they tell me that they don’t love their website to begin with. Maybe you’ve done a DIY website, and now you realize that you want a fancier website. Or maybe you’ve changed the population that you’re working with and your website needs to reflect your current clients. You website really should put your best foot forward. I think that it is much easier for you to change website before you work on SEO. But, it is possible to change your website platform or design after you’ve worked on SEO.

The bottom line is that a good website is worth investing in. You want to have a website that you like. Your website should be clearly branded and should speak to your ideal client. For example, If your ideal client is someone who is artsy, then you want to have a more artistic website. On the other hand, if your ideal client is an anxious mom, maybe you want to have a really peaceful website. It is worth it to invest in a website that represents your brand well and speaks to the type of clients that you see in your practice.

SEO Mistake number 2: Not having enough content

The next mistake I often see is not having enough content on the website for your private practice. It is important that you have enough service pages, and enough content on those pages. This really communicates that you are a mental health expert, and will help you rank well on Google. Having more content, whether that’s more service pages or more words, will help give Google more information about your website.

Aside from ranking well on Google, put yourself in your client’s shoes. Think about what they would want to see when looking for therapists in their area. For example, if you were ready to start therapy because you’ve had severe anxiety and have been having debilitating panic attacks, who would you rather see? Someone who has ten specialties listed on one page titled ‘Individual Therapy? Or someone who has an entire page on panic attacks and the treatment of panic disorder? I’m guessing you’d rather see the specialist. If you treat anxiety, consider having service pages on Generalized Anxiety, Social Anxiety, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), Panic Disorder, etc. When clients see you have all of these different service pages, they assume you really know your stuff. They will be more likely to come and see you, and possibly be willing to pay more because you are such an anxiety specialist.

If you are in the early stage of your practice and don’t have a clear niche yet, that is okay. There are probably two or three things that you’re really good at and could have a specific service page about.

SEO Mistake number 3: Not using enough simple language

The third common mistake I’ve found on therapist websites is talking over the clients’ heads. As therapists, it’s really easy for us to do this. In the previous example I provided on the therapist specializing in anxiety, they might refer to the term ‘panic attacks’ on their website. However, in some areas, ‘anxiety attacks’ are searched just as often because that’s the kind of wording that people use. Often, the words that we’re using are not the words that our clients are using to describe what they’re experiencing. Here’s another example, therapists specializing in women’s issues sometimes mention ‘perinatal mood disorders’ on their websites. Yet, it is almost never a commonly searched for key word in any area. I’m guessing that the handful of people who are searching for perinatal mood disorders or depression, are probably your colleagues or physicians who are looking for referrals. It’s fine to rank well for perinatal depression. But, if you’re wanting to get in front of more potential clients, you should use more common terms like ‘postpartum depression’ instead.

For more information on key words please read my blog post: Counseling Keywords: Search Terms to Target for Your Private Practice Website.

I usually encourage people to aim for about a third to fifth grade reading level when working on your websites. We try to reduce the number of syllables used in a word. We also replace commonly used academic wording to ones commonly used in speech. One thing I tell people is, when you’re writing a blog post or service page, imagine you’re telling a ten-year-old about the work you do. That way, you can keep on reminding yourself to keep your language simple.

One of the reasons I love working with WordPress sites is that they have that Yoast plug-in. In the Yoast plug-in, you will see a ‘reading score.’ This score reflects how easy it is for your page to be read by individuals with different levels of education. This is helpful to take note of when writing content for your pages, but focus on simplifying your wording. Even well-educated professionals who may be looking at your website don’t need to struggle to understand what you are trying to say.

Begin optimizing your private practice

Are you ready to optimize your website for SEO purposes so you will rank higher on Google? Learn more about how to begin by following these easy steps:

Book a free consultation,
Speak to one of our SEO specialists to find what service is the best fit for your private practice,
Start ranking better on Google and get more clients!

Other Services offered by Simplified SEO Consulting

Simplified SEO Consulting is proud to offer you a variety of SEO services designed to meet your needs. We offer the popular done for you SEO services where our team of SEO specialists will optimize your page for you. We also offer SEO training packages, and an opportunity for you to learn SEO in a weekend at one of our intensive training sessions for private practice owners who want to learn SEO themselves. Additionally, we also offer Simplified SEO alumni packages and maintenance packages to keep you ranking well, and à la carte SEO services for those of you who just need a little guidance. Contact us with specific questions or book a free SEO Consultation to figure out which service is best for your business!

About the author:

Jessica Tappana is a therapist, group practice owner & an SEO expert. Jessica is passionate about helping therapists and their ideal clients find one another. She believes quality mental health care can change the world. Her group practice has grown primarily through great SEO and now has seven clinicians and one virtual assistant and she still sees around 10 individual therapy clients a week herself. However, most of her focus has shifted to helping other therapists around the world get in front of their ideal clients on Google.

October 15, 2019/0 Comments/by Jessica

Business Tips, Guest Blog

Best Use of Your Time: Joe Sanok’s Advice for Practice Owners

Consider the best use of your time as a private practice owner

Dependent on your phase of practice you need to focus on what the best use of your time is.

Most clinicians will not focus on their use of time, they will answer their own calls, clean their own office, get the drinks for the fridge, do their own SEO and create their own website.

Consider what you’re giving up to DIY

All that time that you could be spending on the practice, seeing clients, networking and levelling up – you’re wasting on things that aren’t giving you any ROI. So, pay somebody to clean your office, fill your drink fridge and to do some of your SEO.

Outsource to take your private practice to the next level

If you’re going to get to that next level, you can’t be getting the money just for the time in the chair. You have to be out there trying to level up your business by adding clinicians and finding new revenue streams beyond just what you’re doing. And so, finding those things that are the best use of your time, I’d say spend your time there.

About the Guest Author

Joseph R. Sanok, MA, LLP, LPC, NCC

Joe Sanok is an ambitious results expert. He is a private practice business consultant and counselor that helps small businesses and counselors in private practice to increase revenue and have more fun! He helps owners with website design, vision, growth, and using their time to create income through being a private practice consultant. Joe was frustrated with his lack of business and marketing skills when he left graduate school. He loved helping people through counseling but felt that often people couldn’t find him. Over the past few years, he has grown his skills, income, and ability to lead others, while still maintaining an active private practice in Traverse City, MI.

Outsource Your SEO Today to Save Time

If you’re considering Joe’s advice and decide that working on your own SEO isn’t the best use of your time, we can help. Simplified SEO Consulting is provides SEO services for private practices. Our specialty is working with mental health professionals and related fields. Our SEO specialists have what it takes to help you get your practice in front of more potential clients. As part of our monthly SEO packages, we go in depth editing and tweaking your website so it speaks to both google and your ideal counseling clients. In fact, as you get busier we even offer copywriting services. This includes a monthly blogging package, so you can stay at the top of Google. But, with a minimal time investment on your part. Getting started is simple:

Schedule a 30 minute free consultation to discuss your SEO goals
Sign up for the package that’s the best fit for your private practice
Start ranking better on Google!

Other Services Offered by Simplified SEO Consulting

In addition to SEO training packages, Simplified SEO Consulting also offers many other SEO services including done for you services, alumni & maintenance packages, and À la carte SEO services. If you aren’t sure whether SEO is for you, feel free to check-out some of our other resources or blogs. We also offer a 7-day email series where you can start to learn SEO for free!

Private Practice Consulting | SEO Consultant for therapists and small business owners

Joe from Practice of the Practice, Jessica from Simplified SEO Consulting and 4 other awesome group practice owners at Slow Down School 2019. A big focus of the week was how to best use our time as business owners.

August 13, 2019/0 Comments/by Jessica

Business Tips

Is SEO Important for Mental Health Professionals?

Perhaps you’ve started a private practice counseling clinic and your new website doesn’t seem to get be getting much traffic. Maybe when searching keywords that you think you should rank for on Google, your webpages are nowhere to be seen. You might even wonder how the sites of other therapists in your area rank so high without paying for Google Ads. Maybe you’ve had some success with getting traffic to your website, but you would like to reach more potential clients. Or perhaps you’ve had steady traffic and rank well on search engines, but you would love to maximize your investment.

As a specialist in Search Engine Optimization training and “done for you” services for therapists, I understand the frustration. Developing and maintaining a private practice website is a large investment in time and money, and we want clients to easily find and visit it. Unfortunately, even the most beautiful website may seem invisible to search engines like Google when Search Engine Optimization isn’t performed. Fortunately, however, with simplified but effective Training in SEO for counselors, you can start gaining an edge over your competition!

What Is Search Engine Optimization for Mental Health

Perhaps you have experience with SEO for mental health professionals and want to keep up on the latest techniques. Or maybe you have a general idea of what it means to optimize a website, but you aren’t familiar with the technical aspects. For the latter, SEO is the cumulative measures taken to help a website rank better on search engines such as Google. SEO practices consists of the following: keyword usage, adding hyperlinks and alt-text, improving readability, writing blogs posts and optimizing meta-descriptions. It seems like a lot, but don’t this discourage you! Many therapists have seen great long-term results, learning how to optimize their own websites with our SEO training course for counselors. However, sometimes they see their time better spent seeing the new clients who are coming in, and pass on the SEO. Your therapy website can be the powerful, well-oiled marketing tool it was meant to be!

The Importance of SEO for Mental Health Professionals

Search Engine Optimization may be the most important tool for website marketing for counselors. The results I have seen in my experience working in SEO for therapists from all around speaks to this belief. Here are just three of the reasons why SEO is so important, if not crucial, for your website’s marketing effectiveness:

1. Search Engine Optimization is Maintenance for Your Website

Suppose you arrive home in a car you’ve just purchased, and the initial excitement is beginning to wear off. Even if it’s a brand new car, it’s likely you would want to learn how to maintain it. At the bare minimum, you need to keep gas in the tank. That is, if you want it to go places and serve its intended purpose. However, if you want it last very long, you would have to do more than just put gasoline in it. Your website is very similar to this car.

Your private practice therapy website is similar in that it can go places if you maintain it. Overlooking SEO and only investing in search engine ads is like just keeping the gas tank filled. There are times when such ads can be a practical marketing solution but not alone. However, a website that you optimize through training or maintain with skilled SEO consulting services will continue to get long-term results. Your website will become the powerful marketing tool that it’s meant to be, drawing attention and bringing traffic. More potential clients will find your website when your organic rankings increase. SEO for therapists is like changing the manual for changing the oil for your marketing machine.

2. SEO for Therapists Accomplishes Four Major Tasks

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the set of techniques, tools and practices that carry out four specific purposes. The four things your counseling website must do include:

Rank Well with Visibility On Search Engines: Make your website more appealing to search engines so that your website will show up to more potential clients. Websites that show up higher on Google search results are often associated with being trustworthy or credible.
Direct Action to Promote Traffic on Your Site: Great SEO can help you engage readers. It speaks to them and entices them to come to your service pages or blogs to learn more or to contact you for services or referrals.
Be User-friendly, Interesting and Easy to Navigate: Having interesting content that links to other content, quality backlinks and pictures with alt text description allows readers navigate your site more easily, making it more accessible. This helps them feel more comfortable and confident in browsing your website and entices interest.
Encourage Readers to Spend Time on Your Website and Take Action: The longer someone spends on your website the more likely they are going to contact you or services or referrals. This also gives you more time to pitch your experience as a mental health expert and continue to build trust.

3. SEO for Counselors Allows You to Measure Progress

Information is crucial in any investment of time or money, and with SEO marketing there is no exception. Analysis software and plugins allow you to see the results of your efforts and the progress you’ve made with your website. You can see the effect changes to your website have in search result rankings, click through rates and more. Equally important, these tools can help guide your decisions, so that you can maximize your time and set measurable goals.

Training in SEO for Therapists and “Done for You” Services Can Help You Increase Website Rankings and Traffic

If you are interested in ranking better on search engines or bringing in more traffic and referrals for your private practice therapy, you can learn how to do SEO yourself with training in SEO for counselors. Many therapists have seen amazing results when using the skills and techniques taught in our SEO course. If time is a factor or you see your time better spent focussing on seeing new clients, we offer “Done for You” packages for mental health SEO. If you think that you might be interested in training, but aren’t sure, you can sign up for our free 7-day SEO for Mental Heath Professionals Email Series or reach out to use with questions.

GETTING STARTED WITH SEO FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IS EASY:

Get in touch with Simplified SEO Consulting by scheduling a free 30-minute SEO consultation.
Get connected with a skilled SEO Specialist for Therapists that you can trust.
Start learning SEO in the meantime with our free 7-Day SEO for Counselors Email Series.

Services Offered at Simplified SEO Counseling

As a Consulting Service for Mental Health SEO we can help you optimize your website with three different types of packages, including “Done for You” SEO Services, SEO training, À la carte “Done for You” SEO services and our Alumni & Maintenance Package.

August 6, 2019/0 Comments/by Jessica

Business Tips, SEO Tips

A Private Practice Owner Learns SEO for the Same Reason Zebras Have Stripes: Adaptation

What do Zebra Stripes have to do with Private Practice Marketing?

I’m kind of fascinated by zebra stripes. They’re beautiful. The stark contrast between the black and the white. The way they work together to decorate this elegant animal. But did you realize that zebra stripes are actually an adaptation? It’s meant to protect these creatures from prey in the wild. Zebra stripes blend together when they’re standing in a herd so predators have difficulty making out the separate outline of a specific zebra.

Stripes help zebras survive in the wild. SEO helps private practices survive in the business world.

Therapists aren’t always Tech Wizards by Nature

Are you intimidated by technology? Does the idea of learning to work on your own site sound technical and scary? Most mental health professionals were not drawn to this field because we’re tech wizards. Most counselors are more touchy, feeling people types. Even if we’re introverts, let’s face it, what keeps us waking up and coming to work each day is the satisfaction of helping others. Full private practice caseloads of clients who face their fears, find healing, and “get better” is what excites us. Not talking marketing strategies or staring at a computer screen.

So…why should practice owners use Search Engine Optimization to market their small business?

So, why should you care about Search Engine Optimization (better known as just SEO)? Because SEO allows you to adapt to the business world which then brings more of your ideal clients through the doors of your private practice. It is through learning some important marketing techniques and business strategies that private practice owners are able to reach and help more people. I first learned about the power of SEO through my own experience (see below), but have since watched it help my SEO Consulting clients also fill up their practices. In this day and age, people look for all sorts of services online. If you can get your website to the first page of Google, more potential clients will find your practice and therefore you’ll receive more calls.

Jessica’s Private Practice SEO Story

When my solo practice began to transition to a group practice I had a few panic moments. I realized that now, in order to succeed, I was going to have to do more than just offer awesome counseling services. Now I had to learn to do the business side of things.

My first step was to have a Springfield, MO-based graphic designer help me clarify my brand and create an awesome private practice logo. But the next step was developing a private practice website that I loved. I figured outsourcing was my best bet. Design isn’t really my thing and outsourcing the logo went well after all. That’s where Brighter Vision first came into the picture. I worked with their designer to edit my site until I had a beautiful website I was proud of and felt was “on brand.” But it didn’t rank at all on Google yet.

I was told it would take a few months for Google to find and index my site. So…I waited…and waited…and waited. After making a few tweaks along the way, I got really impatient at about 6 months. As much as I hated technology, I realized I needed to adapt and learn about Search Engine Optimization.

And learn I did! I stayed up all hours of the night researching SEO.

I listened to podcasts on my way to the office, working out, and just about everywhere else. There were articles to read, Youtube videos to watch, and e-courses to work through. I found a few things targeting therapists, but much of what I found wasn’t specific to our field.

Naturally, when I learned something new about SEO the most important part was implementing it. So I practiced all of the SEO techniques I was learning. The day I learned about how to write an effective meta description, I stayed up all night writing new meta descriptions for every page of my site. Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t have many blog posts yet! Then the day I learned to optimize photos on WordPress to improve SEO. Luckily that one didn’t take as long as the meta descriptions. Learning to use the Fetch as Google portion of the Google Search Console changed my world and suddenly I was able to see what impact my website changes had overnight.

At first, the changes in how I ranked on search engines for various counseling keywords happened quickly. There was the time on that I jumped from not being on the first 10 pages to page 3 for one of my long-tail keywords literally overnight. Then, changes happened a little more slowly and I had to fine-tune my techniques.

I’m THRILLED to say now my website is consistently showing up below the Psychology Today rankings for counseling in my area. I’m not any better at most technology than I was before. My son was frustrated recently when I was struggling to figure out how to project Netflix onto our TV screen. In a super-frustrated voice he said, “But Mommy, you’re good at websites. You CAN do technology.” He’s right of course. I can learn to use technology. Just like you can. It’s just an adaptation.

Therapists can learn SEO to Fill a Private Practice

Website tweaks and Search Engine Optimization might not come naturally to you. That’s ok. Admit it, embrace it. And then adapt.

The adaptation part is where I come in. I’d love to help you learn all of the SEO techniques that I did. You don’t have to spend months staying up until 2 am scouring the internet and learning one or two techniques at a time as I did. I can provide you 1:1 SEO Training. We’ll meet on a Google Hangouts call and use the Share Screen feature so I can walk you step by step through applying all of the SEO skills (keyword research, internal links, meta descriptions, etc) to your specific site.

Get Your Private Practice Ranking on Google

Are you ready to start learning to do your own Search Engine Optimization work? If so, my 12 Week SEO training services or the 2 Month SEO Jumpstart packages might be a good fit! On the other hand, if your a busy practice owner who feels overwhelmed by the idea of adding one more thing to your plate, my monthly SEO packages are a great option. Book a 30 minute free SEO consultation and let’s get started!

January 29, 2019/1 Comment/by Jessica