SEO Basics Archives - Simplified SEO Consulting

Page Depth: What It Is And Why It Matters

In the world of SEO, there are many terms that describe what effect our website and the users who click on it. But what do they really mean? These terms can be really overwhelming, but understanding them can help you boost your website rankings. Page depth can be crucial if you want certain pages to rank and they aren’t. In this post, you’ll learn about the term page depth, what it is, and why it matters when it comes to SEO.

What is Page Depth?

Page depth helps calculate the average number of pages a user visits on your website during one session. Page depth can also be measured as how many clicks it takes for a user who is visiting your website, to get from your homepage to reach a specific page using the shortest path. The homepage always has a page depth of one, while a page directly linked from the home page will have a page depth of two. Anything after that is a depth of three or more with the number of clicks it takes to reach that specific page.

With a page depth of three or more the pages are more than likely going to perform poorly. This is due to search engines, such as Google, having a hard time crawling the pages. With search engines having a harder time crawling these pages, they will also have a lower page rank.

Why Does Page Depth Matter?

Page depth matters because if it takes a user more than three clicks to be reached, then search engines will have a harder time crawling the page. This will cause the page to perform poorly and have less engagement compared to other pages found within two clicks.

These pages will also rank lower as the search engine crawlers won’t check or even find them as often as pages that have a typical depth of two. If Google sees that a certain page is taking three or more clicks to reach, it may see it as less important than other pages on your site that can be reached in fewer clicks.

Ways to Improve Your Site Structure So Pages Can Be Reached

Improving your site structure makes it easier for the user to navigate. It can be very important, as it keeps a user intrigued with your content without any distractions. With an easier-to-use site, users have a more enjoyable experience and want to continue to use your site if they find the content you have intriguing them. Here are a few ways you can help improve your site structure:

Use Internal Linking

When you use internal links, you can help lower the number of clicks it takes to reach a specific page. These links help provide additional content and easy access to the new page the user will navigate to. Internal links also help provide a better user experience and can keep a user interested in your content. Using internal links is also valuable to your search rankings as it can help boost your site. This is because it provides page authority for the important pages on your site. Using anchor-rich text when adding internal links also gives search engines easy access to navigate your page.

Utilize Breadcrumbs

By using breadcrumbs, you give the user an easy way for them to know where they are on your website. You can have breadcrumbs on your site that create a navigation bar to help the user see where they’ve navigated and how they can navigate back to their original page. The breadcrumbs can help the user view the categories of the site as well so they have the opportunity to navigate to another page.

Make Sure Photos Are Compressed

When you add photos to your site, make sure you have compressed your pictures. If you don’t compress your photos before adding them they might keep your page from loading. We know from experience when a page or site takes too long to load, we’re more likely to exit and find another site. Compressing photos is an easy way to ensure your page loads quickly. The website tinypng.com is a great (and free!) tool when compressing photos.

Learning new SEO terms can be challenging. But the terms you learn are important as they help you figure out what users need when they access your site. Like the term page depth, you begin to learn little things that maintain your website ranking, and help search engines such as Google, notice more of the pages on your site and help with page ranking. Once you understand page depth you can help make your website a more enjoyable experience to keep users interested in viewing other pages on your site.

Learn How To Improve Your Rankings With Simplified SEO Consulting

Our team at Simplified SEO Consulting wants to help you learn all you can when it comes to getting the right clients to view your page. Having guidance in your SEO journey is important for both you and your website to ensure you get the right users to your site. To start your SEO journey follow these three simple steps:

Apply to work with us on your SEO
Meet with one of our Skilled SEO Specialists
Begin SEO Services for Therapists

Other Services Offered With Simplified SEO Consulting

Looking for a different way we might be able to support you? Our team at Simplified wants to support you no matter what your SEO journey is. We offer support in both our Done For You SEO Services and DIY Online SEO Courses. Simplified SEO Consulting also offers a 12-week Done With You Intensive Program. Check out our blog for more helpful tips and guides to SEO!

About the Author:

Brianna is a Mental Health SEO Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting. At Simplified, Brianna enjoys optimizing websites and interacting with her clients to help them achieve their SEO goals. Her goal while working with our clients is to ensure they enjoy their SEO journey and to help them understand how the SEO process works.

Looking for extra support? Schedule a consult with the consulting team to see who can help you and how.

January 12, 2023/0 Comments/by Brianna Joplin

Examples of Meta Descriptions for a Sample Therapist Website

Meta descriptions are often overlooked on websites, but they are a very important part of your website’s SEO. This is especially true for private practice websites. A good meta description can entice people to click through to your website, and a bad one can cause them to skip over you entirely. In this blog post, we will give specific examples of effective meta descriptions for a therapist’s website.

Tips for Writing Great Meta Descriptions

– Keep it brief. Aim for less than 155 characters, as that is the maximum number of characters Google will display in search results.

– Make sure your description is relevant to the page content. You don’t want readers clicking on a page only to be disappointed with what they find upon entering the website.

– Don’t include too many keywords, as this does not look natural. Instead, focus on making the meta description sound appealing and informative to readers while naturally incorporating a couple of the top keywords you’re targeting on that page.

To illustrate these points further, I’ve provided some examples of what a good meta description could look like for a sample website. For this illustration, all of these examples will be for a private practice that specializes in treating eating disorders in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Sample Meta Descriptions

I have often heard that the best way to learn is by example, so with that in mind here are some examples of meta descriptions our SEO clients could use on their website:

Home Page Meta Description Example:

Title Tag: The Hope Eating Disorder Recovery Center | Treatment for Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating Disorder | Bismarck, North Dakota

Meta Description: The Hope Eating Disorder Recovery Center is a counseling center that offers effective eating disorder treatment with experienced Eating Disorder Therapists to treat anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder & other eating disorders.

You can see more examples of meta descriptions for a private practice website homepage here.

A Specific Therapist’s About Page Example:

Title Tag: Meet Dr. Bruno Madrigal, The Hope Eating Disorder Recovery Center |Bismarck, ND

Meta Description: Dr. Bruno Madrigal is an eating disorder therapist who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders. He has extensive training in DBT, family-based therapy, CBT & interpersonal psychotherapy to help his clients recover.

You can see more examples of meta descriptions for a therapist about page here.

An “Our Office” Example:

Title Tag: Directions to Our Office, The Hope Eating Disorder Recovery Center in Bismarck, ND

Meta Description: If you’re looking for treatment for an eating disorder, Our Office, The Hope Eating Disorder Recovery Center in Bismarck, ND can help. Located just 5 minutes from Sanford Medical Center, we offer eating disorder treatments that work.

Two Blog Post Examples

Title Tag: Signs Your Teen Has Binge Eating Disorder

Meta Description: Do you know the signs of binge eating disorder in teenagers? Learn what to look for and how to get help if your teen is struggling. Licensed Professional Counselor Nala Rafiki at The Hope Eating Disorder Recovery Center in Bismarck, ND offers tips and advice.

Title Tag: Introduction to Types of Eating Disorders

Meta Description: This post provides an introduction to the five types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia, binge eating disorder, pica, and rumination disorder.

You can see more examples of meta descriptions for mental health blog posts here.

Begin Writing Your Meta Descriptions

Ok, so hopefully that gives you a bit of a picture of what a good meta description looks like on a private practice or mental health-related business’ website. In short, think of your meta descriptions as an opportunity to entice readers and provide accurate information about the page content at the same time. Keep it brief, relevant and informative, but also make sure it’s interesting enough to draw people in!

More SEO Help for Therapists, Psychiatrists & Private Practice Owners

If you need more help optimizing your website for search engine results, we offer comprehensive SEO services for mental health-related businesses. We believe your ideal clients are looking for you. They deserve your help. But first, they have to find you.

To get started, simply schedule a time to chat with one of our team about which one of our SEO services would be the best fit for your practice.

Good luck with your meta description writing efforts! I’m sure your website visitors will thank you for it!

About the Author

Jessica Tappana is a private practice owner herself. Additionally, she is an SEO consultant specializing in helping healthcare professionals, private practice owners and therapists rank higher in search engine results. With over 5 years of experience in digital marketing & over 13 in the mental health field, she’s seen firsthand how effective SEO can be for a private practice business. Jessica is passionate about helping her clients succeed online, so they can reach more people and help them get the help they need. She hires team members who are just as passionate about mental health and her team invests substantial amounts in making sure every team member is trained in the current best practices for online marketing in the field of mental health.

January 10, 2023/0 Comments/by Jessica

Business Tips, SEO Basics, SEO Tips

How Much to Spend on SEO Part 2

When it comes to investment in SEO for therapists, mental health professionals need to consider the return on investment. Investing in SEO can be a great way to boost clientele and reach more potential clients. With that said, there are some basic principles to follow when determining how much investment is necessary.

SEO for Therapists: Consider Location, Competition, Size

First of all, depending on your industry and the size of your practice, you should consider what budget to set for your SEO investment. You may want to invest more heavily if you have a more extensive practice or specialize in a certain area of mental health. Often we see clinicians in more competitive and populated areas. What we know about SEO is that it is getting more and more competitive. Therefore, we know that it’s taking longer to get results in the field compared to how it was a few years ago. It is possible to get results and we have seen that time and time again. However, doing more content, building backlinks, and blogging regularly is often one of the best ways to ensure the success you are looking for.

Recognize How Much You Know and What You Are Willing to Learn

The second consideration is how well-versed you are in SEO tactics. If you don’t have much knowledge about SEO, you may want to invest in consulting services or hire someone who specializes in SEO. By investing upfront, you will be able to save money in the long run by improving your visibility and rankings on search engines. The truth is that SEO specialists especially highly specialized ones like our team train extensively to understand the lay of the land in every state.

We also know that SEO is constantly changing, which means we are constantly learning and adjusting. With that being said, we want to invest in our employees like you want to invest in yours. Therefore, know that SEO will cost a lot, but not for nothing. We strive to inform, educate, collaborate, and provide the highest quality of care to our clients, just as we know you do too!

Investing in SEO for Therapists Means Investing Time!

Thirdly, you need to consider how much time and effort you are willing to put into SEO investment. If you don’t have the time to research and implement strategies, you may want to outsource the task.

Additionally, if you are a small practice, you might have more success by investing in specific services such as content creation or link building. This is because if you are a postpartum clinician versus a generalist practice, you are more likely to have more clarity ranking on the Google search engine. It doesn’t mean that you won’t be competitive, but you are more focused which will help in the long term.

if you are a generalist or group practice with many niches, to be honest, as SEO changes so have our strategy. That means you may want to think about who you’re trying to get full within six months and that may mean focusing heavily on 3 niches, blogging, and building backlinks, then going back and focusing on additional niches.

What Results Do You Want with Your Investment in SEO for Therapists?

Finally, consider what kind of results you expect from your investment. Are you looking for immediate returns? Or are you more focused on long-term gains? Plan out what investment you are willing to make upfront and then track your results as you go along. The truth is that SEO will never be a quick fix to get in clients, that was never its intended purpose, however, if you are looking to sustain organic traffic, it is the most cost-efficient long-haul investment.

What’s Next?

Now that you have some of the basics of investing in SEO, stay tuned for the last part of this series on investing in SEO. We are going to talk about getting the best return on investment by doing SEO yourself versus having a company optimize for you. Be sure to check out part 1 if you haven’t read it yet.

Start Getting the SEO Support You Need!

Our team would love to consult with you. If you want to learn more, you are in the right place. Contact us today to learn more about our services and start growing your private pay clients today! To start with our SEO Specialists and Trainers, follow these simple steps:

Book a Consult with a Member of Our Consultation Team
Learn About Our Skilled SEO Specialists and Trainers
Begin Reaping the Rewards of Your Marketing Efforts

Other Services at Simplified SEO Consulting

If you’re looking for other forms of support, we can help! We offer options such as our 12-week training, small group intensives, and courses. Our strategy session can be a great option if you need support getting started with SEO or doing a site move or redesign. Or, if you’re ready to work with a passionate and skilled team, our Done for You Program may be a great following approach.

About the Author

Jasmine is the SEO Training Coordinator and offers free consultations for Simplified’s SEO Consulting on our services. Jasmine is a Clinical Mental Health Counselor and recently earned her degree from Northwestern University. She works to help people with a strategy with national rankings, eating disorder specialties, sports psychology, high achievers, and much more. Schedule a consult soon!

January 3, 2023/0 Comments/by Jasmine Jaquess

Backlinks, SEO Basics, SEO Tips

SEO Marketing for Therapists: Guide to How Backlinks Work

Of the many things that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) brings, confusion is definitely one of them while how backlinks work… is not.

What are Backlinks? Understanding How Backlinks Work.

Whether you’re linking to another website or your own site is being linked to, linking is a critical part of search engine optimization (SEO). Backlinks result from a website linking to your website. In most cases, if you’re mentioned in a blog post or a web article, your website will link back to it. This is usually because the two websites are somehow connected. For example, they may be related based on the content they provide.

More Information About How Backlinks Work.

An authoritative, trustworthy source provides information regarding a topic through a backlink. Consequently, the website becomes more reliable and a ‘backlink’ is created. It’s important to know how backlinks work to determine a website’s credibility and trustworthiness.

As a mental health professional, it is important to portray the quality of care provided to clients through your website. That may be their first impression of your business, and the deciding factor as to whether they would like to backlink to your site. Consequently, your site will receive a lot more traffic as well as improved ranking in search engine results because Google knows it is trustworthy.

What type of backlinks does a site need?

Getting effective backlinks becomes more challenging as backlinks come in different quality levels. While it is true, you want more backlinks. However, Google is more likely to trust a quality backlink from a news site or a university website than a link from a new site.

It is easy to get confused when it comes to the difference between follow and Nofollow links. How a website treats those links is also crucial since it can determine how search engines will treat those links. The focus here is on the relationship between Follow and Nofollow links and your site.

What are Follow links? How are they impacting your SEO?

The use of follow links is one of the best ways to improve a website’s domain authority or domain rating which in turn, enhances keyword ranking. This is accomplished by passing the authority of the origin site to the destination site.

Fun Fact: In the web world, this passing of authority is known as “link juice.”

What are NoFollow links? Do they do anything to your SEO?

Nofollow links do not help rankings and don’t pass authority on to the website they are linking to. These links do not benefit SEO. Examples of these links are ones that are posted on Facebook posts.

However! It’s normal for a site to have a healthy mix of both types of backlinks and that’s what Search Engines look for, the useful, normal sites that people are more likely to search for. Having NoFollow links is still a great way to connect with potential clients.

What is the purpose of a NoFollow link in How Backlinks Work?

Getting NoFollow links isn’t a bad thing! Despite not giving you SEO benefits like Follow links, you can get traffic to your website and diversify your backlink portfolio with NoFollow links.

Hyperlinks with the rel=”NoFollow” attribute are not indexed in Google results if they have this attribute. But, this isn’t a negative vote for the site. Instead, it is a way to prevent other people from attempting to raise their own search engine rankings by commenting on related blogs.

Fun Fact: Google implemented this as a response to website owners’ complaints about comment spam and unfair SEO tactics in September 2005.

How can you tell if a link is either Follow or NoFollow?

Short Answer? You can’t unless you’re looking at the HTML coding itself.

The easiest way to determine if a link is follow or nofollow is to inspect the link in the browser and check the HTML code within the link.

A Follow link looks like this:

<a href=”https://simplifiedSEOconsulting.com”>Simplified SEO Consulting</a>

A NoFollow link looks like this:

<a href=”https://simplifiedSEOconsulting.com” rel=”nofollow”>Simplified SEO Consulting</a>

How do I find the HTML coding?

You can perform this task by right-clicking on the link anchor text of that link and selecting “Inspect element” or “Inspect” (depending on your browser).

If you’re using Chrome, you can press Ctrl+Shift+I when you are at the URL you are investigating.

Lastly, there are options for applications that you can add to your web browser to reveal what links are Follow or NoFollow.

What types of content are generally NoFollow?

Any type of content can be NoFollow if the HTML coding is adjusted to make it do so.
However, these inbound links below tend to be NoFollow:

Social Media Posts and Comments
Forum Post Links (User Generated Content etc)
Press Releases
Widget links

And, these outbound links usually are NoFollow too:

Wikipedia
Youtube
Reddit

Fun Fact: Any paid backlinks should be NoFollow according to Google’s Search Central Guidelines.

The Summary of How Backlinks Work

As far as SEO is concerned and how backlinks work, Follow links provide authority to a website, whereas NoFollow links do not. Having both types of links within the content is expected for a site to be considered genuine. Search engines will look at sites that lack that healthy balance and perhaps take them offline if they find their backlink tactics suspicious. Finding other mental health sites that relate to your content is an important tactic for Search Engine Optimization.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed reading this, we can help! We will lead you through navigating the world of the internet as you build a private practice therapy office. Our team of highly skilled mental health SEO specialists can take care of all the things you need to do for SEO.

SEO Marketing for Therapists & Counselors Made Simple!

To begin working with Simplified, follow these three simple steps:

Book a Session with Simplified SEO Consulting
Learn about SEO Consulting for Therapists
Take a breath and relax, knowing your SEO is handled!

Other Services at Simplified SEO Consulting:

We can also help if you need other types of support! We offer a variety of training options to meet your needs, including a 12-week training program, small group intensives, and courses. If you are ready to start using SEO, or you are planning to move your site or redesign your site, then the strategy session may be a great option for you. We can also assist you with our Done for You Program if you are looking to work with a dedicated and skilled team of professionals.

About the Author

Amber has a BA in Psychology and is currently working towards her MA in Psychology while working with the best team in the world, Simplified SEO Consulting. She is a mother, animal enthusiast, public relations volunteer at a fine arts nonprofit who enjoys helping others succeed.

December 15, 2022/0 Comments/by Amber Fuqua

SEO Basics

Keyword Research: A Refresher

Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing terms that people use when searching for information related to your business, products, or services. It’s an important step in SEO. Why? Because it helps you identify which keywords are most likely to generate traffic and conversions. In other words, using the keywords your ideal clients are using will get you more ideal clients.

Keyword Research is Often Confusing at First

Honestly, keyword research can be really simple or really complicated. When people hire our team, we spend a lot of time and use paid tools to help us. We often consult with team members when perfecting our keyword list. And we add or change the keywords we’re targeting on at least a monthly basis for the first 6 of SEO work. We consider search volume (how many people look for that keyword) in your area, difficulty (how hard is it to rank for that term), user intent (is someone searching for that really looking for your services?) and the specific goals you’ve described to us.

But keyword research doesn’t have to be that formal or that complicated in most cases. This is especially true if you’re just starting to work on SEO for your site.

Key Points for Mental Health Professionals About Keyword Research

When choosing keywords to target on your website, there are a few key things to remember:

Choose keywords that are relevant and specific to your business or website. This will ensure that you reach the right people with your message.
Target long-tail keywords (three or more words) in addition to short ones. For example, targeting “couples therapy for affair recovery in Long Island” instead of “couples therapy.” Long-tail keywords tend to have less competition and are more likely to attract people really ready to reach out to you.
Start with the resources you already have. A great starting place is reading the intake paperwork your recent clients have filled out to see what terms they’re using to describe their reason for coming in. It’s likely this is similar to what they told Google they were looking for.

If you ever need help with this or have questions about how to choose keywords for your website, we’re here to help! I often say keyword research is the hardest thing we teach, but we try to simplify the process as much as we can. We listen to your goals & preferences, research your area, consider the clients you are trying to reach and base our lists off of that.

More Information About Keyword Research for Mental Health Professionals

Here are some previous blog posts we’ve written on this topic:

Refine Your Research Technique in January

Jasmine and I are hosting a two-part Keyword Research webinar in January! Wanna learn more? Join us! We’re finalizing the details still, but it will be January 20th & 27th and we’re going to move in depth on keyword research than we’ve ever gone before. We’ll have a sign up form on our website & social media soon, but if you want to be extra certain you know when that’s open just email us at admin@simplifiedseoconsulting.com and Kaite will make sure you hear about the webinar when registration opens!

About Jessica

As a clinician, my top priority is taking really good care of the people needing mental health care. This factors into everything I do for SEO including finding the right keywords for private practice websites. I try to be very thoughtful about what potential private practice clients are searching for. When doing keyword research, our team doesn’t just look at how often something is searched but we try to consider user intent. Is someone searching for that term your ideal client? What else might people in need of your services be looking for? Keyword research is an important part of the keyword journey and a strategy piece that I’ve found fascinating since I first started doing SEO back in 2017!

December 11, 2022/0 Comments/by Jessica

SEO Basics

Start Your SEO Journey with a Technically Sound Website

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an important part of having a successful website. SEO helps your site rank higher in search engines and gives you visibility with potential customers. But before you can start optimizing your website for SEO, it must be technically sound.

Steps to Consider When Creating a Technically Sound Foundation for SEO

When developing your website, the first step is to create a technically sound foundation. A website that has fast loading pages, optimized code and good user experience will help you gain traction in organic search results. To achieve this, here are some technical things to consider:

• Use responsive web design so that your site looks great on all devices.

• Optimize your images for speed. If you’ve uploaded a lot of images already on your site without condensing the file size you may want to choose a plugin (if you have a WordPress website) that will help condense those large photo files.

• Take advantage of browser caching and minify resources like CSS, JavaScript, and HTML.

• Make sure that your website is free from 404 errors. A good place to start is Google’s Search Console.

• Use a secure socket layer (SSL) on your website. This will give it the “https://” prefix and make it more secure, as well as help with search engine rankings.

In addition to these technical elements, you can also look into implementing schema markup to help search engines better understand the content of your website.

This is an Important First Step

By addressing these technical aspects of your site, you’ll be taking a huge step first step to improving both user experience on your website. Furthermore, it will give you a solid foundation for doing the other types of optimization we’ll be talking about the next couple of weeks.

It’s Easy to be Overwhelmed by Technical SEO

I’ll be honest, this is the part of SEO that’s not my strength. When talking about these things I often point out that I hire people smarter than I am about these things. And now I’m so lucky to have Danica, Sterling, Mary & others who understand this techy stuff soooo much better than I do. But I know enough to know that this is an important step to getting your website the visibility it deserves.

Ultimately, these are things I recommend you work with a website developer on before you even begin working with us. Sometimes, people are surprised when we say this. But it’s important to remember that SEO is a holistic process and begins with the foundation.

By making sure your website has been optimized for a good technical experience, you’ll be able to get more out of any SEO work that is done. So don’t forget this important step just because you’re confused when you start hearing these terms!

Already have a firm SEO foundation? Let us help you take your website SEO to the next level!

Our team offers a wide range of services to help private practice owners improve their SEO. Whether you’re looking to learn how to optimize your own website better, looking for accountability and support in optimizing your website or are ready to outsource SEO to a company that understands both SEO & mental health, we’re here to help! It all begins with scheduling a Zoom consultation with a member of our team. We’ll talk a little about your website and figure out what makes the most sense for your next steps.

About the Author

Jessica Tappana is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Missouri. She owns a group practice with 12 clinicians and loves the clinical work so much she just can’t give it up. Additionally, she founded Simplified SEO Consulting several years ago to help therapists achieve the same thing in their practice she enjoys in hers: a steady stream of calls from their idea clients. Because the techy side of things isn’t her strong point and she understands the importance of technical SEO, she’s made a point of hiring team members who are stronger than she is in this area.

December 4, 2022/2 Comments/by Jessica

Content, SEO Basics

The Perils of Pre-Written Blog Posts: Why Therapists Should Write Their Own Blog Posts

Therapists are often told they should maintain their blogs. To not only market themselves and their services, but to share their knowledge. As a therapist, you may get behind on blogging due to being busy at your practice. Or you struggle with blogging because you can’t find the inspiration. It all makes sense. However, this creates opportunities for therapists to turn to pre-written therapist content and pre-written social media posts.

This pre-written therapist content may be convenient but comes with perils. Ones that can directly affect your SEO and cost you clients. In this blog, I will talk about the perils that come with pre-written therapist content and pre-written social media posts for therapists.

Duplicate Content

First, I want to put it out there that I understand why a therapist would want to choose pre-written therapist content. It’s convenient and makes it easy for a therapist who is busy, doesn’t like writing, or isn’t good at it. However, when you choose services that provide you with pre-written blogs, pre-written social media posts, or just pre-written therapist content in general, you risk the odds of having the same material as someone else. This is called duplicate content. Duplicate content is when content is similar or even the exact same content on other websites or even your own.

These services don’t take away options once someone chooses them. The services tell the clients they can personalize them and hope that some will. So maybe the posts will be less identical. But, why did you choose a pre-written blog or social media post in the first place? So you didn’t have to write it yourself. So, the odds of someone personalizing the pre-written content to where they are not even a sliver of the same is very slim. Which means there is duplicate content on your and another person’s page. This also means Google will notice there is duplicate content and there can be consequences.

Google Will Find Out

Why should you worry about duplicate content and Google finding it? Google states in their terms of service, “We want to maintain a respectful environment for everyone, which means you must follow these basic rules of conduct: – comply with applicable laws, including export control, sanctions, and human trafficking laws -respect the rights of others, including privacy and intellectual property rights”. Google then goes on to say “Your content remains yours, which means that you retain any intellectual property rights that you have in your content.

For example, you have intellectual property rights in the creative content you make, such as reviews you write. Or you may have the right to share someone else’s creative content if they’ve given you their permission. We need your permission if your intellectual property rights restrict our use of your content. You provide Google with that permission through this license.” Google clearly states that they need your permission to share your content. Just like you need permission to share others’ content. This is why the license to use Google is the agreement to share your content with them. So they can use it to track patterns of data along with preventing spam, malware, and illegal content.

Google also goes on to define your content as “Your content: Some of our services give you the opportunity to make your content publicly available — for example, you might post a product or restaurant review that you wrote, or you might upload a blog post that you created”. So, to specifically highlight that Google even points out that blog posts that people write and share are covered by intellectual property rights. This means if the owner of the original content finds out you’re sharing their content without their permission, you can be sued.

Ownership of Pre-Written Content

So having large amounts of duplicate content can have some negative impact on Google rankings. They claim it is highly unlikely but can happen. But, Google will also not be sure who the original content’s owner is. Unless you submit a DMCA request to claim ownership of the content. A DMCA is a legal request also sent to the infringing website owner requesting the content to be removed. Also, Google will also be unsure of which version of the pre-written content to keep in its indices. This will lead to Google having to decide which version of the content is the most trustworthy and which will be linked to during search results.

The trouble for you as the website owner with the duplicate pre-written therapist content, this means you might not be getting recognition or credit for the content. Google will have to choose one site to be the authority on this blog post’s content. They will divert all search traffic from Google searches to the one they deem the most trustworthy and less to the duplicates. This means, if Google does not deem you the original content provider or the authority on this topic, you will not get any search results for it. It can also negatively impact your rankings.

Google Penalties

Google has also stated that in some circumstances, that duplicate content can lead to penalties. Or, the complete deindexing of a website. However, there is no specific duplicate content penalty, and mostly happens to websites that scrape content from other sites. But, this means that if your website has an excessive amount of duplicate content, Google may completely deindex your website where it will not come up in search results at all.

It is rare but if Google notices that you are continuously posting pre-written content that is posted on other sites, it could be a cause for concern. It could put your website and all of your hard work in harm’s way. Also, it could also damage your credibility. However, as stated above, the original owner of the content can submit a DCMA request to have the content removed from your website.

This Affects Your SEO

As I mentioned above, Google won’t know who wrote your content originally. It will just see that the pre-written content is duplicated on multiple pages. It will have to choose out of all the duplicate content who receives the authority, and trust. Along with getting the Google search results rankings. This means that if you’re not the authority or main page, you can really lower your rankings if you continuously use pre-written content that is also used by others.

However, if you are the main page or the authority, it can also have a negative impact. Your rankings may be strong at first but as more people duplicate the same pre-written content, it will slowly impact your rankings. This will also lead to people finding your website and content less and less, which leads to fewer clients. No therapist or private practice wants that.

How Does Pre-Written Content Affect Your SEO?

Besides leading to fewer rankings, duplicate content can result in less organic traffic as Google likes to avoid ranking pages that use duplicate content found on other websites and pages. This can be from someone scraping your content, having multiple of the same pages on your website, or even having printable versions of your URL.

Sometimes Google doesn’t want to rank it at all and will even refuse to index your pages with duplicate content. Which means your content isn’t even searchable on Google. Which can burn your website’s crawl budget on all your duplicate content. For the person who wrote the original content, it can lead to a dilution of backlinks. It can even look as if they purchased backlinks, which is a way to lessen credibility.

Ethics

Now, not only can it affect your website and rankings, but it’s not ethical. Some services will take content from other sites where the content is original and use them for pre-written content services. This not only will affect you by having duplicate content on your site but affect the original content’s owner because their authority on the topic will be questioned. It also will appear as if they have duplicate content when they wrote the post. It also will hurt their SEO.

Which is an unfair byproduct of this process. However, the original content that they expertly wrote where can end up on the website of a therapist who is not an expert on that topic. It leads to the therapist who chose the pre-written content advertising they are an expert. When in reality, it was content pulled from an expert’s website.

As a Copywriter, I Would Prefer You Wrote Your Own Blogs

I am the copywriter for Simplified SEO Consulting and I write for our clients by request. I absolutely love my job as I get to write about interesting topics and tailor all content to the client’s voice. I’m saying this because I would rather you, a therapist or mental health professional, write your own blogs and social media posts over using pre-written, canned content. If you’re struggling with writing for your website, consider hiring a copywriter. Because a copywriter will be able to individualize your content and you won’t have to worry about it being a duplicate.

Here are some of our favorite SEO Sources and what they say about duplicate content:

About the Author:

Lynsey is an SEO Content Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting. At Simplified, Lynsey enjoys writing original content for clients and their practices. She realizes that writing quality, original content is important not only to her clients, but to their practice and the clients that go there too! Especially, with the content being used as a resource or even just to boost a client’s SEO. Her goal is to always create content that resonates with the client and learn as much as she can along the way. She is passionate about providing copywriting services for psychiatrists and therapists.

Schedule your next consultation if you’re ready to see how Simplified can serve you!

December 1, 2022/0 Comments/by Lynsey Heskett

SEO Basics, SEO Tips

How Internal Links Boost Your SEO

Looking to get your website to the top of Google searches? Ranking with Google might seem intimidating and really makes you question, “Where do I even begin?”. With this blog post, you’ll be able to learn a simple way to help boost your website and start helping you rank higher on Google.

With SEO optimization there are many ways you can keep someone interested in your website. One important way to do so is by adding internal links. By adding internal links you are helping the viewer navigate your site and keeping them within your site domain. Read on to learn what internal links are and how you can use them!

What Are Internal Links?

Internal Links are hyperlinks added to specific keyword-rich anchor text so that when clicked, it can direct someone to another part of your website relating to said anchor text. As a website owner, internal links are something you are easily able to control.

By using the internal links you can ensure that when someone clicks on it and it will take your viewer to another one of your pages within the domain. You want to make sure that viewers have the ability to relocate to a new spot on your website and stay interested in the content you are providing.

What is an Anchor Text?

Anchor text is the text on your page most relevant to what you will be hyperlinked back to another place on your website. One good practice to have is to ensure that your anchor text is keyword-rich. Make sure you are using a keyword specific to the page you are on and the page you want to link to so your viewer can see it. Photo of a desk with the words SEO written on it and different terms pointing to it reading content, strategy, traffic, social media, web, links, and keyword. This photo represents the work that goes into SEO. By adding internal links you can make your page relevant to Google.

Common Places to Fit Internal Links

Inserting internal links into a page can be pretty simple. But it may also be a challenge at times to decide where you can fit internal links. The first place internal links can naturally be linked in a page is in your Call to action and Other services sections. In these sections, you have the easy opportunity to insert internal links. In your call to action, you will typically have the opportunity to link to your home page, about page, and team member pages.

This is also a great place to insert your contact page so potential clients can reach out to you. In the other services section, you are able to link your other services offers (i.e. anxiety treatment, therapy for depression, trauma therapy, etc.). Within the text of your page, you are able to link other service pages relating to what you are talking about. This also includes linking relevant blog posts if you have them.

Examples of Internal Links

So we know internal links are hyperlinks that take a viewer back to your website, but what do they look like? Typically internal links are linked to a blog post, a service page, team information, etc. There is usually always a spot to add an internal link. When adding the internal link, always ensure you put a link on relevant anchor text so it makes sense to the viewer.

If you have a blog mentioning anxiety and its symptoms, you should be able to link the post to an anxiety page, or another anxiety blog. Using the keyword anchor text of anxiety symptoms would ensure that the viewer understands they will be linked to something describing anxiety symptoms. This describes to viewers on your site what you’re linking to, as well as telling Google what you’re linking.
Another option is linking your ideal viewer back to your team page. On one of your service pages, you might be describing your “Caring Therapists”. You are then able to hyperlink the word therapist back to your team page that displays all of the members of your team.

How Internal Links Affect Google

Adding internal links to your site provides Google the knowledge of what your site and the pages on it are about. Google discovers the links on your website and begins to rank your pages and website in the search results. Google will begin crawling the pages to better understand your content.

When crawling pages and finding links that link back to your site, it reassures Google that your pages have helpful information and links. Google will begin indexing your pages at this point. So when someone searches for specific keywords relating to your page, Google will be more inclined to pull the page up to the top of the search results.

Don’t feel discouraged when it comes to your website’s ranking and how long someone navigates your website. Internal links provide an easy but effective way to get your website moving. Google takes its time crawling your pages so it can learn to understand your site and deem what’s important to show at the top of the search results. Working with Google can seem challenging, but with a little time and effort, you can begin to boost your SEO in no time!

Learn How To Start Boosting Your SEO With Simplified SEO Consulting

Our team at Simplified SEO Consulting wants to guide you in the right direction when it comes to boosting your SEO. Having guidance in your SEO journey is important for your website’s journey and we understand. To start your SEO journey follow these three simple steps:

Apply to work with us on your SEO
Meet With One of Our Skilled SEO Specialists
Begin SEO Services for Therapists

Other Services Offered With Simplified SEO Consulting

Looking for a different way we can support you? Simplified wants to support you no matter what your SEO journey is. We offer support in both our Done For You SEO Services and DIY Online SEO Courses. Simplified SEO Consulting also offers a 12-week Done With You Intensive Program. Check out our blog for more helpful tips!

About the Author:

Brianna is a Mental health SEO Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting. At Simplified, Brianna enjoys optimizing websites and interacting with clients. Her goal while working with our clients is to ensure they enjoy their SEO journey and understand how the SEO process works.

Looking for extra support? Schedule a consult with the consulting team to see who can help you and how.

November 10, 2022/0 Comments/by Brianna Joplin

SEO Basics, Websites

Meta Descriptions for Therapist “About” Pages

Let us start with the basics of what a meta description is really for. The short answer is that it gives both Google and potential clients a snapshot of your page. The tricky part is that you have to summarize your 500+ word page within a certain amount of characters. All while making sure the meta description positively affects your SEO.

In order to fully utilize your meta descriptions it must fulfill its two main jobs. The first job of the meta description is to help improve search engine rankings. So that your page will appear in Google searches for your ideal clients. Its second job is to navigate people from their search and onto your page. Thus improving your “click through rate”.

Tips for Writing A Good Meta Description for Your About Page

For service pages, the meta descriptions highlight that specific therapy technique or service page that you offer. While on blog posts they display the topic of the post and your expertise on the subject. However, your meta description on your about page should specifically showcase your area of expertise and your specific niche. That being said you know what you are offering to your clients better than anyone. This means you basically have everything that you need to write the meta description for your about page. However, these guidelines can make crafting it a little easier.

Picking the Right Keywords

The best keywords for your about page are normally going to be general “counselor”, “therapist”, or “psychologist” type keywords. However, if you specialize in one specific area then you might have a more specific keyword. For example, if you are a counselor who focuses mainly on trauma, PTSD, CPTSD, and emotional abuse recovery then your main keyword might be “trauma therapist”. Another example is if one therapist in a group practice only offers couples or marriage counseling. The main keyword on their about page might be “marriage counselor” or couples therapist”.

Keep It Unique

If you are the only therapist at your practice then keeping your “About” page meta description unique will be fairly simple. It will already stand apart from your service pages because you are highlighting yourself as a counselor/therapist/psychologist. However, if you have a group practice you will want to make sure that you have unique metas for each of the therapists. Tailor the meta descriptions on their pages to their unique skills, strengths, and niches. One of the ways to do that is to highlight different keywords for each person’s page when appropriate.

Not Too Short & Not Too Long

Watch the length of your meta description carefully. To start you want to make sure that it is over 120 characters but do not want it to go over 155 characters. If you go over the 155 then you risk the text getting cut off. However, if you are under 120 characters then your meta description might not be picked up by Google at all and they will just pick a snippet from your page. In order to get full use of it I like to make meta descriptions as close to 150-155 characters as possible. Honestly, I rarely find it hard to meet the 120-character minimum. Instead, I sometimes struggle to keep it under 155. In these cases, I will reword sentences or change out phrases until I get a combination that meets all the guidelines listed above.

Other Things To Consider

If there is room at the end include a call to action. Such as:
- “Learn more now”
- “Call today to learn more”
- “Read on”
When you can include a location within the meta description

Examples of Meta Descriptions for Therapist “About” Pages

Mary Smith | Trauma Therapist | Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 0X3

Mary Smith is an expert EMDR & trauma therapist in Winnipeg. She specializes in treating emotional abuse, CPTSD, & PTSD. Call to learn more!

Dr. Kent | Psychologist | Little Rock, Arkansas 72002

Learn more about Dr. Kent who is a Psychologist in Little Rock, AR. He provides counseling for general anxiety, agoraphobia, panic attacks & more. Read on!

Jane Foster | EMDR Therapist | Dublin, IE D07 V57C

Jane Foster is an understanding EMDR therapist at Example Therapy Services. She specializes in trauma recovery with children, teens, & adults.

Final Thoughts on Writing Meta Descriptions for Therapist “About” Pages

Search engine optimization is not always an exact science. It’s a dance of balancing what Google wants, maintaining your voice or vision, and appealing to your ideal clients. This means you might find yourself needing to rewrite your meta description and that’s alright. When optimizing your about page try starting with the meta description. Then after optimizing the page go back to the meta description and see if you want to make any changes to it. Another time you might end up rewriting the meta description is if you are not seeing the “click through rate” that you are wanting. For example, if Dr. Kent, from the meta description above, is ranking well for “psychologist in Little Rock, AR” but isn’t seeing a lot of clicks then it might be time to do a rewrite.

Learn More About SEO for Therapists & Mental Health Professionals

If you are interested in learning more about SEO for Therapists, Psychiatrists, or Psychologists then Simplified SEO Consulting can help guide you. We offer services that range from completely do-it-yourself SEO courses to done-with-you SEO classes to done-for-you SEO. Whether you want to learn how to do search engine optimization yourself or if you are looking to work directly with a Mental Health SEO Specialist we can help you grow your business! Ready to find the best way to get your website in front of your ideal clients? Then book a free consult today!

About The Author

Winnie is a Mental Health SEO Specialist who enjoys helping private practice owners grow their websites and their businesses. Her primary focus is working with therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and functional medicine doctors who choose our done-for-you services. She has written meta descriptions for home pages, about pages, service pages, and blogs for mental health professionals across the United States and in Canada.

November 8, 2022/0 Comments/by Winnie Youger-Rash

Content, Local SEO, SEO Basics

How Blogging is Not Just for SEO

You’re feeling uninspired. Thinking that you’re only blogging for SEO or to boost your rankings. I know I’ve caught myself thinking I’m only writing blogs for SEO and SEO-targeted keywords. However, it’s not true! Blogs are not just for SEO. They have many different purposes and can be used in many ways at your practice! From writing about topics you’re passionate about to addressing questions you’re asked about daily in therapy, blogs can cover a lot of territory. SEO-wise and topic-wise!

Blogging About Frequent Questions From Clients

As a therapist or counselor, I’m sure you’ve noticed clients coming in and asking about the same things. Topics like “How do I know I have Anxiety?” or “How Do I Know if I’m HSP?”. Aside from answering them in therapy, wouldn’t it be cool to have something written all about what they’re asking? That’s where a blog can come in handy! You can write blogs for your clients about topics you hear about frequently. It can come from questions you’ve been asked or you can blog about struggles your clients have been going through. For example, you can write about “How to Navigate Going Back to Work Postpartum: Tips from a Therapist”. Not only can you pack in SEO keywords, but you can also write to inform your clients about topics they are currently going through or could go through in the future.

Start Blogging About Your Services

This may sound cliche, but you can write about topics that connect back to your services! This way your clients or potential clients will know what your practice offers. For example, you may have a client who is already seeing you for one service. Then they read your blog about your mindfulness classes and ask to join those! Or, someone finds your blog about mindfulness. The one where you talk about how your practice offers them. Then they contact your practice to start. It can also just be a random person on the internet who appreciates the ways mindfulness can ease anxiety.

These blogs can be a great way to give insight to your clients about the services they may be taking part in. But, it can also give insight into the other services you offer. Like your approach to therapy for anxiety and depression. They can also just help others by looking for information from a reliable source. They can now do this without seeking contact with actual people. This may seem small but to a client who is looking for a therapist to trust with their mental health, this is a big win!

Write Blogs About Events Important to Your Practice

When blogging, you might think you can only write about topics you deal with inside your therapy sessions. However, you can blog about what your practice finds important outside of those, too! For example, if your practice sponsors or takes part in any runs/walks or fundraisers for any awareness campaigns. For example, the “Out of the Darkness Walks” that is organized by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

This can be a great blog topic to let clients know what your practice is involved in. It’s also a different way to give information about a topic. This can also let clients know how your practice is giving back to the mental health community outside of therapy. It also helps your clients find a community- if they resonate with this cause or foundation. They might enjoy getting involved and knowing that someone they trust is already there. It can also show that your practice is involved in the mental health community and trying to raise awareness about the struggles you’re working to address.

You Can Write Blogs About What You’re Going Through

This may seem a little confusing at first because it’s not like clients come to therapy to hear about your problems. But, if you’re an anxiety therapist who also has anxiety, it can be helpful to write blogs about situations that you’ve been in. For instance, if you’re an anxiety therapist who has anxiety, you could write about times your anxiety has been triggered and what you did about it. Like when you were moving and how you coped, or how you went to a holiday party and suffer from social anxiety. Or, if you’re someone who is a highly sensitive person, which I feel not everyone talks about enough, you can talk about your experiences.

Blogging about how to cope with certain situations you’ve been through or potential situations that bring you stress will probably help some of your clients or potential clients. Maybe even random people on the internet! Also, it’s more than likely your clients have also been in these situations or will benefit from these tips in the future. Plus, it makes them feel seen knowing even their therapist has been in a situation where their anxiety was a struggle.

Are you Interested in Learning More About Blogging?

At Simplified SEO Consulting we offer a variety of options that includes blogging. This is to teach therapists (and their team members) how to improve or maintain their online rankings. If you’re looking for a small group setting then our Small Group SEO Intensives would be a good place to start. Or, if you’re wanting a more personalized approach, then our one-on-one SEO trainings may be the best option for you. Perhaps, you’re looking for a more affordable option to get started, we have several DIY online courses that cover different SEO strategies too!

There are several options! So, you may be wondering what choice is best for your practice’s needs. That’s why we offer free video consultations. A member of our team would be happy to learn more about your practice and your SEO goals and give you their suggestions on what makes the most sense for you.

Other SEO Services Offered at Simplified SEO Consulting

As I mentioned, we realize that training and DIY options aren’t suitable for all practices. Or at least, they may not be suitable for your practice at this moment. So, for those who want to outsource, we offer Done-For-You SEO services at different levels. Or, if you’re still considering SEO then you may want to start learning a bit more with our free 7-day SEO email series. You can also check out our other blogs on SEO as well to gather more information on how SEO can benefit your practice.

About the Author:

Lynsey is an SEO Content Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting. At Simplified, Lynsey enjoys writing about different content topics for clients. She also realizes how important these topics are to the client, their practice, and their clients too! Especially, if the content is being used as a resource within the mental health field. Her goal is to always create content that resonates with the client and learn as much as she can along the way. She is passionate about providing copywriting services for psychiatrists and therapists.

Schedule your next consultation if you’re ready to see how Simplified can serve you!

November 3, 2022/0 Comments/by Lynsey Heskett