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How to Rank on Google for Therapists (E-A-T) 2023

If you are a mental healthcare professional with a website, then you know the importance of ranking high A magnifying glass with the words "How to Rank on Google for Therapists" displayed. If you are searching for SEO for therapists look no further. in Google search results. In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for reaching a wider audience and attracting potential clients. However, learning how to rank on Google for therapists can be challenging, especially with the recent Google algorithm updates that prioritize quality and user trust.

One of the most significant changes to the algorithm is the E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) update, which was introduced in 2018. The E-A-T algorithm aims to ensure that websites providing health-related content, including mental health information, are reliable, trustworthy, and backed by credible expertise. Google recognizes the sensitive nature of mental health topics and wants to ensure that users can find accurate and helpful information. That’s why when it comes to learning how to rank on Google for therapists, Google isn’t against us.

So, how does the E-A-T algorithm impact mental health professionals’ websites?

It means that simply having a website with relevant keywords and content is no longer enough. Google now evaluates the expertise, authority, and trustworthiness of the content and the website as a whole. Mental health professionals need to demonstrate their qualifications, establish themselves as authoritative figures, and cultivate a sense of trust among their website visitors.

The Impact of E-A-T on Mental Health Professionals’ Websites

The E-A-T algorithm has had a significant impact on mental health professionals’ websites since it was introduced. Websites that lack E-A-T factors or are not up to Google’s standards for content quality have seen a significant decrease in their search engine rankings. This includes those that offer inaccurate or unsupported information regarding mental health, low-quality content, and outdated links. Therefore, it’s essential that mental health professionals who have a website prioritize their E-A-T score.

Why Does Eat Matter as A Mental Health Professional, Medical Professional, or Attorney?Laptop with graphs surrounding it demonstrating the upward trajectory of SEO statistic. In order to learn how to rank on google for therapists, we need to know what we are measuring. A skilled mental health seo specialist for doctors, therapist, and attorneys can help!

The importance of E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) for mental health professionals cannot be overstated. In an era where misinformation and unreliable sources abound, it is crucial for mental health professionals to establish themselves as trustworthy and credible sources of information. Here’s why E-A-T matters:

Accuracy and Reliability:

Mental health is a sensitive and complex subject. Users seeking information on mental health topics rely on search engines like Google to provide accurate and reliable resources. By prioritizing E-A-T, mental health professionals can ensure that their website delivers trustworthy and evidence-based content, helping users make informed decisions about their mental well-being.

Building Trust:

Establishing trust is paramount in the mental health field. When users visit a mental health professional’s website, they should feel confident that the information provided is reliable and backed by expertise. A high E-A-T score helps build trust by showcasing the mental health professional’s qualifications, experience, and dedication to providing accurate information and quality care.

Reputation Management:

Online reputation plays a significant role in attracting new clients. A strong E-A-T score demonstrates to search engines and potential clients that the mental health professional is a reputable authority in their field. Positive user reviews, testimonials, and endorsements can further strengthen the mental health professional’s reputation, leading to increased visibility and client trust.

Competing in the Digital Landscape:

With the increasing reliance on the internet for mental health information, competition among mental health professionals in the digital space is fierce. Having a solid E-A-T foundation sets mental health professionals apart from less credible sources. It improves their chances of ranking higher in search engine results, increasing their visibility and reach.

How to Rank On Google for Therapists and SEO

  1. Showcase Your Expertise:

    • Clearly highlight your credentials, qualifications, and experience as a mental health professional on your website. Include information about your education, certifications, licenses, and any specialized training you have undergone.
    • Create an “About Me” page that presents your background, areas of expertise, and approach to therapy. This helps establish your authority and expertise in the field.

  2. Provide Credible and Reliable Content:

    • Focus on creating high-quality content that is accurate, up-to-date, and relevant to mental health topics. Avoid making exaggerated claims or promoting unverified treatments.
    • Support your content with reputable sources, such as scientific research papers, academic journals, or well-established mental health organizations. This demonstrates your commitment to evidence-based practice.

  3. Foster Trust and Transparency:

    • Build trust with your audience by showcasing testimonials and client success stories. Include reviews from satisfied clients, highlighting the positive impact of your services.
    • Clearly display your privacy policy and ensure the confidentiality of client information. This demonstrates your commitment to maintaining client privacy and confidentiality.

  4. Enhance User Experience:

    • Focus on creating a user-friendly website design that is easy to navigate and visually appealing. Optimize your website for mobile devices, as more and more users are accessing the internet through smartphones and tablets.
    • Improve page loading speed to enhance user experience and reduce bounce rates. Users are more likely to engage with a website that loads quickly and provides a seamless browsing experience.

  5. Engage with your Audience:

    • Encourage user engagement through features like comment sections, contact forms, or social media integration. Respond to inquiries, comments, or feedback promptly and professionally.
    • Regularly update your website with fresh, informative, and engaging content to keep visitors coming back for more. This could include blog posts, articles, videos, or podcasts.

Takeaways for How to Rank on Google for Therapists, Attorneys, and Doctors 2023 image showcasing a web of data points and strategies for a therapist with various SEO elements, such as keywords, backlinks, and website analytics, surrounding them. This is how we begin to understand how to rank on Google for therapists, attorney's, and doctors.

In conclusion, If you are wondering how to rank on Google for therapists and SEO in 2023 should prioritize the E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) algorithm to enhance your website’s ranking and establish itself as reliable source of mental health information. By focusing on accuracy, building trust, managing their online reputation, and competing effectively in the digital landscape, mental health professionals can ensure their website meets the criteria set by Google’s algorithm.

It is crucial to provide accurate and evidence-based content, showcase qualifications and expertise, and foster trust among website visitors. Engaging with the audience, regularly updating content, and collaborating with trusted professionals or organizations can further enhance the E-A-T score.

Improving the E-A-T score is an ongoing process that requires consistent effort and dedication. However, the benefits are significant, including increased visibility, a stronger reputation, and attracting more clients to your mental health practice. By prioritizing the E-A-T algorithm and implementing the strategies mentioned, mental health professionals can position themselves as reliable and trustworthy sources of mental health information in the digital landscape of 2023.

Begin working work with our dedicated team of SEO Specialists

Are you a mental health professional looking to improve your website’s visibility and attract more clients? Simplified SEO Consulting can help you achieve your goals! Our team of experienced SEO experts specializes in optimizing websites for mental health professionals, ensuring that you rank higher in search engine results and reach your target audience effectively.

With our tailored SEO strategies, we’ll work closely with you to improve your website’s E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) score, enhance your online reputation, and increase your website’s visibility. Our proven methods and industry expertise will help you stand out from the competition and attract more clients to your practice.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to expand your online presence and reach a wider audience. Contact Simplified SEO Consulting today and take the first step towards optimizing your website for success. Follow these simple steps to begin working with us soon!

  1. Apply to work with our team
  2. Once approved schedule your 45-minute consultation
  3. Learn about our team!
  4. Start adding intentional photos and alt text to your site.

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, trauma, sports psychology, postpartum/pregnancy/parenting, high achievers, and much more. Schedule a consult soon!

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SEO for Therapists: Surviving the Summer Slump 2023

As a therapist, you may have noticed a slump in the summer months. Especially, when it comes to new clients showing interest or calling for appointments. However, there is a solution: implementing SEO strategies for your private practice. This can increase your visibility online and attract new clients year-round or reinterest past clients. In this blog post, we’ll explore how SEO works and provide tips on how to implement it effectively.

Understanding the Slump in Summer for Therapists

Therapists often experience a slump in the summer months due to various factors. These factors can range from clients going on vacation, school being out of session, or simply lower demand for therapy services. But, that doesn’t mean you should give up on marketing!

It’s important for you as a therapist to continue to market your private practice with strategic SEO tactics. You can consider factors such as algorithm updates, creating relevant content, and optimizing your website for better visibility. Doing this will help you stay ahead of the competition and stay visible to potential clients. By implementing effective SEO strategies, you as a therapist can ensure steady growth for your private practices throughout the year.

Summer Vacations and Decreased Client Interest

Shows a person at a conference. Represents how seo for therapists can even come from going to conferencing and networking.

Photo by Jaime Lopes on Unsplash

The summer season can impact the attendance of clients. Many of them take the time to go on vacations or take a break from counseling. To maintain contact and engagement with them during this period, consider alternative methods. This can be creating relevant content or using algorithms to convert new website visitors into leads.

Additionally, therapists can use this opportunity to focus on self-care and personal development. You can do this by attending conferences or workshops related to your field. These opportunities can be great for networking with other professionals. But also learning new methods for therapy services, and staying informed on the latest trends. Then you can even share content about these developments on social media platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram.

Effect of School Being Out of Session

One way to adapt your marketing strategy during the summer is to focus on parents who are looking for therapy services for their children. School-age kids are often out of session during these months. This is a time parents may consider counseling or more intensive therapy services. You can use SEO tactics by optimizing your website for better visibility and creating content focused on this topic.

By targeting your SEO marketing strategy to target this audience, your practice can increase visibility and attract more clients. Consider optimizing your website’s content to target these potential clients. You can do this by incorporating relevant keywords and phrases. This will help you rank higher on search engine results pages. Additionally, creating new content, such as blogs, that speaks to the concerns of families during this period can convert visitors into leads.

What Strategies Can Therapists Use to Combat Summer Slump in SEO?

SEO strategies can be specific to the situation as pointed out above, but there are more general strategies you can take. Here are a few tips for therapists to consider when optimizing their private practice’s SEO during the summer:

Focus On Local SEO

Since many people will be at home more or students will be going on summer vacation, therapists should focus on local SEO. This means ensuring that you focus time on optimizing your website for local SEO searches and ensuring your website-and content-is indexed and ranking. These keywords you can be ranking for are “therapist in Arkansas” or “children’s anxiety therapist in New Hampshire”. Another way to do this is to make sure that your Google Business Profile is up to date and fully filled out.

Create Summer-Specific Content

Shows a sign that says "Difficult Roads Lead to Beautiful Destinations". Represents how seo for mental health professionals can help individuals find the help they need during the summer.

Photo by Nik on Unsplash

While your services may stay the same year-round, creating content that speaks to the unique challenges of summer can help attract new clients. Consider writing blog posts or creating social media content that focuses on topics that are unique to summer. These can be content ideas such as managing stress during summer vacation, maintaining healthy relationships with family members during extended time together, or online therapy in the summer months.

Webinars or Podcasts

Webinars and podcasts can be great ways to not only give out interesting, informative information but also to engage with your existing clients. By hosting webinars on relevant topics or participating in podcast interviews, therapists can showcase their knowledge, build credibility, and increase their online visibility. These webinars and podcasts can cover interesting topics that pertain to summer or even phenomena such as themes in movies coming out and how they can relate to therapy. Additionally, promoting these webinars or podcast episodes on your website and social media channels can generate interest and traffic to your website.

Engaging Videos

Videos or reels are almost more popular ways of dispersing information than posts. This can be a creative way for you as a therapist to address popular questions you receive in therapy, see on social media, or are topical in the summer. You can also engage with your audience by creating a Q&A video, or you can offer tidbits of therapy advice to help people through the summer. This is also a great way to increase engagement with your social media channels and attract more visitors to your website.

For example, you can think of a topic in a popular book, movie, or trend that you want to address, create a short video about it, and share it on your website as well as on social media. By addressing these popular topics, you can not only connect with your target audience more but also add value to their lives. It can engage your audience while they are binge-watching their favorite summer movies or reading all the books they saved up for the summer

Keep Consistently Blogging

Shows a person writing on their computer. Represents how seo for mental health recommends to consistently blog to help with ranking.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

If you have read any of our blogs, you know that we absolutely recommend consistently blogging. This is because it not only establishes your expertise with Google but gives information to your established clients and potential ones. Another reason blogging can benefit you during this summer slump or slowdown is that it can create a strong online presence for your website. It is also another way to attract new clients and regain the interest of established ones! By regularly publishing informative content related to counseling and therapy, it can boost your visibility in search engine results and help you stand out from the competition.

Network With Other Professionals

Summer is a great time to network with other professionals who will be able to understand and support your business. Connecting with local professionals will allow you to increase your SEO ranking. One way is by boosting the number of backlinks pointing to your website. It can also be a great way to offer workshops or group sessions aimed at supporting families, children, or individuals who are going through a tough summer.

Guest Blogging

One way to collaborate with other professionals is to guest blog for a fellow therapist or for a popular mental health website. Writing guest blogs for popular mental health websites or inviting guest bloggers, or being one yourself, to contribute to your own blog are great ways to increase your reach. But also to attract new audiences! This can potentially boost your website’s visibility, backlinks, and SEO ranking. Think of who has a large following and would love to work with then reach out to see if they would be interested in partnering with you.

By working together, you can create informative and engaging events that attract a wider audience while also helping each other expand your reach online through. But also helping each other get backlinks and referrals that can boost your SEO ranking. It’s a win-win and is a great way to keep your business running successfully during the summer.

Let’s Work Together to Optimize Your SEO For Mental Health This Summer!

At Simplified SEO Consulting, we want to support you through this summer slump with our team of experts who have experience in SEO for mental health. We specialize in optimizing your website and content to ensure it is indexed and ranking so your ideal clients can find you this summer! We put together a series of SEO packages to help you with your SEO journey.

No matter what stage you are in, from starting out to already having a well-optimized website but needing help with creating content. By investing in your website you are also investing in your and your practice’s future. Want to learn about SEO? Sign up for our SEO Course for Therapists and learn how to use the power of blogs and SEO to reach more clients and grow your practice! Or want to outsource it? Check out our SEO Consulting packages and apply to work with us! Ready to get started?

  1. Please apply to work with us
  2. Learn about our team
  3. Begin reaching more clients this summer!

Other SEO Services At Simplified SEO Consulting

If you feel as if you are already an expert in SEO but want to see what other services we offer, know that we also provide other services. 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. These can also be helpful to find better keywords, evaluating your current SEO performance, and more. 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:Lynsey, SEO Content Writer for Simplified SEO Consulting

Lynsey is an SEO Content Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting. She is driven by her passion for crafting exceptional content that embodies her clients’ distinctive brand voice and practice. With a specialization in mental health-related subjects, she recognizes the impact of high-quality content on therapists’ search engine rankings and attracting their ideal clients. Lynsey’s primary objective is to leverage her copywriting expertise to assist therapists in maximizing their return on investment, offering invaluable insights on harnessing the power of blogs as effective tools in summer SEO marketing strategies.

Apply to work with us if you’re ready to see how Simplified can serve you!

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Four Common SEO Mistakes Made by Private Practices

Are you a private practice owner looking to start working on your SEO? SEO is important when it comes to your website to help improve your rankings on search engines. With it, your website will be able to rank and your ideal clients will have an easier time finding your site. But did you know there are some common mistakes practitioners make when it comes to their SEO?

Despite how important SEO is, it can be easy for a practitioner to still make common mistakes. These mistakes typically include: ignoring local SEO, neglecting on-page optimization, focusing too much on keywords, and ignoring technical SEO. Follow along to see how you can avoid making these four common SEO mistakes.

Four Common SEO Mistakes by Private Practices

Neglecting Your Private Practices Local SEO

The first mistake practitioners may make when working on their website’s SEO is ignoring local SEO. Local SEO is the practice of targeting and optimizing a website to be found by local clients who are searching for specific therapy or practices in a specific geographic area. An example of this practice could be a potential client searching for, “trauma therapy in Little Rock, AR”. Local SEO is important for practitioners as it helps generate clients for their practice due to clients searching for services in their local area. By optimizing your website and creating a local online presence, you will have a better chance of finding clients in your local area you may be trying to reach and appearing at the top of search results when they search for, “anxiety therapy near me”.

Many private practices may overlook local SEO in favor of broader state or national SEO strategies as well. These can be important but being established locally can be a great start in creating a base for your SEO practice. Some tips on improving your local SEO include optimizing your Google Business Profile if you have one, using local keywords, replying to your reviews, and creating location-specific content. Optimizing your Google Business Profile is absolutely crucial with local SEO and will help establish you with Google. Make sure your Google Business Profile NAP (name, address, and phone number) is complete, accurate, and up to date as it can affect your rankings.

Neglecting On-Page OptimizationPhoto of a woman working on her laptop and smiling while a graphic displaying the word SEO and other website graphics. Are you a private practice owner wanting to improve your private practice SEO? Discover the common mistakes website owner's make when working on their SEO.

The second mistake most private practice owners are making is neglecting their on-page optimization. On-page optimization is important when it comes to your website ranking and getting organic traffic by optimizing various elements on a web page to make it more search engine friendly and relevant to the targeted keywords. Without it, search engines would have a difficult time with the content on your webpage which will then affect its visibility in search results. The most common way to optimize your website is by optimizing page titles, meta descriptions, header tags, URLs, images, and content to provide search engines with relevant information about the web page, which in turn will help it rank higher in search results. 

While many private practice owners might optimize the pages on their websites, some might not put in enough effort in their optimization, thus not generating the traffic they need to their websites. So if private practice owners utilize their on-page SEO strategies, they can improve the relevance and quality of their content, which can ultimately result in higher search engine rankings and more organic traffic.

Focusing Too Much on Keywords

The third mistake private practice owners face when working on their SEO is focusing too much on keywords. Keywords are a critical component of SEO. They are terms and phrases that people use to search for information and services on search engines. By optimizing your content and website for relevant keywords, you can improve your website’s visibility in search engine results pages and attract more organic traffic. Without them, it would be hard to optimize and rank.

But there are dangers in using keywords as well. When optimizing a page or photo you must make sure you are using both relevant keywords and not keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing typically happens when someone excessively adds keywords to a page or photo. Usually in hopes to manipulate the search engine. This can be very harmful to your SEO and result in consequences for the search engine. Thus, causing your website to no longer rank. Be sure your keywords are always used in a natural and relevant way to the page you are optimizing.

Ignoring Your Private Practices Technical SEO

Technical SEO is another important factor in ranking on search engines. A lot of private practice owners optimizing their websites may ignore technical SEO. It’s the process of optimizing a website’s technical side and backend elements. Both will help to improve its search engine visibility and its ability to be crawled. Typical ways you would work on technical SEO include optimizing website speed, mobile-friendliness, and website architecture. Most private practice owners skip this part of optimization.

As they are not well-versed in the technical aspect of their website. But these are important ways to help boost your website’s rankings. Here are some tips on improving the technical side of your SEO: check your page speed (slow loading times can negatively impact user experience and lead to lower search engine rankings), optimize for mobile friendliness, make sure your website has proper site structure and have a clear navigation system so the search engines can easily crawl the pages, don’t use duplicate content as it can lower your rankings, and make sure internal and external links are not broken and link back to a live site.

Photo of two women smiling and celebrating in front of a laptop. Discover the four common mistakes private practice owners make when it comes to optimizing and improving their private practice seo.Invest in Your Private Practices SEO

As a private practice owner, these are all common mistakes that can affect your website’s SEO. If you want your website to rank well be sure you are investing your time and effort into your SEO strategies. This is ideal as it will help improve your online visibility to attract your ideal clients. Remember, optimizing for search engines is like going to the dentist. It may not be the most fun thing in the world, but it’s necessary for a healthy practice!

Apply To Work With Simplified SEO Consulting

Interested in training or getting help with your private practice’s SEO? Our team at Simplified SEO Consulting wants to help you learn the process of SEO and ensure that you can help your website begin ranking. With our guidance and support, you will have the right clients calling your practice to get started with your services. To start your SEO journey with our Simplified team follow these three simple steps:

  1. Apply to work with us on your SEO
  2. Meet with one of our Skilled SEO Specialists
  3. Begin working on improving your SEO skills!

Other Services Offered With Simplified SEO Consulting

Interested in working with our team to help you with your website’s SEO? To help you get your optimize ranking in the search engine results and find your ideal client, 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

Photo of Brianna Joplin, a mental health SEO specialist who offers SEO for therapists at Simplified SEO Consulting.

Brianna is an SEO Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting, where she enjoys optimizing client websites and interacting with them to help achieve their SEO goals. She has a passion for inspiring clients to learn about their own SEO and takes pride in helping them understand how the SEO process works. Brianna’s top priority is to ensure that Simplified clients not only enjoy their SEO journey but also feel empowered to work on their websites themselves. 

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

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The Non-Blogger’s Guide to SEO Success

Are you a therapist or psychiatrist private practice owner who detests writing and really doesn’t want to start blogging? Yet…you know that you need to do something to get noticed and increase your website’s visibility and have heard blogging is an important SEO strategy? We understand that feeling!  You may not consider yourself an ‘expert’ in SEO, but that doesn’t mean it has to be intimidating. In this post, we will provide helpful tips and advice to explain how some private practice websites can rank well even without a blog.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a vital component of any online marketing strategy, especially for private practice owners. A higher ranking on Google can help drive more traffic to your website and attract more clients to your practice. But does blogging have to be a part of your SEO strategy? The answer is no, but it can definitely help.

Blogging is one of many SEO Strategies You Can UsePhoto from Bigstock of an African American female's hands on a computer representing a private practice owner who wants their psychiatry practice to rank well on Google and improve their SEO without blogging.

Blogging is a powerful tool that can help your website rank faster on Google. Regularly publishing high-quality blog posts can increase the number of pages on your website, which in turn gives Google more content to index. This makes it easier for Google to understand what your website is about and which searches it should appear for. Blogging also allows you to target specific keywords and phrases that potential clients might use to find your services.

However, there are instances where websites without blogs still rank well on Google. This can be frustrating for those who put in the effort to consistently create and publish blog content (even though the writing is like pulling teeth for them) but it still takes months to outrank practices that don’t even have a blog. Some of the factors that may contribute to this include the age of the URL or domain, the number of high-quality backlinks, and the relevance of the website’s content to the search query.

Here are some specific strategies and factors that can make your website more search engine friendly and help you attract more clients to your practice, even without blogging:

How Long You’ve Owned Your Website

When it comes to ranking a website, the age of the domain or URL matters to Google. This is because an older domain is seen as more established and trustworthy. Google wants to provide users with the most relevant and reliable results possible, and an older domain indicates that the website has been around for a while and has likely built up a good reputation.

But Google doesn’t just look at the age of the domain; they also consider whether there has been consistent ownership of the website. If a website has changed hands frequently or has been dropped and picked up again by different owners, it may not be seen as a reliable source of information. On the other hand, if a website has had the same owner for a long time and has consistently provided high-quality content, it may be seen as a more trustworthy source of information.

While it’s not essential to have an older domain or consistent ownership to rank well on Google, it can certainly help…especially if you’re not blogging.

Keyword Research

Conducting thorough keyword research is essential for any effective SEO strategy. Focus on identifying the most relevant keywords for your practice and optimizing your website’s content around them. Make sure to include these keywords in your copy and page titles, as well as on any images that you use. This will help Google better understand the content of your website and ensure that it appears for relevant searches. A website that ranks well without blogging likely is using words on that website that people are searching for.

Link Building

A Dall-E rendered photo of chains linked together representing how websites are linked together through backlinks. If you're a private practice owner wondering how therapists can get more backlinks this is the blog post for you!Link building is one of the most important SEO strategies, and it is especially critical if you’re not blogging. Building backlinks to your website from other high-quality, relevant websites can help boost your website’s ranking on Google. This is because when Google sees that your website is being linked to by other websites, it indicates to them that you are providing valuable content.

This helps to establish your website as a reputable source of information, and can lead to higher search engine rankings. So, focus on building high-quality backlinks from reputable websites in your niche.

It is very common that websites without a blog who rank well have a large number of backlinks  from high-quality websites. So, this should be a huge focus of your SEO efforts if you aren’t blogging. However, it is important to be aware that Google has a strict policy against link schemes and buying backlinks.

A note about link-building “shortcuts”

Buying backlinks can be tempting, as it offers a quick and easy solution to link building. However, Google has strict policies regarding link schemes, so engaging in any type of black hat SEO (such as buying backlinks) activity may result in your website being penalized or even removed from Google’s index altogether. So focus on building high-quality backlinks the right way, and avoid any shortcuts that may get you into trouble.

Some “white hat” strategies for building quality backlinks to your website include :

  1. Publish content on industry-specific forums and discussion boards
  2. Appear as a guest on a podcast
  3. Submit your website to relevant directories and local listings
  4. Create social media accounts for your business and share links to your website with followers
  5. Ask to be added to a resource list
  6. Act as a source for reporters
  7. Participate in Quora threads related to your niche and use it as an opportunity to link back to your website
  8. Reach out to influencers in your industry and ask them to share your content with their followers
  9. Submit guest posts or write testimonials for high-quality websites in your niche that allow you to include a link back to yours 
  10. Sponsor a local event.

On-Page Optimization

Since a website without a blog will have fewer pages overall, it’s important that those pages you do have are really well optimized. On-page optimization refers to the process of optimizing individual web pages in order to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic. Key factors include optimizing page titles, meta descriptions, and header tags. Additionally, make sure all of your website’s pages are properly optimized for mobile and that they load quickly.

User Experience

Your website’s user experience (UX) is critical to its success in search engines. Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly, easy to navigate, and loads quickly. Additionally, having meaningful calls-to-action on each page will help drive more conversions.

Local SEO

Local SEO is a critical component of any effective SEO strategy for private practice owners. Ensure that your website is optimized for local searches by including your practice’s name, address, and phone number on your website and other directories. A list management service  can help ensure that your practice is listed on the most important local directories. We offer this service, but so do many other SEO companies.

Other local SEO strategies might include having a full optimized Google Business Profile where you regularly post updates,  responding to customer reviews, featuring local photos and references on website and setting up geo-targeted campaigns on social media.

Is it possible to rank on Google without blogging?Photo of white blocks in front of a keyboard that spells out SEO. This photo represents how important SEO consulting is to a website and how SEO specialists can help you.

Ultimately, SEO without blogging can be effective in driving organic traffic to your website. However, blogging is still a powerful tool for SEO and should not be overlooked as part of an overall marketing strategy. It undoubtedly makes ranking well easier. And, not only does it drive organic traffic, but it also helps build relationships with your audience and increase brand visibility. 

However, every website that ranks well doesn’t necessarily have a blog. There are over 200 factors Google considers when ranking a website, and while blogging has its place in an effective SEO strategy, it is not the only factor. So if you don’t want to blog, make sure your SEO strategy focuses on the other key components such as content optimization, link building, and local SEO. Doing so will help ensure your website ranks well in search engine results even without a blog.

At the end of the day, SEO is an important part of any digital marketing strategy, and the key is to find the strategies that work best for your business.  It’s also important to note that SEO can take some time, so be patient and stay focused on the long-term goals.

Simplified SEO Consulting: An SEO Solution for Therapists & Private Practice Owners

If you need help developing an SEO strategy that works for your private practice, apply to meet with a member of the Simplified SEO Consulting team and we’ll be happy to help. We know every private practice owner is different. Your needs are different. Your budget is different. Ideal clients vary from practice to practice. Treatment methods vary. Location varies and has a huge impact on what you need to do for SEO. In other words, we know every practice we work with needs a slightly different strategy. That is both why we offer a free consultation to help us determine what will be needed for your website and why we offer such a wide range of SEO service.

Our Done for You SEO services are most popular and great if you’re looking to outsource! We also believe that mental health private practice owners who have the time and motivation absolutely can learn SEO if they want. Therefore, we offer a wide range of services to help you optimize your own site including a comprehensive SEO course, a 12 week individual training program where you work 1:1 with a member of our leadership team and also a small group intensive where we take a semester to help a small group of people improve the SEO on their private practice website.

SEO is a lot of work…and it pays off.

I know SEO is a lot of work. Truly, it is. I think so now even after years of doing it. And while both of my websites rank well, they still do require attention from time to time even now. AND I believe it’s worth it. I’ve seen the huge benefits that can come long-term from having great SEO. So, I want to make sure my team does everything in our power to really help and support other practice owners in their SEO journey.

It’s a dialectic. Both can be true. But if you’re thinking about going the SEO route to market your private practice, reach out and we’d love to help.

 

Jessica Tappana, Simplified SEO Consulting founder and group practice owner answers the question, Is it possible to rank on Google without blogging?About the Author

Jessica Tappana owns a private pay group practice in Missouri that currently has 2 locations and approximately 12 therapists. She’s also the founder and owner of Simplified SEO Consulting. She believes that therapists do their best work when they have a steady stream of their ideal clients. So, Simplified SEO Consulting’s mission is to help as many therapists as possible have that steady

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4 SEO Tips From a Therapist

By Amanda Holmberg MS LMFT

Owner/Therapist, Sexual Wellness Institute 

 

Are you a therapist who is brand new to this whole SEO for therapists thing? As a therapist who is not “techy,” I was surprised at how fast I learned what these three letters meant and why they are so important.

SEO = Search Engine Optimization. If your website has “good” SEO it means Google thinks you have good and relevant information on your website and will place you higher on search results for certain keywords. 

What are Keywords? Keywords are words that clients use to search for something in Google. If they are looking for a therapist, they might search for words like, “couples therapist near me” or “depression counseling”. If your practice serves couples or individuals who are depressed, you’d want Google to put you on the first page for clients searching those keywords so that they can find you, and schedule with you!

 

How do you get on the first page of Google for the services your practice provides? I learned SEO for therapists from working with Simplified SEO Consulting, and I will now share these SEO tips with you!

 

BlogShows a therapist writing a blog while drinking coffee. Symbolizes how seo consulting supports therapists blogging to boost their SEO and reach their ideal clients.

Yes, I know it’s annoying. I know we’ve heard it a million times. But it is so so important to blog for several reasons. 

  1. A way to get more keywords on your website
  2. A way to establish yourself as an expert in your specialty areas
  3. Give clients something to try if they aren’t ready to start therapy yet
  4. Attracts visitors to your website
  5. Google favors websites that have regular updates and fresh content 

 

SEO Tips for Creating a Blog

 

  1. Don’t make it too hard for yourself. Think of things you are always repeating over and over to your clients and write them out in a clear and concise way.
  2. Resist the urge to be “perfect”. Your writing doesn’t have to be academic, in fact, it shouldn’t be. Google doesn’t like that and neither do clients. Your writing also doesn’t have to be the best thing you’ve ever written. Get your thoughts out, proof it once, and be done with it. The point is to get information out to your clients and also get keywords on your website. That’s it. 
  3. Use “tips” and numbered lists Ex: 5 Ways to Improve your anxiety RIGHT Now!”
  4. Blogs should be at least 500-600 words
  5. Use headers to separate paragraphs to make it easier to read
  6. Link to other pages on your website or other blogs in your blog
  7. Share on all of your social media
  8. Blog regularly and consistently. Blogging once per week or once per month consistently is way better than blogging 7 days in a row and then nothing for a month. 

Service PagesShows a client searching for a therapist's service pages. Represents why our team at Simplified SEO Consulting says "Yes" when therapists ask "is seo important for therapists".

 

Service pages are headers at the top of your website that lead to pages that give clients more information about your services. These should be very specific. I am a relationship and sex therapist and my services pages are things like “desire concerns”, “marriage counseling”, and “sexual trauma therapy”. 

Each specialty in your practice needs a page with at least 500 words on it. This page will include “pain points” (what clients with this issue may be feeling), how you treat the issue, and what outcomes the client can expect by entering into therapy with you. Please see my service pages for examples!

 

Add information about your location throughout the website

 

Make sure you have a header with “Our location” or “Our office” that has a Google map linked with your address. Your address should also be at the bottom of every page. Another one of these more local SEO tips is that you should also list cities or landmarks that you are close to, as Google likes this. It shows that you really know the area and convinces Google that you are really located there. This strategy is a part of Local SEO.

Create a Google Business ProfileShows the Google My Business Profile app on someone's phone. Represents how SEO consulting encourages therapists to sign up for a Google My Business Profile.

 

A Google business profile is another way to show up on Google. This is where a few different businesses are listed upon searching for something with the map above it. This is also another way to legitimize your business.

Create your profile by following this link   https://www.google.com/business/

 

Don’t do all these things at once or you are sure to get overwhelmed. Pick one of these SEO tips and work on it for a couple of weeks. Then move on to the next. You got it! Sending you and your business high-ranking vibes!

Interested in SEO Consulting?

Learning SEO Marketing for therapists and receiving SEO consulting can really help boost your private practice’s rankings. If you’re looking for SEO support, we would love to support you in reaching your ideal clients and the top of Google’s rankings. When you’re ready to begin SEO consulting, please follow these steps:

  1. Apply to work with us and learn more about the members of the Simplified SEO Consulting team
  2. Learn more about our SEO services and training opportunities
  3. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube! Or join our newsletter to keep up-to-date on SEO tips!
  4. Begin using these SEO tips to boost your rankings today!

About the AuthorShows Amanda Holmberg MS LMFT. She has learned SEO marketing for therapists and is excited to share her SEO tips.

Amanda Holmberg, MS LMFT is a Clinic Director/Owner of Sexual Wellness Institute. With a Master’s in Marriage & Family Therapy, Amanda teaches as an adjunct instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. She has extensive experience in working with sexual concerns, trauma, and EMDR therapy. Amanda is passionate about helping couples, individuals, and non-traditional relationships (poly, swinging, open marriages, kink, etc.). She also works with high-conflict couples, those considering divorce, and blended families. Amanda is dedicated to making her clients feel comfortable and confident in therapy. She offers free consultation appointments and provides supervision, internships, and consultation to therapists.

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Your Local Area Heatmap Rankings Are Dropping! Here’s What You Can Do To Counteract It

Maintaining your rankings in Google can take time to achieve lasting success and involve a number of different strategies.

A graphic of a local map with the pin “you are here”. Learn how to rank on Google for therapists and the support a heatmap can offer for private practice SEO today. SEO for private practices can offer support. The same can also be said for supporting your rankings on a more localized level. It’s important to ensure you show up for folks outside of the normal service area that may not find you without the help of Google. But, it is equally important to ensure that the people in your surrounding community can also find your private practice. When you see that your heatmap rankings are dropping, this means your target keywords are dropping in those areas on Google Maps. While this is discouraging, there are a number of things you can do to counteract your target keywords dropping in on your heatmap. So, today we are going to discuss some of the best ways you can bounce back when you experience a dip in your Google Map rankings.

With these tips, I should preface this is assuming that you’ve already optimized your Google Business Profile with all necessary information including NAP info, photos of your practice and team, images representing your practice, etc. Ensuring your GBP is up to date is always a good first step when you experience a change in your data. 

Also, we won’t reference reviews in this blog

This is due to the unique nature of therapy and the relationship between counselor and client. While getting reviews and engaging with them is always great for the health of your Google Business Profile, receiving ethically sourced reviews is most important. Without further ado, let’s get into tips to counteract dropping heatmap rankings.

Create Localized Media

While it can take some time to respond to dropping keywords, one of the best ways to sustain your heatmap rankings is by creating new media that are hyper-focused on specific areas around your practice. When you see that keywords are dropping for a particular location, creating content that is centered around the areas in which data is dropping is a great way to incorporate your target keywords while telling Google where you want to focus on ranking on Google Maps. 

Creating blog posts and other types of content can help you highlight local events, landmarks, and neighboring businesses. These may include videos, social media posts, or Google Business Profile posts, and can allow you to naturally work specific locations into your blogs. For example, a clinician focusing on couples therapy may see their rankings dropping on Google Maps for couples therapy-related keywords on the south side of the town. If so, they may decide to create a post that highlights parks in the area for date ideas. By doing so, the clinician provides information for google describing the keywords they want to rank for (couples therapy), and the location they want to sustain their rankings (south part of town).

You can also make existing blogs more personal!

In addition to creating new localized blogs, you can also optimize existing content on the site as well! Doing so can help you include more location indicators in blog/page titles, headings, subheadings, and content throughout your site. However, it is important to keep in mind how often you are including location info and keywords. Sprinkling indicators where it feels natural are important to remember so you avoid content from sounding artificial or out of place.

A graphic showing interconnected points on a board. This could represent building links to improve heatmap rankings. Learn SEO for private practices by searching for “google business profile in counseling” to learn more. Building Local Links

Another way you can help to counteract heatmap is by working on creating more links to the websites of local businesses or publications in your area. Getting featured in a blog post from another site can also be a great way to support local SEO for private practices. One way you can accomplish this is by reaching out to another local business to see if they would be open to putting links to each other’s sites. This can provide both businesses with a new backlink and can be a win-win in many cases.

Check Out the Competition

An additional tactic you may use is looking at your competitors for ideas on what you may need to change to support your private practice SEO on a local level. This may come in the form of checking out what blog topics are on their site. You can gain new ideas for posts, get a sense of other topics you may not have previously thought of, and learn of adjustments you may need to make for your own local SEO strategy. 

Consider Your Social Media Presence and Keywords

It won’t make sense for every clinician to have a social media presence for their practice. But, for practices that have a more external presence, easier it is to connect and provide regular updates to those around you. This can also help you become more recognizable to those around you as well. 

In addition, it is also worth taking the time to take an inventory of the keywords you are focusing on locally. Some may be hot ticket keywords that everyone wants to rank for like “counseling near me”, and will take a considerable amount of time and effort to rank for. But, others you are focusing on may not be as relevant to the services you want to rank for on a local level. For example, you probably wouldn’t want to show up for something like “online therapy near me” if you only offer in-person services. You likely wouldn’t want to rank for such a keyword due to the nature of online therapy occurring from remote areas, or locations outside your local scope. 

Begin Improving Local SEO for Private Practices with Simplified SEO Consulting


A graphic depicting local SEO including Google Maps. Learn how to rank on Google for therapists and the support heatmaps can offer for private practice SEO today. SEO for private practices can offer support. Our team of caring therapists would be happy to support you in maintaining and sustaining both your Google Search results and Google Maps rankings. We offer a variety of services to support you and help grow your practice on a local level. You can start working with us by following these steps:

  1. Apply to work with Simplified SEO Consulting
  2. Meet with an SEO specialist.
  3. Start improving your local heatmap rankings!

Other Services Offered With Simplified SEO Consulting

Our team at Simplified SEO Consulting is happy to offer support in a number of ways. We can offer support in improving local SEO for therapists as well as DIY Online SEO Courses. We also offer Done For You SEO services, and a Done With You 12-week Intensive SEO program as well. Feel free to visit our blog to learn more today!

About the Author

Sterling smiles while posing for the camera. He offers support in improving local SEO for private practices. Learn more about private practice SEO and improving your Google Business Profile in Counseling today with Simplified SEO Consulting.Sterling Humburg-Cage graduated from the University of Missouri with a BA in Psychology in 2020. He integrates what he learned in school into his work as an SEO Specialist with Simplified SEO Consulting. Sterling prides himself on helping current clients & alumni problems solve difficult SEO issues.  He’s great at giving clients multiple options about how to approach a situation and responding quickly to client concerns.  Since he started, Sterling has met frequently with our alumni and provided them with extra problem-solving support. He often goes the extra mile to do outside research and make sure private practice owners have everything they need to rank well on search engines long-term for the keywords their ideal clients are using!

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How You Can Improve Your Chances of Ranking in a Google 3-Pack: Private Practice SEO Tips

As a mental health professional who owns their own practice, you may have heard “Google 3-pack” being thrown around. It’s especially important when it comes to where your website ranks. But what exactly is a Google 3-pack, and why should you care about it when it comes to finding your ideal client? In this blog post, we’ll explore the importance of the Google 3-pack. As well as how you can improve your rankings to appear in it and maintain them.

What is a Google 3-Pack?

First, let’s define what the Google 3-pack is. When an ideal client searches for a local service, such as “anxiety therapy in Little Rock, AR”, Google will often display a box at the top of the search results page (SERPs) with three practices that fit the search criteria. This area of the SERPs is known as the Google 3-pack. It’s a highly coveted spot for practices that want to be displayed first. When you appear at the top of the SERPs you will more than likely see an increase in calls or clicks as most searchers will use the 3-pack to find what they are looking for before they continue scrolling down the search results.

So as a mental health professional, why is it important to rank in the Google 3-pack for your practice? For starters, it’s a great location for your practice to appear on the search results page. Most searchers don’t bother scrolling past the first few results that show up in the SERPs. So appearing in the 3-pack can greatly increase your chances of getting noticed by potential ideal clients. Photo of an African American man smiling while working on his laptop. Learn tips to improve your rankings and how you can get your practice ranking in the Google 3-pack.

It Gives Your Practice Credibility

Another important reason for appearing in the Google 3-pack is that it can lend credibility to your practice. Google’s algorithm takes many different factors into account when determining which practices to display in its 3-pack. It considers the business’s proximity to the searcher, the number of reviews and ratings it has, and the relevance of the business’s website to the keywords being searched for. If your business appears in the 3-pack, it’s a signal to potential clients that you’re a reputable and trustworthy business.

Ready to learn how you can improve your rankings to appear in the Google 3-Pack? Here are a few tips:

Tips For Improving Your Rankings in Google’s 3-Pack

Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile is an important factor in determining whether your practice appears in the Google 3-pack. Always make sure your profile is complete and accurate. This includes your business name, address, and phone number (also known as NAP). Use relevant keywords in your practice description. Also, be sure to select the appropriate categories for your practice as well. 

Improve Your Website’s SEO

While your Google Business Profile is important, it’s not the only factor that determines your rankings. Your website’s SEO (search engine optimization) also plays an important role in your rankings. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly, has a fast loading speed, and includes relevant keywords in your content. Be sure to create high-quality content that addresses the needs and concerns of your ideal clients, such as blog posts about common mental health issues, such as “Tips on Managing Anxiety Before a Counseling Session”. Photo of an Asian American woman using her laptop to improve her private practice SEO. This photo represents how improving your website's SEO can help you improve your Google rankings and rank in the Google 3-pack.

Build Quality Backlinks 

Local citations are mentions of your business’s name, address, and phone number on other websites, such as directories or social media platforms. Building local citations can help increase your business’s visibility and credibility, as well as improve your rankings in the Google 3-pack. Make sure your business’s NAP is consistent across all citations, as discrepancies can hurt your rankings. Checking on your Google Business Profile and NAP will help keep your information accurate at all times.

Backlinks to your website from reputable sources can help increase your online prominence and improve your local search rankings. Reach out to local organizations, schools (such as colleges), partners, and industry associations to see if they would be willing to link to your website. A great way to build backlinks is to also give another practitioner a backlink from your website. Guest blogging on someone else’s page and having them guest blog on yours is a simple and effective way to create one.

Encourage Client Reviews

As mentioned earlier, the number and quality of client reviews can impact your rankings in the Google 3-pack. Try to encourage your clients to leave reviews on your Google Business Profile. As well as other review sites such as Yelp or Healthgrades. Respond to all reviews, both positive and negative, to show that you value feedback from your clients. If you’re unsure how you should respond to a review as a practitioner, check out this blog post on “Responding to Google Reviews in an Ethical Way: Ideas for Mental Health Professionals”.

While it can be tough to rank in the Google 3-pack, it’s a powerful and effective way to get calls, and clicks, and find your ideal clients. By following these tips you can begin improving your rankings and hopefully start ranking in Google’s 3-pack.Photo of a magnifying glass hovering over the words Google My Business. Discover ways you can manage your Google My Business and start ranking in the Google 3-pack.

Apply To Work With Simplified SEO Consulting

Interested in ranking in Google’s 3-pack? Our team at Simplified SEO Consulting wants to help you get your website ranking so you can begin interacting with your ideal clients. With our guidance and support, you will have the right clients calling your practice to get started with your services. To start your SEO journey with our Simplified team follow these three simple steps:

  1. Apply to work with us on your SEO
  2. Meet with one of our Skilled SEO Specialists
  3. Begin improving your rankings to get into the Google 3-Pack!

Other Services Offered With Simplified SEO Consulting

Looking for a different way we might be able to support you when it comes to finding your ideal client? Our team at Simplified wants to support you no matter what your SEO journey is. To help you begin finding your ideal client, 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

Photo of Brianna Joplin, a mental health SEO specialist who offers SEO for therapists at Simplified SEO Consulting.

Brianna is a Mental Health SEO Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting. As an SEO Specialist, Brianna enjoys optimizing client websites and interacting with them to help them achieve their SEO goals for their website. Her main goal while working with Simplified clients is to ensure they enjoy their SEO journey as well as to help them understand how the SEO process works. She hopes to inspire clients during the SEO process as well so they can begin working on their websites too!

 

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

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Why Do Blog Posts Matter so Much in SEO Marketing for Therapists?

As a private practice owner or a therapist working for a larger practice, you know having an online presence is important. With everything becoming more digitized, having a website that has up-to-date information and resources along with possibly having social media can help you reach more clients. However, having a super informational website, even with the best keywords, is insufficient. You also need content.

This is where blogging comes into play! Blogs have so much value when it comes to SEO marketing. They allow you to provide helpful, informative content that can be used as resources for your current clients but also potential ones. These blogs can also help to boost your website’s SEO ranking by helping search engines, like Google, to recognize that you are knowledgeable about your field. In this blog, we will talk more about why blog posts matter so much in SEO marketing for therapists.

What Exactly is SEO Marketing for Therapists?The word "SEO" written on a notepad with a magnifying glass on top. Represents how SEO Marketing for Therapists can help you find the right keywords for you and your practice.

SEO marketing is a way for therapists to optimize their websites and content, such as blogs and service pages, to make them rank higher on search engine result pages, think Google! Search engines have algorithms that they use to analyze websites and their content to determine what is the most relevant to search inquiries being made by users.

This is why it is important for therapists to invest in SEO marketing for their practice, or themselves. Having SEO training or having an SEO Specialist optimize your website with relevant keywords, and helpful, targeted content can make the difference in making sure your practice and services are more visible on the first few pages of the search engine’s result pages. Especially when it comes to potential clients being the ones searching for services that you provide.

Why Do Blog Posts Matter So Much in SEO Marketing For Therapists?

Blog posts are a multi-faceted SEO tool that can help establish your credibility and your visibility. Your blogs can establish your credibility and that you are an expert in your field. Having blogs on many topics that revolve around your services, questions people may ask Google or in therapy, as well as any other topics that revolve around mental health and what you are passionate about can make the difference. The difference between you being found versus another therapist.

Your blogs, whether written by you, an intern, a colleague, or a copywriter, can be written with keywords incorporated. This will help Google or another search engine to identify that your blog is relevant to what people are searching for. It will also boost your credibility for those keywords as you have service pages about them and now you are writing in-depth blogs about the topics as well.

Additionally, these blogs, putting purely SEO aside, can help potential clients find you. They can look on Google for resources about anxiety, burnout, or even being a highly sensitive person then find your blogs. When potential clients find your blog and read them, it can help build that connection between a client and therapist. One that is based on information, facts, and trust. They are using your blog as a resource to calm their fears at the same time as getting to know you as a therapist and your practice.

As a Therapist, This is What You Should Include in Your Blog Shows a woman checking SEO items off her list. Represents how SEO marketing for Therapists can help you remember that to include in your SEO blogs.Posts

Writing blogs can feel easy for some as writing can come naturally as talking about the weather, while for some it can be a challenge. No matter if writing is a struggle for you or not, there are some key elements that should always be included in SEO marketing for therapists.

Relevant Keywords

The keywords that you include in your blogs need to be relevant to what you are writing about but also to what your niche is. Otherwise, you can write about these keywords but they will not be helping you if you don’t regularly write about them or provide this service. Google will see that you know something about something but that you’re not an expert on this topic. It would prefer to show another therapist’s website that is an expert on that topic or service.

Call to Action

Have you ever read a blog by someone knowing they want you to do something as a result of reading it? That is a call to action! However, if you don’t include it in your writing, your potential client is not going to know what to do or how to go about setting up an appointment. So, more than likely, they will move on. Therefore, include a call to action in your blog! Tell them what their next step should be.

Make sure to tell them how to reach you and what the steps in the process of beginning the therapy are. Do you offer a 15-minute free consultation? Do you have a form to fill out? How do they reach you if they have questions? Include this information so your potential clients know exactly what to do when they feel inspired to do it!

Optimize Your Blog Posts

Optimization is a must. When you’re writing your blogs you can try to keep keywords and SEO in mind, but for some, the words just flow from your brain to the page. In moments like those, there is no sense in forcing yourself to add these elements. However, that doesn’t mean you let yourself off the hook afterward! Reviewing your writing and adding SEO keywords and location elements can help your blog bring a valuable SEO element to your website and content.

I mean, you are taking the time to write these blogs or outsource them, so you definitely want to make sure they are reaching the right people. You also want to make sure they are drawing these potential clients in! Having the SEO element makes sure it reaches your target audience in their search engine results and in the areas you are targeting.

How Often Should Therapists Post Blog Content?People raising their hands to ask a question. Represents how seo consulting can support you in your SEO journey.

There is not a one-size-fits-all answer to this question. It depends on multiple factors: what your goals are, where you are located, and your target audience. Plus, do you have the time? There are questions and factors you need to keep in mind. At Simplified SEO, we tell our clients that at a bare minimum, they need to write or post two blogs a month to keep their SEO maintained.

However, to increase it, it needs to be more than this. Especially, if you are wanting to increase your client load, and are in a more competitive area that is very concentrated with other therapists, and you want to be at the top of the list. In these cases, we recommend a blog or two a week.

This May Seem Crazy, But it is in fact, Doable!

For example, do you have interns? Have them write some of your blogs! Do you have a colleague that loves to write? Utilize them and their passion! If you have time, try writing some blogs in your spare time about your services, questions that come up in therapy, or something you feel potential clients need to know. But, if you don’t have time, look into outsourcing by looking into a copywriter.

I suggest these options because having and maintaining a consistent blog schedule helps Google recognize that you are an expert in this area. This then leads Google to make your website more visible when potential clients search for providers in your area. Leading them to find your blogs, your services, and ultimately, YOU!

Blog posts matter so much in SEO marketing for therapists because they ultimately help boost your SEO and help your potential clients find you. Plus, they are great resources to refer clients or even potential clients to when they have questions about topics you are an expert in! Blogging is powerful, and it being combined with SEO tactics is even more powerful. Use that power to reach your ideal clients and grow your business!

So Let’s Get Started Growing Your SEO Ranking with SEO Marketing for Therapists

At Simplified SEO Consulting, we want to support you with your blogs and SEO marketing for therapists. We put together a series of SEO packages to help you with your SEO journey. No matter what stage you are in, from starting out to already having a well-optimized website but needing help with creating content. By investing in your website you are also investing in your and your practice’s future. Want to learn about SEO? Sign up for our SEO Course for Therapists and learn how to use the power of blogs and SEO to reach more clients and grow your practice! Or want to outsource it? Check out our SEO Consulting packages here and apply to work with us! Ready to get started?

  1. Please apply to work with us
  2. Learn about our team
  3. Begin utilizing the power of SEO marketing for therapists!

Other SEO Services At Simplified SEO Consulting

If you feel as if you have blogging handled or are outsourcing it, there are other services you can use as well! 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. These can also be helpful to find better keywords, evaluating your current SEO performance, and more. 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:Lynsey, SEO Content Writer for Simplified SEO Consulting

As an SEO Content Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting, Lynsey has a passion for creating exceptional content that reflects her clients’ unique brand voice and practice. With a focus on mental health-related topics, she understands how high-quality content can improve therapists’ search engine rankings and attract their ideal clients. Lynsey’s ultimate goal is to utilize her copywriting expertise to help therapists maximize their return on investment. Through her work, she takes pride in helping therapists learn more about blogs and how they can be powerful tools in SEO marketing.

Apply to work with us if you’re ready to see how Simplified can serve you!

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Resources for Inclusive Photos + Alt Text Examples

Resource Guide: Photo Alt Text and Title Examples + Inclusive Resources for Photos

I have been very passionate for a while on creating impactful and effective alt text, alt titles, and having inclusive and accurately representative photos. Truly, I really hate looking at a website that has stereotypical and offensive photos that don’t accurately depict people’s struggles, needs, and identity. I know it can be hard to find the right photos at times, but we still have a duty to create content on our websites that allow clients to see themselves and their experiences.

Photo Alt Text, Optimizing Photos, & Titles Examples

Within couples therapy websites there are so many keywords you can use. This is an example of how I would formulate photo text in general. The general format I am looking at is as follows:

Photo Alt Title: Short description of the photo ( *not denoting anything related to mental health) | Keyword | Keyword | Keyword | Zip Code | Zip Code | Zip Code

Know that you can do 3-5 zip codes and keywords. Make sure not to over optimize or keyword stuff.

Photo Alt Text: Semi-longer photo description ( *not denoting mental health). Sentence with keyword about struggle. A sentence with keyword establishing hope. Sentence with keyword establishing next steps.

*When it comes to some websites, their policies include making sure not to negatively attribute the photo or the person in the photo to some “negative” mental health stigma. This is the rules of some websites, not necessarily ours, so make sure to read the fine print when you are getting paid or free photos from sites.

A couple with noses touching embracing while in love. Marriage counseling and couples therapy in Chicago, IL is not a place where relationships go to die. Working with a relationship therapist means you care and want to work on your relationship. Connect emotionally once again in EFT therapy in Illinois today!

Couples Therapy Website

Alt Title: Couple holding on to each other noses touching | Marriage Counseling and Couples Therapy in Chicago, IL | EFT therapy | Relationship Therapist | 60602 |60603 |60604

Alt Text: A couple with noses touching embracing while in love. Marriage counseling and couples therapy in Chicago, IL is not a place where relationships go to die. Working with a relationship therapist means you care and want to work on your relationship. Connect emotionally once again in EFT therapy in Illinois today!

Child curled up into a ball. You never want to see your child hurting. Maybe you've tried child therapy for therapy for teens in Tampa, Fl before and felt it wasn't helpful, but with the right child therapist or teen therapist, it can be. We encourage you to reach out soon!

Child and Teen Therapist

Photo Alt Title: Child curled up into a ball | Child Therapist in Florida | Teen Therapist in Tampa | Therapy for Teens | Child Therapy |  33614 | 33619 | 33610

Photo Alt Text: Child curled up into a ball with parent comforting them. You never want to see your child hurting. Maybe you’ve tried child therapy or therapy for teens in Tampa, Fl before and felt it wasn’t helpful, but with the right child therapist or teen therapist, it can be. We encourage you to reach out soon!

Father in wheel chair hugging smiling daughter in yellow. Our Drug abuse and addictions counselors understand how hard substance abuse is to overcome alone. Substance abuse counseling in Los Angles, CA doesn't need to be a lonely journey. Let our team help you in substance abuse therapy soon!

Addiction Treatment Center

Alt Title: Disabled father hugging daughter | Substance Abuse Therapy | Substance Abuse Counseling in Los Angeles, CA | Drug Abuse Counselor | 90040 | 90058 | 90201 | 90220

Alt Text: Father in wheelchair hugging smiling daughter in yellow. Our Drug abuse and addictions counselors understand how hard substance abuse is to overcome alone. Substance abuse counseling in Los Angles, CA doesn’t need to be a lonely journey. Let our team help you in substance abuse therapy soon!

Woman in black sweater and pink hair talking with doctor on laptop. A pain doctor in Denver, CO can help you with pain and chronic illness management. Our pain management doctors are some of the best in their field. Call now and get support.

Private Medical Practice

Photo Alt Title: Client talking to medical professional | Pain Doctor in Denver, CO| Pain Management Doctors | Chronic Illness Management | 80001 | 80002 | 80003

Photo Alt Text: Woman in black sweater and pink hair talking with doctor on laptop. A pain doctor in Denver, CO can help you with pain and chronic illness management. Our pain management doctors are some of the best in their field. Call now and get support.

Man with his hands up in the air. We all communicate differently, and sometimes with need a speech therapist for adults in Westchester, NY. You are not alone! SLP therapy is meant to help you connect again and feel safe in how you communicate. Start working with a speech therapist in New York today!

Speech and Language Pathologist

Alt Title: A man with his hands up in the air | Speech Therapist in Westchester, NY | SLP Therapy | Speech Therapist for Adults |10701 |10801 | 10573

Alt Text: Man with his hands up in the air. We all communicate differently, and sometimes with need a speech therapist for adults in Westchester, NY. You are not alone! SLP therapy is meant to help you connect again and feel safe in how you communicate. Start working with a speech therapist in New York today!

Plant in foreground and black man in the background. Our team of registered dieticians in Austin, Texas can help you navigate nutritional concerns, eating disordered, health concerns, and more. We offer nutrition therapy and medical nutrition therapy in Texas both in-person or online.

Dietician

Photo Alt Title: Man in the background with plant | Medical nutrition therapy | Registered Dietician in Austin, Texas | Nutrition Therapy | 78613 | 78610 | 78613

Photo Alt Text: Plant in foreground and black man in the background. Our team of registered dieticians in Austin, Texas can help you navigate nutritional concerns, eating disordered, health concerns, and more. We offer nutrition therapy and medical nutrition therapy in Texas both in-person or online.

Woman with chocolates on table and hands in head distressed. Sometimes we struggle to manage food and body on our own. An eating disorder therapist in Atlanta, GA who offers eating disorder therapy, anorexia treatment, and bulimia treatment can help. Call now and book a free consultation.

Eating Disorder Therapist

Alt Title: Woman feeling distress from chocolate on table | eating disorder therapist in Atlanta, GA| binge eating therapy | anorexia treatment | bulimia treatment | 30002 (Avondale Estates) | 30021 (Clarkston) | 30030 (City of Decatur)

Alt Text: Woman with chocolates on table and hands in head distressed. Sometimes we struggle to manage food and body on our own. An eating disorder therapist in Atlanta, GA who offers eating disorder therapy, anorexia treatment, and bulimia treatment can help. Call now and book a free consultation.

One great website you can use is alt text generator. It doesn’t add in keywords, but if you struggle to come up with the initial photo description, this is a good resource.

Photo Sites and Their Algorithm

One issue that really gets under my skin is how algorithms on websites are created. For example, when I am trying to find natural curly hair or hair routines on Pinterest, usually what happens is that people who look nothing like me show up. Typing in natural on a site often alludes to POC, but algorithms are often white washed by the majority.

So imagine creating a therapy website where photos “appear” diverse enough, but actually don’t show the realistic side of some ones experience. Likewise, if you are an ED therapist and all your photos show angry plus sized people or a black woman eating a salad, or stereotypical person “overeating” photos, that often stigmatized and adds to the stereotype.

One problem with the algorithm is often in order to find representative photos, you have to type in offensive or rude texts in order to find the right content. Honestly, as a therapist that infuriates me. Plus, if you as a mental health professional have a deeper attachment to the issues you work with that can also be triggering to you.

So, how do we get inclusive and representative photos without having work with the algorithm on certain sites? I have created a list of websites that you can use for finding photos that are more inclusive and real.

Where and How to Find Representative, Inclusive, and Diverse Photos ( Free + Paid)

Open AI

This is a great resource if you want to have AI create your photos. Coming up with descriptions for this is hit or miss, but its a great up and coming option.

https://openai.com/product/dall-e-2 25 free photos per month

Creative Market

If you like a mix of cartoon animations and site aesthetics, this is a great option. The photos are affordable for a set and once you purchase a commercial license the content can be used in many areas.

https://creativemarket.com/ArtOlB/5946532-CURVY-GIRLS-FLOWERS-LINE-ART

Tonl

This is a paid service, but has a group of wonderfully diverse photos. The categories are based on topics like trust, tradition, tone, and travel, among others.

https://tonl.co/

Gender Spectrum Vice

Let’s face it, finding photos that accurately represent the LGBTQIA+ community are sparse, this is a free site that offers many different options for you to add to your site.

https://genderspectrum.vice.com/

Nappy

Finding diversity in photos for black and BIPOC individuals is complicated. Luckily nappy is working to make this more accessible.

https://nappy.co/

Iwaria

Black and African culture are not the same, therefore, if you work with African clients, this site is for you. Likewise, being nationally and internationally inclusive is necessary for any clinician.

https://iwaria.com/

Big Stock Photos

This is a site the Simplified SEO Consulting using personally and for our Done for you clients. Now, I will admit, it does take a specific strategy to find the photos you need without being stereotypical or stigmatizing. I often say, don’t search for the thing you are looking for and you will find what you need.

So if I type in native women, I am likely to get tribal representations, however if I type in business woman ethic, or indigenous, or sometime similar it will narrow the results. Its unfortunately we have to find what we need inversely, but it is possible.

https://www.bigstockphoto.com/

Flickr (Women in Tech)

Looking for fierce women in tech of all ethnicities, races, religions, and so on? You have found the right site.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wocintechchat/

CreateHERStock

This is a paid service with some options for freebies ( which is currently being updated). If you are looking for more representative photos of men, non-binary, and women. Then this is for you.

https://createherstock.com/

Wrap Up on Private Practice SEO

You are responsible for allowing clients to see themselves in your website message, photos, and design. User experience and design play a big role on our brand. Try your hands at photo descriptions. Be intentional about the descriptions, and check out these resources, especially if you are struggling to find sites that represent your ideal clients.

Learn How to Begin Optimizing Photos, Descriptions and Choose Inclusive Photos with Our Webinar!

We are hosting a webinar on April 7th for Alt Text and Diversity. We’d love to have you attend. You can also purchase the recording from our website afterwards. In the meantime, if you want support with your SEO, our team of experts will work with you every step of the way. Simplified SEO Consulting can help you begin developing content and best practices for your online and in-person presence. So don’t let confusion stop you from having an effective website – contact us today by following these simple steps:

  1. Apply to work with our team
  2. Once approved schedule your 45-minute consultation
  3. Learn about our team!
  4. Start adding intentional photos and alt text to your site.

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, trauma, sports psychology, postpartum/pregnancy/parenting, high achievers, and much more. Schedule a consult soon!

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4 Tips for Growing Your Private Practice SEO

As a private practice owner, I’m sure you have heard about SEO, otherwise known as search engine optimization. SEO can be used to help your ideal clients find you, your practice, and your services on search engines. When I say search engines, I mostly mean Google. Using private practice SEO should be an important part of any therapist’s marketing strategy in this time of digitalization.

Investing in your private practice SEO is one way of investing in your business and your future. As I mentioned that most things are digitized, and most people search for therapists via Google. By using SEO strategies, your ideal clients will be able to find you. This will be due to your rankings on Google and other search engines. In this blog, I will talk about 5 tips you should utilize to grow your private practice SEO.

Learn About or Conduct Keyword ResearchShows a private practice therapist doing keyword research. Represents how seo private training will support you with learning what you need to know to support your practivce's SEO.

If you’re new to SEO or new to doing it yourself, you may not have heard about “keyword research”. Keyword research is an SEO term where you learn what terms users are using to look for services. This will look at the terms in the area you are targeting and how hard it is to rank for them. For example, if you are a therapist that provides anxiety therapy in Little Rock, Arkansas you’re going to need to see what terms are easiest to rank for in your area. Luckily, this area may not be as saturated with competition as somewhere like Los Angeles, CA. But it is still very important to know what you are up against.

To Start Off, You Will Need to Look at the Variations of “anxiety therapy in Little Rock, AR”.

Sometimes, your first search will be the easiest to rank for and the highest searched for. Other times, you will need to look at different variations. Like “anxiety treatment in Little Rock, AR”, “treatment for anxiety in Little Rock, AR” or “therapy for anxiety in Little Rock, AR”. All of these terms you will look at then decide which one has the most searches and can be achievable for you to rank for. But also has the least competition.

Some tips for finding great keywords for private practice SEO purposes are:

  1. Use a Keyword Research Tool such as Mangools/KWfinder or Google Keyword Planner
  2. Make sure the keywords you use are relevant to your practice and the services you provide
  3. See what inquiries people are making on Google about your relevant services
  4. Research your competitors to see what keywords they may be using

Optimize Your Practice’s Website for Private Practice SEOShows a page of content with keywords incorporated. Represents how private practice seo can teach you how to incorporate your keywords into content.

After you have keywords that will help increase your visibility on Google, optimizing your practice’s website to incorporate them will be important. This process is known as “on-page optimization”. This involves adding those chosen keywords into your content. This is your page titles, meta descriptions, alt-text and titles on photos, and the headings on your service pages.

Doing this allows Google to pick up that you are trying to target these keywords and rank your website appropriately. It will then keep an eye on your website and the content. This is to decide if you’re just knowledgeable about your niche or an expert. This is where content citing locations and content talking about your keywords targeting your services can be helpful.

Things to Keep in Mind

When you are optimizing your website, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. Website speed, mobile-friendliness, and security are important to your SEO. But so is the ability of your potential clients being able to navigate your site. If your website is slow, this is where you will lose the most people. Because they know they can find another therapist’s website with a better user experience.

Testing out content and your website for how it runs and looks on mobile devices is crucial as well. When people are searching for a therapist or resources in the wee hours of the morning, they are more than likely doing this from their phone or a tablet. If it’s not compatible or the design isn’t user-friendly on mobile devices, the chances are they will leave your website.

Lastly, making sure your website is secure is not only for your potential client’s benefit but also for your own. Having your website using HTTPS is not only secure but Google rewards websites for it. It also ensures your website is mobile-friendly, so that is a built-in bonus!

Using Locations Near You and Building Local CitationsShows the Google My Business app. Represents how seo private training will show you how to set up your GMB and what the benefits are.

When it comes to private practice SEO, name-dropping locations near you such as colleges, schools, or even popular parks can come as a benefit to your SEO. It shows Google that you know the area that you are claiming to be in or are targeting. It can also help you build local citations. Local citations can become your best friend when it comes to reaching potential clients.

Local citations are pages on directories like Google My Business or even Yelp. These have your practice’s information such as the name, address, phone number, and hours that you are open. These can help your visibility when potential clients search for anything related to your niche. Or even for a therapist, or for a private practice in their area. The location citations are incredibly helpful for helping you be found if someone searches for ” a therapist near me”, “anxiety therapist near me”, or “anxiety therapist Ohio”.

Create Quality Content to Benefit Your Private Practice SEO

Having quality, SEO content can make a difference when it comes to private practice SEO. Not only will it help your rankings on Google but your content can be used as a resource for established and potential clients. When you have quality content on your website, especially about your niche, it shows Google that you are an expert on the subject. This will lead the search engine to increase your visibility to users searching for relevant content, leading to potential client engagement.

As I mentioned before, content is a great place to incorporate the keywords you researched and picked according to your area along with the relevance to your practice. You can drop these keywords in places such as headings, titles, or in the call to action. However, you want to make sure that you do not overdo this as Google will consider it keyword stuffing and penalize your website for it. Google loves to see you prove you’re an expert but when you overdo it, Google can’t tell which keywords are relevant to your content, leading it to penalize you.

Growing your private practice’s SEO can seem intimidating as the jargon is ever-changing and Google is constantly updating its algorithms as well. However, by using these private practice SEO tips, you will have a better understanding and a head start on growing your business. Remember, investing in your SEO is not only investing in your business but also your future.

Get Started Today and Start Seeing the Difference with Private Practice SEO

If you’re a private practice therapist looking to improve your online visibility and attract more clients, Simplified SEO Consulting is here to help. We specialize in private practice SEO and offer various SEO packages to support you at every stage of your journey. Investing in your website and optimizing it for SEO can have a significant impact on the growth of your practice. Our SEO Course for Therapists can teach you how to use blogs and SEO to your advantage, or you can outsource your SEO needs with our consulting packages. Apply to work with us and start seeing results today! Ready to get started?

  1. Please apply to work with us
  2. Learn about our team
  3. Begin growing your private practice through private practice SEO!

Other SEO Services At Simplified SEO Consulting

If you feel as if you need additional SEO help, we have other options available! 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. These can also be helpful to find better keywords, evaluating your current SEO performance, and more. 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:Lynsey, SEO Content Writer for Simplified SEO Consulting

Lynsey, our SEO Content Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting, takes pride in creating quality content that reflects her clients’ brand voice and practice. With a focus on mental health, she understands the impact of high-quality content on SEO rankings and attracting ideal clients. Lynsey’s goal is to utilize her copywriting expertise to help private practice owners grow their businesses through effective SEO and quality content. She is passionate about educating private practice owners on the power of blogs as a tool for SEO marketing.

Apply to work with us if you’re ready to see how Simplified can serve you!

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