While Google makes changes to its algorithm all the time, less frequently (usually a couple times a year) they release a more comprehensive update called a “core algorithm update.” On December 3rd, Google confirmed via Twitter that they were releasing such an update.  Danica, our Director of SEO Services, and I have spoken a couple of times about this update. We’ve checked our clients’ data, read some articles. Then discussed it a bit more.  But we didn’t talk much about it publicly. Why? Because there was much (yet) to say.  Now that we’ve had a couple of weeks to observe the changes, I figure it’s time to share what we’ve seen so far.

The cliff notes version?  We haven’t seen anything yet that will dramatically change our recommendations or approach. In fact, it seems like Google is rewarding many of the things we’ve been doing for the last couple of years even more.

However, the changes have impacted some therapists and other helping professionals websites. It looks like less than 4% of the websites we manage saw a significant drop in rankings since the release. However, the changes are still worth noting and we may emphasize a couple of things a little more in our recommendations moving forward.

Again, these are all just preliminary observations as the roll out is less than a month old. Therefore, our recommendations may shift again as we gain a better picture of the impact of Google’s changes.

A few notes about the recent algorithm changes….

“Big” Websites May Be Impacted

One interesting thing I’ve read is that the initial data is showing some big sites such as Amazon, Pinterest, CDC, etc. took a hit and saw their organic visibility decline after the December 2020 update. Since many of our clients are psychotherapy practice owners (psychologists, counselors, LCSWs, etc) I was interested in the impact on the “big dog” in our industry from an SEO standpoint: Psychology Today.  It’s too early to say for sure, but anecdotally it looks like there are times where more small, private practice websites are able to rank above Psychology today.

There Are Mixed Signals for Medical Terms

I’ve seen a few different contradictory messages from things I’ve read about the impact on medical terms.  Specifically we’ve heard of some “alternative medicine” sites ranking better but then also heard of medical sites decreasing in ranking. I’m not 100% sure how that’ll impact our field yet since there’s a lot of overlap in our work.

We checked on a couple of our websites that might be targeting more “medical” type terms and again, we noticed mixed results.  A client who had a lot of keywords related to medical professionals such as “counseling for nurses” had our most significant drops. However, several of our clients with keywords directly related to medical terms (ex: counseling for chronic illness or CBT for chronic pain or bulimia treatment) have actually had modest improvements in their SEO since the release.

So, while there’s a lot of chatter out there about the impact of this update on medical sites, I’m not confident enough to draw any conclusion about the impact on our typical client sites just yet.

Ultimately, Good Content Still Matters

With Google’s latest algorithm update, writing the content people are truly looking for matters. Honestly, it has always mattered. Google wants to show content that people actually want to read.  So, the quality of content being important seems obvious but it’s still popping up in all of the chatter.  Just keep in mind that you still want to be really focused on truly writing content that speaks to the needs of your ideal clients.

Most of our SEO Suggestions Stay the Same After the Update

E-A-T: Expertise, Authoritativeness & Trustworthiness

Since August 2018,  people in the SEO world have been talking about “E-A-T” was important. The update in the Spring 2020 had us talking even more and the discussion has continued with this update. Let’s dig a little more into this…

Expertise

Google needs to see that you are an expert in your field. When all else is equal, Google will try to give preferential treatment to information by people seen as “experts” in their field. For this reason, you want to make it clear that you have the education, qualifications and training to speak about the subject you’re discussing. Luckily…our staff have always recommended you find subtle ways to communicate to both readers and Google that you are an expert.  For example, we talk to clients about placing an “About the Author” type section at the bottom of your blog posts which can help demonstrate in a succinct, clear way that you have some knowledge on the topic you are discussing.  This doesn’t need to be lengthy, but a quick blurb stating your credentials and that you’ve received additional training and experience related to the topic is helpful.

Authoritativeness

This is about reputation. You need to show Google that other people trust you and that you have a good reputation online. Links from other relevant, authoritative sites make a difference. Again, our staff have long talked about the importance of getting backlinks, particularly high quality backlinks, to your site.

That said, it’s worth noting that even if you don’t get a direct “follow” backlink, just being mentioned on an authoritative website appears to be helpful.  Therefore, even being mentioned on an authoritative website matters! So if you answer a HARO inquiry and are quoted but have a no follow (or even no) link, it’s still helpful for SEO.

Trustworthiness

Are you honest, transparent and clear on your website? Again, we’ve often made suggestions that our clients do things that will improve their trustworthiness. For example, we’ve recommended things like writing a call to action section that show sufficient contact information. Things like this or including the “About the author section” on blogs can show transparency about who is writing the content. Accuracy also matters, so citing other trustworthy sources on your website can be helpful. We recommend the occasional, carefully chosen external link to show this.

Content, Content & Content

Every article we’ve read is clear that it’s more important to have high quality, rich content with this latest Google algorithm update!  This is the single biggest thing we talk to new clients about during consultations, onboarding meetings and truly throughout the time we’re optimizing a website.  Google rewards websites that have rich, meaningful content.

Now, I’m not telling you to write a bunch of useless material on your website. Don’t go write a 3,000 word blog post where you just look for a thousand different ways to say the word “eating disorder.” But do try to think deeply about what information your ideal clients are seeking. Then, make sure you have enough content on your website to truly explain those things.

Many of our clients balk at the idea of writing 500 word service pages or blog posts. But we feel like it is really important that your website has high quality content on it that helps answering the questions bringing potential clients to your site. The simple truth is that content rich websites tend to rank better on Google. Don’t worry, we’ll give you lots of tips about what content to include and walk you through every step of the way.

Headings & Subheadings

Ok, now I could write a book on this one. In fact, I have a feeling you’ll see a blog post about this in the near future… But for now, let’s just say that having clear subheadings that describe what’s in the article and make it clear when you scan the article that you provide helpful information is more important than ever. I’ve long advocated for including subheadings on a website. I truly feel like it helps the reader, because they can quickly scan the page, get a feel for the content. Then, the reader can choose which sections give the exact information they’re looking for. Google understands this. So, Google looks at subheadings to get a feel for the structure of a page. But data is now suggesting that Google is really rewarding people like our clients who are writing those clear headings.

Reference Reputable Sources

I mentioned this one above but thought it needed its own bullet point as well. It looks like with the new update, it’s helpful to have references to really reputable sources on your own site.  I think helping professionals can overdo this a bit when they start including long passages from research papers. But a quick reference to statistic or finding of that research article that links to it can be helpful. It shows Google that you know who the reputable people are on this topic. For example, a couples therapist might like to the Gottman page or an EMDR therapist might link to EMDRIA. And, since Google already trusts these reputable sites, it increases Google’s confidence that the information you’re providing is accurate. And, we’ve already established Google cares about accuracy.

User experience matters!

Google really cares about the user experience.  There are a lot of different things they look at related to user experience that impact SEO. For example, Google has expressed disliking intrusive popups on websites for awhile now, so I have always recommended that website popups be carefully created to avoid being considered “intrusive.”

Now, this new update seems to be showing that now Google is favoring websites without a lot of ads on them. Honestly, most of the helping professionals we work with don’t have a lot of ads on their website. But, it sounds like a significant enough component of this update I wanted to mention.

An updated website design is better for user experience

The last thing I’ve seen some buzz about this month related to user experience is suggesting that websites that clearly haven’t updated their website design in a really long time may have taken a hit with this update. I have always made the general recommendation that you want to redesign your site or at least make updates (the longer you’ve had a site the more difficult an actual redesign becomes) at least every 2-3 years. I’ve made this suggestion from a user experience standpoint. Even if we increase traffic to your site, a really outdated design will have difficulty converting potential clients. Considering Google’s goal to give user’s the best possible experience, it makes sense that outdated designs may (remember, these are all preliminary observations) impact your SEO a bit.

We May Emphasize Some Things More in Our Approach to SEO

As I’ve said, I don’t think we’ll make any major updates to our SEO strategy based on what I’ve seen so far. However, our team may begin emphasizing a few things more than we have in the past:

Social Media

Over time, having some social media presence has seemed to correlate with better search engine rankings and I briefly read that may be even more of a factor with this roll out. Our team has been playing around more with social media for awhile and will continue to look at the relationship between social media and SEO. For now, let’s suffice it to say that having some social media accounts that you post on occasionally doesn’t hurt. And “social shares” of pages on your site seem particularly valuable. So, it’s worth having social media if for no other reason than to share your most recent blog posts and other pages of your site. 🙂

Reputation Management

Google sees all aspects of and mentions of your website across the web.  So, reputation management matters.  For many of our clients, particularly therapists, this can be a bit tricky.  In a perfect world, your website would at least have 5-10 Google reviews with an average score of 4.5 stars or higher. Furthermore, you’d respond to all of those reviews within 24 hours. But for some of our clients, there are ethical limitations to what you can do to both solicit and respond to reviews. So, we talk about this with our paying clients frequently.  We look for ethical ways to look at this idea of reputation management.  Because at the end of the day, I personally believe (very strongly believe) that being an ethical professional is even more important than ranking well.

Directories

We’ve already established that backlinks are important.  And I’ve often talked about directories being a pretty quick and easy way to get a backlink. But directories may do even more than just get you a good backlink. They include your NAP information. In other words, they list your name, address and phone number. This gives you more credibility in Google’s eyes, because they see that your information is consistent across listings. Therefore, I recommend you make sure your directory listings (Google Maps, Facebook, Yellow Pages, Hula Frog, etc) are accurate. If you have duplicate listings or ones with incorrect information I recommend updating those.

If you’re looking for more information, I do have a recent blog post about therapist specific directories.

Interested in Doing More for Your SEO?

Do you need help really applying all of this? Are you ready to get serious about your SEO and truly start to rank on Google? Are you looking for an SEO team that keeps up to date with the latest changes to SEO strategy when Google releases an update? The Simplified SEO Consulting team takes a unique approach to Search Engine Optimization for helping professionals like therapists, psychiatrists, birth professionals and others.  We try to balance your unique brand, user experience and SEO to get you truly awesome results.  And we have found a core set of ranking factors to focus on that work well and have stood the test of several rounds of Google updates.

So, if you’re ready to get ranking, schedule a free consultation to talk about the options. Our most popular services are our Done for You SEO services where we ask you to provide us the content and we do the optimizing! However, we also have really affordable SEO courses for the DIY type and a 12 week “Done with You” program for those with the time and motivation to optimize their own site!

So what’s stopping you? You don’t have to stay stuck on page 10. It IS possible to reach more of the clients you love to serve and we’re happy to help you get there.

 

About the Author

Jessica Tappana is the founder of both Simplified SEO Consulting and Aspire Counseling. Aspire Counseling is a private pay group psychotherapy practice in Columbia, MO.  Jessica believes deeply in the power of high quality therapy to change lives.  And she knows SEO is what has allowed her to grow the type of practice where she can focus on doing just that: connecting clients with the therapist who has the capacity (i.e. isn’t burned out, has the time, can do the trainings) to truly help.  Furthermore, she believes when the Simplified Team helps other practice owners, they’re furthering that mission.

By helping YOU get your website to the top of Google, our team gives you the ability to be more focused in the clients you accept.  And when you aren’t worrying about where the next client will come from or taking on people who aren’t truly a good fit just to keep the bills paid, you’ll be free to do your very best work.

It’s no secret that the end of the year is a slow season for the counseling world.

You’ve likely noticed that you probably have more canceled appointments than you usually do. In addition, you might notice that fewer people are reaching out for your services. If you know a thing or two about SEO, you’ll probably see that your website is receiving less traffic than it was previously. In addition, some of your rankings could be dropping. Does this mean that you’re no longer a quality clinician? No. Does this mean that investing in SEO from November to January is a waste of time and money? No. Actually, it’s quite the opposite.

This time of year is the perfect time to build SEO.

Why is this the case? Well, for a few different reasons. First, you likely have more free time this month than most of the other months of the year. This is because you’ll likely have more canceled appointments. Sometimes, even the clients that swore they would still come end up canceling their appointments. This time of year can be really busy for folks and they need something to take off their to-do list. Unfortunately, that’s often their appointment with their counselor. So, this means that you’ll have more time in your workday to focus your energy on other aspects of your practice. And, to finally get to the other tasks on your to-do list.

Second, using this time to focus on boosting your SEO will help you promote your practice’s results later on. SEO is a long-term strategy. And, it can take a few months to see the fruit of your labor. With this in mind, it makes perfect sense to focus on your SEO in the slow season so your “busy” season is even more successful! In addition, this can help you to finetune your approach in reaching your ideal clients.  Overall, focusing your efforts to build SEO during this time of year will help to promote the longevity of your results.

Okay, but how do we build SEO during the slow season?

Great question! There are many different avenues that you can use if you decide to venture down this path. From our experience of optimizing therapists’ websites, we have found a few options that will likely be the best ROI for your practice. Below are 5 ways to build SEO during this season.

1. Write the blogs that you previously didn’t have time for.

I know, I know. You’ve heard this 1,000 times. But, as an additional reminder, blogging is very important for SEO. Blogging can help you to build backlinks, which essentially serves as an SEO “savings account.” Backlinks come in handy when you make big changes to your site, as these changes often result in loss of SEO. So, the more backlinks you have, the better. Ultimately, backlinks assist you to build SEO.

When you start blogging during this time, there are many different paths you can go down. One option is to finally articulate the amazing ideas you’ve kept on a sticky note or a word doc. A second option, and possibly a more timely option, is to think about your current clients. What would be helpful for them to read right now? Would it be tips on assertive communication? Could it be grounding skills that they can pull out when they need them? Or how to ask what they need from those around them? Consider what would make sense for your ideal clients. Regardless of the approach you take to this blog, aim for it to a resource. The more helpful your blog is, the more eyeballs see it.

2. Respond to HARO listings.

HARO (help a reporter out) is a website that reporters use to obtain sources for their stories. HARO is a widely used website by reporters all over the country. After you sign up, you’ll receive listings for upcoming stories for which a reporter needs a reliable source. You can respond to the inquiry (doesn’t need to be longer than 2 to 3 paragraphs) including your name, the name of your practice, and your practice’s website. It’s important to keep in mind that you should respond to these inquiries as quickly as you can. Many people use HARO, so good inquiries typically go quickly!

3. Beef up your about page.

Your practice’s about page can help build the know, like, and trust factor. This page can be a deciding factor for some of your clients if they use your services. So, you’ll want to make your about page as unique as possible. Challenge yourself to include other components aside from your credentials. Yes, they are important. And, your ideal client seeing that you’re certified in EMDR will not separate from the other EMDR therapists in your town.

In addition to your certifications and credentials, include some things about you as a human. Do you have a favorite snack? What was your favorite book growing up? What made you want to be a therapist?  If you could live anywhere, where would it be? Do you have pets? (10 bonus points if you include pictures!) These tidbits will help your future clients get to know you. And, will separate you from the competition.

Don’t forget about your location!

On top of including things about your life as a human, it’s also a good idea to provide a very detailed description of your office location. Feel free to include landmarks, street names, parks, large districts (shopping, business, etc.), schools, popular restaurants and/or coffee shops. Or, anything else that will give the user a very clear image of where you are. What’s more, this is also helpful for Google. This detailed description “shows” Google where you and what other locations are near. In addition, this lets Google know the other searches you’re wanting to show up for.

4. Use free resources to do some keyword research.

Doing a little keyword research during this time could be exponentially beneficial for your practice. The purpose of keyword research is to see what your ideal clients are searching for to find a therapist. Keyword research can inform what words and verbiage you use on your site. Using the keywords that your clients are searching for = more of your ideal clients seeing your site. Overall, using the right keywords helps to build SEO. A great free tool to use is Google Trends. Google Trends works by allowing you to compare the search volume for different terms in an area. In addition, it offers suggestions of other terms that are related to the words that you’re searching for.

Here’s an example of how you can use Google Trends to build SEO

Let’s say that you’re an LMFT in Atlanta, GA and you really enjoy working with couples. Your ideal clients are couples that need counseling to work on their communication to navigate the aftermath of an affair. You also prefer to work with couples that are married as opposed to unmarried couples. On your website, you include the term “marriage therapy.” When searching “marriage therapy in Atlanta, GA” in Google Trends, you see that 0 people have searched that term from November 1st, 2020 to December 5th, 2020. Google suggests that you search “marriage counseling,” as it’s a related term. When you search “marriage counseling” in Google Trends, you see that 183 people have searched it in the same timeframe. So, with this in mind, it would make more sense to include “marriage counseling” significantly more than “marriage therapy.”

Now that you have this information, apply it to build SEO!

After you do some keyword research, apply what you learned. Switch out the terms that people don’t search for with the terms that people do search for. Often, it’s a small price to pay to build SEO and reach out to new future clients.

5. Do some “housekeeping” on your website.

This might be the least exciting suggestion that we have. But, that doesn’t mean that it’s not important! Doing “housekeeping” tasks on your site essentially means making sure that the information on your site is still accurate. In addition to SEO benefits, this also benefits the user. The user is more likely to stay on your site (and hopefully convert to becoming a client) if it is updated and accurate. This can include a lot of different areas, so here’s a quick list of some things to look out for:

• Hours of operation/location are updated
• You have service pages for each service you offer
• Your “meet the team” page is updated
  • If a clinician left, remove them from the listing; add any new clinicians
  • Update any certifications anyone in the practice received
    • Awards, certificates, public speaking events, etc.
• You have a footer at the bottom of each page
  • This should include your location
  • If you’re strictly online, it will likely read “Providing Online Therapy in (insert state name)”
• Service modality
  • If you’re online, in person, or a hybrid, make sure that’s clearly stated on your site

Wrapping on ways to build SEO during the slow season

Overall, there isn’t a “bad” time to build SEO. However, being intentional to build SEO during a slower season will likely result in a higher ROI. Working to build SEO during this season will help you make the most out of your “busy” season. And, will help you reach your ideal clients. Incorporating these tips can get you started on a great foot for the upcoming year!

Begin working with Simplified SEO Consulting

We’re here to help with all of your SEO needs! We offer many different services to help you reach your SEO goals. We offer Done For You Services where do the optimization for your site. If you’re the hands-on type, we can teach you how to do the optimization in our 12-Week Intensive Program. In addition, we offer a variety of helpful courses and ala carte services. When you’re ready to begin services with us, follow these steps:

1. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with us. 
2. Get to know our team of highly skilled SEO specialists.
3. Build SEO and continue to do what you love.

About the Author

Alyssa has been a member of the Simplified family for the past few months. And, is now stepping into a role providing training and additional support for folks learning SEO. As a current graduate student in the Advanced Placement MSW Program at Mizzou, Alyssa loves the world of mental health and technology. In addition, Alyssa has a growing interest in using social media to grow a practice, the importance of live feed, and building backlinks. She also wrote a two-part blog post series about the importance of blogging for SEO. This series addressed the importance of blogging and original content. In addition, she is co-hosting a blogging masterclass that will soon be available for purchase.