The First Three Things You Should do for SEO

You’ve heard that in the modern area, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) should be part of your marketing strategy. And you know it’s true that most of your potential clients are looking for your services online. But the truth is, it just feels overwhelming to even think about working on your own website SEO.

Most of what you read about SEO feels like it was written in a foreign language and sounds really complicated.  Sometimes, you even see conflicting advice.  With over 200 factors that Google considers when deciding how to rank a website, where should you even start?!?

SEO First Steps

I’ve talked to way too many small business owners in the helping professions who knew they needed to work on SEO but just felt overwhelmed.  So, I’m going to give you the first three steps I want you to take.  Now, these three steps alone probably won’t get you to the top of Google.  But they’ll give you what you need to work with down the road to get that first page ranking.

So, if you’re considering working on your SEO, here are the three things I recommend you start with:

Keyword Research

I highly recommend doing keyword research early on in your SEO journey.  It’s important to know what people are searching for so you target the keywords that will get you the best return on investment.  Often, as professionals the words we use to describe what our clients are going through are different than the words they might be searching for on Google. For this reason, it’s important to at least have a few specific keywords in mind you are targeting when working on your site.  Here are a couple of blog posts we’ve written that might help:

Content Strategy

Most therapist websites I look at simply don’t have enough content on their website.  Google doesn’t have the information it needs to realize it needs to rank your website for the search terms your clients are searching for.  The joke is that every time one of our SEO clients talks to me, I end up telling them to add a new service page, blog post or section of a page to their website.

So, before you even start working too much on SEO you’re probably going to want to add some content.  I recommend adding the following pages to your website:

Each of these key pages should have enough information on the page to help paint a complete picture for Google of what your site has to offer visitors.

Set up Google Search Console

Google Search Console is where you can give Google a list of every page on your website, tell Google when you’ve made changes to a page and get a TON of really important data to track your SEO.  So, setting it up early on is important.  Once Google Search Console is set up, you’ll want to make sure you submit a sitemap so Google is aware of all the content on your site.  We wrote a blog post on how to setup Google Search Console & submit a sitemap. I highly recommend following that process as early as possible when you’re working on SEO.

Does the order of these three things matter?

Not so much.  It’s just important that all three of these things happen really early in your SEO journey. These all lay the groundwork for additional search engine optimization you’ll be doing down the road.  So…they’re a starting place.  But they don’t have to go in this specific order.

What if I don’t know how to do these things?

If you’re ready to get started with these three things but aren’t sure you know how, we can help!  I created (with some help from Danica) a course that goes over everything you need to know about keyword research, what content to add to your website & how to connect your website to Google Search Console.  Actually, I did more than create a video going over each of those topics.  We also created demo videos.  So, I show you some of the keyword research tools I use and videos of us adding a website to Google & submitting a sitemap (both a WordPress & Squarespace demo). Lastly, each module comes with a text summary.

So, what’s holding you back?  

SEO doesn’t have to be complicated. We’re here to help break it down step by step so you can get ranking better and in front of your ideal clients!

Enroll in “SEO First Steps” Now

Don’t want to mess with optimizing your own site? Or perhaps you’re past these first 3 steps?

We want to help small business owners at all phases in the SEO process!  Therefore, we have a wide range of services.  Don’t want to optimize your own site? Check out our “Done for You” services.  Already past this point and want to know what else you can do to optimize your business website? Take a look at our “Top of Search Engines” online course with over 4.5 hours of video that goes over a wide range of things you can do to really optimize your site! Want more hands-on and individualized help as you learn SEO? Check our our 1 day intro or 2.5 day comprehensive in person workshops!

Not sure what the next step is?

I believe therapists can learn SEO. I also believe not every therapist wants to or that it’s not really the best use of their time. If you’re just not sure what will get you the best return on investment right now, go ahead and schedule a free Zoom consultation with us and we’ll take a look at your site together and figure out what will help you the most!

Book a Consult to Learn About our Services

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How to Write a “Long Enough” Blog Post

“What I really want to tell you is…”

I’m an avid listener of the Being Boss podcast, and this statement is one of the most impactful things I’ve learned over the years of learning from Emily and Kathleen.

Sometimes, the idea of writing a blog post is overwhelming or intimidating. Does anyone else feel that way? Before writing, I go back and forth about topics, (check out the post about Timely Blog Post Topics if this is your top issue!), then, I take forever to think about all the different ways I could start and structure the post. You’re calling me out with the core issue right now, aren’t you? 

Go ahead, let’s say it together: PROCRASTINATION. 

Yeah, I know. It’s not that I don’t want to do it. I want to write a blog post. Then the second-guessing creeps right in. Maybe even some imposter syndrome, depending on the topic. I want to share what’s going on in this wild brain of mine I just don’t always know how to put it into coherent, readable posts. However, once I get started, the words just flow. That’s where the above quote comes in. Start there. Quit overthinking it. If you don’t know where to start, find yourself second-guessing or just overthinking the whole thing, start typing. Start with, “What I really want to tell you is…” and just go for it.

Shows a serious young man reading on his laptop. Represents how seo consulting can support therapists in learning how long their content needs to be on their website.But, Danica, what in the world does this have to do with blog post length?

Oh, thank you! I’m so glad you asked. One of the big things we hear on consult and planning calls is that you have trouble paring down your message. You’ve got a lot to say, and just don’t think people will read the whole thing. So, is it better to write everything in one post, or to break it up into a series of posts? What is the cost/benefit analysis for SEO? Is there a perfect blog post length? Let’s break it down. 

Blog Post Length: Step #1

Ask yourself, what are you REALLY trying to say? What does your reader need to know in order to use the information you are taking the time to write about? This is where the quote above can help. Write that down. If you have at least 500 words to say about it, then you have the makings of a blog post! Congratulations. IF your thoughts can’t fill that much space, consider sharing on social media instead? There’s a time and place for both, right? 

Bonus tip: Later, you can compile some of your best, bite-sized advice into a longer blog post! What a great way to grab content you’ve already taken time to write and re-purpose it for a different audience or type of learner!

Blog Post Length: Step #2

I’m going to assume that if you have made it to this part of the post, you are clear about the fact that you have something worth sharing and have determined that a blog post is the best way to do it! Thanks for sticking with me here…this is a process. Now that you have written out your thoughts, about how long would that post end up being? Somewhere between 500-1,500 words? Excellent. That’s where I’m going to put the “optimal” stamp of approval. 1,600 words? Great. That’s fine too. This is not a bright-line rule! If you are closer to 3000 words, we should probably consider breaking that into at least two different posts, or finding another outlet for that brilliance. (Book chapter, perhaps?) A single blog post is just not going to be the best use of that wisdom. 

That said….our fearless leader Jessica is a huge fan of long blog posts.  Consider this quote from her,

“No such thing as too long of a blog post! My longest blog posts have not only ranked the best but are the ones new clients are most likely to reference! We have a couple of blog posts that people have specifically said were the reason they reached out and they’re longer posts…so, my personal opinion is longer is better.”

However, I’m going to go out on a limb and slightly disagree with her here…I think if it’s 3,000 words you’re totally ok breaking it into two posts! Now you have two 1,500 word blog posts which are both long enough to get ranking well!

Blog Post Length: Step #3

You’ve got your core genius written for this topic. You’re in that sweet spot of 500-1500(ish) words. You. Are. Awesome. 

Now, let’s make sure it’s readable! At the time of writing this post, I’m currently at 801 words. So, when all is said and done on this post, I’ll be right in that 1200-ish, safe place. That’s a LOT to read through on a quick break between clients if I don’t make it interesting. So, please take a quick glance back up the page.

3D illustration with the words "You are Here" on a map. Represents how private practice seo will help therapists and their private practices use SEO to boost their rankings and write content that is relevant to their services and clients.

See what I did at the beginning of the post? Blogging for SEO is all about readability.

Here are some reasons why:

  • Lowers bounce rates and raises your search engine rankings.
  • Improve the user experience with clear and concise writing.
  • Makes it easier for visitors to find the information they need.
  • Your content is easier to scan, which is important for readers who are in a hurry.
  • Content is more engaging due to including images, videos, and other multimedia elements.
  • Makes your content accessible to a wider audience.
  • Attracts more visitors to your website.

Readability makes you consider engagement. You’ve got pull quotes to read. A short, personal story to get semi-invested in. Interesting photos to help you make a point and break up space without distracting from your content.  An easy-to-follow, three-step framework to work through, without it feeling like work. Then, I’m going to wrap it all up, remind you how simple it was to do, and give you a clear call-to-action if you want to learn more or get some help from us with this.

Again, it doesn’t matter exactly how you write a blog post. You don’t have to use the same components I used, but for SEO, be sure to break up your text with visual elements (photos, subheadings, pull quotes, bulleted lists, etc.) and write at least 500 words. Even better if you’re making those keywords flow right in with the rest of your writing. That’s what I’m about to do, from an optimization standpoint.

Now, it’s YOUR turn to share

Young Muslim businesswomen sitting in a cafe, writing blog posts and using tablet for SEO on therapy websites. Represents how seo consulting supports private practice owners learning how to write quality content for their private practice website.Leave a comment, or connect with us to share your thoughts! 

What do you think? Does this make sense? What questions do you still have?

Do you feel like you have a better sense of how to plan your blog posts in a way that you can get the information out to your audience, with the quality and scope we know search engines are looking for? You can have the best blog post in the world, but if your ideal reader never sees it, it’s not doing you any good. That’s where we come in. 

What Can Simplified SEO Do For Your Therapy Practice or Other Small Business?

Whether you have a whole library of blog posts or are just considering sharing your wisdom with the world, we can help your information get seen. Our Done for You SEO services are a great place to start, with options ranging from optimizing 1-4 posts each month. If you’ve already had us optimize your site, consider getting a boost with an alumni blogging package! We can write them, or not, and will optimize them in a way that will not only get your posts read by more eyes but will also help get those eyes looking onto other pages around your site! This is key for turning casual readers into clients. Finally, if you’d rather just do all of this yourself, we’d love to teach you. We have online and in-person SEO training options for the DIY therapist who is ready to learn. 

Let’s Get Your Website Ranking!

To get started, apply to work with us! You can talk with me or Jessica about your goals, fears, and desired level of involvement in your blog or website. This will help us both determine where to start and how to get your site working for you! All this, without the never-ending investment of paying per click to get to the top of those search engines. We look forward to talking with you, soon!

Shows a picture of Danica Wolf, MSW. Represents how the team at Simplified SEO Consulting using SEO consulting to support private practice owners in learning how to write quality content and how to make sure it's "long enough".About the Author

Danica Wolf is an MSW who has years of experience in the mental health field herself first providing advocacy and then directing our local relationship and sexual violence prevention center.  She spent years managing the website for that center as well as for her own business as a Doula.  Since joining the Simplified SEO Consulting team, Danica has quickly become a favorite among our clients!  She loves interacting with small business owners around the world and watching their businesses grow as they start ranking well on websites!  Seriously, she loves hearing client success stories! Danica takes a very client-centered approach to optimizing, making sure that websites not only rank well on Google but truly serve the needs of clients who visit the site.  She is our Chief Operating Officer and helps ensure everything at Simplified is running as smoothly as possible for our clients!

 

Updated on 4/30/2023 by Lynsey

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Website Tips for Group Practice Owners

Maybe you’re interested in optimizing your website because you are trying to grow a group practice.

That’s actually how I first got interested in SEO. I’d filled my solo practice pretty quickly with referrals from former colleagues and friends. However, when I started bringing on 1099s, everyone calling wanted to talk to me. After all, they’d heard about what a great clinician I was.  The problem? I was full and I really wanted to fill up my 1099s so they’d be able to make a living and stick with my new group practice!

Enter: SEO.  As I optimized my group practice, people began finding Aspire Counseling online. Thus, they began calling Aspire Counseling not Jessica Tappana.  Now, it was much easier to point them in the direction of the therapist who best met their needs (specialty area, open appointment times, etc).

If you find yourself in the place where you are trying to fill a group practice, I want to give you some specific suggestions on how to structure your team page, create specific pages for each therapist, and add pages for any new specialties.

“About” Pages for Therapists

Group of therapist sitting in a counseling office discussing their private practice | SEO for therapists | SEO Consulting | Simplified SEO Consulting

I recommend every group practice has an “our team” type page. On this page, include a photo of every practitioner in your group as well as a paragraph or two about that person. I usually write this for my therapists. On this page, I do my best to capture who they are as a therapist and their personality.

I also consider keywords when describing each therapist’s specialty. Basically, you want to give a quick summary of the clinician and what they treat but also try to help the page rank for their specialty. For instance, “Diana is a very active therapist, who gives you very specific skills you can use. She regularly works with the following: military members, military families, trauma survivors, clients with PTSD, depression and clients seeking DBT.” One note about this part, if you notice that a lot of your clients are coming in seeking a specific type of treatment here is the place to list it. I find that a lot of people will come in looking for DBT and EMDR.  I don’t mention a lot of treatment modalities by name on this page, but DBT and EMDR are the two I’ll directly mention since we have so many people searching for those.

 

The founders of the group practice should not be at the top of the drop-down list of providers

As a founder of a private practice, our instinct is to put ourselves at the top of the list. I see this with a lot of group practice websites I look at. However, it’s the opposite of what I generally recommend. You want to have the clinicians who are looking to fill their caseload at the top. The people at the top tend to get more calls because people looking for services tend to go down the list and stop when they find someone who sounds like the might be a good fit. And as a group practice owner, not only are you likely full already, but you’re wanting to fill up your other clinicians caseloads so you can generate a passive income source for yourself.  So, I recommend stalling your ego for a minute and putting your name at the bottom of the list instead of the top.
 

Create individual pages for each therapist in your group practice 

On the team page, I add a button that allows visitors to click and see each therapist’s personal page. I have my therapists write these but I do give them some specific guidelines to follow.

Here’s what I ask my clinicians to have on their page:

  • At least 500 words
  • They include some keywords and topics that I suggest. I base my suggestions on what people in our area are searching for.
  • 3 photos – We often include one more professional headshot, one more casual photo of the clinician and one photo of something important to them. Many of my clinicians choose a picture of a pet for the third picture, though some have also included their own artwork or a picture of a favorite saying.

Should I pay to have individual therapist pages optimized on my group practice website?

Frequently we have clients ask if they should pay Simplified to optimize these individual pages. I go back and forth on this. I do optimize my own therapists’ pages to some extent. Especially if they have a specialty that you don’t yet rank for. Then, I can optimize the page to include alt text, subheadings, and a meta description that will be keyword heavy and help you rank better for this new specialty. However, if I had to choose, I would prioritize optimizing your service pages over these individual therapist pages. I would also prefer to optimize your home page and blogs before these pages.  Basically, if I teach you to optimize your own website at an SEO training I’ll tell you to optimize these pages last. If you’re paying us for Done for You services, you may just want to pay us to do the alt text and the meta description on the individual pages versus doing comprehensive optimization.
 

Have all your new clinicians identify their niche and create service pages

Diverse group of therapists discussing their private practice and website | SEO for private practice owners | SEO Consulting | SEO for therapists | Simplified SEO Consulting

Even if a therapist thinks that they are a “generalist,” they still should be able to describe a few specialties that they are very effective in treating. Once they do this, you can identify what types of specialty pages you need on your site.

Let’s use my own counseling website as an example. I started by creating specialty pages for the main types of counseling I enjoy doing. Then, as I added clinicians, I added on specific service pages for their specialties. Most recently, I hired a new therapist in December. She has very different specialties than anyone else at our practice. She sees clients going through life transitions, clients who have chronic illness, caregivers, and mothers. Prior to hiring her, I did zero marketing for her specific specialties. So, we worked together to create a specific service page about her niche with the goal of getting her more clients. Then, I heavily optimized these pages.  A month later, we rank #1 (above Psychology Today!) for her specialty and are getting calls to fill her caseload.

Won’t I eventually have too many service pages?

 
If it looks like you’re getting too many service pages, I have a simple suggestion. The first is to create subpages. For example, I have a PTSD tab on my website. And when you hover over it three additional subpages pop up: sexual violence, EMDR, and our PTSD E-Course. This keeps my drop-down menu from being overwhelming.
 

Strongly encourage your therapists to write blog posts that will help you rank for their specialties and increase inquiries

I get it. Getting your employees to write blog posts is sometimes like pulling teeth. But, blog posts that have been optimized and are full of keywords pertaining to their specialties will boost your website’s SEO and get more clients for your therapists. In my experience, if a therapist writes a lot of blogs, it is easier for my VA to get clients to schedule with them. She will say things like “based on the services you are looking for I think you would be a good fit for Christi because this is her specialty. In fact, she has written several blog posts on this issue. May I send them to you?” Another great example, one of my therapists wrote an awesome blog post about her fear of escalators and how exposure therapy helped. Then, I optimized it and added keywords. Now, we’ve been getting a ton of calls with people wanting to see her because they found that post.
 

Internal Links from Service PagesTherapists creating their group practice website | Group practice SEO | SEO for private practice | SEO for therapists | SEO consulting | Simplified SEO consulting

In the past, I had links from my service pages to the pages for the therapist that provides that service. However, I don’t do
that anymore. I learned this lesson the hard way! What I learned is that when a therapist leaves, I then have to go and unlink a bunch of pages, or I have accidentally forgotten to update it.
Instead,  I now link all of my service pages back to the “Our Team” page. From there, a visitor can read through each clinician’s specialties and find the person who works for them.
This is the easiest way to add necessary internal links while keeping it simple to add or remove therapists from your group practice website as they come and go. It also becomes very, very clear to Google that the our team type page is about a bunch of therapists, because so many pages on your site are linking the words “our therapists” or “the counselors at…” back to that team page.

The one time I link to an individual therapist’s page

The one exception is blog posts. And, if they’ve written a blog post I will include an about the author section. From there I will add links to the therapist’s personal page and to the relevant service page(s).

Begin optimizing your website with Simplified SEO Consulting

Ranking well as a group practice doesn’t have to be complicated. We love working with group practice owners!  As a group practice owner myself, I have a real soft spot for working with everyone from therapists just expanding into the group practice arena to owners of large, multi-site practices. If you are ready for your private practice to get to the top of Google, we would love to help!  To use any of our SEO services, please follow the simple steps below to get started:

  1. Book a free 15-minute consultation,
  2. Speak to one of our SEO specialists to find what service or package is the best fit for your private practice,
  3. Start ranking better on Google and get more clients!

Other SEO Services offered by Simplified SEO Consulting

Simplified SEO Consulting is pleased to offer you a variety of SEO services designed to meet your needs as a private practice owner. If you’re too busy and don’t have time to optimize your website, we offer the popular Done for You SEO Services. With this package, our team of SEO specialists will optimize your page for you. If you are the do-it-yourself type, we can help you too. We have SEO training packages designed to teach you the skills you need to get your website ranking well. A great place to start is with our “Top of Google” online course! In 2020, we’re excited to begin offering “Top of Google” 2.5 Day SEO Workshops. These intensive trainings are held in various parts of the country.  Contact us with specific questions, or book a free SEO Consultation to decide which service is best for your practice.

photo of Jessica Tappana SEO specialist and founder of Simplified SEO Consulting

About the author:

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

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How To Use Links and Anchor Text To Boost Your SEO

 

Today I wanted to take the time to talk to you about the ways you can use links to boost your SEO. There are a few different kinds of links that you can add to your page – internal links and external links. We will talk about both, but today I want to focus primarily on internal links. 
 

Internal vs. external links. What’s the difference?

African American woman working on SEO at her computer | SEO consulting | SEO for private practice owners | SEO for therapists | Counseling keywords | Simplified SEO Services

An internal link happens when the person viewing your page clicks on the blue underlined text on your page and it takes them to another page on your website. The key here is that the link keeps the person on your site. An external link is the opposite. It takes the person viewing your page off your website and onto a different site.
For example, if a potential client is reading my blog about anxiety treatment and they click on the word “anxiety,” it takes them to my therapy for anxiety page. That’s an internal link. Or, they were reading a blog about couples therapy and they clicked on the word “Gottman trained” and it took them to the Gottman website. That’s an external link. 
 

How to use links to boost your SEO

Let’s talk about the things you need to do to make the links beneficial in helping you rank higher on Google. 
 
The first thing you want to do is make sure you use good anchor text. Google assumes that your anchor text is the summary of what the page is about. If the anchor text is “feeling stressed” and it links to your Counseling for Anxiety page, then Google would assume that your service page is about feeling stressed. Doing this, it will help you rank better for the words “feeling stressed.” But, if the anchor text says “counseling for anxiety” and it goes to the anxiety service page, it is actually more helpful. Because this anchor text would help you rank better for counseling for anxiety. Which is probably a keyword you’re targeting and what people are searching for in your area. You want your anchor text to use keywords! We often see people use the phrase “click here” as anchor text. But, that really doesn’t help as much because it isn’t using keywords and doesn’t tell Google what your page is about. 
 

 Link to your home page

Serious therapist working on SEO on his laptop | SEO services | SEO for therapists | SEO consulting | Simplified SEO ConsultingOne very important internal link everyone should have on pretty much every page of their website is a link back to the home page. Let’s use my private practice: Aspire Counseling in Columbia, MO as an example. On any page of my website other than my home page, I could say “to begin seeing a therapist at Aspire Counseling you can call us at” and leave our phone number, highlighting Aspire Counseling as my anchor text to the home page. But, I don’t want to do that. Like most practices, I already rank for the name of my practice. 

 
Instead, the text that I want to highlight is going to be something along the lines of “Columbia, MO counseling practice” or “therapy clinic in Columbia, MO.” So, to re-write my example I would say something like “At my Columbia, MO counseling practice, you can receive depression counseling.” The part that would be linked back to my home page would be “Columbia, MO counseling practice.” I chose this text so that what I’m linking contains the keyword “counseling practice” which is something I want to rank for. 
 
Remember, most people rank for the name of their practice so try using other keywords as anchor text.
 

How the Simplified SEO Consulting team uses anchor texts and internal links:

A part of our Done for You package includes our staff creating internal links to and from the page we are working on. At the bottom of the page, there will be a “Call to Action” section. We will say something like “at my Atlanta area counseling office” and we will highlight that text and make it the anchor text for your home page. We do this on purpose, because that tells Google that your home page is about an Atlanta area counseling office.
 

Internal links need to open in the same tab or window

One thing that is really important to check is that internal links go to a page on your site and they don’t open in a new window/tab. So, that means that if I am on my page and someone clicks the words “Mid-Missouri practice” it redirects them to the home page. I don’t want it opening up a new window. The reason here is user experience.  It would be incredibly annoying if every time you tried to go to another page on the same website it opened up a new tab! The good news is that this is the “default” on most platforms.
 
In fact, if you look at the bottom of this blog post, you’ll see some examples of how we use internal links even within our own site.  ?
 

External links need to open in a new tab

We recommend external links open in a new window or tab. This allows someone to visit another site, but they also stay on your site in the previous tab. The hope is that they will then return to your site at some point. There’s a feature on WordPress, SquareSpace, Wix, and Weebly that you can push that says “open link in a new window” or something to that effect. We only enable this feature if we are using an external link and sending them off your site. 
 
We use external links to give your site just a little more credibility with Google. So, if you do Gottman and mention it on your page, you want to have an external link to their website. However, you don’t want to send them away from your page. Therefore, this link needs to open in a new tab or window. This is also important because Google looks at the “bounce rate” and knows when people leave your site. 
 
Current clients: Our SEO specialists would be happy to give you a list of credible external links to use on your pages if you are interested in creating some external links. 
 

Begin optimizing your website with Simplified SEO Consulting

Private practice owner getting to the top of Google searches | SEO for private practice | SEO for therapists | SEO consulting | Simplified SEO Consulting

I hope you have learned some useful information about internal and external links. They are a great tool for boosting your SEO. If you are ready to get to the top of Google, we would love to help!  To use any of our SEO services, please follow the simple steps below to get started:

  1. Book a free consultation with Simplified SEO Consulting,
  2. Speak to one of our SEO specialists to find what service or package is the best fit for your private practice,
  3. Start ranking better on Google and get more clients!

Other SEO Services offered by Simplified SEO Consulting

Simplified SEO Consulting is proud to offer you a variety of SEO services designed to meet your needs. For busy practice owners who don’t have time to optimize their websites, we offer the popular Done for You SEO Services. With this package, our team of SEO specialists will optimize your page for you. If you are the do-it-yourself type, we can help you as well with our SEO training packages. Our trainings are designed to teach you the skills you need to get your website ranking well. A great place to start is with our “Top of Google” online course! In 2020, we’re excited to begin offering SEO workshops in person as well!  At various locations around the country (see the page for upcoming dates/locations), we offer our half day “Moving the SEO Needle” workshop and our 2.5 day “Top of Search Engines” really comprehensive SEO workshop. Contact us with specific questions, or book a free SEO Consultation to decide which service is best for your practice.

photo of Jessica Tappana SEO specialist and founder of Simplified SEO Consulting

About the author:

Jessica Tappana is a therapist, group practice owner & an SEO expert.  Jessica is passionate about helping therapists and their ideal clients find one another. She believes quality mental health care can change the world.  Her group practice has grown primarily through great SEO. It now has seven clinicians and one virtual assistant while she still sees 7-10 individual therapy clients a week. However, most of her focus has shifted to helping other therapists around the world rank better on Google. 

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Writing Blog Posts to Serve Your Clients and Boost Your SEO

We’ve all been there, sitting at our computer trying to get the motivation to write that blog post that has been on your to-do list for weeks. But, an idea for what to write about just isn’t coming to mind.
Lately, I have had a lot of conversations with our clients about blogging. So, today I want to explain the purpose of a blog and how it helps your SEO. Additionally, I will give you some tips on how to choose a topic to write about.

What is the purpose of a blog post?

Many people think that blogging is simply another marketing tool to boost your SEO. This is true. But, thinking about blogs this way makes it really hard to motivate yourself to sit down and write. So, turn that thought around and think about it like this: blogging WILL help me get to the top of Google. AND it will help me help more people and share some good information.
 
Adding new content to your website on a regular basis is critical to your SEO rankings. Adding new content tells Google what to rank you for. Additionally, it tells Google that you’re still paying attention to your site. Therefore, they will move you up in the rankings. Ultimately, blogging serves a very important purpose.

Blogging is another way you can serve your clients.

smiling male therapist writing a blog post for his counseling clinic | SEO for therapists | Simplified SEO Consulting

As I mentioned above, blogging increases the likelihood that Google will rank you higher. So, you are getting the word out about the services you provide to potential clients looking for help.
 
But, you can also help your current clients, former clients, and the clients who rarely come into your office by blogging.
 
For example, it isn’t uncommon that I will give a current client the assignment of reading a blog that I wrote. Because the content in there is relevant to what they are working on in therapy. So, I will email them the blog post and then we will discuss it the next time I see them.
 
Frequently, I post about the blogs I have written on the Facebook page for my private practice. Many of my former clients or the clients that I have only seen once in-person follow me here. I have had clients reach out to me after seeing the post and reading the blog to ask for additional help.

Choosing a topic for blog posts

Using our Done for you services

For our clients taking advantage of our larger Done for You packages, your SEO specialist will send you a list of 5-7 blog post ideas at the end of every month. We review your data and your keyword rankings on Brighter Vision. Then, we generate a list based on keywords we think you need to target. For example, this month I noticed that a client’s keywords for anxiety were dropping. So, the ideas I sent largely focused on anxiety-related topics.

If you are not utilizing this package here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Look at is what keywords you want to rank well for but aren’t.

Private practice owner thinking about what to write a blog post about | SEO for private practice owners | Simplified SEO Consulting

Maybe these rankings have dropped or were never high to begin with. You can find all this information in your Brighter Visions data where we track your keywords. So, say you notice that the keyword “anxiety treatment in Los Angeles” has fallen from tenth place to twenty-second place on Brighter Vision. You may want to consider writing a blog post on what to expect with CBT anxiety therapy. Targeting anxiety and anxiety treatment in this blog is critical and will help you rank well.

 
This is why it is so important to track your data. If one keyword drops, it is pretty easy to target it in a blog post and start ranking better for that keyword.

2. Have you ever noticed that you have the same conversation with a couple of clients in your sessions? That’s a pretty good indicator that you should write a blog post about this topic.

If this is happening to you, sit down after a session and write some notes on what you are saying to your clients. That way, your words will sound authentic. And, you will be able to quickly write a blog post that will be helpful to your ideal client.

For example, you notice that you have several clients come to you with fears about social interactions during the holiday season. So you may want to consider writing a post on how to handle social anxiety during the holiday season. Or a post on self-care during the busy holiday season.

3. Check out your intake paperwork.

Why are your clients coming in? If several clients come in with concerns about a certain symptom and you do not have a blog post about it, write one. For example, several people come in saying that they have trouble falling asleep. So, I would write a blog post on the importance of sleep hygiene.
 

4. If you have read a good book, saw a great quote on social media, or read an article and want to share it, consider writing a blog post about it.

One thing Google notices is duplicate content. So, switching it up is important. Describe your reaction to the content and what advice you’d add.
If you’re writing a blog post that you feel good about and has at least 500 words, then you are most likely getting some keywords in it. As long as you do that it is pretty easy to go back in and optimize it yourself or have our SEO specialists do it for you.

Begin optimizing your website with Simplified SEO Consulting

Therapist blogging for her private practice | Online SEO services | Simplified SEO Consulting

I hope you found this information on blogging useful. It is something we feel strongly about at Simplified SEO Consulting. If you are ready to get to the top of Google, follow the simple steps below to get started:

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

Other SEO Services offered by Simplified SEO Consulting

Simplified SEO Consulting is proud to offer you a variety of SEO services designed to meet your needs. For busy practice owners, we offer the popular Done for You SEO Services. With this package, our team of SEO specialists will optimize your page for you. But, if you are the do-it-yourself type we offer SEO training packages. These are designed to teach you the skills you need to get your website ranking well. We also offer the opportunity for you to learn SEO in a weekend at one of our intensive training sessions for private practice owners. This is for clients who want to learn how to do SEO themselves. Additionally, we offer Simplified SEO alumni packages and maintenance packages to keep you ranking well. And we offer à la carte SEO services for those of you who just need a little guidance.  Contact us with specific questions or book a free SEO Consultation to decide which service is best for your practice.

photo of Jessica Tappana SEO specialist and founder of Simplified SEO Consulting

About the author:

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

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3 Tips for Maximizing Your “Slow Time” in Private Practice

A graph with a magnifying glass representing how I take a close look at predictable trends in private practice data where we expect a winter and summer slow down.If you’ve been in private practice for long, you’ve probably realized that there are some predictable slow times.  It’s scary!  The first couple of years you’re in private practice you may even wonder if you’ll survive the slow down.  What if it doesn’t pick back up?  And aren’t people stressed during the holiday season having to travel and visit family?  Why aren’t they calling?

I just looked at data for my own private practice. We have two very distinct slow times per year. Those slow times are late May through the month of July and then late November through early January.  The specific metrics I was looking at in my own practice include website impressions (times we showed up in a search), clicks (when someone “clicked” on our site from a list of search results), calls and revenue.  In addition to my own experience, I’ve spoken to countless other private practice owners. Through these conversations, I’ve learned that, at least in the United States, these slow periods are very common.

The worst part? Those times where fewer people are calling are the same times of year when clients are more likely to cancel appointments or “take a break” from counseling!

So, what do you do during slow periods in private practice?

A yellow clock to represent the winter slow down in private practice. Fewer people book counseling appointments during the holiday season so it's a great time for therapists to learn SEO!I think our natural instinct is to cut expenses.  The first year I certainly reacted this way. I kind of panicked to be honest.  But then, I did some research and learned.   I realized that these slow downs were natural, to be expected.  I personally started using Profit First to better management my finances.

And now? When a slow period hits, I don’t panic. I can predict when things will pick back up.  Instead, I use the slow time to focus on what needs to be done to prepare for the next busy season.  It’s the perfect time for updates (SEO or design) to my website.  It’s a great time to overhaul the systems in my practice and tweak things so they run more smoothly.  I ask myself, what needs to happen so when the next busy season hits my business is ready to grow?

Slow times are perfect for focusing on SEO in private practice!

These slow times are my favorite time of the year to focus on SEO!  Why? Because I know that if we can use this time get a private practice website ranking better, that practice has the potential to grow really, really quickly in late January or February (or in late August or September after the Summer slow time).

So, even if your initial response is a bit of a panic, I encourage you to think about how to invest your extra time or even a little money in SEO during slow times.  Here are three great  places to focus your efforts:

Write and schedule ahead a bunch of blog posts

The word blog written in white on a table next to a cup of coffee and a keyboard. Blogging can help therapists and psychologists in search engine optimization for their private practice websites.Private practice owners always tell me they don’t have time to write blog posts.  I get it, we’re busy.  However, you’re bound to have cancellations in your practice this month.  So, use this rare gift of time your clients will give you.  Write ahead as many blog posts as you can!  They don’t have to be perfect.  Just choose topics relevant to your ideal clients, write at least 500 words and go with it!  But instead of publishing them all right away, schedule them to publish every other week at the same time.

This way, Google will consistently see you publishing this new content for awhile.  Come that busy month of February, it will look like you’re churning out all of this great content that new clients can read while they wait for their initial consult. However, in reality you’ll be busy returning phone calls, attending intake appointments and consulting with the other therapists in your practice!

Earn backlinks for your counseling website

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating that getting backlinks is one of the best things you can do for your counseling website.  But this is another time consuming thing.  So, use this slower time to focus on getting backlinks.  During the holiday season, journalists and others are suddenly very interested in talking about stress.  So….use that to your advantage.  Write some guest blog posts. Look for new directories or resource lists you can be added to. Act as a source for a couple journalists.  Maybe even offer to write a piece for your local paper.  If you put a little effort into earning some backlinks during this slow period, it will have a HUGE payoff in terms of SEO. Therefore, it can play an important role in helping you get to the top of Google before everyone suddenly decides to look for a new counselor in just a couple months!

Optimize as many pages of your website as possible!

A snowy scene with a cup of cocoa and mittens to represent the slow holiday season many therapists and small business owners see. Focusing on learning search engine optimization can be a great way to use the slow time this winter!I typically recommend that you optimize around 3-4 pages per month for Search Engine Optimization. In fact, when people want to optimize more I often remind them that slow and steady wins the race and by optimizing just 3-4 we can tweak our strategy after just a few pages.  However…slow times are an exception.  Right now, you want to do as much work as possible as quickly as possible so you are ranking well come January.

So, I recommend putting a very strong focus on optimizing right now.  In fact, that’s why we scheduled our first ever “Learn SEO in a Weekend” workshop for July 2-5!  We wanted to help people optimize a whole bunch of pages (our goal is for participants to optimize 5 in a single weekend!) right before the time when everyone would be looking.  Alternatively, you could purchase our “Top of Google” online SEO course right now and put aside time to walk through the course (it’s self paced so you access the modules as you have time) and immediately practice what you learn by optimizing your own page!  It takes time, trial and error to practice these concepts.  So, slower times of the year are honestly the best time of the year to learn SEO!

Of course, if you really are not interested in optimizing your own website (which I understand – many, many private practice owners fall into this category!), then you can use our Done for You search engine optimization services.  In this case, our SEO specialists will do the optimizing for you so you can still take advantage of the slow time.  In this case, I highly recommend you still focus on earning backlinks yourself while we’re optimizing your pages!

Fear not: Things will pick up

The truth is that people will always need counseling.  So, while things might be slow right now, they won’t stay slow forever.  Eventually, your ideal clients will start looking again. And when they do, the first place they turn will probably be Google.  So, use this time to stay calm and focus on optimizing your website.  Get ready for the busy time that is to come.  And take comfort in the knowledge that you are providing an incredibly valuable service that will always be needed.

Interested in working with us to get your counseling website ranking faster?

Our services are meant to help you get your counseling website ranking well on search engines even faster.  As a private practice owner myself, I know how valuable our time is.  And I also know how short these “slow times” end up being! So if you want to maximize your time, let’s chat about which of our SEO services would be a fit for you.  We offer a wide range of services, but they generally fall into two categories: SEO training for DIY practice owners who want a marketing skill they can use for years and “Done for You” optimizing for business owners who know it’s worth the return on investment to outsource on page optimization.  Regardless which service you are interested in, you get started with three easy steps:

  1. Schedule a free SEO Consultation
  2. Meet with one of our SEO specialists for a Zoom call
  3. Choose the search engine optimization package that’s the best fit for your business!
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SEO & Story Brand

Do I have any other Story Brand fans out there?  If you haven’t read Donald Miller’s book “Story Brand” yet, I highly encourage you to pause for a moment and go purchase it on Amazon.  I’ve read through it 3 times myself, participated in a small group study where we went through it together, and created several versions of a brand script.  It’s just an all-around great book for every business owner to read.

*pausing now so you can purchase the book*

Ok, hopefully, you’re continuing to read because you’ve now purchased this wonderful marketing book.

In general, Story Brand has great advice for therapists.

Now, hopefully, I’ve made it clear that I REALLY like Story Brand and I think Donald Miller’s marketing advice is generally golden.  Some of my favorite things I’ve learned from Story Brand:

  • As a business owner, you are the guide in your marketing, not the hero.  Our customers are the hero.
  • Keep your messaging simple.  This is especially true on websites.  We want a client to be able to immediately tell what service we offer when they land on our website (Donald Miller calls this the caveman test), so I often work with SEO clients on simplifying their language in their writing, adding a clear call to action button and even simplifying the navigation bar so people can easily navigate a website.
  • Your website should have a clear, short statement explaining what you do “above the fold” or before someone scrolls down.
  • A website needs clear calls to action.  It shouldn’t be difficult for a client to figure out what to do next or how to get ahold of you.
  • Paint a clear picture of how your service will help the client.  On a website, it’s important to do this through having positive, outcome-based pictures.  Photos quickly convey how someone will feel after working with you.

Anyways, I could go on and on about all the things he got very right in his book.

There is one place I disagree with Donald Miller’s advice….

There’s just one place I disagree.  And I know I might ruffle a couple of feathers by disagreeing with such a genius marketer.  But I can’t help it….

At one point in the book (page 154 in my well loved copy), Donald Miller recommends that you delete half the content on your website. In fact, he says your website should have “very few words.”

*Gasp*

In fact, this is something I’ve heard Donald Miller repeats when he speaks and that he’s very, very critical of websites (like mine) with a large amount of content. As someone who helps therapists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals with their SEO every single day, I disagree.  

Why do I disagree?

Because if you delete half the content on your website it will be much more difficult to get your website to the top of search engines.

Google needs your website to have enough content that it can figure out what your website is about. It can’t rank you for the searches your ideal clients are doing unless it realizes that you have information bout that topic!  You may have heard the phrase, “Content is King.”  This is SOOO

500 Word Minimum for Therapist Blog Posts | Simplified SEO Consulting true when it comes to SEO.  I’ve told you before that Google likes lots of content.

It is well established in the world of SEO that Google ranks sites with more words higher.

Google assumes that if you have the word “divorce” on your page you know what the word means.  If you have a paragraph about “divorce” on a page all about life transitions you may know a little about the topic.  But if you have a whole page with lots (500+) of words? Wow, Google now assumes you’re an expert. When someone is searching for tips for getting through a divorce, Google now understands that your website has the information that person is looking for!!

So, how do we stay (mostly) true to Story Brand while also getting great SEO?

Question mark and man to show how this post answers several questions about SEO & Storybrand for therapist & private practice websites.I believe it’s possible to both stay true to Story Brand and create a well-ranking website with tons of content.  We use your brand script to make sure we really understand your services.  Then, we sprinkle the phrases you’ve used throughout your site as we optimize.

Most importantly, we simplify your message by using your brand script when we write headings and subheadings on your page.  We know nobody reads big blocks of text on a website.  But they do scan the page.  Therefore, the subheadings are what people are most likely to read on your page.

We use this knowledge to our advantage.  Subheadings on your page absolutely need keywords in them. However, they also need to be written more carefully than anything else on your page because they are what your clients are most likely to read.  So, the subheadings should be very easy to understand and clear.  In other words, they should be written with your brand script in mind.

Can I still use the Storybrand wireframe and rank well on Google?

Absolutely!  I’ve seen several website that use the Storybrand wireframe and just add more content.  I also think it’s ok if your home page has fewer words.  That is, after all, the page most people will see.  I recommend people prioritize design & carefully chosen wording on their home page.  Then, you have some carefully chosen service pages explaining that you are an “expert” on treating your ideal clients.  These service pages should use Storybrand but will likely have more words on the page than Storybrand recommends.

So, don’t throw the recommended wireframe out just because you are adding more content to your site.  Just know, at least on some pages, you’re likely adding more words than a Storybrand professional would recommend.

Content still needs to be quality content

Now, I don’t want you to misunderstand me here and think I’m just telling you to go add a couple thousand words of text to every page of your website.  Content for content’s sake is not necessarily good. A huge part of what my staff does is help our clients strategically choose content that will both be very useful to your clients and improve your SEO.  And when you’re creating content, you still want to keep in mind the principles of Storybrand.

For example, I strongly recommend blogging regularly as part of your SEO Strategy.  You can write excellent, really informative blogs that provide some great tips to your ideal clients. In fact, I often assign my old blog posts as homework to clients or my client care coordinator will send out an old blog post for someone to read while they wait for their first appointment! However, I think you’ll write even better blog posts if you remember that even in those you’re setting the client up as the hero. In the blog you’re saying, “Here is a tip that will help you conquer your anxiety dragon. It’s a tool that will help you on this quest.” Not, “I’m so smart that he’s a magic technique that will solve your problems for you.”

Content is only one part of good SEO strategy

Now, just because I’m talking about how I recommend adding more content to your website than Donald Miller recommends does NOT mean I’m saying adding a bunch of content should be the focus of your SEO Strategy.  First of all, content that isn’t carefully chosen isn’t helpful.

However, it’s also important to note that content is only one piece of the puzzle.  You also want to address technical issues on your site, have a secure website, make sure you’re using the type of words your ideal clients might use, build lots of backlinks to your website and so much more.

So please, know that you need to add content to your website if you’re created a website that follows Storybrand closely but isn’t ranking well. But also know that just word dumping on your website won’t alone get you great SEO.

Our SEO consultants love to work with Story Brand fans!

The truth is, my favorite new trend with SEO clients is that many are sending us their brand script!  This is so flipping cool.  It makes our day. Or week. Or month.

If you do the hard work of reading Story Brand and creating a brand script, it helps us clearly understand your message. This helps us be more clear as we optimize your page.  It informs everything from your meta descriptions to the internal links we place on your site.  Most importantly, we try to incorporate elements of your brand script when we’re writing subheadings on your page.  This way, your website does a better job of converting when people do a quick scan of your page!

Have your brand script ready and want to start focusing on SEO for your website?

You’ve read Story Brand, have a clear picture of how to describe your services and have even made some changes to your website. Now you’re just ready to get that website in front of more people while still maintaining a clear message.  That’s where we come in!

Search Engine Optimization helps you get your website out there in front of more people.  At Simplified SEO Consulting, we offer several options to help you do this.  If you’re the DIY type, we have online SEO courses including a comprehensive one that takes you step by step through our favorite SEO techniques.  We also have a 12 week SEO intensive if you’re looking for support and guidance to optimize your site. On the other hand, if you find your just too busy to worry about SEO yourself, our staff can optimize your site for you with our “Done for You” services.  Even with this option, you’re welcome to send us your brand script and we’ll do our best to incorporate the simple messages you’ve come up with as we optimize your site.

How to start working on your SEO

We help therapists, psychiatrists, counselors other small business owners (generally in the health and wellness industry) get their websites ranking well on google.  Getting started is easy!

  1. Set up a free 30 minute Zoom appointment to talk to one of our SEO specialists about which service is the best fit for your needs.
  2. Begin learning to do SEO yourself or working with our staff through a monthly “done for you” package.
  3. Watch your website begin moving toward the first page of Google.

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SEO for Telehealth or Online Counseling Pages

 

In this blog, I want to talk about how to get your online counseling pages ranking well on Google. Chances are that if your ideal client is looking for online counseling, then they are probably looking for a therapist on a search engine. We know that in general a lot of people these days are turning to the internet when they are looking for a counselor. Why? Because it makes sense. It is convenient and can be done anytime and anywhere. So as a counselor who provides online services, you’re probably interested in search engine optimization (SEO).

It’s fairly difficult to get an online counseling page ranking well.

Online Therapist helping client during an online therapy session | SEO for online counseling pages | Simplified SEO Consulting

Unfortunately, you are often competing with larger companies that provide online counseling services. These companies invest a lot of time and money into their website and marketing efforts. If they’re able to be in a whole lot of different states, or every state, then they likely have done a lot of very targeted SEO work. It is important to know that your average client doesn’t know they need to look for an online therapist that is licensed in the state they live in. They’re going to search for online counseling. If you are in the United States, you need to have a license in the state the client resides in. Therefore, we have to do everything we can to tell Google two things: 1. You offer online mental health services, 2. You offer them where the client is located. The client doesn’t tell Google that they’re looking for services where they are located, so you have to. And it is a lot more work.

 
There are some local SEO techniques that we use when we are working with a brick and motor counseling office. For instance, putting the address on every single page. These things are nearly impossible or more difficult to do for an online counseling page. So our approach has to be different. It may take a bit longer for you to see the return on your investment. But with a little more time and effort, you can see your page rank better on Google.
 

Our top 3 tips to boost the SEO results for your online therapy pages

First, do some keyword research related to online counseling services.

In another blog post we talked about keyword research for therapists and shared the general trends (in the United States) for keywords related to telehealth or online counseling. However, it’s important to know that people use very different terms depending on where they live.  If you’re licensed in New Jersey, you may target a different keyword for your online services than if you’re licensed in California and may need different terms yet if you are located in England, Australia or Canada.  And if your private practice has clinicians licensed in multiple states, you’ll want to do some keyword research in each state you are marketing your online therapy services.  You may find that you need to use different keywords on each state’s landing page (see below).

So, where do you find out which keywords to target for online therapy in your area specifically? There are a LOT of different keyword research tools out there you can use, but you’ll specifically be looking for one where you can choose the specific area you are researching. You can read about our favorite keyword research tools here, but there are a lot of different ones out there that may work.

Next, create a landing page for each geographic area you want to target.

Photo of online therapist talking to client on a video call | SEO for online counseling pages | Simplified SEO Consulting

Consider where you are able or want to pull potential clients from.  For instance, if you are only offering online counseling in Texas, you may have a general page on your website called “online counseling in Texas.” Texas is a large state, and you would have some competition for online counseling in Texas. Therefore, you may also create separate pages on your site for online counseling in major cities or areas you want to target. For example, you may have an Online Counseling in Dallas page or Online Counseling in Houston page. I recommend creating several pages for different areas in the state you provide services in.
 

Make sure you are using original content.

You may be tempted to copy the page five times and change a few words on the page. Unfortunately, Google sees this as what’s called “duplicate content.” So, you are better off changing a lot of the content of your page. Try to make as many local references as possible. Therefore, if a potential client is searching in Dallas, TX, Google will know that you provide services there because you’ve written a wonderful page where you reference the city of Dallas and local places in that city. The pictures on your page should also reference the page you are writing.
 
For each of the landing pages, I recommend having at least 500 words to show Google that you offer services in that area. If I have a page on my website that mentions Dallas one time, Google will assume I offer services there. But, if I have a whole page dedicated to online counseling in Dallas, then they are going to put that page higher in search results.
 
If you are going to do one thing to boost your SEO, this is what you should do!
 

Second, create a series of blog posts all about telehealth or online counseling.

Here you can try to work in some of the references to your location. But the most important part of the blog posts is to tell

Happy client talking to therapist online | SEO for online counseling pages | Simplified SEO ConsultingGoogle that you have a really robust site with helpful information about online counseling. Basically, you’re telling Google that you know a lot about online counseling. You might create a blog series that answers the most common questions people ask about online counseling.

For example, you might write a blog “Does Online Counseling Work?” Then the next blog may be “Three Benefits of Online Counseling,” and so on. Within the blog post, you might give examples of references to the state you are targeting. For example, “if you live in the Dallas area and have a long commute, you might not have time to come into counseling every week.” Then in the next paragraph, I would use an example from somewhere else in the state you are targeting.
 

Write blog posts that truly help your online counseling clients

Aim for writing really useful content.  Think about common questions your clients ask about online mental health services. What information can you include in your blogs that will make new clients more comfortable with your telehealth services?  Perhaps you can write a blog post on your experience as a mental health professional highlighting how you’ve still developed great therapeutic relationships online.  Or write a trouble shooting guide. We’ve had practice owners write really helpful blog posts with screen shots introducing clients to their online platform. If you do this, you can send new clients a link to this blog post before their first appointment.
At Simplified SEO Consulting, we’re big believers that blog posts should be for more than just SEO. Therefore, I encourage you to think about how you can write blog posts about your online services that will really support your SEO strategy AND will be truly useful.  There’s no doubt that good, helpful content is much more valuable than content thrown up just for the purpose of SEO!
 

Get started working on your SEO for online counseling

These are just a few SEO tips, but if you are ready to get serious about your SEO, there are a lot of other things that you can do! Specifically, if you are watching this and want to know more, please reach out to me and my team of SEO specialists at Simplified SEO Consulting. You can do this by following these easy steps:

  1. Book a free consultation,
  2. Speak to one of our SEO specialists to find which service is the best fit for your online counseling practice,
  3. Start ranking better on Google and get more online counseling clients!

Other Services offered by Simplified SEO Consulting

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

photo of Jessica Tappana SEO specialist and founder of Simplified SEO Consulting

About the Author

My name is Jessica Tappana and I am the founder of Simplified SEO Consulting. My team and I help therapists online or in-person get to the top of search engines. I also own my own group counseling practice in Columbia, MO.  In the past couple years, I’ve worked with a lot of therapists who offer some or all their counseling services on the computer (even pre-Covid). My team and I have worked on a lot of online counseling pages. Along the way, we have learned quite a few lessons, and I want to share a couple of those with you.

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How Does Bounce Rate Affect SEO?

iThere is so much data thrown at you in the online world we live in. As you dive into SEO, it can be overwhelming to learn what exactly all the numbers mean. What are meta descriptions, alt texts, and keywords? How do you know what to track and then how do you track it? Well, I am here to demystify what a bounce rate is. And how it works with SEO to help you get more clients.

What is a Bounce Rate?

Simply put, the bounce rate is how many people only go to one page on your website. For example, they go to the home page and then don’t continue on to a service page. This is problematic for obvious reasons. We want people to look at your service pages and of course, schedule an appointment with you!

In the SEO consulting work we do, we track the bounce rate of counseling websites we work with. If a bounce rate is too high, we know it’s time to make a change.  Often, it means we need to make your site easier to navigate. We want potential clients to be able to find the pages they need to to learn more about your practice and how to work with you.

How do I know what it is?

Photo of Google Analytics computer screen showing the bounce rate | Bounce Rate and SEO on a counseling websiteYou can find the bounce rate for your counseling website in Google Analytics by going to the home page, and there on the main screen is a percentage. This percentage is your bounce rate!

The bounce rate for your overall website is what we look at most often. We want to be sure that no matter which page someone finds first, they continue to stay on your site to see ALL you have to offer.  However, we’ll occasionally check to see if one page of your website has a particularly high bounce rate (an indicator we want to change the content on it) or low bounce rate (what’s going well & how can we duplicate it?).

In general, we’ve heard to aim for a bounce rate between 50-70%. However, in our work we’ve noticed that with a little effort most of the counseling websites we work on can stay under 60%. At this number, a large amount of people are staying on your site to read what you have to stay. It also factors in that there will be some people who know exactly what they’re looking for and don’t go to multiple pages.

How do I know if my Bounce Rate is too high?

There are a number of things that can impact bounce rate. For example, if you have just started blogging and don’t have internal links built in, people might find your blog and not know how to navigate to the other pages on your site. Or maybe they got the content they desired and then left the blog post.

A therapist who offers online counseling services and used Done for You monthly SEO packages to improve the search engine optimization for his online small business.

To check whether this is why your site has a high bounce rate, you can check the individual page bounce rates in Google Analytics as well. This is done by going to the audience tab, and clicking all pages, then bounce rate. This way you can see what the bounce rate is on each individual page. Thus, you will know whether it is a hugely popular blog post skewing your data, or whether you need to work on making your page easier to navigate.

3 SEO Tips to Reduce your Bounce Rate:

1) Have an attractive and easy-to-navigate website.

If your site looks good and is easy to move around, people are more likely to click through it. Especially, to find the information they’re dying to know. One place to start is by looking at your menu bar. Your menu bar helps potential clients find the information they are looking for about your private practice and move quickly throughout your site.

2) Offer quality content that leaves people wanting more.

If your copy (the words on your website) is strong, potential clients are going to want to keep reading and learn more about your practice and who you serve! Strongly written copy that has been SEO optimized will help you convert website viewers into paying clients!

3) Use internal links and calls to action to keep people moving on your site.

Internal links are links that go from one page to another on your website. This helps people easily navigate and find what they are looking for. For example, if you wrote an amazing blog post about anxiety, include a link or two to your anxiety service page so viewers can learn more about how you can help them through anxiety treatment.

Calls to action help website viewers know what to do next. If they find themselves on your website wondering how to book with you, then your website isn’t doing its job! Make it easy for people to work with you, and you’ll get more calls.

Are you ready to get serious about SEO for your counseling website?

As an SEO consulting service for mental health professionals, we offer services that will help get your counseling website to the top of Google. Our monthly SEO packages help private practice therapists fill their schedules with the clients of their dreams and our SEO training services help practice owners optimize their own websites.

To begin working with Simplified SEO Consulting:

  1. Book a Free Consult.
  2. Talk with one of our SEO Specialists.
  3. Begin ranking higher on Google.

Climbers scaling a mountain | our SEO consultants help therapists, counselors, psychiatrists & psychologists learn how to improve the SEO for their mental health website and fill their private practice.

SEO Consulting Services offered at Simplified SEO Consulting

As an seo consulting service for therapists, getting our clients to the top of Google is our favorite thing. We offer a free seo consultation over Zoom, because we want to make sure to match you with the right service.  It’s important you get the best possible return on any investment you. make on your page.  Through talking to us, you’ll be able to figure out what service is the best match.  For busy practice owners who just don’t have the time (or desire) to work on their own Search Engine Optimization & are ready to outsource, we offer monthly “Done for you” SEO packages. However, some practice owners are more the DIY type and want to be hands on with optimizing their own website.  We offer several SEO training options including a self paced online SEO course specifically designed for counselors, psychologists & psychiatrists as well as in person SEO training in our “Learn SEO in a Weekend” workshops.

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3 Reasons Why You Should Track Your SEO Data

Lately, I am having more conversations with private practice owners about why they should track data on their website. So, we wanted to take the time to discuss how and why you should track data related to your website. The short answer is that tracking data allows you to see if your website is doing the four things your website needs to do to help you grow your practice.  But to dive in a little deeper, here are three ways tracking your data can help:

1. To Track Return on Investment (ROI) 

The first reason to track your website data is to understand the return on your investment. When working on your SEO you need to know your investment is worth it.  A lot of people pay for marketing with Facebook Ads, Google Ads, or SEO. But, they never really track whether or not that’s helping their SEO. You want to spend your hard-earned marketing dollars where it’s going to make the biggest impact.

So, when it comes to assessing your ROI and if SEO is working, we look at:

Illustration of a man sitting at a laptop looking at his SEO data surrounded by the words analysis, index keywords, site architecture, content, ranking, and traffic |  Simplified SEO Consulting

Where are your clients coming from?

In my practice, every time a potential client reaches out we mark it in our system. My assistant and I use a Google spreadsheet to track all calls that come into my practice. Without using identifying data, we use initials, we mark where they heard about us.

For example, my staff record if the inquiry comes in via phone call or email, who spoke to them first, whether they are a paying client, and any relevant notes (if they are looking for therapy covered by insurance). If you are invested in anything, and by anything I mean time/energy/money into marketing/SEO marketing, then you want to be tracking where your calls are coming from. This will let you know if your efforts are turning into paid calls.

Use an SEO tracking tool

I highly recommend using a tracking tool that tracks things like your Google rankings, your Google Search Console data & your Google Analytics data. For our consulting clients, we begin our monthly planning calls by reviewing the data. In fact, our staff check your rankings data every single time they begin to work on your website. Why? Because we want to make sure your investment is working.  Have your keyword rankings increased? Are your Google clicks going up? Have more people clicked on your website? You want to know that what you’re doing is worth it.

There are several different SEO tracking tools you can use.  We have a custom SEO dashboard our clients use. However, there are several out there. For instance, if you use Brighter Vision you can ask about their Brighter Insights tool which is what we used to use for all of our clients.  SEMRush or Moz both have tools to track your progress as well. At a minimum, look for a tool that has “position tracking” or ranking data and shows you how you rank for each specific keyword you’re tracking. If that was all you had, you could find the rest of the data in Google Analytics or Google Search Console.

2. To Track Data On What Happens When People Visit Your Website

The second reason to look at SEO data is to see what happens when people click on your website. We can see how many clicks your website gets, but are those potential clients calling you?

Through Google Analytics, Google Search Console & an SEO tracking tool that looks at your rankings, we want to answer the questions, “What pages are people staying on when they visit your counseling website?” In other words, what pages are they navigating to, and what pages are they staying on the longest?  Or, are they even staying on your website once they arrive? Again, if you’re working with us, you have access to this information and we will help you look at it and understand what it means.

One last thing to look at to determine if people are finding what they need on your site is to consider the bounce rate. The bounce rate is how many people only look at a page on your website and then go to another site. We would prefer fewer people bouncing off and more people staying on your website.

We believe in transparency and want to make sure that our SEO services are worth your investment.  In fact, we look at this data with you every single month during your planning call when you participate in our Done for You monthly SEO packages. 

3. To Track Data On Any Changes in Search Engine Rankings

Illustration of a man and woman looking at her SEO data increases on a red bar graph | Simplified SEO Consulting

Search engines are finicky things. In fact, Google is constantly changing its algorithm.  Therefore, having good SEO today doesn’t mean you’ll continue to rank well tomorrow.  Therefore, we want to track website data so we can see if there is any big changes in how your website ranks from month to month.

By tracking data regularly, we have the opportunity to catch and rectify any decreases in SEO. Occasionally Google changes its algorithm from an SEO standpoint. If this happens, and it affects our SEO, you have to go back and fix your website to rank better.

Just last year, Google changed its algorithm. Anybody with big pop-ups on their website that covered most of the page didn’t rank as well as they previously did. This hurt a lot of private practice owners. A lot of therapists had been told that they needed to have a big pop-up to join their mailing list, etc, and they no longer ranked well. 

If we track your data, we can see when that sort of thing happens. This will alert us to when we need to make some SEO changes. There are lots of other reasons this might happen. For example, I have found some coding errors on certain websites that we’ve been working on. These come up when we go to index a certain page. When we find these coding errors, we let you know and give you screenshots that you can send to your website designer. When we are looking at the data we can find these errors and fix them. If you aren’t tracking the data, you won’t know that your SEO has decreased and you won’t be given the chance to fix it.

A Note About Google AdWords and SEO

When people are working on SEO and still doing Google AdWords, we’ll look at your Google Analytics data. This will sort out your paid searches versus your organic searches, which would be the SEO portion. We’ll look at how long people are staying on the website from each of those. When we look at Google Analytics we want to see the following: low bounce rate, more pages per session, and longer session duration.

Essentially, this tells us the quality of the search traffic coming to your page. But, if we find that one is yielding better results, that might give some clue where to invest your time and money. For instance, if you are getting a ton of traffic from Google AdWords, but people are not staying on your page long or looking at lots of pages, then it may be time to consider investing in our SEO services, rather than investing more money into AdWords.

Begin optimizing your website with Simplified SEO Consulting

Illustration of SEO team at a desk tracking SEO Data on their computers | Simplified SEO Consulting

If you are ready to learn more about tracking the data on your website and ranking well on Google, please follow these simple steps:

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

Other SEO Services offered by Simplified SEO Consulting

Simplified SEO Consulting is proud to offer you a variety of SEO services designed to meet your needs. For busy practice owners, offer the popular Done for You SEO Services where our team of SEO specialists will optimize your page for you. On the other hand, if you are the do-it-yourself type or still in the bootstrapping phase of private practice, we also offer SEO training packages. Our latest SEO training option is the opportunity for you to learn SEO in a weekend at one of our intensive training sessions for private practice owners who want to learn SEO themselves.  Contact us with specific questions or book a free SEO Consultation to figure out which service is best for your business!

photo of Jessica Tappana SEO specialist and founder of Simplified SEO Consulting

About the author:

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

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