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Four Common SEO Mistakes Made by Private Practices

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

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

Four Common SEO Mistakes by Private Practices

Neglecting Your Private Practices Local SEO

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

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

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

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

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

Focusing Too Much on Keywords

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

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

Ignoring Your Private Practices Technical SEO

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

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

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

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

Apply To Work With Simplified SEO Consulting

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

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

Other Services Offered With Simplified SEO Consulting

Interested in working with our team to help you with your website’s SEO? To help you get your optimize ranking in the search engine results and find your ideal client, we offer support in both our Done For You SEO Services and DIY Online SEO Courses. Simplified SEO Consulting also offers a 12-week Done With You Intensive Program. Check out our blog for more helpful tips and guides to SEO!

About The Author

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

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

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

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The Non-Blogger’s Guide to SEO Success

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

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

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

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

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

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

How Long You’ve Owned Your Website

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

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

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

Keyword Research

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

Link Building

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

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

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

A note about link-building “shortcuts”

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

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

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

On-Page Optimization

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

User Experience

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

Local SEO

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEO is a lot of work…and it pays off.

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

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

 

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

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

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What is SEO in Healthcare?

In today’s digital era, the healthcare industry is experiencing a paradigm shift in how it reaches and engages with patients. A robust online presence has become essential for healthcare practitioners to connect with their patients effectively. While the primary focus of healthcare professionals remains on patient care, the importance of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in the healthcare industry cannot be overstated. Let’s delve into the world of healthcare SEO and explore how it shapes the modern healthcare landscape.

Setting the Stage: The Power of Online Presence in Healthcare

The digital age has transformed the way patients seek healthcare information and services. The internet serves as a vast reservoir of medical knowledge, enabling patients to research symptoms, treatment options, and even healthcare providers. In this context, healthcare practitioners recognize that a strong online presence is crucial to meeting patient needs and expectations.

Importance of SEO Strategy for the Healthcare Industry

SEO is a game-changer in the healthcare industry. A good SEO strategy for the healthcare industry offers practitioners the ability to effectively connect with patients actively searching for healthcare solutions online. By optimizing their online content, healthcare providers can position themselves at the forefront of search engine results, ensuring that patients discover their services easily. This enhanced visibility translates into increased patient inquiries, appointments, and a broader reach within the community.

Defining SEO: What Does SEO Stand for in Marketing?

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the process of enhancing a website’s visibility on search engines like Google. It involves implementing strategies that help a website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) when users search for relevant keywords. In the healthcare context, SEO empowers practitioners to make their services more accessible to individuals seeking medical information, treatments, or healthcare professionals.

Understanding SEO Fundamentals

At first, it’s normal to feel overwhelmed by the basics of SEO. However, it’s important to understand a few core concepts so you can make sense of the larger picture and maximize your website’s visibility online.

SEO Demystified: Techniques of Search Engine Optimization

At its core, SEO is about understanding how search engines work and tailoring your online content to align with their algorithms. It’s not about tricking search engines but rather providing valuable and relevant information to users.

How Does SEO Work?

SEO operates on the principle that search engines aim to deliver the most relevant and valuable content to users. In other words, search engines WANT to show your website to patients. Or at least, the patients who would most like to see your websites. In order to show your website to the right potential patients, algorithms consider various factors like keywords, content quality, user experience, and backlinks to determine which pages should rank higher in search results.

On-Page SEO vs. Off-Page SEO

On-page SEO focuses on optimizing elements within your website, such as content, keywords, and metadata. Off-page SEO involves strategies outside your website, like building quality backlinks and online reputation management.

The Role of Keywords: Building Blocks for SEO Strategy

Keywords are the foundation of SEO. These are the phrases users enter into search engines when looking for information. Incorporating relevant keywords into your content helps search engines understand what your page is about and who it’s intended for.

The Healthcare Landscape and SEO

Navigating Healthcare in the Digital Age

The digital transformation has redefined patient interactions, making it essential for healthcare providers to adapt and evolve in the online space. Patients now rely on the Internet to research healthcare information, providers, and services.

SEO’s Role in the Healthcare Industry

SEO plays a pivotal role in helping healthcare practices reach their target audience effectively. It ensures that when individuals search for healthcare-related terms, they find information from reputable sources that address their needs.

Building Trust through Online Visibility: How Is SEO Used in Healthcare?

SEO empowers healthcare providers to establish credibility and build trust by delivering valuable information that addresses patients’ questions and concerns. An optimized online presence enhances a practice’s reputation and fosters patient confidence.

From the small, one-person chiropractic office to the small group practice holistic medicine practice to the large medical center, SEO helps healthcare practitioners engage with their patients more effectively. By understanding how search engine algorithms work and implementing strategies to improve website visibility, practices can become an integral part of the online healthcare community.

What Are the Best Practices for Healthcare SEO?

Picture This: SEO Strategy for Healthcare Industry Example

Let’s explore a practical example to understand how healthcare SEO works in action. Imagine a chiropractor in a private practice aiming to attract local patients seeking natural pain relief solutions. By implementing a targeted SEO strategy, the chiropractor can enhance their online visibility and connect with individuals actively searching for chiropractic services in their area. They can build an effective digital marketing strategy that will consistently bring in new patients.

Mastering Healthcare SEO: Strategies that Deliver Results

Effective healthcare SEO involves a comprehensive strategy that includes optimizing both on-page and off-page elements. By aligning content, keywords, and user experience, practitioners can improve their chances of ranking higher in search results.

Crafting SEO-Friendly Content: What Makes Healthcare Content Stand Out?

A woman types on her laptop with graphics on the back of laptop. Looking to understand how SEO in healthcare works? Our team can teach you about healthcare SEO and the impact it has.

Creating content that resonates with your target audience is key. Develop informative, engaging, and relevant content that addresses common healthcare questions, educates patients, and showcases your expertise.

Elevating User Experience: Website Optimization for Better Engagement

User experience is paramount in healthcare SEO. A well-structured, user-friendly website enhances navigation, loading speed, and mobile responsiveness, ensuring visitors have a positive experience.

Going Beyond Keywords: The Impact of Quality Backlinks

Backlinks, or links from other reputable websites to yours, boost your site’s authority and credibility. Quality backlinks indicate to search engines that your content is valuable and relevant.

On-Page Optimization: Tailoring Your Website for Search Engines

On-page optimization involves fine-tuning elements within your website to align with SEO best practices. This includes optimizing metadata, using descriptive alt text for images, creating engaging headings and subheadings, and maintaining a clear URL structure.

Honestly, we have often seen people underuse on-page optimization. They take a ton of time creating great content but it’s not really optimized. Yet, on-page optimization is really powerful for SEO.

Local SEO for Doctors and Healthcare Providers: Connecting with Your Community

Local SEO is vital for healthcare practitioners who rely on local patient bases. Optimizing your website for local search terms, creating a Google My Business profile, and making sure you have consistent NAP information (the same exact name, address, and phone number listed everywhere across the web) on a variety of directories all contribute to enhancing your local online visibility.

Mobile-First Approach: SEO Adaptations for Healthcare on the Go

In today’s mobile-centric world, optimizing your website for mobile devices is crucial. A responsive design ensures that your website is easily accessible and user-friendly across various devices, improving both user experience and SEO rankings.

Case Study: Implementing a Successful SEO Strategy for a Healthcare Practice

Let’s delve into a real-life scenario to illustrate the impact of an effective SEO strategy. Consider a functional medicine doctor in private practice who specializes in holistic health solutions. By implementing an SEO strategy tailored to their expertise, they can attract individuals seeking alternative health options and address their specific needs.

Through an SEO audit, the doctor can identify which elements of their website need to be optimized for better search engine visibility. A comprehensive analysis of on-page and off-page elements will enable them to improve their content and focus on strategies that will drive organic traffic. As part of the strategy, they can create informative blog posts to answer common questions related to functional medicine and optimize backlinks to enhance their website’s authority.

Achieving Healthcare SEO Success

You want to reach more patients needing your services. SEO is the key to unlocking your online visibility. By understanding and implementing effective healthcare SEO strategies, you can create a powerful online presence that resonates with potential patients. From optimizing website content to leveraging local citations and embracing mobile technologies, there are numerous ways to increase your practice’s digital footprint.

Overcoming Common SEO Mistakes: Learning from Bad SEO Examples

Learning from the mistakes of others is an effective way to refine your SEO strategy. Avoid common pitfalls like keyword stuffing, low-quality content, and unethical practices that can lead to poor SEO outcomes.

The Future of Healthcare SEO: Emerging Trends and Strategies

The world of SEO is ever-evolving, and the healthcare industry is no exception. Stay abreast of emerging trends such as voice search optimization, user experience enhancements, and the role of artificial intelligence in shaping the future of healthcare SEO.

Empowering Your Healthcare Practice: Harnessing the Potential of SEO

While healthcare practitioners may initially shy away from the world of marketing, the reality is that SEO is a powerful tool for reaching those in need of medical services. By embracing SEO strategies tailored to the healthcare industry, practitioners can effectively connect with patients, establish credibility, and enhance their online presence. In a digital age where patients turn to the internet for healthcare information, SEO becomes an essential partner in ensuring that valuable medical insights and services are readily available to those who seek them.

Your Next Step: Embrace SEO to Thrive in the Digital Healthcare Landscape

As you embark on your journey to leverage the potential of SEO in healthcare, remember that Simplified SEO Consulting is here to guide you. We were founded by a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who owns her own private psychotherapy practice and understands the value of effective digital marketing to reach more people needing your skills. Since then, we’ve expanded to help a wider range of helping professionals including SEO for functional medicine doctors, private practice physicians, chiropractors, speech-language pathologists, and others. Our team of experts specialize in providing value-driven and simplified SEO solutions tailored to the unique needs of healthcare professionals. 

Ready to amplify your online presence and reach a broader audience? Schedule a free Zoom consultation with one of our health SEO specialists and take the first step towards achieving SEO success in the dynamic healthcare industry.

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4 SEO Tips From a Therapist

By Amanda Holmberg MS LMFT

Owner/Therapist, Sexual Wellness Institute 

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

SEO Tips for Creating a Blog

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

Add information about your location throughout the website

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

Interested in SEO Consulting?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Also, we won’t reference reviews in this blog

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

Create Localized Media

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

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

You can also make existing blogs more personal!

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

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

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

Check Out the Competition

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

Consider Your Social Media Presence and Keywords

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

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

Begin Improving Local SEO for Private Practices with Simplified SEO Consulting


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

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

Other Services Offered With Simplified SEO Consulting

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

About the Author

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

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Why is Medical SEO Important?

In today’s digital age, the internet has become an invaluable resource for individuals seeking healthcare information and services. As a healthcare practitioner, your online presence can significantly impact your practice’s success. This is where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes into play. In this article, we’ll explore the vital role of medical SEO and why it’s crucial for healthcare practices.

What is SEO and Why Should I Care?

Let’s start with the basics. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s the practice of optimizing your online content to improve its visibility on search engines like Google. When people search for healthcare-related information or services, they turn to search engines, making SEO a fundamental part of your online strategy.

SEO operates on the premise that higher visibility on search engine result pages (SERPs) translates to more website visitors. The higher your website ranks, the more likely it is that potential patients will find and choose your services. In essence, SEO bridges the gap between your practice and individuals actively searching for medical information or providers.

In other words, SEO is anything you do on or off your website to help it show up more often in search engine results. And the more often it shows up in search engine results, the more often you’ll be found by potential patients.

Why is SEO so Powerful for Private Practices in the Healthcare Field?

SEO wields considerable power in the digital realm, primarily due to the dominance of search engines as the go-to source for information. Consider this: when you need to find a local doctor, dentist, or specialist, what’s the first thing you do? You likely perform a quick online search, and this behavior is mirrored by countless others.

Search engines have revolutionized how individuals make healthcare decisions. They provide immediate access to an abundance of information, allowing people to research symptoms, diagnoses, treatment options, and healthcare providers. When your practice ranks high on search engine results, you become more visible to these individuals actively seeking medical services.

Furthermore, SEO offers a distinct advantage by focusing on organic traffic. Unlike paid advertising, where you pay for clicks or impressions, SEO aims to enhance your website’s ranking naturally. This means that when your site ranks well, you can attract a steady stream of visitors without ongoing financial commitments.

Why is medical SEO important in healthcare?

Medical SEO isn’t just about optimizing your website; it’s about connecting with patients who genuinely need your services. Healthcare professionals often serve specific geographic areas, making local SEO an invaluable component of their digital strategy.

Whether you’re a physician, pediatrician, speech-language pathologist (SLP), psychiatrist, or chiropractor, your patients are typically located within a defined geographic region. SEO helps you reach these patients effectively. It ensures that when someone in your area searches for medical services related to your expertise, your practice appears prominently in their search results.

What are the best practices for Healthcare SEO?

To succeed in medical SEO, adopting best practices is crucial. These practices encompass ethical considerations, delivering valuable content, on-page optimization, and consistent monitoring of your SEO strategies. In the healthcare industry, where trust and credibility are paramount, adhering to ethical SEO guidelines is essential.

The words SEO optimization on a white brick wall with an arrow going up. Want to improve your healthcare SEO and grow your business? Our specialists can help you understand SEO in healthcare and utilize it.

Providing valuable content tailored to your patient’s needs is another cornerstone of successful healthcare SEO. Educational blog posts, informative service pages, and patient resources demonstrate your expertise and address the questions and concerns of potential patients.

On-page optimization is the technical aspect of SEO that involves optimizing meta descriptions, incorporating relevant healthcare SEO keywords, using subheadings to improve page structure, optimizing images, and including internal links. These actions enhance your website’s visibility and user experience.

Regularly updating and monitoring your SEO strategies is vital in the ever-evolving digital landscape. Staying informed about the latest trends and search engine algorithms ensures that your medical SEO efforts remain effective.

SEO Trends in Healthcare

The field of medical SEO is not static. It evolves alongside changes in technology, search engine algorithms, and user behavior. In recent years, we’ve witnessed emerging trends that impact healthcare SEO significantly:

Voice Search Optimization: With the proliferation of voice-activated devices, optimizing your content for voice search is becoming increasingly important. Patients may use voice commands to search for healthcare information or services, and your website should be ready to respond.

User Experience and Core Web Vitals: Search engines prioritize websites that provide a positive user experience. This includes fast loading times, mobile-friendliness, and adherence to core web vitals, which measure the overall user experience. Meeting these criteria can boost your rankings.

SEO Empowers Your Medical Practice to Help Patients

In conclusion, medical SEO plays an indispensable role in the healthcare industry. It empowers healthcare practices to connect with patients actively seeking their services online. By understanding and implementing the best practices of SEO, healthcare professionals can enhance their online visibility, build trust with patients, and ultimately grow their practices. In the evolving landscape of healthcare SEO, staying informed about emerging trends and adapting your strategies is key to long-term success.

Simplified SEO Consulting: A Medical SEO Company for Private Practices

At Simplified SEO Consulting, we recognize the unique challenges of medical SEO and offer comprehensive solutions tailored to your practice’s needs. Our holistic approach integrates  SEO with your overall digital strategy, ensuring that you reach the right audience effectively. We specialize in SEO for small local businesses in the healthcare industry, SEO for functional medicine doctors, and SEO for medical practices. So, if you’re ready to explore the benefits of our various SEO packages for healthcare practitioners, we invite you to schedule a free consultation with our SEO specialists. We offer SEO training options as well as a couple of different options for outsourcing your SEO to us depending on whether you enjoy writing your own content or would like us to do copywriting for you as well as optimizing. The bottom line is, we’re here to partner with you and help you reach more of your ideal patients. Boost your online presence and connect with patients who need your expertise.

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

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

What is a Google 3-Pack?

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

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

It Gives Your Practice Credibility

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

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

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

Optimize Your Google Business Profile

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

Improve Your Website’s SEO

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

Build Quality Backlinks 

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

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

Encourage Client Reviews

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

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

Apply To Work With Simplified SEO Consulting

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

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

Other Services Offered With Simplified SEO Consulting

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

About The Author

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Relevant Keywords

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

Call to Action

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

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

Optimize Your Blog Posts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other SEO Services At Simplified SEO Consulting

If you feel as if you have blogging handled or are outsourcing it, there are other services you can use as well! We offer options such as our 12-week training, small group intensives, and courses. Our strategy session can be a great option if you need support getting started with SEO or doing a site move or redesign. These can also be helpful to find better keywords, evaluating your current SEO performance, and more. Or, if you’re ready to work with a passionate and skilled team, our Done for You Program may be a great following approach.

About the Author:Lynsey, SEO Content Writer for Simplified SEO Consulting

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

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

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Resources for Inclusive Photos + Alt Text Examples

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

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

Photo Alt Text, Optimizing Photos, & Titles Examples

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

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

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

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

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

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Dietician

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

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

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

Eating Disorder Therapist

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

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

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

Photo Sites and Their Algorithm

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

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

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

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

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

Open AI

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

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

Creative Market

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

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

Tonl

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

https://tonl.co/

Gender Spectrum Vice

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

https://genderspectrum.vice.com/

Nappy

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

https://nappy.co/

Iwaria

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

https://iwaria.com/

Big Stock Photos

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

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

https://www.bigstockphoto.com/

Flickr (Women in Tech)

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

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

CreateHERStock

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

https://createherstock.com/

Wrap Up on Private Practice SEO

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

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

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

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

Other Services At Simplified SEO Consulting

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

About the Author

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

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What Are the Top 5 SEO Strategies Every Healthcare Professional Should Use?

In the dynamic realm of healthcare, where patients are increasingly relying on digital avenues to seek solutions for their well-being, the importance of a strong online presence cannot be overstated. For functional medicine doctors, psychiatrists, speech-language pathologists, chiropractors, and other healthcare professionals in private practice, implementing effective SEO strategies is more than just a trend—it’s a necessity. Let’s delve into the top five SEO strategies that can empower healthcare practitioners to connect with patients and thrive in the digital age.

1. Crafting High-Quality and Informative Content

At the heart of successful SEO lies content that not only informs but also engages and resonates with the target audience. Healthcare professionals must invest in creating well-researched, evidence-based content that addresses patients’ queries and concerns. Whether it’s blog posts on the benefits of functional medicine, informative videos about speech therapy techniques, or articles detailing chiropractic approaches, high-quality content establishes authority and fosters patient trust.

2. Leveraging Local SEO for Community Connection

For healthcare professionals, connecting with the local community is paramount. Optimizing Google My Business listings with accurate information, patient reviews, and consistent name/address/phone number (NAP) details enhances local visibility. Moreover, employing list management services ensures uniform NAP across different platforms, contributing to improved search rankings and patient engagement.

3. Harnessing the Power of Backlinks

Backlinks, also known as inbound links, play a pivotal role in boosting a website’s credibility and authority. Healthcare professionals can collaborate with reputable medical organizations, universities, and healthcare blogs to secure backlinks to their websites. These partnerships not only enhance online reputation but also drive organic traffic, expanding the practitioner’s reach and influence.

4. Engaging with User-Centric Website Design

A user-friendly and responsive website design is no longer an option—it’s a requirement. Healthcare professionals should ensure their websites are accessible and functional across various devices, including mobile phones and tablets. User-centric design enhances patient experience, reduces bounce rates, and signals to search engines that the website is credible and relevant. So, make sure your website is mobile responsive, free from pesky 404 errors, easy to navigate with proper site structure, and otherwise user-friendly for your potential patients.

5. Incorporating Long-Tail Keywords for Precision

A cartoon of an arrow going up above the letters SEO with cartoon people sitting on arrow. Want to improve your healthcare SEO strategy so it can be the best it can be? Let us help you work on your healthcare SEO.

In a competitive digital landscape, healthcare professionals need to be strategic in their keyword selection. Long-tail keywords—specific phrases that address particular queries—allow practitioners to target a more precise audience. For instance, a psychiatrist specializing in anxiety treatment could target keywords like “effective anxiety therapy in [City Name].” These tailored keywords attract patients actively seeking specialized care.

SEO Has the Power to Build Your Practice

The convergence of healthcare and digital accessibility demands a strategic approach to SEO for functional medicine doctors, psychiatrists, speech-language pathologists, chiropractors, and other healthcare professionals in private practice. By focusing on high-quality content creation, leveraging local SEO, harnessing the power of backlinks, engaging in user-centric website design, and incorporating precise long-tail keywords, practitioners can establish a strong online presence, connect with patients seeking specialized care, and ultimately contribute to improved patient outcomes. In the ever-evolving healthcare landscape, effective SEO isn’t just a strategy—it’s a conduit for delivering impactful healthcare solutions to those in need.

Ready to Transform Your Healthcare Practice’s Online Visibility? Schedule a Consultation Today!

Embarking on an effective SEO journey can be a transformative step for your private healthcare practice. At Simplified SEO Consulting, we understand the unique challenges and opportunities that healthcare professionals encounter in the digital landscape. Our team of experienced SEO specialists is here to guide you through the process, helping you elevate your online presence and connect with patients in a meaningful way. We are committed to providing a high-quality SEO strategy for the healthcare industry and helping healthcare providers reach and help more patients.

We invite you to take the next step by scheduling a consultation with one of our dedicated SEO experts. With our online calendar, you can find a convenient time slot that suits your schedule. We pride ourselves on our prompt response, so you can usually secure a consultation within just a couple of days. During this consultation, we’ll listen to your practice’s goals, analyze your current digital footprint, and tailor a strategic SEO plan that aligns with your healthcare specialization.

To get started, simply visit our dedicated consultation page, where you’ll find our calendar and available time slots. By collaborating with Simplified SEO Consulting, you’re choosing a partner dedicated to helping your healthcare practice thrive in the digital age. Let’s work together to enhance your online visibility, connect with your community, and provide impactful care to those who need it most. Schedule your consultation today and embark on your journey toward SEO success!

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