Analytics Archives - Simplified SEO Consulting

Understanding Core Web Vitals: What They Are and How to Improve Them

Our clients you’ve probably heard us talk about “on-page vs. off-page seo” at some point in the SEO process

I know we love to talk a bit more about specific on-page SEO aspects, but it’s still very valuable to understand some of the more technical parts that we might not be thinking about every day; your core web vitals.

Now, it should be mentioned there are newer metrics that can be helpful in optimizing web pages. However, for the purposes of this post, we are only going to be focusing on the main three that Google focuses on at this time.

These vitals themselves aren’t a factor that can influence how a page will rank in Google. But, the experience a user has on a page is.

The three core web vitals Google focuses on are things that can make it easier or harder for site visitors to navigate and interact with your site. These vitals go by the names of “Largest Contentful Paint, First Input Delay, and Cumulative Layout Shift”, and they can be some of your best friends or worst foes when improving SEO for therapists. So, today we are going to be discussing:

What each of these metrics are
How to spot issues with each metric on your site
How you can improve them on your site
And an upcoming change in March 2024 that will actually be changing one of these metrics entirely

Without further ado, let’s get into what you should first know about core web vitals.

Understanding Google and core web vitals

As I mentioned above, these vitals do not directly your rankings in Google. However, they do serve as guideposts. They can help you understand what may be affecting a given page on your site, and support creating a more optimized user experience. The better the user experience is, the more likely Google is to have a higher rank in the search results. This influence on ranking is only one of many other things that should be taken into account. Some of these other things can include the quality of your content, page authority, structured data, etc.

Another important thing to take into account is the fact that these metrics can change over time as Google changes. At this time, these are the three main core web vitals. However, this isn’t set in stone and is actually in the process of changing, which we will discuss a bit later.

With that said, let’s talk about the first core web vital, the largest contentful paint.

Core Vital 1: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

Largest Contentful Paint refers to a metric that measures the perceived loading speed of a web page. It specifically focuses on the moment when the main content that appears “above the fold” becomes visually complete and fully rendered for the user. This is a vital metric at this time because it ensures that visitors see meaningful content at the top of your page as quickly as possible. When it comes to what classifies as a “good” or “bad” score, you can expect:

Good: Load speed is 2.5 seconds or less
Needs Improvement: Load speed is between 2.5 and 4 seconds
Poor: Load speed takes longer than 4 seconds

The elements of your page that are considered when calculating your score include things like images, videos, and text/font on your site.

Core Vital 2: First Input Delay (FID)

FID measures the time from when a user first interacts with a page to when Google actually starts responding to the input. This interaction can be in the form of the individual clicking a link, tapping a button, or other actions like key presses. FID focuses on user interactivity and responsiveness. A low FID indicates that a website is quick to respond to user input. This enhances the user’s sense of control and engagement.

This is important because folks expect responsiveness on well-kept websites. If you click on a button and there is a major delay, it can be a frustrating, laggy experience that actually pushes more people away from your site than it attracts. Users expect sites to respond promptly to actions, and having a poor FID score can lead to higher bounce rates and less engagement/conversions on your site. Scores for FID generally look like the following:

Good: Load speed is 100 milliseconds or less
Needs Improvement: Load speed is between 100 and 300 milliseconds
Poor: Load speed takes longer than 300 milliseconds

Since this web vital is only measured when actions are taken, you can only measure it in the field. However, due to another newcomer in the world of web vitals known as INP, this may not be as important as it has been in the past. But, we’ll get to that in just a bit!

Core Vital 3: Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

CLS is a measure of the largest burst of layout shift scores for every unexpected layout shift that occurs during the entire lifespan of a page. These layout shifts happen whenever a visible element changes position on the screen. The layout of a page can change for any number of reasons, but these shifts can be really annoying when users don’t expect it. It could cause folks to interact with the wrong elements on your site or lose their place on the page. Ensuring a stable visual experience means that these elements don’t move enough to disrupt a reader’s experience. The score for this metric doesn’t rely on time, but you can expect the following thresholds:

Good: Less than 0.1
Needs Improvement: Between 0.1 and 0.25
Poor: More than 0.25

How to Spot Core Web Vital Issues

In order to identify your CLS score along with the other core web vitals, it is best to use tools that will take live data of your site and give you immediate feedback. Some of these tools Google offers include the Pagespeed Insights tool, Google Search Console, and Lighthouse. Another option that may be helpful is CrUX, but this is a dataset that can be a bit more technical to access and understand. Each of these tools can provide helpful tips on improving each of these metrics. For the purposes of this blog, we won’t go into the specifics of each. But, we will go into a bit more detail on what you can do to improve each of these vital metrics.

How to Improve Each Core Web Metric

LCP

Improving your LCP score comes back to making sure things like images, videos, and fonts aren’t taking up more space than they need to on your site. It means ensuring that you reduce the size of images, embed videos when possible, and only use web fonts intentionally to reduce the size of these elements on a given page. Issues with LCP can also be due to additional code added to your site. So, looking into plugins or other tools that can minify your code or space out the loading of your page can be another great way to help improve your LCP.

FID

Your FID score is most often affected by the amount of Javascript that is used on your site. You can improve it by optimizing how JavaScript parses, compiles, and executes on a given page. This can be accomplished by breaking up longer tasks into smaller segments through code-splitting or deferring unused Javascript code.

It is good to know what to do to support the health of this metric. But, this will soon be changing in the next year with the introduction of the metric Interaction to Next Paint (INP).

CLS

Improving your CLS score can be done by doing things like adding dimensions (width and height) to things like the images and videos you have on pages. Doing so will ensure the browser can reserve that space for these elements when they are loaded again. You can also defer JavaScript to load non-essential files to help increase speed. Another important part of improving CLS is making sure it is eligible for back/front cache (bfcache). Bfcache keeps pages in browsers memory for a short period after you navigate away from a page. If you return to them, then they will be restored exactly as you left them. This means the fully loaded page is instantly available without any shifts which may be seen during load due to a variety of reasons.

The Upcoming Change: FID to Interaction to Next Paint (INP)

In March 2024, Google will actually be switching out FID for another metric known as Interaction to Next Paint. This is a new responsiveness metric that measures how quickly a page responds to user interactions. INP observes the latency of all interactions a user has made with the page and can provide a more accurate estimate of responsiveness than FID. With this in mind, here are the scores you can expect from this metric:

Good: Load speed is 200 milliseconds or less
Needs Improvement: Load speed is between 200 and 500 milliseconds
Poor: Load speed takes longer than 500 milliseconds

To improve INP scores, you will need to identify where the slow interactions on your site are occurring. Once this is done, you can work to optimize these interactions, which are broken down into three parts; the input delay, processing time, and presentation delay. We won’t get into each of these parts in this post, since it deserves its own spotlight!

Begin Improving SEO for Therapists with Simplified SEO Consulting

Our team of SEO specialists are happy to offer support in improving both technical and on-page SEO elements for your site. You can apply to work with Simplified SEO Consulitng by following these simple steps:

Apply to work with us to improve your SEO
Meet with an SEO specialist
Start improving your SEO!

Other Services Offered with Simplified SEO Consulting

We understand the many things involving SEO that you may need help addressing to improve your private practice website. This is why we offer a variety of SEO services including our Done For You SEO Services and DIY Online SEO Courses. We also offer a 12-week Done With You Intensive SEO Program. Visit our blog to learn more about SEO today!

About the Author

Sterling Humburg-Cage graduated from the University of Missouri with a BA in Psychology in 2020. He has integrated 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 issues. He’s great at giving clients multiple options about how to approach a situation, finding solutions to some of the more technical aspects of SEO, and responding in a timely manner to client concerns. Since he started, Sterling has met frequently with our alumni and provided them with extra problem-solving support. He now provides additional support with a variety of local SEO services. He often goes the extra mile to do outside research. By doing so, he sure private practice owners have everything they need to rank well on search engines long term for the keywords their ideal clients are using!

November 21, 2023/0 Comments/by Sterling Humburg-Cage

Analytics, Backlinks, Business Tips, SEO Basics, SEO Tips

What Does an SEO Agency Do?

An SEO agency is a specialized company that helps improve the online presence and visibility of businesses. They do this through search engine optimization techniques. These techniques involve optimizing a website’s content, structure, and other factors to increase its ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a strategic process to improve your private practice or law firms’s online presence. It ensures your website appears at the top of search engine results when potential clients search for relevant keywords. These can be keywords such as “private practice SEO” or “SEO for online therapy.”

For counselors, SEO is not just about appearing in search results but appearing in the right ones. Those that prospective patients are actively searching for. By utilizing keywords specific to your practice and niche, an SEO agency can help attract targeted traffic to your website and ultimately increase the number of clients for your private practice. But it’s not just about gaining leads! It’s also about converting those leads into actual clients. A good SEO agency will work with your website’s structure and call to action, making it easier for potential clients to contact you. In this blog, we’ll discuss the importance of SEO for therapists and how an SEO agency can help you achieve your business goals.

Understanding SEO Basics for Therapists

Before diving into the specifics of how an SEO agency can help you, it’s important to understand some SEO basics. Let’s start with keywords and key phrases. These are the exact terms clients search for or even relative terms Google (and other search engines) uses to determine the relevance of your website. For example, if you’re a therapist in Arkansas, a potential client may search for “therapists in Arkansas.” In this case, “therapists” and “Arkansas” are the keywords and they should be included in your website’s content.

Another crucial aspect falls under On-Page Optimization. This process involves refining elements on your website to make it more attractive to search engines. Some examples of these are meta descriptions and title tags. These should be crafted to be compelling and keyword-rich, while the focus of your content should be on header tags, content structure, and relevance to your potential client. These elements provide cues to search engines about the hierarchy and relevance of your content. Using proper header tags (H1, H2, H3) can make it easier for search engines to understand what your website is about and improve your ranking.

Finally, we have Off-Page Optimization.

Off-Page Optimization includes strategies to enhance your website’s reputation and authority when it comes to search engine ranking. One way to achieve this is through backlinks, which are links from other websites that lead to your website. Search engines see backlinks as a vote of confidence for your website and view it as a credible source to display on their results pages.

This involves building quality backlinks. Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. They are a significant factor in how search engines rank your site. Social media signals, such as shares and likes, can also contribute to your site’s ranking. These signals can also play a significant role in Off-Page Optimization. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter (now known as X) can help drive traffic to your website. But also boost engagement and build relationships with potential clients.

The Role of an SEO Agency in Private Practice SEO

Working with an SEO agency, such as Simplified SEO Consulting, can significantly enhance your private practice’s visibility online. In today’s world, most people turn to search engines to find therapists. This is why it’s crucial that your practice appears in relevant search results. Here’s how we can support you:

Market Research and Keyword Analysis

We start by identifying and analyzing relevant keywords for your practice. For example, we target keywords that align with your niche and services, such as “counselors for anxiety” or “online therapy for depression.” Our team uses advanced tools to discover the terms potential clients use when searching for therapy services. We also conduct in-depth competitor analysis to understand what keywords your competitors are using and how to differentiate your practice from theirs.

Website Auditing and Recommendations

A part of our service is that we perform a comprehensive audit of your website from an SEO perspective. This is where we pinpoint areas where improvements can be made on your website. This includes a technical SEO assessment to ensure search engines can effectively crawl and index your site. For example, we check for broken links, duplicate content, and page load speed. We also focus on improving the user experience by making your website more accessible and easy to navigate.

Content Strategy and Creation

If you are an avid Simplified blog reader, you will know we love to remind our clients and potential clients that content is king in SEO! This is why we place a strong emphasis on content strategy and creation. We work with you to develop engaging, SEO-optimized content that resonates with your target audience.

Our experienced copywriter creates content that balances information and marketing, so your website not only ranks well but also converts visitors into clients. This is done by highlighting the unique aspects of your practice while also providing valuable insights for potential clients.

Link Building and Outreach

Lastly, a service that we may offer in the future is ethical link-building practices. This involves us helping your website build relationships with reputable sites in your niche. This can be done by earning backlinks through guest posts, mentions, and collaborations. We understand the importance of using ethical techniques for link-building to ensure long-term success for your website.

By leveraging these strategies, our aim is to maximize your online visibility and attract more prospective patients to your practice. SEO for online therapy is not just about driving traffic, it’s about attracting the right traffic. Potential clients who are genuinely interested in and in need of your services.

SEO Reporting and Analytics for Therapists

SEO for online therapy is not a one-time strategy. It requires constant monitoring and adjustments to stay ahead of the competition and in front of potential clients. This is where SEO reporting and analytics come into play. These tools and techniques allow you to measure the success of your SEO efforts and make data-driven decisions. This way you can improve your private practice’s online visibility.

Tracking Keyword Rankings

An important aspect is knowing where your website ranks for specific keywords. This is crucial. Utilizing tools such as Google Analytics and other advanced SEO software, we monitor your keyword performance regularly. This reveals trends in your website’s visibility and identifies areas for improvement in your SEO strategy. By tracking keyword rankings, we can also identify which keywords are converting into actual appointments for your practice. As part of our service, we provide regular reports on your keyword rankings and offer advice on how to improve them.

Monitoring Traffic and Conversions

Additionally, traffic to your website is another important part of the equation. What visitors do once they arrive on your website is another. Engagement metrics, such as the number of pages viewed per visit, bounce rate, and time spent on your website, are critical indicators of your site’s performance. But our primary focus lies in conversion tracking. This is specifically, how many visitors book an appointment with your practice.

Through tracking and analytics, we can understand user behavior on your website better. This data helps us optimize your website to improve user experience, increase engagement, and importantly, convert more visitors into clients. Through utilizing SEO reporting and analytics, we can continuously refine your website to ensure it appeals to both search engines and potential clients.

DIY vs. Hiring an SEO Agency: Pros and Cons for Private Practice SEO

When it comes to search engine optimization for counselors and online therapy providers, there’s a common question: should you take a DIY approach or hire an SEO agency? Luckily for you, Simplified SEO Consulting supports both options as we have DIY courses and services for private practice owners, as well as full-service SEO support. Here are some pros and cons to consider:

Advantages of Hiring an SEO Agency for Done-For-You Services

Expertise and industry knowledge: As an SEO agency, we have a team of professionals who specialize in search engine optimization. They are up-to-date with the latest trends, algorithms, and strategies to help your practice rank higher on search engines.
Time-saving and focus on core services: As a private practice owner, your time and energy are best spent focusing on providing quality therapy. By hiring an SEO agency, like us, you can leave the technical aspects of SEO to SEO specialists and have more time to focus on your core services.

What Considerations to Keep in Mind for DIY SEO

Time commitment and learning curve: DIY SEO requires a significant time commitment. You also will need a willingness to learn and stay updated on best practices. As a private practice owner, you may not have the luxury of time to dedicate to learning SEO. However, the benefit of learning and implementing SEO is that you can maintain your website’s SEO in the long run.

Initial costs vs. long-term benefits: DIY SEO may have lower upfront costs, but it requires a consistent investment of time and effort to see results. You also need to consider that if you do not have the expertise, you may make costly mistakes that can harm your website’s SEO in the long term.

Remember, the decision to utilize DIY SEO or hire an SEO agency for Done-For-You services is not one-size-fits-all. It depends on your available time, budget, and comfort level with SEO. Whichever path you choose, remember that SEO is a critical part of attracting and retaining clients for your therapy practice.

Ultimately, Make Informed Decisions for Your Practice

At Simplified SEO Consulting, our goal is to empower therapists with the knowledge and tools to make informed decisions about their private practice’s online presence. We hope this blog has provided valuable insights into the world of SEO for therapists and online therapy providers. Whether you choose to explore DIY resources or hire an SEO agency for full-service support, we encourage you to take action based on informed choices.

Remember, your website is often the first impression potential clients have of your practice. So investing in SEO can greatly benefit your online visibility and attract more clients. Ones who are genuinely interested in and in need of your services. To take the next step towards improving your private practice’s SEO, we recommend contacting an SEO agency (like us!) for a consultation or exploring our DIY resources for private practice owners.

Consider Hiring an SEO Agency Like Simplified SEO Consulting for Your Private Practice SEO!

At Simplified SEO Consulting, we specialize in providing effective search engine optimization services for therapists and online therapy providers. We understand the unique needs of private practice owners and tailor our services to help you attract clients and grow your business. Our team of SEO specialists stays updated on best practices and works closely with you to improve your website’s online visibility. We have a variety of SEO packages to fit your budget and needs. Plus, we offer DIY resources for those who prefer a more hands-on approach.

No matter what stage you are at in your private practice journey, we have the tools and expertise to support your SEO needs. Want to learn about SEO? Sign up for our SEO Course for Therapists and learn how to use the power of blogs and SEO to reach more clients and grow your practice! Or want to outsource it? Check out our SEO Consulting packages and schedule your consult today! Ready to get started?

Schedule Your Consult
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Improve your website’s SEO, attract more clients, and grow your business with Simplified SEO Consulting!

Other SEO Services At Simplified SEO Consulting

If you feel as if you are already an expert in SEO, or you want to know more about the other services we provide, check out our other SEO services for therapists and online therapy providers. We offer options such as our 12-week training, small group intensives, and courses. Our strategy session can be a great option if you’re just getting started and want to make sure your website is set up for success. We also provide ongoing support with our SEO maintenance packages, perfect for private practice owners who want to ensure their website’s SEO stays optimized. Or, if you’re ready to work with a passionate and skilled team, our Done for You Program is perfect for you. Whatever your SEO needs, Simplified SEO Consulting has the resources and expertise to help you achieve your online goals.

About the Author:

Meet Lynsey, the passionate SEO Content Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting, who has a knack for transforming technical SEO language into engaging and informative content. With experience in both the mental health industry and SEO, Lynsey loves helping therapists and online therapy providers grow their businesses through effective SEO strategies. When she’s not writing or optimizing content, you can find her spending time with her family, exploring the outdoors, or reading a book. To learn more about Lynsey and the rest of our team at Simplified SEO Consulting, visit our website today! Remember, investing in your private practice’s SEO is an investment in your business’s growth and success. Contact Simplified SEO Consulting today to learn more about how we can help you elevate your private practice’s online presence!

October 3, 2023/0 Comments/by Lynsey Heskett

Analytics, Business Tips

Understanding Events in Google Analytics 4 (GA4): Their Importance and Creation

Google Analytics has been a trusted companion for website administrators and marketers for years. With the advent of Google Analytics 4 (GA4), there have been significant changes in how user interactions are tracked, with “Events” being at the core of this new paradigm. But what are events, why are they crucial, and how can you set them up in GA4? Let’s dive in.

What Are Events in GA4?

In the realm of digital analytics, “events” refer to user interactions with content that can be tracked independently from a webpage or a screen load. This might include actions like button clicks, form submissions, downloads, or any other user activity that you deem essential to track.

In previous versions of Google Analytics (Universal Analytics), events required a category, action, and label. However, GA4 simplifies and broadens this by considering every interaction as an event. Whether a user clicks a video play button or scrolls 90% down a page, each interaction is treated as an event in GA4.

Why Are Events Important?

Holistic User Interaction Understanding: With events, you can gauge not just where users are going on your site, but also what they’re doing. It offers a granular understanding of user behaviors and patterns.
Enhanced Conversion Tracking: By defining certain events as ‘conversions’, you can measure the actions that you value the most on your website, be it sign-ups, purchases, or any other significant interactions.
User Journey Mapping: Tracking events can help in understanding the user journey better. Knowing which buttons are clicked more often or which video is played the most can offer insights into optimizing user pathways.
Improved UX/UI Decisions: When you know which elements of your website users are interacting with the most and which ones they’re ignoring, it offers actionable data to improve the overall user experience.

Creating Events in GA4

Setting up events in GA4 is straightforward, thanks to its more user-friendly interface. Here’s a basic guide:

Automatically Tracked Events:

GA4, by default, tracks certain events without any additional configurations, such as page views, scrolls, video plays, etc. So, before setting up a new event, ensure it’s not already being tracked.

Creating Events Using the Web Interface:

a. Log into your GA4 property.
b. Navigate to the ‘Events’ section under ‘Reports’ in the left-hand menu.
c. Click on ‘Create Event’.
d. Here, you can name your event and set up the conditions for when this event should be tracked. For example, you might want to track when a specific button with the CSS class ‘sign-up’ is clicked.

Creating Events Using Google Tag Manager (GTM):

For more complex events or if you’re already using GTM, you can set up events within the GTM interface and send them to GA4.
a. Create a new tag of the type ‘GA4 Event’.
b. Set up the trigger conditions. This could be when a particular form is submitted or when a user clicks a specific element on your page.
c. Test your configuration using the GTM preview mode before publishing.

Enhanced Measurement:

This is a feature in GA4 where certain events are automatically tracked once toggled on, such as scroll tracking or outbound clicks.

Its Crucial to Plan Events Carefully

Remember, while GA4’s event-centric model offers more flexibility, it’s crucial to plan your events carefully. Maintain a consistent naming convention and document each event to keep track as you add more.

Events in Google Analytics 4 offer a comprehensive lens into user behaviors, enabling website administrators and marketers to optimize websites effectively. Whether you’re transitioning from Universal Analytics or starting fresh with GA4, understanding the importance of events and how to set them up will be central to your analytics success. As with any tool, the more refined your setup, the more actionable and beneficial the insights will be.

Best Practices for Managing Events in GA4

While we’ve delved into the ‘what’, ‘why’, and ‘how’ of events in GA4, mastering the art of event tracking also involves some best practices to ensure data accuracy and meaningful insights.

Prioritize Events:

Not all interactions need to be tracked. Prioritize events based on their relevance to your business goals. Tracking every minuscule action can clutter your reports and make analysis overwhelming.

Consistent Naming Conventions:

Consistency is key in event naming. An inconsistent naming structure can lead to confusion and difficulty in interpretation. For instance, use ‘signup_button_click’ and ‘download_button_click’ rather than mixing formats like ‘SignupClick’ and ‘btnDownload’.

Collaborate with Teams:

Ensure that everyone involved – be it your marketing team, developers, or UX designers – understand the events being tracked. Collaboration ensures that the data collected aligns with both business and user experience goals.

Regular Audits:

As your website evolves, some events might become redundant, or new important interactions may emerge. Conducting regular audits ensures that your event tracking remains relevant.

Use Event Parameters:

In GA4, you can add parameters to events, providing additional data about the user’s action. For instance, for a ‘video_play’ event, parameters might include ‘video_title’ or ‘play_duration’. These nuances offer deeper insights.

Debug and Test:

Before finalizing any event, use the debug mode in GA4 or the preview mode in Google Tag Manager to ensure your events are firing as intended. This step is crucial to avoid discrepancies in data.

Educate and Train:

The landscape of digital analytics is always evolving. Ensure that you and your team stay updated with GA4’s features, changes, and best practices. Consider official Google Analytics courses or trusted third-party training programs.

Leverage User Properties:

In conjunction with events, GA4 allows for user properties – attributes attached to users. While events track what actions users take, user properties can provide context, like user preferences or segmentation.

In Conclusion

Mastering events in Google Analytics 4 is not just about technical setup, but also about strategy and foresight. The more refined and thoughtful your approach, the clearer and more actionable your insights will become.

GA4’s event-centric model is powerful, providing businesses the flexibility and granularity needed in today’s complex digital landscape. By understanding, prioritizing, and continually refining your event tracking, you’ll be better equipped to make data-driven decisions that drive growth and enhance user experience.

Harness the power of your data and start focusing on building quality SEO for your website with our team at Simplified SEO Consulting!

Begin Improving Private Practice SEO with Simplified SEO Consulting

Are you ready to take your website analytics to the next level? As digital analytics undergoes a significant shift with GA4, understanding the concept of events becomes crucial. Track user actions, such as button clicks, form submissions, and downloads, to unlock holistic user interaction understanding and enhance conversion tracking. With a client-centered and user-friendly approach, setting up events in GA4 has never been easier. GA4’s event-centric model empowers you to illuminate the path to digital success. So, embrace the change, let our team at Simplified SEO Consulting optimize your website, and take the first step towards data-driven growth—unleash the power of Google Analytics 4 events now.

Apply to work with Simplified SEO Consulting
Meet with an SEO specialist
Begin SEO services for therapists

Other Services Offered with Simplified SEO Consulting

SEO is an ever-changing field. This is why we are happy to offer a number of services in support of your private practice. We are happy to offer support with our Done For You SEO Services and DIY Online SEO Courses. We also offer a 12-week Done With You Intensive SEO Program as well. Please visit our blog to read other informative posts today!

About the Author

Mary is one of the members of our dedicated and knowledgeable SEO Specialists here at Simplified SEO Consulting. She brings with her certification in Google Analytics (Google Analytics IQ Certification). And she also understands the importance of analytics and their application. She loves staying up to date on all things analytical in order to bring clients the most informed service possible.

July 22, 2023/0 Comments/by Mary Miller

Analytics, SEO Tips, SEO Tools

How Data Fluctuation Helps Google Establish Trust With Your Website

Are you working on your SEO and started to notice changes in the data on your website? Have you noticed data fluctuation in your data between high and low and you’re not sure why? We’ve all been there. Your data had started to climb and you were excited that your page had begun to rank higher in Google’s search results. But a week later your back down where you started and not ranking as high for some key terms.

You’re probably wondering, why is this happening to my site. In this blog post, you’ll learn how and why your website’s rankings are changing and what you can do to fix them.

What Is Data Fluctuation and How Are They Affecting my SEO?

Data fluctuation happens to every website on Google. It is a normal process that helps Google understand your website and what your content represents. Since Google is a top search engine it continually comes out with new algorithms to update and improve itself. These algorithm updates cause your SEO to fluctuate as it builds trust with your website and understands what content you are representing. For more information, here is a blog post on Google Analytics to help you better understand them. Photo of a phone screen showing google analytics. Struggling with the data fluctuations on your website? Learn about Google Analytics to know why your data is fluctuating.

In this case, don’t sweat the small data fluctuations, it usually changes daily. Data fluctuations affect your SEO daily when they fall or continually rise. As Google builds trust with your website, you will start to see your data increase because Google understands what content you are trying to convey. Data fluctuations may be helpful to your page or can make them fall, it just depends on how much Google knows and trusts your site.

Is Pogo-Sticking Affecting My Data?

Pogo-sticking is very common with search users. When a user enters a site from the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) and then quickly leaves to go back to the SERP they are pogo-sticking. From an SEO perspective, pogo-sticking can seem a little worrisome but for SEO reasons, Google isn’t worried about it. Some ways you can keep someone from pogo-sticking from your site would be to have engaging content, make sure your page is clear and concise, ensure that it is visually appealing, use relevant internal links, and keep your content up to date.

Pinging and What It Means in SEO

Pinging refers to the submission of a page to alert search engines that your pages have changed on your site. This helps inform the search engine crawlers that you may have new content or changed one of your pages and what information actually appears on your website. Pinging is important or else search engines wouldn’t be aware of new changes in your site when you are trying to improve your SEO. Any new updates or changes should help benefit your site. Photo of a cartoon graphic with an arrow pointing up. This photo shows how data can fluctuate on Google over time as it builds trust with your website.

Don’t Give Up on Your SEO Because of Data Fluctuation

Data fluctuation is normal and shouldn’t always be worrisome. If your data starts to decrease, take what you’ve learned and apply it to your site to start seeing changes in your data. This should continually improve your data as well as gain trust over time with the search engine.

Learn How To Improve Your Website With Simplified SEO Consulting

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

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

Other Services Offered With Simplified SEO Consulting

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

About the Author:

Brianna is a Mental health SEO Specialist at Simplified SEO Consulting. At Simplified, Brianna enjoys optimizing websites and interacting with Photo of Brianna Joplin, a mental health SEO specialist who offers SEO for therapists at Simplified SEO Consulting. her clients. Her goal while working with our clients is to ensure they enjoy their SEO journey and to understand how the SEO process works.

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

December 8, 2022/0 Comments/by Brianna Joplin

Analytics, SEO Tips, SEO Tools

Integrating Analytics: Google Tag Manager vs Gtag

Tracking metrics is a vital part of any technical SEO strategy.

A graphic of people on computers looking at analytical data. Learn SEO online by contacting Simplified SEO Consulting. We can offer support for your private practice website by improving counselor SEO. Contact an SEO specialist for therapists today. Only by tracking data can one understand how their site is performing. Data can provide so many useful insights into how clients engage with your site, and what might need to be changed as well. This is why it is so important to integrate Google Analytics into your site. Your Google Analytics account can also be integrated with your Google Ads profile as well. But, depending on your familiarity with the technical aspects of your site, this may be much easier said than done.

There are a few different ways you can go about connecting Google Analytics to your site, depending on the platform you are on. So, today we are going to discuss these options, and how to integrate them on some of the most common platforms we see therapists use.

Connecting Google Analytics: What is A Gtag?

A Gtag is short for Global Site Tag. This is the snippet of code that allows Google Analytics to track events, conversions, and other important data that takes place on your site. In the past, Google made use of multiple tags to track different information on websites. But, this has since been simplified through the implementation of the Global Site Tag, which replaces all other Google tags under a single source. Installing a Gtag is the most basic way of connecting Google Analytics, and will provide all the same tracking benefits as using Google Tag Manager.

Installing your Gtag on your site

This is available within your Google Analytics account and can be accessed through your Admin section. Once here, select Tracking Info, and then Tracking Code. Once you see the Global Tag, you will have the option to copy the exact code needed for your site. By doing so, you can then paste the code on the backend of your site. But, this must be done carefully. If you paste the code in the wrong section of your site, Google Analytics will be unable to correctly track data on your site.

In order for Google Analytics to successfully track data, you must place this code after the <header> section of your site’s code on each page of your site. But, this will differ depending on the content management system your site is present on (WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, etc.). If you use a site like WordPress, you should have the ability to add the code to an overarching section of your site that will automatically add the code to each page for you. Once added to your site, you should now be able to see data populated on your Google Analytics account. Once you confirm this, you’ve successfully integrated Google Analytics tracking to your site!

What is Google Tag Manager

A person holds their phone with the Google Tag Manager logo on screen. Contact an SEO specialist for therapists to learn more about how to improve private practice SEO today. Google Tag Manager is a more user-friendly management tool for installing tags on your site. It uses the same back-end code as Gtag but allows you to manage and update multiple tags from a single user interface. You will need to create an account in order to use this tool. But, once you have, you can more easily edit the different tags on your site from within the Google Tag Manager.

Implementing Google Tag Manager

Installing Google Tag Manager comes with its own set of steps once you’ve created your account. This will involve providing your site’s URL, the type of data stream you wish to gather data from, and installing the Tag Manager container to the backend of your site. This will once again require you to install snippets of code to the backend of your site as instructed by the Tag Manager. Once connected, you will be able to then create and manage tags from within the manage instead of adding code to your site each time you wish to integrate a new tag.

Which is the best for you?

When it comes to deciding if Google Tag Manager or a Gtag is best for you, it is best to ask yourself how many tag integrations you expect to make on your site. Both will require some level of technical know-how in order to add the code snippets in the correct location. But, you will only have to do this once if you install a Global Site Tag to your site. This will likely take less time on your part, and provide all the same tracking benefits of the Tag Manager. But, without having to take the extra steps to create and manage new tags.

Using this method will also allow you more control over the exact code that goes into your site, but will also require you to manually update the code if changes need to be made. Google Tag Manager offers a more user-friendly experience that can offer more support for websites that wish to implement tags to track data and conversions that may not already be included.

Closing Thoughts

A graphic of two people looking at a rising graph while looking at their laptop and phone. Learn more about how SEO services for therapists can help improve your private practice website. Contact Simplified SEO Consulting to learn SEO online today. Regardless of your preferred method of integrating Google Analytics, doing so will offer many invaluable insights. You can better understand how your site is performing, how you can improve, and what needs to be done in order to do so. While this may take a certain level of technical expertise, the juice is worth the squeeze.

Start Working with an SEO Specialist for Therapists

Adding the correct code in the correct location of your site is much easier said than done. But, our team of SEO specialists would be happy to offer support to improve counselor SEO and make these integrations on your behalf. To start your SEO journey with Simplified SEO Consulting, please follow these simple steps:

Apply to schedule a consultation
Meet with an SEO specialist
Begin SEO services for therapists

Other Services Offered with Simplified SEO Consulting

There are so many aspects that go into a successful SEO strategy in addition to analytics. This is why we are happy to offer a number of services in support of your private practice. We are happy to offer support with our Done For You SEO Services and DIY Online SEO Courses. We also offer a 12-week Done With You Intensive SEO Program as well. Please visit our blog to read other informative posts today!

About the Author

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 in a timely manner to client concerns. Since he started, Sterling has met frequently with our alumni and provided them extra problem-solving support. He now provides additional support with a variety of local SEO services. He often goes the extra mile to do outside research. By doing so, he sure private practice owners have everything they need to rank well on search engines long term for the keywords their ideal clients are using!

November 15, 2022/0 Comments/by Sterling Humburg-Cage

Analytics, SEO Basics, SEO Tips

Universal Analytics & Google Analytics 4: Understanding Key Differences

Google and the tools used to track essential website metrics have evolved a lot over the years, and one of the biggest upcoming transitions will take place on July 1st, 2023. That change is the discontinuing of Universal Analytics and migration to exclusive use of Google Analytics 4 for all Google Analytics properties. This may sound Greek to you. But, today we are going to be talking about some of the key differences between the two, and what you need to understand before this transition.

Data Collection Changes

Historically, Universal Analytics has used a session-based data model that makes use of different “hit types.”

Google defines hits as “an interaction that results in data being sent to Analytics.” There are a variety of hit types, such as social interactions, a user loading a new page, or clicking on a link. Google reports these interactions by breaking them down into categories, actions, and labels. Universal Analytics collects and processes data based on the number of sessions on your site. Due to how the data is collected, the same person may visit the site more than once, but it will count as multiple sessions, even though it’s just one person visiting your site multiple times. As a result, tracking sessions can sometimes report less accurate data in terms of understanding how many users are actually viewing your site.

Understanding Categories, Actions, and Labels

Universal Analytics reports different kinds of events on your site by breaking them down in a way that separates them into different categories, actions, and labels. Because of this, it can become difficult for the average user to understand how to track the correct categories, actions, and labels so they can capture the specific data they want from their site. An example of this could include a clinician wishing to track every time a visitor clicks on the “contact” button, or visits their scheduling page. Generally, more technical knowledge is required to create triggers to get the data you want since these are not automatically captured by Universal Analytics.

Google Analytics 4, everything is an event

As previously mentioned, of the biggest changes in how Google Analytics 4 approaches capturing data. Google Analytics 4 uses machine learning and automated data collection. It also uses a different model from Universal Analytics that is centered around events rather than sessions. Everything is seen as an event; every page view, every time a person loads up a new page, every click on a link, etc. By transitioning to this approach, things become a bit more streamlined when tracking important data, and setting up other triggers to track additional events. Instead of having to remember each category, action, and label for each event you want to track, there are now four main types of events that can be tracked within Google Analytics.

The first set of events is automatically collected events

These are events that are automatically recorded by GA4 once they occur on your site. These events may include:

When users click on an ad
Loading up a new page
Starting a new brand new session on the site
Users the bottom of the page for the first time
A variety of other collected events.

The second type of event is enhanced measurements

A graphic of a laptop screen with the text “web analytics” representing how to rank on Google for therapists. Learn more about private practice SEO and SEO for psychotherapists today. These are measurements for more specific things you want to track on your site. This could include events like when someone downloads a file from your site. Or, clicks on an external link leading to another site. With Universal Analytics, only page views were tracked originally, and capturing other important events would be something that must be set up using categories, actions, and labels. But with GA4, this process is automatic, so you don’t have to worry about setting it up yourself! You can simply choose to enable Enhanced Measurement when creating a data stream (which we will get to in just a bit).

Next, we have recommended events

Events of this type are those that Google suggests you implement on your site. Events like these often need a bit more background information to implement fully, which is why they are recommended by google instead of automatically recorded. Adding these can provide additional features and extra data on reports. Google will offer a predefined name for specific events that are common, such as when a user submits a form or requests information. In this case, Google would likely recommend setting up an event that is titled “generate_lead.”

Finally, we have custom events

These are events that you define. This means that you must set up the parameters to collect information yourself. As a result, it can be a bit harder to implement properly. These types of events won’t usually show up in most standard Google Analytics reports, so you will need to take a few extra steps to set up custom reports with this data.

Data Tracking Changes

Both Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 use properties. Properties are websites, mobile apps, blogs, etc. with a unique tracking ID. For both UA and GA4, you will have to add this unique id in order to start tracking data on your site. But, tracking the data will differ for each. With Universal Analytics, data is tracked using a “view”, which is a set of specifications for tracking traffic on your site. You can set up multiple views in order to filter out data, track certain data, or set up different goals.

Google Analytics 4: Goodbye views, hello data streams

Unlike views in Universal Analytics, Google Analytics 4 uses data streams. Views are no longer used in GA4, which means you can’t create new views to filter your data. Instead, data streams are used to allow you to collect data from multiple sources in the same property. Unlike in Universal Analytics where you would have to have multiple properties to track data from your site and a companion app, you can instead create data streams for both your site and app to track each of them on the same property. For most private practice owners, you likely won’t have to worry about including apps with Google Analytics. But, it is still worth knowing how things are changing between UA and GA4.

Data Metric Changes

Finally, we are going to address how metrics have changed between UA and GA4. In Universal Analytics, you are likely familiar with the metrics “bounce rate”, “pages per session”, and “average session duration”. Bounce rate is the rate at which people only visit one page of your site before ‘bouncing’ off your site. Since GA4 has moved away from a model centered around sessions and page views, these metrics haven’t been available until recently. Instead, new metrics have been implemented to track how engaged users are with your site.

A hand points to a graphic that reads “analytics”, surrounded by technical symbols. Learn how to rank on google for therapists by contacting Simplified SEO Consulting. We offer seo services for therapists and other services. The new metrics used with GA4 won’t show you data like how long someone is staying on your site. Instead, these metrics aim to focus on how engaged users are with your site. One of the main metrics is “engaged sessions”, which are the number of sessions that:

Have lasted longer than 10 seconds,
Have a conversion,
Or have had 2 or more screen/page views

Other related metrics include “engaged sessions per user,” “engagement rate”, and shift the focus from “how fast are people leaving my site” to “how long are people staying on the site”. In essence, the engagement rate is essentially the inverse of the bounce rate. But, it can still tell us vital info about how engaged people are with your site. using

Why these changes matter

The upcoming migration to Google Analytics 4 isn’t something that can be avoided. As a result, SEO specialists and therapists alike must understand how things are changing to accurately collect, track, and report site data. Taking the time to understand how to adapt to the new processes implemented in Google Analytics 4 will be vital in continuing to keep track of important data. Our team is here to offer support during this transition.

Begin Improving Private Practice SEO with Simplified SEO Consulting

Our team is preparing for the upcoming transition, and honing in on the data we need to focus on most. By doing so, we hope to ensure we are providing the best insights for our clients. We would be happy to offer support in cultivating your site’s SEO and helping you get to the first page of Google. To start your journey with Simplified SEO Consulting, please follow these simple steps:

Apply to work with Simplified SEO Consulting
Meet with an SEO specialist
Begin SEO services for therapists

Other Services Offered with Simplified SEO Consulting

About the Author

October 17, 2022/0 Comments/by Sterling Humburg-Cage

Analytics, SEO Tools

Organic SEO vs. PPC ads : The pros and cons.

Organic SEO vs. PPC: Pros and Cons

Many of our clients often ask what the benefits of organic SEO vs. PPC ads are. They both serve a purpose specific to driving consumers to your business. They just accomplish this goal with different tactics and strategies. Let’s take a look at both of these concepts and see what they have to offer.

What is Organic SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. The goal of SEO is to help your site show up more often in search engine results pages or SERPs. This is accomplished by optimizing your web pages with keywords and phrases that you want to rank for. There are many pros and cons to using organic SEO. Let’s look at a few examples.

Pros of Organic SEO:

ROI

Historically organic search engine optimization can create more return on investment over traditional forms of paid media. This is due in part to the low cost of implementing search engine optimizations on your pages.

Awareness of Your Brand

High-ranking visibility in SERPs can raise brand awareness as you garner more attention from people searching for keywords related to your website. This can result in a positive branding effect as customers who are searching begin associating your brand with answers to their questions.

Credibility and Trust

This is a big one! When your site shows up in organic search results this influences your credibility with your consumer as they look for services. In today’s hypercritical world many consumers automatically skip ads and go straight to organic search results as they feel these are more legitimate and trustworthy connections.

Cost

While there is some cost associated with SEO in regard to who you are paying to do your optimizations or how much of your own personal time you are investing in optimizing, the overall cost is more effective than other marketing tactics.

Sustainability Over the Long-Term

Unlike PPC ads SEO continues to be profitable even after you stop actively paying or optimizing. Efforts put in place to develop organic traffic can sustain your business over a long period of time even if budget concerns do not allow you to invest the time, energy, or funds to the process at the time.

Improved Clickthrough Rates or CTR

It’s been proven that organic SEO results in improved CTR over the long haul. More often than not you can produce more clicks from a well-placed organic search result than you can with a PPC ad.

All of these things lend themselves to the long-term success of SEO but there are some cons to consider.

Cons of SEO:

SEO is a Long-Term Commitment

If you are looking for instantaneous results that will drive consumers to your business in a short period of time, SEO is not the best option. Organic SEO is a long-term commitment that takes consistent input and adjustments for an extended period of time to be successful. It can take months to start seeing results after you optimize your site. This often leads people to feel that their efforts have been for naught.

Competitive Markets

Competition to rank for high search volume keywords can be intense. You must remember that you are not the only business owner who wants to rank for these keywords And understand that you may need to pick and choose which keywords to go after in order to be successful in your strategy.

SEO is Fluid and Changes Rapidly

As stated above SEO is a long-term commitment however that does not mean it’s stagnant. Search engine results and volumes change constantly based on user needs and demands. What’s popular one month could be at the bottom of the list the next and it’s important to keep track of these insights when optimizing your pages for organic search engine results. Google also regularly tweaks and changes its search engine algorithms over 600 times a year. This means that what’s driving search results to the top of the page can change in an instant.

What is Pay Per Click or PPC?

Now let’s examine some pay-per-click or PPC information. As you may have guessed PPC are paid ads that determine your cost based on the number of clicks your ad receives. PPC ads still utilize keywords that you want to rank for but they do so in a more targeted and laser-focused manner.

Pros of PPC:

Reach Your Target Audience

PPC ads allow you to specifically target a group of people based on their interests and demographics. This can help you specifically target your ideal consumer in a more effective and efficient way. Google ads allow you to personalize your campaigns to accomplish this.

Quicker ROI

PPC ads generate a quicker return on investment due to their increased visibility and placement on SERPs. This allows you to accomplish your goal of driving customers to your brand much more quickly and effectively than traditional organic SEO can.

SERP Position

PPC ads or just that, advertisements, as a result, will appear at the top of search engine results pages above typical organic search engine results. This can drive more consumers to your brand simply by virtue of placement on the page and visibility.

Speed and Agility

As stated, developing good organic visibility can take time while a PPC campaign can be created in days and see results within weeks. PPC ads allow you to get in front of customers much more quickly and that speed offers you agility. If you have an upcoming event or a new service you want to promote, the speed of PPC ads offers you the ability to do so in a very short period of time with a very quick turnaround.

Measurability of Success

PPC ads, unlike organic SEO, allow more collection of analytics related to conversion tracking, integration, and what keywords are converting at what percentage and cost. This information can then be utilized to help inform your organic keyword research into what keywords are converting and should be used long-term to drive consumers to your site.

Stability

PPC ads are not at the mercy of the same market volatility that organic search results are. While there are changes, they tend to have a lower impact and are more easily managed by carefully utilizing match types and analysis of search terms and quickly adjusting your PPC ad to meet those changes.

With that being said there are some cons that come along with PPC ad campaigns. Let’s look at a few.

Cons of PPC:

Cost

Because of the nature of PPC ad campaigns, the cost can quickly add up. If you are not monitoring your cost per click regularly and adjusting your budget consistently you can easily spend thousands of dollars before you realize it.

Short Term

PPC is great in the short term but in the long term, it is not such a good investment. As the name suggests it is paid so it requires constant investment. So when you stop paying for the ads the return on investment dries up immediately and you no longer have access to the benefits as you do with ongoing organic SEO

Clicks Do Not Always Turn Into Conversions

Another downside to PPC ads is the fact that just because the consumer is clicking on your ad does not mean they are going to follow through with utilizing services from you. If a high number of people are clicking on your ad but there is no conversion your cost per click and spend on your PPC ad campaign can increase without seeing any ROI. It is important to not just set a PPC ad and forget it. You must also ensure that your website is set up to convince visitors that your products and services are valuable.

Closing thoughts about Organic SEO vs. PPC

As you can see there are upsides and downsides to both organic SEO and PPC ads. Ideally, these two will work synergistically together to provide the greatest return on investment for your business. For all points and purposes if your budget is limited and you are in this for the long-haul organic SEO may be the best way to start. Then as the need arises for new services or upcoming events you can use pay-per-click ads to get in front of consumers quickly to establish dominance in those new categories.

Key Takeaway

However, there is one key factor to remember about using PPC and organic SEO together. If you are optimizing for a group of keywords in your organic SEO you do not want to optimize for those same keywords with your paid advertisements. This could result in your PPC ads cannibalizing your organic SEO results. You would basically be spending money for something you were already ranking for organically. Always make sure your organic SEO optimizations and keywords are different from what you are targeting for your PPC ads.

Begin Improving Your SEO and Analytics Understanding with Simplified SEO Consulting

Our team works closely with therapists nationwide to optimize their SEO based on analytical metrics! If you have been searching for an SEO company that understands analytics and its real-world applications, you’re in the right place. Our wonderful team of mental health SEO specialists at Simplified SEO Consulting would love to talk strategy with you and help you get connected with the best service for you. To get started with our service follow these simple steps:

Schedule a consult with our Consultation Team
Learn more about our talented team of mental health SEO Specialists
Start learning SEO for Mental Health Professionals!

Other Services offered by Simplified SEO Consulting

Simplified SEO consulting offers a wide range of services that can help you begin working with your people. We offer Done for You SEO Service packages, online courses, and SEO training opportunities. Our most popular course includes our “Top of Google” online course, and we have 12 weeks of intensive SEO for those who want to learn with a guide. For those looking for a more specialized package, we also offer an SEO strategy package. To get started, schedule a consultation with our Client Success Specialist today!

About the Author

Mary is one of the newest members of our dedicated and knowledgeable SEO Specialists here at Simplified SEO Consulting. She brings with her certification in Google Analytics (Google Analytics IQ Certification). And she also understands the importance of analytics and their application. She loves staying up to date on all things analytical in order to bring clients the most informed service possible.

If you are ready to start your analytical SEO journey with us, schedule your free 30-minute consultation with us now. Mary and the rest of our team are ready to support you!

August 25, 2022/0 Comments/by Mary Miller

Analytics, Local SEO, SEO Tools

The Benefits of Heatmaps for SEO

There are many tools out there that exist to support you in finding the best ways to optimize your business, site, and content. Some tools are more invaluable than others to meet basic SEO tenets such as keyword research. Others can help give deeper insights to private practice owners looking to take their business to the next level. One of these handy tools to help gain an edge over the competition is referred to as a heatmap.

First Off, What Is A Heatmap?

An illustration of a heatmap of a site. Simplified SEO Consulting can offer support with therapist seo. Learn more about SEO for therapists and more today. Heatmaps come in different forms. But, they often work to help therapists understand how visitors interact with their websites. Forms and surveys can also accomplish this. But, the results they share may or may not be accurate with what visitors actually do on the site. Heatmaps on the other hand visually show the most popular and overlooked parts of a page. This can be represented with a red to a blue color gradient. The more blue an area, the less engagement it has on the page. Similarly, the more red an area is, the more engagement there is. Yet, not all heatmaps track the same information. Different types of heatmaps may offer insight into aspects of your site such as:

How to optimize the content of your page
How to improve user experience on your site
Ways to better understand what interests your readers most
How to improve client conversion rates

So, let’s talk about some of the other types of heatmaps. Plus, how they can support local SEO for therapists.

Types of Heatmaps

When it comes to the most common heatmaps you may find, the top three include scroll maps, click maps, and hover maps. Each uses heatmaps in different but subtle ways. Scroll maps show you how far users scroll down your page. By doing so, you can better understand if they are reaching the most vital parts of your page that you want them to see, and where to place your most important content. Click maps also offer similar support. But, these focus on where users click most often on a page. This insight can help you determine which links or buttons are most popular on a page. Finally, hover maps also serve a similar role in tracking where users hover their mouse cursors most often on a page. This gives an idea of where most of the focus on the page is being placed, and how long people are hovering in a certain area.

A graphic showing a scroll heatmap. This can improve therapist seo, and Simplified SEO Consulting can help improve SEO for therapists. Learn more today! These three work similarly to improve on-screen elements of SEO. But, there are still others that can also offer other forms of valuable information. Local SEO heatmaps can offer insight into how certain keywords perform in a given area, and other important stats based on geographical location. In fact, there are even more advanced heatmaps available that track how visitors actually

How Heatmaps Can Benefit SEO for Therapists

Making use of the data heatmaps provide can offer a variety of benefits as previously mentioned. One of these benefits comes in the form of giving insight as to how effective the design of a given page is. By using heatmaps, therapists can better understand what aspects of a page may be getting overlooked by visitors to their site. As a result, they can work to redesign elements of their site in a way that improves the different elements the heatmap addresses. These elements can include:

The actual design and layout of the site/page
Optimizing the length of content on the site
Understanding the type of content visitors spend most of their time reading
Redistributing internal and external links on the page

However, this is not the only information that can be gained by using heatmaps. With different tools come alternative benefits.

Different Heatmaps Offer Different Benefits

A graphic representing local seo for therapists. Simplified SEO Consulting can offer support with SEO for therapists across the country. Learn more about therapist SEO today. Heatmaps that track data related to keywords or geographical location may not offer much support in terms of on-page optimization. Yet, they can still offer valuable off-page data to support therapist SEO. Heatmaps that focus on local SEO can show therapists how well they rank for specific keywords in specific service areas. With this data, therapists can better focus their keyword efforts on specific location indicators they hope to rank for. Plus, they can get also get an idea of what competitors in the area may be trying to rank for the same terms!

Conclusion

Heatmaps come in different forms and offer a variety of different insights. Therapists can use these insights to gain an edge in both on and off-page optimization. As tools like these continue to evolve and improve their ability to draw from different user experiences, so do the opportunities for private practice owners to improve their websites. By doing so, they can better connect with their ideal clients.

Begin Improving SEO for Therapists

The team at Simplified SEO Consulting is trained to offer support with both on and off-page elements of your site. Our team is happy to offer support across the country with on-page optimization and List Management tools including heatmaps! You can start improving your local SEO presence by following these simple steps:

Apply to work with us to improve your SEO
Meet with an SEO specialist.
Start improving your SEO!

Other Services Offered with Simplified SEO Consulting

Our team is happy to offer a variety of services in support of building your private practice website. Our team can offer support in optimizing your site with our Done For You SEO Services. We also offer DIY Online SEO Courses, and a 12-week Done With You Intensive SEO Program. Feel free to read other posts from our blog for more helpful information!

About the Author

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 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!

August 16, 2022/0 Comments/by Sterling Humburg-Cage

Analytics, SEO Basics, SEO Tools

Analytics, what is it and why is it important to my SEO?

If you’re reading this blog, chances are you already know about the importance of SEO, also known as Search Engine Optimization. But, there’s a second, often overlooked, aspect to SEO that is extremely important as well. It’s called analytics. Analytics can be a scary word that brings to mind thoughts of statistics, mathematical equations, and computations that many of us just don’t understand. However, analytics really aren’t that scary and they play an important role in SEO. So, what are analytics? Let’s take a look.

Analytics and SEO: The Intersection of Knowledge and Application

The definition of analytics, in simple terms, is the process of discovering, interpreting, and communicating significant patterns in data. Ok, maybe that is not so simple! Let’s try this, analytics allow us to see insights and meaningful data that we might not otherwise notice in relation to our SEO efforts.

Four Key Reasons to Utilize Analytics with Your SEO:

Analytics can tell you where your organic site traffic is coming from.

This is important because understanding where your traffic is coming from tells you how to attract more potential visitors. Are clients coming from referrals or google searches? This helps determine if your SEO is driving your target customers to your brand through organic search or other sources.

Analytics help determine which keywords you should attempt to rank your private practice for.

Analytic tools can tell you the monthly search volume of the keyword, ranking difficulty, and where you are ranking for that keyword. Analytics also monitor your movement up or down in rankings, so you know which keywords need more optimizations!

Progress tracking made easy

Analytics help you track your overall progress with your website’s optimizations through a number of key metrics listed below:

Organic traffic

This is any traffic that comes to your website that originates from a search engine. Organic traffic is not paid for.

Bounce rate

This tells you the number of visitors to your website that leave after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate could indicate a problem with the user experience on your site that needs to be addressed.

Returning Visitors vs. New Visitors

This metric tells you how many new individuals are visiting your page versus visitors that have been there before (such as an existing client). The more new users the better as this means you are more visible on the internet.

Page load speeds

This refers to the amount of time it takes for your webpage to fully load for your users. Slow load times not only drive clients away from your page but also negatively impact your SEO results with Google. Statistics state that if a page takes longer than 3 seconds to load, more than1/4 of all users will click away from your site.

Conversion rates

This is the percentage of people who visit your site and complete the desired task before leaving. For example, say your goal is to get people to fill out the online contact form. Conversion rate can measure the percentage of visitors to your site who complete this task. This allows you to see how compelling and successful the SEO work on your site is.

Click through rate (CTR)

This last metric measures the number of people who see your result on the search engine result page (SERP) such as the Google search results and actually click on the link to go to your page. The more people clicking to your page the better! This is where your meta descriptions come into play. A great meta description will draw people to your site because they want to learn more. Learn more about writing the perfect meta description here.

Return on Investment

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, analytics help you measure your return on investment (ROI). When you look at all the combined analytics listed above together, they paint a picture of how well your SEO work, applications, and optimizations are working together to drive your ideal client to your site. This lets you see in real-time on a regular basis how effective your monthly SEO spend is and what needs improvement.

Free Analytics Tools for SEO:

There are a wide variety of options available on the internet for gathering your analytical information that are free. Below is a list of some available tools for you to explore and use:

Google Analytics

Google Search Console

SEM Rush

Moz

Ahrefs

Closing Thoughts

Here at Simplified SEO Consulting, we consistently use analytics to inform our decision-making when it comes to optimizing your web pages and blogs. In fact, all of our clients have access to a customized Data Dashboard pulling the metrics we most want to target to track SEO success and ROI. We know that these tools give us a greater understanding of how best to serve our clients and help them achieve their business goals. We also encourage you to get familiar with these tools! Understanding analytics gives YOU greater control and insight into helping your business reach its goals on the path to becoming everything you dreamed it could be, now and into the future.

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About the Author

Mary is one of the newest members of our dedicated and knowledgeable SEO Specialists here at Simplified SEO Consulting. She brings with her certification in Google Analytics (Google Analytics IQ Certification) and understands the importance of analytics and their application. She loves staying up to date on all things analytical in order to bring clients the most informed service possible.

If you are ready to start your analytical SEO journey with us, schedule your free 30-minute consultation with us now. Mary and the rest of our team are ready to support you!

July 28, 2022/0 Comments/by Mary Miller

Analytics, Local SEO, SEO Tools

Google Business Profile Strategy for Multiple Office Locations

Your practice is growing, and so are your responsibilities

An image of many pins in a board being connected by twine. Google My Business in counseling can feel difficult with multiple locations, but Simplified SEO Consulting can help. Learn more about improving SEO for therapists and more. Expanding the reach of your practice can be hard to accomplish, but very rewarding. Along the way, you may learn that managing more than one listing for your practice can be a difficult experience. Having more than one office location Google Business Profile listing can feel like a nightmare depending on the number of locations and listings you have. Managing multiple listings in an effective way often requires strategies for success that are different from managing a singular location.

Many of the same principles that apply to managing a single Google Business Profile listing still apply. However, there are a number of other things that should be taken into account with this local SEO strategy for expanding practices. Addressing and organizing your Google Business Profile listings can help you better manage each of your practice locations. So, today we are going over some of the most strategic decisions you can make to help make Google Business Profile easier to manage with multiple locations.

Verifying More than One Location

The verification process for a single location often involves Google sending a postcard via mail with a code to verify they have the right address. While this would technically work for multiple locations, it is by far the most convenient option. If you have more than 10 locations, you will need to use bulk verification to manage them. This will allow you to manage them in a more centralized, convenient way. In fact, these location groups even allow you to create bulk posts to go out to every Google Business Profile listing rather than having to post to each location one by one.

Google Business Profile also comes with the ability to use bulk edits as well. If info about your practice changes, you can use Google’s bulk edit tool to update all the listings in a location group at once instead of going through them one at a time. But, you must be careful when doing so. Since any changes you make go out to each location, any mistakes or inconsistencies will also spread to each and may harm your site’s creditability in the process.

This is why it’s important to keep your NAP information updated and consistent. Focusing on having the right information will help improve the credibility of your practice, and ensure people can get in contact with you if need be. In addition, you can also personalize each post with location indicators for the area the practice is located. By doing so, you can help improve your local SEO presence, helping you connect with those around you who may be more likely to benefit from your services.

Can you Schedule Posts in Advance?

It is also possible to schedule posts to your Google Business Profile listing to be uploaded at a given date. However, this isn’t an option that is native to Google Business Profile. This may involve outside support from a third party to do so. But, this extra support can help you save hours in preparing posts to go out on a regular basis.

Details, Details, Details

Even though some of the smaller details present on Google Business Profilecan be easy to overlook, taking the time to fill them out can have big benefits in making your listing more competitive. Doing so will give Google more important information about your practice, and may include adding important labels, services, and photos to represent your practice. This is also why adding categories is such a vital part of your Google Business Profile profile. So, take the time to let Google know about these details by personalizing them for each of your office locations. This may include different services specific therapists offer at a given location, different hours of operation, or any other important information pertaining to your practice.

Should I Have More Than A Google Business Profile Account?

For the purposes of managing multiple locations, you will likely only ever need one account to manage each of your locations in an effective way. Having more than one account may be beneficial if you manage more than one type of business. But, for therapists that only offer therapy services, one account is all you should ever need!

Transfering Location Groups

With all the moving parts that go into Google Business Profile, it can be easy to make mistakes early on that can make things more difficult down the road. One such scenario is when Google Business Profile listings are created under the wrong account. You may have encountered this, and feel stressed about deleting an already established listing, but you don’t actually have to! Google Business Profile also provides the ability to transfer your listings from one account to another. Having only one account will make it easier to also keep track of vital info like your name, address, and phone number. Plus, other important practice info. And, you can also grant additional account managers access to the listing, making it even easier to collaborate and synchronize each of your office locations.

Expanding your Practice

Last but not least, it is also important to note that you can add new office locations to your existing location group. It helps to take a moment to review your NAP info when adding a new location as well. Google is always looking to have the most up-to-date and accurate data. So, suggestions for edits may be taken into account through third-party data. This means that there is a chance your business information has changed without you knowing, and may take a double or triple check to ensure everything is correct.

Improve Local SEO for Therapists with Simplified SEO Consulting

The team of SEO specialists at Simplified SEO Consulting has the training and experience to provide support with a variety of services including our List Management baseline. We would be honored to help improve your SEO and grow your online presence. To start your SEO journey, please follow these simple steps:

Book a free 30-minute consultation call.
Meet with an SEO specialist.
Start better managing multiple practices

Other Services Offered with Simplified SEO Consulting

Simplified SEO Consulting offers a variety of services to help improve your Google search rankings. Our team can offer support in optimizing your site with our Done For You SEO Services. We also offer DIY Online SEO Courses, and a 12-week Done With You Intensive SEO Program. Feel free to read other posts from our blog for more helpful information!

About the Author

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 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!

May 17, 2022/0 Comments/by Sterling Humburg-Cage