In this day and age where we are bombarded with YouTube videos and Instagram reels, some of you may be wondering if blogging is still a worthwhile endeavor. Sometimes it seems so much easier to just record a quick video than commit the time to sit down and create new content by writing a blog.

The truth is, blogging is more important now than ever. Google wants to see new content that demonstrates your expertise and knowledge and blogging accomplishes this far better than a YouTube video.

With that being said, it is not to say that YouTubing is not important. Realistically the two platforms work together in sync to reach the widest audience possible. Let’s take a look at the importance of blogging and how it can work in conjunction with YouTube to grow your exposure on the web exponentially!

Pink table with a laptop and pink flowers on it representing the importance of blogging to improve SEO.

Is blogging still worth it from an SEO perspective?

Blogging Provides Content For Search Engines

Blogging provides content that search engines can index and use to understand the topic and context of a website. Regularly publishing high-quality, relevant blog posts can help increase a website’s visibility in search engine results, attract more traffic, and establish a website as a credible source of information in its niche.

Blogging Allows You to Perform On-Page SEO

In addition, blog posts can target specific keywords and provide opportunities for internal linking to other pages on a website, both of which can improve a website’s SEO.

Allows You to Attract and Engage Users

Overall, blogging can still play an important role in a comprehensive SEO strategy, providing valuable content that can attract and engage users, and improve a website’s visibility in search engines.

Blogging is also a valuable tool for content creators in the YouTube world because it offers the following:

Increased visibility:

Blogging allows creators to reach a wider audience beyond just their YouTube subscribers. People who stumble upon a blog post can then discover the creator’s YouTube channel.

Better search engine optimization (SEO): Blog posts allow for more specific keywords to be targeted, which can increase a content creator’s visibility on search engines such as Google.

Deeper engagement with the audience:

Blogs provide an opportunity for creators to share longer-form content and dive deeper into topics they cover on YouTube. This can help foster a deeper connection with their audience and keep them engaged.

Monetization opportunities:

Blogs can be used to promote products and services, including those related to the YouTube channel. This can provide an additional revenue stream for creators.

Improved brand image:

Blogging can help establish a content creator as a thought leader in their niche, improving their brand image and reputation.

Gray table with a laptop, coffee and flowers on it representing the process of blogging to improve SEO.

Now You May Be Wondering… Is blogging more important than posting YouTube videos?

It depends on the goals and target audience of the content creator.

Blogging and posting YouTube videos both have their own unique benefits and drawbacks.

Blogging allows for longer-form, in-depth content and can provide better SEO benefits. However, video content is often more engaging and can reach a wider audience.

For content creators whose goal is to build a strong personal brand and establish themselves as a thought leader in their niche, blogging might be more important. However, for a content creator whose goal is to entertain and engage with a wider audience, posting YouTube videos might be more important.

Blogging is important to maintain SEO for several reasons:

Fresh content:

Search engines favor websites that regularly publish fresh, relevant content. Blogging provides an opportunity to publish new content on a consistent basis.

Relevance:

Blogging allows for targeting specific keywords and topics relevant to a website, improving its relevance in search engine results.

Long-tail keywords:

Blogging provides an opportunity to target long-tail keywords, which are more specific and have less competition, improving a website’s visibility in search results.

Internal linking:

Blogging provides opportunities for internal linking, which can help distribute link equity and improve the overall SEO of a website.

Engagement:

A blog provides an opportunity to engage with users and build a community, which can improve a website’s relevance and visibility in search results.

Regularly publishing high-quality blog posts can play an important role in maintaining and improving a website’s SEO. It provides fresh content, relevance, opportunities to target long-tail keywords, internal linking, and engagement with users.

On the other hand…

YouTube can be important for SEO for several reasons:

Video content:

Video content is highly engaging and can attract a large audience. This can drive traffic to a website and improve its visibility in search results.

Relevance:

YouTube videos can be optimized with relevant keywords and descriptions to improve their relevance in search engine results.

Backlinks:

YouTube videos can include links back to a website, providing valuable backlinks that can improve a website’s SEO.

Social signals:

YouTube is a social platform, and the engagement and shares a video receives can provide valuable social signals that search engines take into account when ranking a website.

User engagement:

Engaging and relevant YouTube videos can encourage users to spend more time on a website, which can improve its relevance and visibility in search results.

While YouTube is primarily a video platform, it can play an important role in a comprehensive SEO strategy. By providing engaging video content, relevant keywords, backlinks, social signals, and user engagement, YouTube can help improve a website’s visibility in search engine results.

Ultimately, both blogging and posting YouTube videos have value!

The most effective content strategy is likely to involve a combination of both. It’s important for content creators to assess their goals, target audience, and strengths, and then develop a content strategy that leverages both blogging and video content.

White table with a laptop and yellow flowers sitting on it representing the importance of blogging to improve SEO.

Here are a few ways to effectively use blogging and YouTube together:

Cross-promotion:

Promote each other’s content on both the blog and YouTube channels. For example, include a call-to-action in a YouTube video encouraging viewers to check out a related blog post.

Repurpose content: Convert popular blog posts into YouTube videos, or take key points from YouTube videos and expand upon them in a blog post.

Use blog posts to complement videos:

Use blog posts to provide additional information, background, or context for a topic covered in a YouTube video. You can take this one step further and embed your YouTube video at the top or bottom of the page. And then create a blog on the same page that summarizes the video. With this method, you get twice the return on your investment and twice the exposure!

Optimize for SEO:

Optimize both blog posts and YouTube videos with relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and tags to improve search engine visibility.

Build a community:

Encourage audience engagement through blog post comments and YouTube video comments, and respond to comments on both platforms to build a loyal community.

By using blogging and YouTube together, content creators can reach a wider audience, provide deeper engagement with their audience, and improve their overall online presence.

In Conclusion, Blogging is Still a Key Piece of the SEO Puzzle!

Blogging is still definitely a key factor in the success of your business and its growth. Creating new content for Google and other search engines to index demonstrates your expertise, knowledge, site structure, and visibility on the web.

Blogging may seem like a huge time investment, but it really can be made easy! At Simplified SEO Consulting, we have blogging courses, blogs about blogging, and blogging retreats all geared toward making the process as painless as possible! Reach out to us to learn how these services and resources can help you become the best blogger you can be.

Be The Best Blogger Possible with Simplified SEO Consulting

Our team works closely with therapists nationwide to optimize their SEO based on analytical metrics! We offer support and resources to help you understand the need for blogging, which topics are relevant based on data, and how to harness your knowledge to create fantastic blogs. 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:

  1. Apply to Start SEO Services
  2. Learn more about our talented team of mental health SEO Specialists
  3. 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, fill out our application to start SEO services today!

Picture of the author. Simplified SEO Consulting is here to help you navigate the world of Analytics and SEO. Learn more here.

About Mary, the Author of this SEO Article!

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 working with our clients to create content that is relevant to their individual needs and especially loves watching them reap the rewards of their hard work!

If you are ready to start your analytical SEO journey with us, fill out our application to start SEO services with us now. Mary and the rest of our team are ready to support you!

Another Great Consideration is Where will I get the most out of My SEO: Doing it Myself or Delegating?

Pros and Cons of Learning SEO Yourself

Some individuals really thrive when it comes to learning SEO for themselves. If you are debating on investing in SEO these are some things you should consider:

I personally know some mental health professionals who do their own SEO and get some clients. They have had great success, but also recognize the investment of time and money it takes to understand the elements and then implement them. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each:Cartoon rocket blasting off next to the words SEO. This photo represents how seo training for therapists can help you reach more ideal clients.

Pros of Doing SEO Yourself:

  1. You save money knowing exactly how to do things.
  2. It helps you create content and optimize it in the way you want them to be for your site and brand.
  3. You’ll be an informed consumer of marketing strategies and an understanding of Google.

Cons of Doing SEO Yourself:

  1. SEO requires upkeep ( but not to the extent of needing to live on your site daily)
  2. You may end up spending hours learning how to do your SEO correctly
  3. What a skilled team can do you may not be able to replicate as easily.
  4. Staying up on Google algorithm changes and shifts in the market is a must.
  5. This will take time away from your clinical practice. Is this something you are willing to compromise on?

Do I work with an SEO Company?

Delegating is often one of the best things clinicians in the mental health profession can do. However, it’s not for everyone. So if you are wondering if this is a great choice for you, consider these points. SEO team. If you are looking for a skillful team to do your SEO, we can help as you being to invest in SEO. If you wonder how much you should be spending on SEO, this blog helps to answer that in general.

Pros:

  1. If you choose a company, you don’t have to do too much work. The goal of SEO companies is to maximize your results, while also recognizing that SEO takes time.
  2. You’ll be able to do so much more clinical work and invest in your clients over the long term.

Cons:

  1. SEO is often one of the biggest investments that mental health professionals make. It is worth the investment long term, but our company completely understands the financial faith and sacrifice you have to make before seeing a return on your investment. This can be truly terrifying whether you are a seasoned professional or fresh out of getting your full license.
  2. We can’t promise results. While we understand how to connect with the Google algorithm, there are some nuances, that no one knows. With that being said, we don’t promise that rankings equal conversations. We have seen that be the outcome in most cases, but know that you can do everything right and still not fully connect with your ideal clients. That may be based on geography, market, location, competition, relevance, authority, and so on.

What we do know about investing in SEO over time

By investing in SEO, mental health professionals can greatly improve their visibility, reach more potential clients, and increase revenue. Taking the time to plan ahead and consider all of the factors mentioned above will help you determine how much investment is necessary for your practice. With the right investment, you can start to see results quickly and keep growing in the long run. SEO does work, it’s just a matter of time, investment, and intentional strategy.

Wrap up on Investing with SEOCartoon woman pondering. If you are thinking about investing in SEO, then you are in the right place. We have training and Done for you SEO services. If you are seeking SEO for mental health professionals, our team can help.

Truly if you are looking for a concrete answer, we recommend pages on a case-by-case basis. For example, if you are a general practice in New York, our platinum package is going to be useful, but you will have to niche down. If you are a trauma-focused practice in New York, you are going to want to do our platinum as well. If you are in Ohio and you are a generalist, a Gold or Platinum can work for you depending on how specific or broad you want to go niche and location-wise. I could keep going, but everything is so nuanced.

So if you want concrete support from our team, booking a consult is going to be your best bet. Additionally, if you are wanting to learn from our team, again it depends on what you are capable of. Some people love working with a group. Therefore our small group intensive over a semester is fantastic for some.

Others work better with one on one support and that’s where a 12-week training can help. If you are just looking for some guided getting-started support a strategy session could be just what you need.

Are you ready to make your SEO invest for 2023?

Our team would love to consult with you. If you want to learn more, you are in the right place. Contact us today to learn more about our services and start growing your private pay clients today! To start with our SEO Specialists and Trainers, follow these simple steps:

  1. Book a Consult with a Member of Our Consultation Team
  2. Learn About Our Skilled SEO Specialists and Trainers
  3. Begin Reaping the Rewards of Your Marketing Efforts

Other Services at Simplified SEO Consulting

Jasmine, an SEO training coordinator. If you are looking for SEO for mental health professionals. Why not learn from a clinical mental health counselor or social worker at SImplified SEO consulting. Learn more about investing in SEO soon!

If you’re looking for other forms of support, we can help! We offer options such as our 12-week trainingsmall 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!

On page SEO is one of the most important aspects of getting a website to rank well on Google. It involves optimizing your website so that Google understands what your website is about, and ranks it higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). There are many different on page SEO techniques that you can use, but we will discuss some of the most common ones that we recommend private practice owners target in their SEO efforts in this blog post.

What is On-Page SEO?

So…let’s start with the basics. What is on-page SEO?  On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing content on your website (service pages, your home page, your blogs, etc) for search engines. I like to think of it as what you do to make it crystal clear to Google what your page is about. You’re demonstrating to Google the value your page offers to website visitors looking for information ona specific topic.

On-Page SEO as Part of Your Bigger SEO Plan

When I first started optimizing therapist websites 5.5 years ago, we were able to add a few specific service pages to a website, do a little on page SEO (even with very imperfect keyword research) and the site would start ranking well.

SEO is a bit more complicated now as more and more people in the mental health field are taking the time to create a comprehensive SEO plan. Your on page optimization should be part of a larger SEO strategy that includes keyword research, off-page optimization (link building, guest blogging, etc), local SEO (including both on and off page elements) and technical elements as well.

However, I still find that On-Page SEO is a critical piece of the puzzle. And if you do everything else but don’t do On-Page SEO, Google will come to trust your website more but won’t have a solid understanding of what your page is about. Therefore, without solid on-page SEO you’ll never rank as well as you could.

Specific On-Page Techniques Private Practice Owners Should be Using

Some on-page SEO things you may want to work on if you’re optimizing a specific page of your website:

High Quality Contentgreat content writing word cloud in a art sketchbook with a cup of coffee - business writing and content marketing concept

Great content! First and foremost, make sure you have quality content on the page that really provides valuable information to website visitors! Google likes content that is well written, relevant to the topic and comprehensive.

Title Tag & Meta Descriptions

Make sure you have a unique title tag and meta description for the page. This is what will show up in search engine results pages, which can help draw people to click on your link over someone else’s. We’ve written a lot of blog posts about this in the past including a recent one with examples of how you might write these for various pages of your site.

Headers (H1, H2 etc.)

Make strategic use of headings & subheadings. Google uses the H1, H2, etc tags to “figure out” what your page is about. Each page of your website should generally have one “H1” or title of the page. Then, the page will be divided into several H2s and possibly use some H3s.

H2s should be a short description of what’s below that. For example, on this page an H2 is “Specific On-Page SEO Techniques Private Practice Owners.” As Google would assume, the section goes on to describe specific on-page SEO techniques.

Then, you’ll notice that I am using H3s on this post to describe sub-topics. For example, this particular section has an Level 3 heading, or an H3, that reads “Headers (H1, H2 etc.).

Photo of a child on a frozen lake representing how a Canadian therapist might carefully choose a hopeful photo such as this one as part of their on page optimization plan. Carefully choosing & optimizing photos is a great on-page SEO strategy.Use Photos Strategically

Use photos to break up text and illustrate points. However, it’s important to make sure the photo file size isn’t too big as that can slow a page down. Additionally, you can get more “SEO juice” from photos if you make sure to name the photo file something relevant to the topic and include ta keyword phrase in the Alt tag for each photo.

Use Keywords

Naturally include keywords a couple of times on the page. However, make sure it’s natural and doesn’t compromise the quality of the content. I think people can get overly stressed about this. My advice is to write the page without worrying about keywords. Then, go back through the page and see if there’s a natural way to include your keywords.

Consider Readability: Is Your Page Easy to Read?

Make sure your website is easy to read. This is a huge issue we see on private practice websites. People want to fit as much information as possible into a small space. And, you really know what you are talking about. So, it’s easy to fall into the trap of using words that the average person may not understand.

When I talk about readability, some people immediately respond, “But my ideal clients are educated.” That may be true. However, YOU are the expert at mental health at the moment. So, even if they have a Ph.D, if it’s not in psychology, then they may have trouble understanding some of the words you use.

So, make sure to use language that is easy for everyone to understand and break up text with images and other visuals.

Internal Linking

If you have other relevant content on your website, link to it from the page you are working on. This is an important part of creating content that Google loves. By linking to other pages, you’re helping organize your website in a way that Google can understand. Additionally, internal Links help point people who do visit your website to other pages of your site. The more they read on your site, the more likely they are to become a client.

External Linking

This is similar to internal linking, but you will be finding other websites to link to. This will help Google understand the topic of your page and give your website “social proof” that other sites are talking about the same topic.

So, I generally recommend using one or two external links when it’s appropriate. Just make sure they are to other authoritative websites and that they open in a new window

Take On-Page SEO One Step at a Time

On-page SEO can seem overwhelming. But, the best way to tackle it is one page at a time. Just focus on making each page of your website the best it can be in terms of SEO. That way, when visitors arrive at your page, they will find helpful and relevant content that is easy to read and navigate.

This may only be one component of your SEO plan, but it’s a really important one. So, take some time to make sure key pages on your site are fully optimized. It will be worth it in the long run!

On-Page SEO Training on a Cruise This JulyPhoto of a princess cruise outside Vancouver, Canada representing the princess cruise we'll bring private practice owners on from LA to Hawaii in July. We'll focus on teaching private practice owners on-page SEO in training sessions.

Have trouble finding the time to optimize? Or maybe you find yourself feeling stuck or overwhelmed by the process. We are offering a really unique SEO training experience this July. The number one concern we’ve heard from our training clients is that they have trouble finding the time to put into practice what we teach. So…we’re looking to solve that problem. We’re asking that you set aside a little time to focus really intently on learning these techniques, applying them and receiving quick feedback from us.

Join us for a 14-day SEO training cruise leaving out of LA, visiting 4 Hawaiian Islands and a final stop in Mexico. We’ll have ten days at sea where you’ll receive lots of training. Danica and I will go more depth than we’ve ever gone before teaching you on-page SEO techniques with real time feedback and lots of 1:1 support. Then, you’ll have the added benefit of some amazing digital marketing training and support from our friend Ernesto who is a true expert on video marketing, social media and more for therapists and mental health professionals.

Can’t make it on the cruise? We’ll be sad to miss you. We do offer a variety of other SEO training opportunities including affordable DIY courses, small group intensives each semester, various webinars on specific SEO topics & an individualized 12-week training program.

Running a private practice comes with many decisions! One of the most common decisions is whether you should outsource an aspect of your practice, or handle it “in-house”. Whether it’s administrative tasks, billing, or digital marketing. Often the answer comes down to this question, “Do I want to spend the time to do it myself, OR do I want to spend the money to have someone else do it for me?” The decision is no different when it comes to SEO!

However, it’s not always an either/or answer, sometimes the answer is a little bit of both! It may be easier to understand if I go ahead and outline the different SEO options you have, so let’s get into it!

Outsourcing Your SEO Entirely: SEO Services for TherapistsPerson writing words related to SEO on a chalkboard. Represents how seo consulting is beneficial for therapists looking to start their SEO journey.

If you have no time to learn or implement SEO strategies on your website, then outsourcing all of your SEO needs may be the best option for you. With this option, someone else will handle the optimization of your website with minimal input needed from you. At Simplified SEO Consulting, this would look like one of our “Done-For-You” SEO packages. And at our business, we ask our clients to be involved enough in the process to give us feedback and check that our work aligns with their brand and values. However, how involved you are will really depend on your unique needs.

Within our Done-For-You options, you still have room to cut back a bit on the cost if you’re able to put in more time yourself. For example, if you’re able to write the content for your website, then we can focus all of our efforts on optimizing that content, which will save you a bit of money. Or, if you rather have us handle it all, we can write AND optimize your content for you!

However, if you’re interested in investing more of your time and as little money as possible, then this may not be the option for you.

Handling SEO Yourself: DIY SEO Courses

Let’s say you recently launched your practice, or you’re in the process of launching your practice. Perhaps you don’t have a full caseload at the moment. Or, maybe you enjoy learning new things! If you’re interested in tackling SEO on your own, then a DIY option may be the best fit for you.

Our DIY SEO courses allow you to learn SEO at your own pace.Woman looking at her computer and writing things down. Represents how seo marketing for therapists at Simplified SEO Consulting is provided through many services such as DIY so therapists can learn SEO themselves.

You can watch all of the videos and start optimizing your website this week. Or, you could steadily learn more and make changes over the course of a few months, even a year! Our online SEO courses are our most affordable option.

But even this option, well, has options! Some clients decide to purchase an online course to learn as much as they can. And if they need more support down the line, they reach out about our Done-For-You SEO services. For example, you may optimize your blog posts but need help with your service pages. It doesn’t always have to be one or the other.

Learning SEO Marketing for Therapists Yourself Has Many Benefits

As a therapist, knowing how to use SEO yourself can prove to be an investment and a worthy use of your time. You invest both time and money, but since you’re the one doing the SEO in the end, you will be saving both by understanding the importance of SEO marketing. But also how it can greatly benefit your practice. Here are a few reasons why investing your time and money into SEO can benefit you:

  • Increased visibility: By optimizing your website for search engines, you can improve your online rankings and make yourself more present online and make it easier for potential clients to find you.
  • Cost-effective marketing: SEO is a cost-effective way to market your therapy services compared to traditional advertising methods.
  • Better understanding of your audience: Learning SEO can give you insights into your target audience’s search habits and preferences, which can help you tailor your content to their needs.
  • Improved credibility: A well-optimized website can help establish you as a credible and trustworthy therapist in your field.
  • Long-term results: Unlike some other marketing techniques, SEO provides long-term benefits that can continue to drive traffic to your site and generate leads for your therapy practice.

As a therapist who wants to improve their online presence, it’s important for you to understand the basics of SEO. By learning SEO strategies yourself, you can gain a better understanding of how to improve your website’s visibility, credibility, and long-term success. If you’re not sure how, at Simplified SEO Consulting we have plenty of resources available to help you get started with learning SEO, so you can take control of your online presence and build a successful therapy practice.

This brings us to our training options!

Learning SEO with Support: SEO Training for Therapists

Learning SEO on your own can be a bit daunting for some. So, if you’re interested in learning SEO with support then our SEO training options may be what you’re looking for. Our SEO training options are a great middle ground between our Done-For-You packages and our DIY courses. They allow you to get feedback and support from a trained SEO Specialist while you learn how to implement SEO strategies on your website. Our training options also come with extra tools to help you track your SEO progress and simplify your SEO process.

We have a variety of SEO training options depending on whether you rather invest more time or moneyWoman saying hello to someone on her computer. Represents how seo consulting can help therapists to learn how to optimize their own website so they are investing their money and time wisely. for a more individualized experience.

For example, our Small Group SEO Intensive is one of our most affordable SEO training options. With this option, you’ll learn our SEO process with a group of other mental health professionals. Whereas our 12-Week SEO Intensive Training Program is fully customized and focused on your unique needs.

We also offer a few unique SEO training options! Jessica and Danica just had a blogging retreat in Florida and continue to dream up ideas to meet the needs of our clients. We’re always looking for new ways to make learning SEO an exciting experience!

The Bottom Line is That You Have Options!

We understand that running a practice comes with quite a few expenses. And we know that every practice (and practice owner) needs something different. This is why we’re dedicated to making SEO training and services accessible at different price points.

So whether you want to dip your toes in with a DIY online course or you’re ready to outsource your SEO with a Done-For-You SEO package, we’re happy to support you in whichever way makes the most sense for your practice.

Do you Need Help Making a Decision for Your Private Practice Website?

We know this is a big decision, and there are quite a few options to consider! That is why we have our potential clients apply to work with us so that we can take a look at your website, gather information about you, your practice, and your goals along with having a member of our team see where your SEO stands. If you are chosen to work with us, you will then have a consultation, where we’ll discuss your goals for your practice, take a look at your website together, and give you our suggestions on which SEO option best suits your SEO goals.

You can apply to work with us, here!

About the Author

Kaite Ritchie was our former Done-For-You SEO Coordinator atHeadshot of Kaite, the former Done-For-You Coordinator at Simplified SEO Consulting for therapist website. Represents how at Simplified SEO Consulting our team wanting to provide therapists with seo marketing for therapists to help better their visibility. Simplified SEO Consulting. But before she stepped into this role, Kaite worked as an Intake Coordinator for our founder’s private practice. During that time she learned about the different aspects of running a private practice, including getting therapists connected with their ideal clients. There, she also learned what a big difference SEO can make for therapists! You can apply to work with us and learn more about SEO marketing for therapists and our SEO services!

 

 

 

 

 

Updated on 4/30/2023 by Lynsey Heskett

When I talk to therapists about learning SEO and our SEO training options, the most common response I get is “I don’t have the time!” And I believe it! As someone who has worked for a private practice, I know firsthand how busy owning a practice can be. If you have a group practice then you may be juggling hiring new clinicians, ensuring that everyone is following policy, and handling billing and payroll. Not to mention potentially having your own clients that you see!

It’s easy to see how on top of that, the idea of learning (and then applying) SEO techniques to your website just sounds impossible. And I’m not going to try to talk you into it. Being a practice owner is a busy, busy role. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to outsource your SEO entirely. Learning to delegate is an important part of being a business owner. But have you considered delegating your practice’s SEO needs to a member of your own team?

Yes, a Member of Your Team Can Learn SEO Online! Photo of two women looking at a computer and smiling. Represents how seo consulting helps therapists decide what level of private practice SEO is right for them and their practice.

Now, I don’t know the dynamic of your practice. Some practice owners handle intake and administrative duties all on their own. You may have a therapist on your team taking phone calls and emails when they can. However, if you have an Administrative Assistant, Intake Coordinator, Social Media Manager, or even a therapist who has an interest, then you may be able to actually have a member of your team learn SEO!

If at this point you’re thinking, “Why shouldn’t I just have YOU do it then?” that’s an understandable question. And for some practices, it does make sense to outsource their SEO to us. But before you make that decision, it’s important to consider all of your options. And having a member of your team learn SEO is one of them!

Benefits of Having a Member of Your Team Learn SEO

There are many benefits to bringing your SEO “in-house”. I actually go into all of the benefits of learning SEO yourself in this blog, but I’ll go ahead and name a few reasons.

1) You’ll have full control over the content on your private practice website.

Every heading, blog post, and photo title will come from you. Which ensures that everything on your website fully aligns with your practice’s values and brand.

2) You’ll be able to make updates and changes to your private practice website as soon as you need them!

New team member, who needs a profile on the website? Done. New group or service that you’re offering? Up on the site! If you have the skills to add and optimize content on your site, you won’t have to wait for an SEO specialist to do it.

Photo of a young man typing on a computer at a desk. Represents how private practice seo helps team members at private practices learn SEO to help boost the practice's SEO rankings.3) You’ll be able to maintain your SEO for years to come.

Even if you decide to outsource some of your SEO, having a member of your team learn a few SEO elements or strategies can allow you to maintain your SEO and stretch your investment!

Perhaps your Intake Coordinator can learn a bit about building backlinks. They can sign up for HARO and respond to inquiries, so your site has the potential to be featured on a high-traffic website like Buzzfeed. Or, maybe a therapist on your team can learn a bit about optimizing blog posts so you can continue to post optimized blogs on your site each month.

For many therapists, this is a great option. Outsource your SEO until your website is ranking well, and then have a member of your team learn some basic SEO skills to maintain your rankings.

4) Learning SEO can cut costs so you can put more money into other areas of your private practice.

Investing in private practice SEO training for a team member is a great way to save money so you don’t have to keep paying for SEO indefinitely. And with that money you save, you can invest in other areas of your practice! Maybe you want to start donating more to local organizations, purchase trainings for your therapists, or even revamp your office space.

When Will the Team Member Use the Private Practice SEO?

There are several scenarios where your team member will be able to use their private practice SEO training skills to good use. From knowing how to optimize your practice’s website to researching keywords that your ideal clients may be searching for, the benefits of having a team member with private practice SEO training are numerous.

Some instances where your team member can use their private practice SEO skills include:

  • Developing a new website for your practice or revamping your existing one.
  • Creating content for your practice that is written and optimized for search engines and ideal clients.
  • Conducting keyword research.
  • Analyzing website analytics to measure the success of their SEO efforts.
  • Adding new service pages to your website.
  • Marketing new services, new therapists, or offers that your practice has.

 

Investing in private practice SEO training for your team members can bring significant benefits to your practice’s online presence. With their newfound skills, your team members can optimize the website, conduct effective keyword research, and analyze data to improve overall SEO performance. By using these skills, your practice can rank higher in search engine results, attract more patients, and increase revenue. So, consider providing your team members with SEO training and see the positive impact on your practice’s online visibility.

But, What Happens if They Leave My Private Practice After Learning SEO?

After learning all of the benefits of having a team member learn SEO you may be thinking, “Well that all sounds great, but what if that team member leaves the practice?” Which is an understandable concern. The job market has certainly been a bit tricky lately. And we’ve worked with a lot of practices that I’ve seen a high turnover rate in recent years. We’ve thought about this, and we have a few ideas you may want to consider.

SEO Training Options

Now, the ideal solution would be for that team member to train the new hire on what they’ve learned about SEO before they leave. Similarly to training them on the other responsibilities, you could build SEO skills into their training. However, we know that sometimes people leave unexpectedly, and this isn’t always feasible.

Photo of two women looking and pointing at a computer. Represents how seo for private practices is meant to help therapists boost their rankings and be more visible to their ideal clients.In this case, we have online SEO courses you can purchase so your new hire can learn SEO skills on their own! We have courses on building backlinks, optimizing blog posts, and other SEO strategies which are great for maintaining SEO.

If you go through training with us, such as our one-on-one training or our Small Group SEO Intensives, then you may consider having two members of your team learn about SEO. Perhaps you and a team member (if you have the time) can learn together. This way, you also learn enough about SEO to train new hires in the future. You can talk to our team about options for our trainings to see what we’re able to offer if you want more than one team member to learn a bit about SEO.

However, if learning SEO doesn’t make sense for your private practice right now, that’s okay.

We offer a wide range of SEO options because we know that every practice needs something a bit different. Maybe right now it makes sense to outsource your SEO. Then down the line, as you grow your practice you may want to have a team member go through one of our SEO trainings.

We’re here to support your practice’s journey in whichever way makes sense for you right now. And if you need some help figuring out what that looks like, we’re happy to consult with you and give you our suggestions!

Are you Interested in Learning More About Our SEO Training Options?

At Simplified SEO Consulting, we offer a variety of options to teach therapists (and their team members) how to improve or maintain their online rankings. If you’re looking for a more personalized approach, then our one-on-one SEO trainings may be the best option for you. Or, if you think a group setting is a better fit, then our Small Group SEO Intensives would be a good choice! And if you’re looking for an affordable option to get started, we have several DIY online courses that cover different SEO strategies too!

Since we have so many options, you may be wondering what choice is best for your practice’s needs. That’s why we have an application for potential clients to fill out to apply to work with us. Just like you, we want to make sure we are attracting our ideal clients. A member of our team will look over your application to see if you and your practice are a good fit. Once you are approved, one of our SEO specialists would be happy to learn more about your practice and your SEO goals. They will also give you their suggestions on what makes the most sense for you.

Other SEO Services Offered at Simplified SEO Consulting

As I mentioned, we realize that training and DIY options aren’t suitable for all practices. Or at least, they may not be suitable for your practice at this moment. So, for those who want to outsource, we offer Done-For-You SEO services at different levels. Or, if you’re still considering SEO then you may want to start learning a bit more with our free 7-day SEO email series. You can also check out our other blogs on SEO as well to gather more information on how SEO can benefit your practice.

Headshot of Kaite, Former Virtual Administrative Assistant Done-For-You Coordinator at Simplified SEO Consulting for therapist. Represents how Simplified SEO Consulting strives to offer the best seo consulting to therapists and help them figure out the right package for them.About the Author

Kaite Ritchie was our former Administrative Assistant and Done-For-You Coordinator at Simplified SEO Consulting. Before joining our team, she worked at our founder’s private practice as an Intake Coordinator. There she learned all about how busy running a private practice can be. However, she also learned how valuable SEO can be in getting connected with ideal clients! That’s why she’s so passionate about helping private practice owners find SEO solutions that make sense for their practice. You can apply to work with us and learn more about our SEO services on our website to help to decide whether one of our training options is right for you!

 

 

 

Updated on 4/30/2023 by Lynsey Heskett

So you’re thinking about SEO! Maybe you heard about it on a podcast or read about it in a Facebook group for therapists. Perhaps a colleague mentioned to you that SEO helped them grow their practice, and now you’re considering it too.

Many of our clients come to us with a very basic understanding of SEO. They know that it helps people get found in search engines, but they aren’t really sure what it means. You might not even know what “SEO” stands for. (Psst, it stands for search engine optimization.)

Because of this, a fair amount of our clients don’t even consider the idea of learning SEO for their own website. They think that it’s too technical and confusing, and that only a computer-wiz could figure it out. But believe it or not, SEO actually isn’t that complicated. And there are plenty of benefits to learning SEO yourself!

SEO is Actually Pretty Simple Once You Learn the Basics

Photo of the word "SEO" surrounded by the words "keyword", "search", "content" and "strategy". This photo represents how SEO training with Simplified SEO Consulting can help private practice websites rank higher on Google.

For context, I (like many of my team members) have a Bachelor’s degree in psychology. I never studied computer science or digital marketing, and honestly the only computer class I took in college was related to statistics for psychology! I’ve worked as an Intake Coordinator for a private practice, and had heard about SEO, but before I started working here I had no idea how it worked.

I wouldn’t have considered myself tech-savvy in the least, but after a bit of training I realized that SEO is actually pretty simple! Now, there are a wide range of SEO strategies, and yes there are some components of SEO that are a bit more “technical”. However, once you understand the basic principles of SEO, you can make big improvements in your website’s online rankings!

What are the Benefits of Learning SEO?

You Have Full Control Over the Content on Your Private Practice Website

When you learn how to optimize your website yourself, you have full control over the content on your website. Everything from the writing on your service pages and blogs, to the photos, and how you choose to incorporate keywords all comes from you. This ensures that everything on your website aligns with your values and brand. It also means that clients get a very authentic sense of your perspective, your voice, and your practice’s unique approach.

Now, if you outsource your SEO with us, we will do everything we can to match your voice and approach. However, many of our clients who learn how to optimize their own website find it very rewarding to know that all of the content on their website comes directly from them.

You’ll be Able to Maintain Your SEO for Years to ComePhoto of a toy car holding a roll of bills next to the word "ROI". This photo represents how seo coaching can help therapists learn seo marketing and get a great ROI.

Another great benefit of learning how to optimize your website is that you’ll be able to maintain it for years to come! One of the great things about SEO is that once you are ranking well, your rankings should remain relatively stable.

However, we know that other practices and websites will pop up that also want a great ranking. So we recommend doing a few things to maintain your SEO, such as keeping up with a consistent blogging strategy or doing an “SEO tune-up” every once in a while. If you learn SEO, you’ll be able to handle these things yourself without having to pay someone else to do it. Which means that you’ll be able to stretch your investment even further!

You’ll be Able to Use Your SEO Training as You Grow Your Practice

Learning SEO is great for maintaining your current site, however it’s especially helpful if you plan on growing your practice. Let’s say you add a new member to your team with a new speciality. If you have the skills to optimize your site, you can get this new page added and optimized as soon as you need to.

Or, if you want to change directions and open a practice in a new location or start a consulting business, you can apply these skills to an entirely new website! When you learn SEO, the possibilities of how you use those skills are pretty endless.

Learning SEO is a More Affordable Option

You can probably gather from the reasons I listed above that learning how to optimize your website yourself is a more affordable option compared to outsourcing. When you gain SEO skills, you won’t need to pay someone to add and optimize new content to your website down the line. As your practice grows, you can even teach another member of your team how to optimize your blogs or do an SEO tune-up for you, and stretch your knowledge even further!

We always say that SEO is either an investment of time or money. It just depends on how you want to allocate your resources.

On That Note, Who Should Learn SEO?

It’s important to mention that learning how to optimize your website isn’t for everyone. While anyone can learn how to optimize their website, not everyone necessarily should.

Photo of a person typing on a computer representing how therapists can learn SEO online to improve the rankings of their private practice website.

Now, we actually have an entire blog dedicated to answering the question of who should do their own optimization. So I recommend checking that out for all of our thoughts. But in this blog I wanted to briefly mention that learning how to optimize your website does take some time and energy. So if you are an incredibly busy practice owner, it may not be the best option for you. (Though, you could always have a member of your team learn SEO!)

However, we know that learning optimization isn’t the best option for every practice. That’s why we offer Done-For-You services too! If you need help deciding what option is best for you, our team would be happy to give you our advice!

Interested in Learning More About Our SEO Training Options?

At Simplified SEO Consulting we offer a range of options to teach therapists and helping professionals how to optimize their websites! For those who want a personalized approach, we offer one-on-one SEO trainings. If you want to learn SEO in a group, our Small Group SEO Intensives are a great fit. Or, if you’re looking for an affordable option to get started, we have several DIY online courses that cover different SEO strategies!

If you’re interested in learning more about our different options and getting our suggestions on which is best for you, you can schedule a free video consultation with a member of our team. We’d be happy to learn more about your practice, your SEO goals, and give your advice!

Other SEO Services Offered at Simplified SEO Consulting

We understand that training and DIY options aren’t suitable for all practices. So for those who want to outsource, we offer Done-For-You SEO services at different levels. You can also start learning a bit more with our free 7-day SEO email series or by reading our other blogs on SEO. We are happy to be a part of your business’s journey in any way that we can.

About the AuthorHeadshot of Kaite, Virtual Administrative Assistant and Mental Health SEO Copywriter at Simplified SEO Consulting for therapist websites in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and beyond.

Kaite Ritchie is our Administrative Assistant, Alumni Specialist, and a Mental Health SEO Copywriter at Simplified SEO Consulting. Before joining our team, she worked at our founder’s private practice as an Intake Coordinator. Since she worked at the practice where it all began, when Jessica taught herself how to optimize her own website, she learned how powerful of a tool SEO can be! Now she enjoys writing and optimizing content for our clients, and helping therapists decide if learning SEO is the right path for them during our free consultations. You can schedule a free consultation with Kaite to learn more about our SEO services and get help deciding whether one of our trainings is right for you!

Incorporating SEO keywords

You know you need to incorporate SEO keywords into your copy, but it feels so clunky and awkward. You’ve done SEO keyword research and have come up with what you want to rank for but are struggling to add those keywords in a way that flows and makes sense.

 

Copywriting for SEO doesn’t have to be difficult! I personally love the puzzle of adding keywords to my blog posts. As a mental health SEO copywriter at Simplified SEO Consulting, I have three tips for you as you work to add SEO keywords to your private practice website.

Write from the heart, use keywords later.

image of a person on a computer using SEO keywords in their copywriting

Writing with SEO in mind is important. However, if you want to reach your ideal clients for your private practice, copywriting which is authentic to you is even more important. You know your clients’ challenges and what they are facing. Pretend like you’re talking directly to someone you’re working with and write out what you want them to hear from you. Being honest and sincere is powerful.

While SEO copywriting can get people on your page, there isn’t a point unless those clicks convert to new clients. This is w

here writing from the heart comes in. Search engine optimization for psychotherapists can help you get more clients, but only if your content resonates with the people who land on your page.

Give yourself a day to reset your brain.

image of a confused brain trying to figure out which seo keywords to use

Writing from the heart is only the first step in incorporating SEO keywords naturally into your content. I find it helpful to write a blog post or webpage and then put it down for a day. Come back to it and find those places you can “sneak” in keywords. Switching up counseling and therapy for example can help you rank for both words! Your copy CAN have flow and style while still having great SEO. Sometimes you just need to get your brain out of therapist mode and into SEO mode. Think about what your ideal client might be typing into Google to find the help they are looking for. Put yourself in their shoes and remember that incorporating keywords into your copy and content is truly helping your ideal client. Perhaps they’re not ready for therapy yet, but are looking for a blog post that resonates. That is powerful!

Approach SEO keywords as a puzzle.

My personal favorite way to incorporate SEO keywords while copywriting is to approach it as a puzzle. Make it a word game where you try and fit in keywords wherever you can. When you approach it as a game and not a chore, that mindset shift makes a big difference in how frustrated you may get. I love the challenge of using as many keywords as possible, while still having the style and flow that I desire. There are so many words associated with counseling, see how many you can use! You likely enjoy word games (have you started playing Wordle yet, or is it just blowing up your Facebook feed?) so make SEO optimization simply another fun game to play!

Consider copywriting for SEO with Simplified SEO Consulting!

If you’re still struggling with incorporating keywords into your web content, it might be time to consider SEO copywriting from Simplified SEO Consulting. Our mental health SEO specialists love taking your words and optimizing them for SEO. If you don’t have the capacity to put words to a computer screen, fret not! We’ve got you covered at our SEO consulting firm specializing in SEO for therapists, psychiatrists & other mental health professionals. We love writing for mental health professionals like you.

With approximately 8,910 psychiatrists, 22,530 psychologists, and 41,660 mental health counselors in private practice in the U.S. as of 2015 according to Wonder, you need to do what you can to get and keep traffic on your site.

Unfortunately, many mental health providers and other helping professionals we work with have multiple 404 errors on their sites. And the truth is that this can be a pretty significant issue.  When visitors to your site are frequently finding themselves landing on a random page stating that the page they were looking for isn’t available, it can be frustrating!

It’s important to pay attention to 404 errors on your site and to redirect those urls to other, relevant pages on your site. Then, people will be able to find the information they need to book your services. And you can keep them from leaving, telling search engines that your content isn’t worth showing to others.

What Is a 404 Error or Redirects?

A 404 error is what happens when a visitor types in a URL or clicks on a link that doesn’t lead to an active page. If you decide to change the URL for one of your pages, you may still have old links out there.

Unfortunately, search engines may also still show the old link to people searching. If that link leads to nowhere, you can confuse the visitors, and you may lose traffic.

Redirects

But you can use redirects to take the visitor to an active page. The redirect can then tell search engines about the new page and start showing the correct URL. You also don’t have to worry about the old URL circulating because the redirect will correct it.

There are two kinds of redirects, one that’s meant to be permanent (what I use the most) and one temporary (example: you’re updating a page). But we’ll talk about that more in a moment.

Just know that a redirect is the “quick” way to fix a 404 error and it ensures that anyone who goes to the non existent page will actually reach a live page on on your site.

So….What’s a “404 Redirect?”

I’ve heard many private practice owners talk about “404 Redirects.” Honestly, that’s not really a thing. What they mean is a 301 or 302 redirection to “fix” a 404 error by redirecting someone from a page that doesn’t actually exist at this moment to an active page on the website. However, I will use the term “404 redirect” occasionally in this post some since it is something I’ve heard used in our field and a term you may be comfortable with. Just know that technically speaking, 404 redirect isn’t actually the term I would typically use-you use a 301 or 302 redirect to fix a 404 error.

Are there disadvantages to using a redirect?

The disadvantage is that if you have too many redirections on your site it can slow things down which has a negative impact on user experience. And, when you do various “site audits” this is going to show up as a potential issue on your site. For this reason, when I find a 404 error for a page that is linked to from another page on my site my preference, when practical, is to go to the page that links to the broken page and instead change the internal link directly on the page so it goes to a “live” page.

However, this isn’t always practical. For example, if the 404 errors comes up when someone goes to a bad link on an external page you can’t always have that changed so you’ll need a redirect. Or, if you have a ton of broken pages (our record was over 400 on a site that had transferred a blog from WordPress to SquareSpace!) it would simply take too much time to manually fix every single now broken internal link.

So, often redirections are really helpful to fix 404 errors, but just know if you can quickly fix a link at the source that may be a better option.

Why Would I have 404 Errors on my Site?

The two most common 404 errors we see on private practice websites happen when someone changes the slug on a page of their website or deletes an old page of their website. Business owners are often surprised how common it is to have 404 errors on their website, but this is an issue we frequently see come up on private practice websites.

Photo of a url with the last portion of the url reading teen-counseling circled and an arrow with the word "slug" pointing to it to emphasize the importance of optimizing a slug on a website to improve SEO.404 Errors caused by changing the “slug” on a website

This is an example of the url for my “Teen Counseling” page.  If keyword research showed me that there were more searches for “Teen Therapy” and I was to change this slug to “teen-therapy” without creating a redirect, the page “aspirecounselingmo.com/teen-counseling would no longer exist.

If I made that change, Google may take awhile to catch up so it may still have the old url show up in search results but when people click on it they’d be taken to a page saying there was a 404 error and that url doesn’t exist anymore.

404 Errors caused by deleting a page

Now, I want to be clear here that I’m all for keeping your website updated! However, too often I see private practice owners or their staff delete a page on a website without creating a redirect or finding every other place that might possibly link to that page.  The problem? It looks a bit unprofessional.

For example, I had a play therapist at my private practice for a bit and created an elaborate “Counseling for Children” page on our website.  Then, as can sometimes happen, she left.  We didn’t have anyone else at the time interested in treating children. If I had simply deleted that page, then everywhere on our website we had linked to that page or outside links that went to that page (we were on some directories for parents that went straight to that page) would have landed on a 404 page. But I didn’t do that.

Instead, I took the page off our navigation menu so it wouldn’t be so easy to find.  Then, I clicked the button so Google would no longer index that page (so it wouldn’t show up in search results) and added a note to the top of that page saying at this time we weren’t seeing children. A couple years later, a new therapist started with us who does seem some children.  I updated the page to reflect her specialties, added it back to the drop down menu and again asked Google to index that page.

404 Errors when a page doesn’t exist

There is a third option. Sometimes, someone types in a website url that doesn’t exist. For example, if you typed “https://simplifiedseoconsulting.com/404-errors” when you were trying to get to this page, you’d get to our 404 redirect page. Why? Because that is the incorrect url. That page doesn’t exist.

I’ve seen this happen when someone links to a website but forgets the final character or something along those lines. I’ve also seen it happen when someone *thinks* they know the url they are going to but actually types too quickly and misspells.

This is an example of a 404 error that is difficult to fix with a redirection, because it’s hard to predict how someone might misspell your url. So, just keep in mind that 404 Errors happen. No matter how careful you are, people may occasionally reach a 404 error when visiting your site. But redirections can help with many of the other types of 404 errors and therefore improve the overall user experience on your website.

Why Redirects Are Important to fix 404 Erros

404 redirects are important for a few reasons, including search engine optimization. You may be able to get away with having one or two 404 errors, but you don’t want to have a ton.

Redirects can correct those errors when you decide to change a URL. Then, you can keep your website up, and you can make sure people will find what they need.

Consider a couple of benefits of 404 redirects in more detail.

Maintain Your SEO

If you have a ton of 404 errors and don’t redirect those pages, that can tell Google to rank your site lower in search. That can decrease the number of views you get from SEO, which can hurt your overall website traffic and business.

Redirecting 404 errors can tell search engines what URL to start showing people in search results. Then, people will be able to find the information they need right away.

You can then change URLs to include keywords and help your SEO. And you can tell the crawlers that your site is easy to use and that it deserves to show up in search results.

Keep Visitors

Not only can 404 redirects help search engines, but they can also help visitors have a good user experience on your site. If they click on an old link, the redirect will take them to the correct page.

That can keep you from confusing your potential new clients with a bunch of 404 error pages. If visitors do run into a lot of 404 errors, some may still go to the effort of continuing to navigate around your site to find what they need, but others may leave your site and go elsewhere.

The easier you can make using your site, the easier it will be to keep visitors. Then, you’ll have a chance to convert those visitors into clients.

How to Know If You Need Redirections

One of the worst things about 404 error pages is that you may not always know if you need one. Now, you can know that you’ll need a redirect if you change a URL to include a keyword, for example.

But if you haven’t changed anything in a while, you may still miss out on 404 redirects. You may have changed a URL a few months back, or you might have deleted an old page you don’t need anymore.

Either way, you can check a 404 redirect to see if you need to add one to help your on-page SEO. Consider the following ways to find out if you need a redirect.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a tool that you can install on your website to help track searches. The tool can tell you if there are any errors or other problems with your site, including 404 errors.

Then, you can go into your website to add in a 404 redirect code to make sure people get to the correct page. Google Search Console is free, and you can set it up easily, especially if you use WordPress.

You’ll be able to track the keywords that get clicks to your website as well as your website traffic. That way, you’ll know which pages and posts you can check to make sure they have 404 redirects if necessary.

Simplified SEO Consulting’s Data Dashboard

At Simplified SEO Consulting, we offer a data dashboard that includes a site audit tool for our paying clients. The tool lists all of the pages that have 404 errors, so you can go down the list when creating redirects.

Then, you don’t have to set up Google Search Console or another tool. You won’t need a ton of technical knowledge to learn how our site audit tool works.

Soon enough, you’ll be able to check the tool regularly for SEO issues. And you will be able to correct the issues as they appear to keep them from affecting your SEO.

Complaints

You may also learn about 404 errors from your clients, team members and visitors. Someone may try to read a blog post or book an appointment with you, only to land on a 404 page.  If you’re lucky, they let you know. Sadly, you can’t rely on this because some people may not take the time to contact you.More often I’ve heard about it from a staff member who was navigating our site and found an issue. So, now I check our data dashboard pretty regularly to make sure I catch these things BEFORE someone else finds them. That way, I can fix the error before it affects my website traffic.

Your Own Discovery

When editing your website, you may come across a 404 error yourself. For example, you might go through your most popular pages and posts and click on all of the links to make sure they work.

If a page or post leads to an old URL, you will get a 404 error. Then, you will know you need to add a redirect so that your visitors can go to the correct page if they click on that link.

If you don’t want to use a specific tool and if your site doesn’t have a ton of content, consider searching links regularly. It may take time, but you can make sure all of your links work as they should.

How to Create a Redirect to Fix 404 Errors

Each website platform has a slightly different way for you to fix 404 errors or set up redirects.

Redirects for 404 Errors WordPress

It may sound like adding 404 redirects requires a lot of coding knowledge or expertise. Fortunately, a good 404 redirect plugin can help WordPress users take control of their website.

Important note about 404 Errors & Redirect Plugins for WordPress users:

Often, this process of creating redirects can be super simple on WordPress. However, it’s important to know it typically requires a plugin that is compatible with your website and safe/secure. We’ve seen several of these that work, but most website developers have specific plugins they prefer to use. For instance, one of the popular plugins may have some security risk if used on it’s own, but when used in combination with a security plugin is both safe and easy to use. Therefore, please work with your website developer to identify the best plugin, and how to properly set up redirects for your specific website.

If you are bound and determined to move forward without a WordPress developer’s support (I see you DIYers out there!), here are a few steps you can follow to set up 404 redirects on your WordPress site.

Install a Redirection Plugin

If you use WordPress, you can download a good plugin to handle the technical part of redirects for you. Then, all you need to know is which URLs are old and which URLs you need to send those old links to. Again, I would caution you to check in directly with a website developer for recommendations. I’m going to describe using a very common plugin, but it doesn’t mean this is the best one nor the one a website developer would point you toward.

“Redirection” is one of these plugins you can use to create redirects as a solution for 404 erros. Redirection is a free 404 redirect plugin that you can use to handle redirects for your entire website. You can use it to set up temporary or permanent redirects.

Go to the Plugins section of your dashboard and click Add New. Then, you can search for “redirection” and add the plugin to your website.

Once you install the plugin, you can configure settings for logs and redirects. Then, you can add new redirects whenever you discover a new 404 error page.

Check for Errors

When you install the Redirection plugin, you’ll want to navigate to “Tools” and then “Redirection” to access the settings. You can then head to the tab that says “404s” to see what 404 errors your site has.

If you have any errors, you’ll see them in a list with the date, source URL, user agent, and IP. Then, you’ll know which links you need to update to make sure people find what they need.

Add Redirects

Head back to the Redirects tab and click on Add New to create a new redirect. Then, you will need to input the old URL that is leading to a 404 page, and you can select if you want to ignore parameters or not.

You can then add the target URL (the new URL) that you want the old URL to lead to. If you click on the gear icon, you’ll access more settings, which lets you choose if you want to redirect the URL or if you want to leave it as a 404 error.

The settings also let you decide if you want to redirect when just the URL matches or if you also want to track cookies, login status, or something else.

Select the Right Type

One of the most significant reasons to click on the gear icon when adding a redirect is to choose the redirect type. A 301 redirect is permanent, so it’s useful if you update the URL to include a keyword for SEO.

The redirect will tell search engines to start indexing and showing the new URL. That way, people will go straight to the page or post they need to to find the right content.

A 302 redirect is a temporary redirect, and it’s useful if you want to update one of your main pages. However, this will tell search engines to keep indexing the old URL, so it’s not suitable for changing URLs.

To be honest, I almost always end up using 301 redirections, because the redirects I make on my website are usually permanent.

How to Create 301 Redirect to Fix a 404 Error on Squarespace

While WordPress is a popular website design platform, you might use Squarespace. Fortunately, the steps for adding 404 error redirects to a Squarespace site aren’t too difficult and many of the practice owners we work with have been able to do this on their own.

You may need to write a bit of redirect code, but Squarespace makes it easy to input the code you need. And if you miss something or add too many details, the platform will alert you.

Here’s how to create a redirect to fix 404 errors when you use Squarespace.

Go to Settings

In your Squarespace account, you’ll need to go to your Home menu and click on Settings and then Advanced. You don’t need to download or install anything on your website to be able to set up the redirects.

If you find yourself creating 404 redirects often, you may want to bookmark the settings page. That way, you won’t have to navigate your Squarespace backend every time.

Gather the URLs

Before or after you find your settings page, you will need to list out the URLs that need redirects. Be sure to separate the slug from the rest of the URL.

The slug is the part after your main domain. So if the URL in question is example.com/blog, “blog” would be the slug, and you will need to use that to create your 404 redirect.

Consider what URLs you need to redirect the old ones to and add those to your list. Again, you’ll need to separate the slug from the rest of the URL to format the redirects.

Format the Redirects

Once you’re in your settings on the Advanced page, you will be able to create a URL redirect. First, you’ll input the slug for the old link, then you will leave a space and type “->” to show Squarespace it will be a redirect.

Next, you will need to add the slug for the new link to tell Squarespace where the old URL will lead. The last element you need is the type of redirect, either a 301 or 302. As stated above, I typically use a 301 but make sure you’re paying attention and choosing the right one for your site.

Leave a space after the new URL before you type the number based on the redirect you want to create. Then, you can save everything to make sure the changes apply to your site.

Create a Custom 404 Page

Screen Shot of the 404 Redirect Page for errors on Aspire Counseling's Private Practice Website

You may choose not to use 404 redirects for every 404 error. For example, if you delete a page without creating anything to replace it, it’s fine to tell users the page no longer exists.

However, you may want to create a custom 404 page. Then, you can include some text or an image explaining the error, and you can make sure the page is on brand and looks good on your website.

This is an example of the Custom 404 Error page I’ve created for my own Private Practice website. I do change it up from time to time and it’s far from perfect-a professional website developer can probably build you a much “prettier” or better branded 404 Redirect page. But it gets the job done.

On the Custom 404 Page for my own private practice website, I’ve included links to each of our primary services as well as links to the our most popular blog posts.  Since we have hundreds of blog posts, I chose the ones that are either showing up the most in search results (determined from looking at Google Search Console data) or most visited (based on Google Analytics). Of course, there was a lot of overlap between the two but they weren’t exactly the same.

What do I include on a custom 404 page?

You want to include links to the most commonly visited pages on your website. These are the pages someone is most likely to have tried to visit when they end up on the 404 page. And, since your goal is to prevent that person from leaving your website altogether having links to some of the “best” pages on your website encourage them to remain on your page.

Examples of Custom 404 Pages for Private Practices

How Will You Handle 404 Errors & Redirects?

If you’ve used the internet a lot, you’ve probably come across at least one or two 404 errors. 404 redirects are the easiest way to correct those problems if they crop up on your own website.

Be sure to consider the benefits and types of 404 redirects. Then, you can follow the steps to add them to your site on WordPress or Squarespace to make sure you don’t lose traffic or SEO juice.

Do you need help with SEO for your overall site? Schedule a free SEO consultation today.

Welcome back to part two of my comprehensive guide to copywriting for SEO series. I wrote this series because I know how challenging copywriting can be for busy therapists. I have had a lot of clients who tell me that copywriting is both intimidating and time-consuming. But, it doesn’t have to be so hard. My goal today is to simplify it a bit.

In part one I shared three tips to make copywriting easier: write like you’d speak to a client, speak to their pain points, and create a page for every service you offer. These tips are extremely important and it’s worth reading the blog to learn more about them. But today, I want to share three more practical tips to improve your writing experience and better your SEO.

3 Copywriting for SEO Tips:

  Include References to the Places You Want to Rank Wellpensive woman writes in a notebook next to an open laptop representing copywriting for SEP. Learn how to optimize your website in SEO training with an SEO specialist

It’s critical to include references to your location or the places where you would like to draw clients from in your website copy. This helps tell Google where you’re located, thus helping you show up better in search results for clients who are looking for services in that area.

If you have an online therapy practice, this tip is extra important. Because you cannot technically have a Google My Business listing, it often takes Google longer to realize what areas you serve. Therefore it may take longer to get you ranking in those areas. So, you must mention areas throughout your state in your website copy.

If you have multiple locations, it’s still important to make references to the places where you see clients. Although you may not be able to mention them all, look for spots to weave it in where it looks natural.

Two powerful places to really highlight where you’re located are in your footer and in a location(s) page. Let’s talk about those in-depth a bit:

  • Footer: If you have a physical address put it here. If you do not, then mention where you’re located. For example, “Our therapy office is located in Kansas City, MO however, we see clients throughout Kansas and Missouri.”
  • Location Page: I would argue that having a location page is for all practices that see clients in person. However, I feel it is especially important for practices with multiple in-person locations. On this location page, I encourage you to embed a map if possible and provide driving locations to your practice.

Look for Opportunities to Add Keywords and Internal Links

man types on his laptop computer in a cafe. He learned about copywriting for seo from an seo specialist at Simplified SEO ConsultingI know writing copy is intimidating but I encourage you to write first, then look for opportunities to target the keywords you want to rank for. The same goes for adding internal links to other pages on your site. Sometimes, simply putting your thoughts down on paper without worrying about other things makes writing easier.

Once you have written your page or post, then look for places to add in or modify the wording to add keywords and links. This can be done throughout a page or a post however, there are a few places that I find offer great opportunities to add in these SEO elements. These places are:

  • Headings and subheadings
  • A call to action section where you detail the three steps to start services at your practice (here you can link to your home, contact, about page, etc.)
  • An other services section where you share about the other offerings you provide at your practice and link to those pages.

Proofread Your Work

man with grey hair sits at his laptop and smiles at the camera representing copywriting for SEO and getting seo training with an seo specialist at simplified seo consultingI am certainly guilty of making spelling and grammatical mistakes when I write. Most people are. However, I always try to take the time to go back and proofread my work before publishing it. Even then, I am bound to make a mistake here and there. That’s when I rely on the wonders of technology and the tools that are at my disposal.

I personally love using the Hemmingway Editor and the Grammarly plugin when I write. Both tools catch common spelling and grammatical errors and they tell me if my writing is confusing or hard to read. I encourage you to use both as you work on writing copy for your private practice website.

Google likes to rank pages it considers “trustworthy.” So, if there are lots of spelling and grammatical errors it may hurt your rankings a bit. Now, I’m not saying it has to be perfect, but reading it over once or twice can really help.

SEO Services For Your Private Practice Website:

If you’re ready to optimize your website and improve your private practice website’s SEO, Then our SEO specialists can help! We would be honored to support you in your efforts to get in front of your ideal client on Google. To get started, follow these steps:

  1. Schedule your free 30-minute consultation with a member of the Simplified SEO Consulting team
  2. Learn more about our SEO services and training opportunities
  3. Start optimizing your webpage and watch your site rank better on Google!

About the Author:

Photo of Cory, our Content Coordinator who helps you write blogs for SEO and also offers 1:1 SEO TrainingCory Moss is a Simplified SEO specialist & our Content Specialist based in the Kansas City metro area. She specializes in working on readability for therapist websites. She really enjoys helping her clients get to the top of Google and attract their ideal clients. Cory is great at speaking to clients about their dream practice and figuring out exactly what content on their website will help them reach those goals. She enjoys helping people learn about SEO and watching how people can improve their optimizing over time!

One of my favorite things about Simplified is that we challenge the “one size fits all” approach. Through years of working with therapists throughout the country (and internationally!), we know that every practice is starting at a different place. And, that each practice has different goals.

With that in mind, we’re also very aware of the practice’s capacity.

What does that mean? Well, each practice has different resources. This can be having a team with many clinicians that can delegate tasks. Other times, this looks like have more administrative time to knock the behind-the-scenes tasks. Again, this is different for everyone. But, you’re probably wondering how this relates to SEO. Well, let me tell ya!

A brain is pondering a question. This is related to doing your own website optimization. Simplified offers training courses to teach therapists how to build their own SEO.

Your practice’s capacity determines which SEO service makes the most sense. We offer services for practices at every stage. For some, our Done For You services are a great fit. Other times, our al a carte or online courses make sense. Furthermore, our Done With You services can be a great fit for some practices.

. . . Done With You Services?

Yep, Done With You Services! This service is our 12-week intensive training option. With this package, you’ll work one-on-one with our SEO specialists to learn how to do your own optimization. We meet every other week to teach you SEO concepts that you’ll be applying in real-time. During this time, we’ll work together on your site. We start with some basic keyword research and competitor research. From there, we work on writing stellar meta descriptions and creating SEO-worthy titles. Then, we do on-page optimization. This is when we work on incorporating headings, infusing keywords, and adding location indicators. The next step is internal links, external links, call to action, and other services sections. Don’t forget about adding photos with alt text!

A few of you reading this are PUMPED

A cartoon brain holds dumbbells. This demonstrates concepts of doing your own website optimization. Training options with Simplified can help you to boost SEO.

This sounds exciting, right? Learning how to do all of the SEO things on your own! If learning how to do your own website optimization sounds appealing to you, this blog is for you! Moving forward, I’ll cover some personal qualities that can determine your success in doing your own website optimization. From our experience, we have seen a theme of what determines success. Today, I’ll be covering a few signs that can help determine if doing your own website optimization could be a good fit for you!

So, who should do their own website optimization?

1. Website Optimization Consideration #1: Service providers that are the “hands-on” type

These are the folks that like to have their hands in every pot. Typically, these are the people that learn the best by doing- or our kinesthetic learners. And, have curiosity about the behind-the-scenes shenanigans. This often comes in handy for service providers doing their own optimization because it’s up to them to get it done! On top of that, there’s a healthy dose of curiosity that comes along with it, too. We find that providers are the most successful when they want to build their skills and understanding of SEO. At first, it will probably feel like learning a different language. But, after time, the pieces of the puzzle will start to fit.

In addition, therapists that are willing to dedicate some time to learning SEO are often more successful. While learning SEO won’t require as much time as obtaining licensure, there is still a component of time that comes along with doing their own website optimization.

2. Website Optimization Consideration #2: Clinicians that are willing to learn

A cartoon brain uses a laptop. This reflects concepts of doing your own website optimization. Learn more about how Simplified can help you to build SEO.

Correction: clinicians that are willing to learn things for their practice that grad school never taught them. Something that I, along with the other SEO Specialists, have heard time and time again is that grad school “didn’t teach (them) how to run a practice.” And that’s definitely true! What’s more, grad school didn’t teach you how to SEO either.

Learning SEO requires *some* unlearning of grad school.

What does this mean? Good SEO requires you not to write like you’re creating an essay for grad school. One of the determining factors of good SEO is readability. Typically, Google responds best to pages that have the readability of 5th grade. Essentially, Google likes when we write in a way that a 5th grader could read it and understand it. To achieve this, we recommend:

  • limiting run-on sentences (but really, aim to have NO run-on sentences)
  • adding transition words
  • having lots of headings and subheadings
  • not having sections longer than 150 words without a heading
  • straying away from academic language 
    • if it’s a sentence you would include in an essay, it likely needs to be edited

And, will to learn some techy things

In doing your own SEO, there are some techy aspects that come along with it. To be clear, we’re not expecting anyone to learn how to do their own coding. But, some of the processes require to you know a little more than the average bear. Better yet, they require you to be willing to learn more than the average bear. Doing your own SEO requires you to learn how to set up Google Search Console and Google My Business. On top of that, submitting sitemaps and requesting indexing are tasks that come along with website optimization as well.

Just to be clear: we’ll teach you how to do all of these things!

We know that doing your own SEO is the farthest thing from common knowledge. We’re aware that there’s a lot that goes into it. And, at first, it might feel pretty overwhelming. But you want to know a secret? None of our specialists were familiar with SEO when they started! But, after some training, practice, and personal research, we become experts! Just like you, we felt intimidated with learning what seems like an underground black market trade. But, after practice and guidance, we got the hang of it.

And the super cool thing? So can you!

3. Website Optimization Consideration #3: Therapists that have future projects in mind

A brain holds a lightbulb. This is related to doing your own website optimization. Simplified offers training option so therapists can learn how to do their own website optimization and boost SEO.

Especially if you have a few projects in mind that will require you to use the internet to some capacity. This looks different for everyone. But, some common themes that I’ve heard in the past include changing your URL or practice name. Sometimes, practice owners decide to expand their practice. However, the name or website URL they previously had doesn’t quite fit anymore. Other times, practice owners see a website redesign in their future. In both of these scenarios, SEO will take a drastic hit. Big changes like this will result in an initial decrease in your SEO.

A metaphor that I like to compare it to is a breakup.

Let’s pretend your website and Google are in a relationship. Things have been going steady and it seems like you’re both happy. But, out of the blue, your website breaks up with Google. From Google’s point of view, this was completely unexpected. Things were going great, then you suddenly end things with no warning? Google is very confused. And, incredibly hurt. Now, Google has trust issues with your site. Then, it sees that you’re coming back (submitting sitemaps, requesting indexing, updating your Google My Business). And Google wants to trust you. But, it’s not quite ready for it. Now, Google needs you to prove that you’re committed this time. And, the only way to show that is through time and rebuilding your SEO.

But, you’ll get back to where you were! Maybe not overnight. But, you’ll recover your SEO. And, hopefully exceed the SEO you built up previously.

Of course, there are other “projects” or “changes” that would make you a great fit for doing their own website optimization

Everyone sees a different future for their practice. If yours is full of new projects, expansions, or dabbling in podcasts, website optimization could be a great fit. Why? Because this will be one less thing you need to pay to outsource! Instead, you can take some time to learn how to do it yourself then apply it as you need to in the future.

A few details about our Done With You program

Two brains are shown. This demonstrates concepts of doing your own website optimization to boost therapist SEO.

At Simplified, we truly believe that any therapist can learn to do their own SEO and website optimization. And, we’re happy to teach those tools! Our 12-week intensive program is a great option for practitioners that are curious and excited to learn how to do their own SEO. In our training program, our approach is holistic. Our goal is to teach you everything you need to know to do your own website optimization. We start from the beginning and cover the basics. From there, we gradually incorporate skills that increasingly become more advanced. With this in mind, we walk along with you the entire time.

Our training program is a unique one-on-one opportunity that teaches you everything you need to know about website optimization. On top of that, we offer technical support and guidance throughout the entire time. You’ll meet with your SEO Specialist every other week for 12-weeks. During this time, we’ll cover the content that was included in your “homework.” On top of that, we’ll do some on-page optimization to see what it looks like in real-time. In addition, you will be offered resources that explain concepts in greater detail. Our intention is for you to incorporate these concepts each week on your site with our guidance. Along the way, we’re happy to answer any questions that come up.

So, are you ready to get the training party started?

I hope you found this interesting! As aforementioned, the training program can be a great fit for some clinicians. We’d love to have you in our training program! If you decide that you’re ready to do your own website optimization, follow these steps:

  1. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with us. 
  2. Get to know our team of highly skilled and experienced SEO specialists.
  3. Brag to your other therapist friends that you can optimize your website optimization 🙂

For those that aren’t interested in Done With You services, we also offer Done For You services where we do the optimization. Either way, we’re happy to help!

About the Author

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