Is Done-For-You SEO Totally Hands-Off?

I’ve been talking a lot about training and work on SEO recently, specifically SEO training for therapists, mental health professionals, birth workers, midwives, doulas, speech-language pathologists, or anyone else in a related industry. And I love SEO training. However, I know that some of you may prefer a more done-for-you process. You didn’t go to school for this. You went to school to help people and being in the weeds on the marketing might not be your jam. That’s okay. That’s why our done-for-you SEO services were created. In fact, that’s how I got my start as an SEO specialist years ago. I didn’t go to school for this. I’m a social worker. However, I did have some experience working on websites and writing compelling copy. I was also actively building my birth business at the time and knew that I could apply these concepts to my own website while helping therapists around the world find their ideal clients. Win-win, right?

Our proven proprietary on-page SEO process works exceptionally well for our ideal clients. The adjustments we make using strategic keyword research and data-driven solutions have been the key to SEO success for our therapist clients for many years. Recently, we’ve had an uptick in consultations with our alumni SEO clients who are now pivoting their business to their next-level venture. They share over and over again how SEO has been the most important, strategic marketing investment in their business to get them where they are today. Amazing. I love to hear this! Thank you for trusting us to help you grow. We are truly honored.

How Does Our On-Page SEO Process Stand The Test of Time For Therapists, Helpers, and Other Mental Health-Focused Websites?

If you’ve been in a workshop, webinar, or other SEO training with me recently, you’ve likely heard that Google and your ideal clients want the same thing. A content area expert they can trust. Google calls this E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authority, & Trust) and your ideal clients are looking for the “Know-Like-Trust” factor on your website. That’s what our proven, proprietary on-page SEO formula builds systematically over time on your website. Yes, high-quality, sustainable SEO is an investment of time, no matter how you do it. DIY SEO courses, Done-With-You SEO training, or Done-For-You SEO packages. That’s because building trust takes time. Think about it. Do your clients automatically trust you when they first sit down to talk with you? Probably not. Even the best “About Me” page on your website, active social media presence, and most authentic public persona cannot fully allow clients to feel 100% comfortable with their therapist right away.

As a trauma professional in my previous roles, I used to say that when I first sit down with someone after a sexual assault or intimate partner violence incident, I have not yet earned the right for them to tell me the truth. I still firmly believe this. Why should someone fully open up to me about one of the most terrible things that has happened to them? They don’t know me. And, quite frankly, it is highly likely that someone who they knew and thought they could trust just violated that trust. So, I need to earn it. Guess what, folks? Google is the same way.

It takes time, consistency, and effort for Google to build trust in your website and keep rewarding you in the rankings. There are 200+ ranking factors that go into the determination of SEO rank, and our process works strategically to address a select few of them. Through multiple core algorithm updates, our optimization stands because it is focused on building connections between quality content that converts over time.

Will Our Done-For-You SEO Services Still Require Some Work From You?

Short answer: YES. Our “Done-For-You” SEO services still require your active participation in order to get the best return on your investment.

Why do Done-For-You SEO services still require work from the therapist?

This concept was underscored again today when I met with one of our incredible alumni for an SEO checkup. Her SEO journey started with us a little over a year ago. The rankings results exceeded our expectations in not one, but two states. Her organic search traffic has steadily increased along with positive metrics tracked for Google Analytics and Google Business Profiles. Hooray, right? Well, that’s not the full picture. That is only the data we can see from our end. She was reporting that she was still getting more inquiries from her Psychology Today profile than from her website. Don’t get me wrong, she’s pleased with our work. The data is all looking very positive. And, she knows the steps she needs to take to maintain her incredible rankings. But, the ultimate marker of SEO success is an increase in calls from ideal clients.

Investigating SEO and Conversion Strategies

So, I started to investigate. First, I took a look at her Psychology Today profile. Absolutely beautiful. It has a great video humanizing her. Multiple pictures, both of her and her therapy space. The copy was personal and compelling. She centered the client in the copy and then discussed how she could help. Then, I looked at her website and identified opportunities to infuse similar wording and video strategies to increase the “Know-Like-Trust” factor on the pages we wouldn’t have optimized during her SEO work with us, like “Home” and “About”. Then, we looked at her organic search data and I noticed that search queries for niche specialty areas and clicks to those specific pages have increased. Awesome! This is exactly what we try to build. But, remember, she has now identified a conversion problem with her website. Looking at one of the pages, I quickly realized why. So, I asked “Did we write these pages for you?” She said, “Yes.”

That makes sense! Our incredible copywriting & SEO expert team did their job. To be clear, the pages worked for SEO rankings, and getting in front of the clients who are looking for her. However, for her particular set of ideal clients, especially for the niche areas she works with, these pages are unable to build that “Know-Like-Trust” factor on their own. She does not have an SEO problem. Instead, she has a conversion problem. So, I gave her some homework. I asked her to add more of her personality and voice to those pages. A video would be ideal. Adding specific wording (similar to her Psych Today profile) that we know converts her ideal clients is necessary for this 2.0 level of work on her pages. These pages need to be more compelling in order for her folks to call.

How This Helped Us Identify What Works

Now, I want to clarify a couple of things. No one did anything wrong. This is simply an example I’m using to illustrate why our SEO process is most successful when our clients are actively involved. This amazing therapist has trusted the process and followed our SEO advice. Including scheduling that SEO checkup about 6 months after her Done-For-You SEO journey was complete. Now that we have a clear picture of the data, we can make the necessary adjustments to turn this increased website traffic into qualified calls and inquiries.

Our copywriter did excellent work as well. Her copy worked for Google. The SEO Specialist was able to optimize in a way that built trust with Google quickly and kept the rankings high over time. When we start working with a therapist on their website’s SEO, we need a place to start. Folks come to us with varying stages and quality of content on their website. When we meet for onboarding, we get to know more about their ideal clients and how they help. Keyword research, a technical site audit, a content audit, and more are completed by our team.

The Power of Collaborative Relationships

What this conversation solidified for me was that this type of collaborative relationship is exactly what we need in order to get better SEO results, faster. Think about it. As a practitioner, your clients trust you to lead and guide them properly and appropriately. However, they still have to do the work. You can’t do all of the work for them. You bring your skills, knowledge, and expertise. But, if they aren’t able to be active participants in the process, true change is not going to happen. We’ve had multiple clients this summer tell us that the Done-For-You SEO process that they engaged with for 6, 9, or even 12 months was transformative for their business. Transformative! We’re not doing life-saving therapies. Nor, catching babies (well…most of us). We’re manipulating content and wording on websites, adding photos, and asking Google to pretty please give us credit for the work. It’s not easy work, but it’s simple and straightforward. That way, our clients can do the incredible work they do. And, yet, “transformative” has been said multiple times in a short amount of time. That tells me that we are doing far more than just some nerdy website work.

So, What do You Need to do as an Active Participant in the Done-For-You SEO process?

Again, I’m not going to tell you not to use our copywriting services. If you’ve been on a consultation with me, you know I would prefer you give us your word. At least 500 of them are on each specialty page, though I strongly prefer 800+. However, if you are going to use our copywriting services, we have a questionnaire or you can meet with our copywriter to talk through what sets you apart. If you have a social media account, YouTube channel, articles, and posts you’ve already written, we want them! We will include these in your pages. You’ll attend planning meetings where we can discuss your data and see what we need to focus on for the next month. Lastly, feedback! We absolutely love it when you offer us feedback. This is your website so any changes you want after our optimization we can absolutely discuss. If there is a reason we have changed something for SEO, we’ll let you know.

As long as you are being responsive and communicating with us each month, providing us with content and feedback, you are doing your part.

Start Your SEO Journey With Simplified SEO Consulting

If you’re ready to dive in, enroll now. You can get started on the Masterclass now in order to spend this time before our first meeting preparing your website for optimization. Simply visit our Small Group SEO Intensive enrollment page to get all of the information you need and register right away. We’d love to talk with you more about the small group SEO intensive. If you’d prefer to have private instruction from me, read about our 12-Week SEO Intensive Training Program. Or, if it all sounds like too much, let our team of amazing SEO experts do it for you. No matter what you choose, we are here for you and want the absolute best for your SEO success. If you are still on the fence about your SEO options, book your free SEO consultation to meet with a member of our team and talk about the next steps. We look forward to connecting soon! ~Danica

About the Author

Danica Wolf, MSW, is the Chief Operating Officer of Simplified SEO Consulting. She is also the primary trainer for SEO clients who want to learn how to boost their own website SEO. With years of experience as a professor and instructor, and almost two decades of public speaking experience, Danica loves helping to motivate and inspire learners. As a lifelong learner herself, Danica loves diving into SEO concepts and exploring strategic ways to create content creatively. Helping the helpers meet their ideal clients where they are already searching is one of her favorite ways to spend the workday! You may see Danica on Simplified’s social media, working at the Simplified table at a therapist conference, or during one of our Zoom webinars. Be sure to say hi, and ask questions about how to best meet your business goals. She’d love to meet you!