Ideal Clients: How does this affect SEO?

“Who is your ideal client?” an SEO specialist asks you. “What does that mean for me and my SEO?” you might ask yourself. Ideal clients are a sure way to get very good and credible SEO for your practice. This also has a heavy influence on your rankings shown in the dashboard. There are many ways ideal clients influence SEO, and more so good reasoning behind always making sure we ask that question during initial meetings.

What do you mean by “ideal client”?

By ideal, we are generally referring to the client that you want to see the most. The ones that excite you and that you know you do your best work with. Although some therapists want to remain open to almost any clients and issues that might come up, knowing exactly who you want to bring through the door can make developing an effective SEO strategy easier. And let’s be honest, most mental health professionals have some populations or issues that they just do a better job working with either because they’re more passionate about those concerns, have got specialized training in those areas or have more experience working with those types of clients.

So, when you’re starting to work on your SEO, ask yourself, “Who do you want to come in the door? If I could choose the type of clients that I was to take on, what type of clients would I want to be the next 10 phone calls?”  For example some therapists will be able to relate much more to college students having recently graduated. Or young business professional counselors can relate to other young business professionals, and would prefer catering their practice towards that demographic.  Some therapists have specialized training related to maternal mental health. For  others, couples work and relationship therapy is their jam.

Our founder, Jessica, often says that therapists do their best work when they have a steady stream of the type of clients that give them the most energy. So, this concept of optimizing your website for a specific niche or population is a common conversation at Simplified SEO Consulting.  In fact, we’ve written before about the power of having a niche when working on SEO.

How exactly does this influence SEO & search engine rankings?

Throughout our keyword research process, knowing the specifics is all the better for SEO. Being able to see the immediate data for who is searching for what in their mental health journey is not only important for SEO, but also your practice. If couples counseling is something your practice can offer, but aren’t necessarily pushing for, keywords related to couples work might not be the first thing we focus on getting you ranking for. We’d rather optimizing for keywords that your ideal clients would be looking for.

For example, let’s say you work with a wide range of clients, but you really get excited to work with couples on the brink of divorce. In this case, someone searching for “counseling near me” may or may not be that ideal clients. But someone searching for “marriage counseling near me” or “affair recovery help” or “Is it possible to heal after an affair?” Anybody searching for those sorts of terms is simply more likely to be one of those couples you really, really get excited to work with. So, those are the terms we’ll build your SEO strategy around.

How do I know who MY ideal clients are? 

I think it is important to not only assess personal strengths and weaknesses of your practice, but also to capitalize on your specialties. For example, there are some practices that have services such as equestrian therapy, or massage therapy. Although the market in your given area for these treatments might not be what makes or breaks your SEO, it is important to recognize that these are services you can rank for. Having every bit of “SEO juice” is exactly what we need in order to get you your optimal return. 

Here are some examples of potential ideal clients:

• College Students 
• Younger Generation
• Older Generation
• Business Professionals
• Women 
• Teens 
• Children 
• Those struggling with Anxiety 
• Christians  
• Life Transitions
• Those struggling with Depression

How important are location indicators?

One way we narrow this down, is by asking “Where do your ideal clients work, play, and live?” This is mostly because if we have your ideal clients nailed down, we now need to hone in on a specific location. If we are ranking for your demographic in an area that might not be realistic for your practice, we won’t expect to rank very well. Of course there are exceptions such as online therapy. With online therapy we can rank for the entire state that you have your license in, but in terms of in person therapy the location indicators are very important for accurate SEO. This is also generally very helpful for communication with Google. This let’s the algorithm know that your location is important to you and your practice, which ultimately helps to improve rankings.

Ideal Clients Overview 

Although it may be difficult to narrow down who you want to see, it is really important for SEO, as well as your practice. This can be the difference between ranking in your area successfully, or ranking in a more vague sense with less return. Here at Simplified we not only want to see you get great results, but we also want you to be bringing in people you want and have the tools to work with. It is such an honor to be able to help in this way, and it is all the more satisfying when your demographic meets great rankings. Ideal clients are a sure way to get good and credible SEO for your practice, and to bring in the people you want to see and have the tools to provide for. 

Private Practices: Are you in need of SEO help? 

Here at Simplified we are always happy to help you improve your rankings and site. Our SEO specialists are ready to help you get that breakthrough you need, while also bringing in the clients you want to work with. Learn more about our packages, and see if Simplified is right for you:

1. Book a free 30-minute consultation call
2. Get connected with an SEO specialist 
3. Start that journey towards better rankings and an improved clientele

SEO Services at Simplified SEO Consulting 

At Simplified we have a few different package options available for you and your practice. This includes the Done For You (DFY)  packages, Done with You (DWY) packages, or the DIY online courses. Book a consult today and see which of our options best fits your needs.

About the Author 

Justin Bohannan is an SEO specialist at Simplified. He works with clients across the nation to reach the goals and boost their SEO. Justin works with the team writing content, on page optimization, and more! Justin graduated from the University of Missouri with his BA in Psychology