Keyword Research: A Refresher

Keyword - word from wooden blocks with letters, search information that contains that word keyword concept, random letters around, top view on wooden background

Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing terms that people use when searching for information related to your business, products, or services. It’s an important step in SEO. Why? Because it helps you identify which keywords are most likely to generate traffic and conversions. In other words, using the keywords your ideal clients are using will get you more ideal clients.

Keyword Research is Often Confusing at First

Honestly, keyword research can be really simple or really complicated. When people hire our team, we spend a lot of time and use paid tools to help us. We often consult with team members when perfecting our keyword list. And we add or change the keywords we’re targeting on at least a monthly basis for the first 6 of SEO work. We consider search volume (how many people look for that keyword) in your area, difficulty (how hard is it to rank for that term), user intent (is someone searching for that really looking for your services?) and the specific goals you’ve described to us.

But keyword research doesn’t have to be that formal or that complicated in most cases. This is especially true if you’re just starting to work on SEO for your site.

Key Points for Mental Health Professionals About Keyword Research

When choosing keywords to target on your website, there are a few key things to remember:

Choose keywords that are relevant and specific to your business or website. This will ensure that you reach the right people with your message.
Target long-tail keywords (three or more words) in addition to short ones. For example, targeting “couples therapy for affair recovery in Long Island” instead of “couples therapy.” Long-tail keywords tend to have less competition and are more likely to attract people really ready to reach out to you.
Start with the resources you already have. A great starting place is reading the intake paperwork your recent clients have filled out to see what terms they’re using to describe their reason for coming in. It’s likely this is similar to what they told Google they were looking for.

If you ever need help with this or have questions about how to choose keywords for your website, we’re here to help! I often say keyword research is the hardest thing we teach, but we try to simplify the process as much as we can. We listen to your goals & preferences, research your area, consider the clients you are trying to reach and base our lists off of that.

More Information About Keyword Research for Mental Health Professionals

Here are some previous blog posts we’ve written on this topic:

Refine Your Research Technique in January

Jasmine and I are hosting a two-part Keyword Research webinar in January! Wanna learn more? Join us! We’re finalizing the details still, but it will be January 20th & 27th and we’re going to move in depth on keyword research than we’ve ever gone before. We’ll have a sign up form on our website & social media soon, but if you want to be extra certain you know when that’s open just email us at admin@simplifiedseoconsulting.com and Kaite will make sure you hear about the webinar when registration opens!

About Jessica

As a clinician, my top priority is taking really good care of the people needing mental health care. This factors into everything I do for SEO including finding the right keywords for private practice websites. I try to be very thoughtful about what potential private practice clients are searching for. When doing keyword research, our team doesn’t just look at how often something is searched but we try to consider user intent. Is someone searching for that term your ideal client? What else might people in need of your services be looking for? Keyword research is an important part of the keyword journey and a strategy piece that I’ve found fascinating since I first started doing SEO back in 2017!

Jessica

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