How Having a “Niche” Impacts Your SEO Strategy

You’ve heard the business coaches recommend you “niche down”

One of the earliest pieces of business advice I remember picking up as I went into private practice was that I was supposed to “niche down.” Since then, I’ve heard business coach after business coach in the mental health arena talk about this exact issue. They talk about how marketing to a specific “niche” will give you credibility, make you look like an expert and help you avoid burnout.

Does a therapist who has a specific niche rank better on Google?

In general, it’s easier for a therapist with a specific niche to get ranking well on Google quickly. A therapist with a clear picture of their ideal client can quickly identify long tail keywords based on the pain points their ideal clients are searching for. Then, you can create content on your website that speaks to those ideal clients and target the specific keywords they are searching for.

How does a therapy niche impact your SEO Strategy?

A specific niche allows you to identify long tail words to quickly target through blog posts
Keywords related to that niche can more naturally come up on a variety of pages of your site
Blog posts can be written around the pain points of your ideal clients
Photos can be chosen that represent your ideal client
You can write content that will appeal to the kind of client you want to attract
Other websites relevant to your population will be more likely to see you as an “expert” and backlink to your site

In general, I love when new clients have an ideal client identified or a specific niche! It just makes it easier for us to quickly develop a really effective SEO strategy! I also recommend completing a Storybrand brandscript when possible. We love when clients share those with us. They help us have a starting place for keyword research and often lend themselves to some great ideas for content to add to the site!

Is there such a thing as too narrow of a niche?

Based on SEO, I would say that the answer is that yes, sometimes it’s possible. Generally, if you live in a more densely populated area such as New York, London, Toronto or LA there are more people so even if it’s only a small portion searching for your “niche” you’ll still get in front of more of your ideal clients. Additionally, the competition for more broad keywords is higher making niching even more important.

On the other hand, if you live in rural Pennsylvania, too small of a niche can box yourself in. There are fewer people doing searches, so you may need to go more broad to pull in enough clients to fill your practice.

What if I change my “niche” or want to work with other types of counseling clients?

No problem! It is some work to start targeting a new population or niche on your website through SEO. However, it’s easier to target a new niche than it was the first go around, because you’ve already earned Google’s trust for something related to your field. Now, you’re just saying, “You already trust me to provide great information about X, how about you also trust me to provide information about Y?”

To target a new niche, you’ll begin by identifying new keywords. Then, you’ll add new content related to that niche such as a new service page and new blog posts. Lastly, you want to take a look at your home page and consider making tweaks there.

Tips for identifying your niche

Think of the client you felt MOST successful working with? Consider who you are the most effective helping them reach their goals
Consider any special trainings you’ve attended that give you more expertise in an area
Who are the clients you most look forward to seeing when they’re on your schedule?
What do the clients you dread working with have in common?

Tips for using your website to market to a niche

Make sure your home page speaks directly to that client!
Write specific service pages for the main pain points your ideal clients face (I recommend Laura Long’s copywriting course)
Make sure your ideal clients are represented in the photos on your website
Regularly write blog posts with common questions you answer from potential clients
Optimize your website for keywords related to that niche. Do some decent keyword research to figure out what those clients are truly searching.

Where can I get help identifying my niche as a therapist?

If you want to identify a clear niche, I recommend talking to a business consultant. There are so many great ones out there for therapists! Some of my favorites for helping therapists identify a clear niche include Joe Sanok, Laura Long and Katie Read, but truly there’s a long list of people who can help.

This can be a tricky issue as you want a narrow enough niche that you can have clear marketing but a wide enough niche to bring in a large number of clients. My staff and I help private practice owners with this during our initial onboarding all of the time, and we can be particularly useful for doing the keyword research to see what people are looking up. However, I think it can be very helpful to start with talking to a business coach. They’re the experts at helping you identify that target audience and pain points. Then, we can take that information to find the right keywords.

Ultimately, you don’t just want a full caseload. You want a full caseload of the RIGHT clients. The people you’re excited to work with. The people you know you can be effective helping. That’s what this “niche” stuff really accomplishes. Happy, satisfied, energized and effective therapy!

Begin SEO Work to Rank Well for Your Niche

If you’ve identified your ideal client and are ready to get in front of your ideal clients, the Simplified SEO staff is here to help. We offer DIY online SEO courses, Done with You SEO training options or our most popular Done for You SEO Service. Our SEO Specialists would love to help you figure out what the best strategy is for getting your private practice website to the top of Search Engines.

To get started simply:

Book a free pre-consulting call on Zoom with one of our staff
Develop an SEO strategy to meet your needs
Begin optimizing your website for your ideal client!