Ranking for More Than One Location
Our search engine optimization (SEO) consulting business helps private practice therapists across the country (and even in other countries) get ranking on Google. And as we’ve worked with more and more therapists over the years, we’ve gained experience in helping all different types of practices. Many of our clients come to us as solo private practice owners. And they’re looking to get found on Google better and bring in new clients. On the other hand, some of our clients begin SEO work when their practice already has upwards of eight therapists and they want to expand even further.
SEO Strategy
While our mission at Simplified is the same for each client, the strategy we will use for each is unique. Our team of SEO Specialists takes pride in working with each practice individually to help them reach their business goals. One factor that comes into play when we discuss individualizing a long-term SEO strategy is location.
Location and SEO
Search engine optimization has a close relationship with geographic location. And it needs to be this way in order for Google to function properly. When SEO work is being done on a website, lots of energy gets put into connecting the website content with locations in order to be found by the right searchers.
With that said, if your practice has multiple locations, you may have some additional SEO work that needs to be done. And there are actually a few reasons you may decide to include multiple locations in your SEO strategy. But not all of them have to do with having two physical locations. In this blog post, I’ll share tips for optimizing your website when you are targeting more than one location.
Landing Pages for Each Location
Online Therapy
If you have been offering virtual services, as nearly all therapists have over the past year, you need an online therapy page. Let’s work with an example practice. We’ll say it’s located in Denver, Colorado, and has a few therapists also licensed in New Mexico and Utah. So the first step is to create an “online therapy in Colorado” page. This is pretty straightforward since the practice is located in Denver, CO.
The tricky part is that each location where you want to pull clients from needs its own online therapy page. So if we wanted to get clients from New Mexico and Utah to fill those therapists’ caseloads, we’ll need individual location pages for each. This would look like “online therapy in New Mexico” and “online therapy in Utah” pages. In our SEO work, we’ve found this to be the best practice in bringing in clients not residing in the practice’s physical location.
Opening a New Physical Office
Now let’s say this same practice decides to open a new physical office in Boulder, CO. Instead of just adding Boulder, CO to the website content, a new location page needs to be created. This communicates to Google and website viewers that this practice has multiple physical locations.
And we recommend including many references to locations on the new location page. This may look something like “Our counseling practice in Boulder, CO is right between the hot yoga studio (business name) and the doggy daycare (business name).”
This is great for helping your website viewers visualize where your office is. So it lessens the mental energy it takes to situate the location for them. And this strategy also helps Google understand exactly where you are located.
Location Indicators in the Footer
Usually, when therapists start working on their website, they overlooked the footer. And this is a prime place to include location indicators! Using the above example, a practice opening a second office in Boulder, CO would need to include both locations in the footer. This may look something like “Offices located in Denver, CO and Boulder, CO and serving the entire states of Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah with online therapy.” Having a clear explanation like this helps get location information on every page, which is extremely useful in terms of showing Google where your business is.
Blog Posts and Call to Action Sections
Another tool you can use to help Google understand you have multiple locations is writing blog posts for each location. This may look like “5 date night spots from a couples therapist in Boulder, CO” or “our therapists share 4 hikes they love in Boulder, CO.” Incorporating locations into blog posts helps Google situate your business’s location.
In addition to blog posts, you can include location indicators in your call-to-action sections. An example of this may look like “We want to make it as easy as possible for you to begin family therapy! Therefore, our family therapists offer in-person counseling at our offices in Denver and Boulder as well as online family counseling sessions for anyone in the state of Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico.” This helps website viewers understand if your services are geographically accessible to them and further shows Google where your site should rank.
Focus on Ranking in One Location at a Time
When private practice owners first start working with us, we typically want to rank in one area first. It takes time for Google to trust your website and get you ranking. So for example, maybe your practice located in Denver, CO already ranks well, and you want to start ranking in Boulder, CO at your new location. Our approach is usually to focus on ranking in Denver first, then once we feel confident about your rankings, move on to the Boulder location.
Prioritizing where to rank first can be really helpful for your SEO strategy clearer in the beginning stages. We focus all of our effort gaining Google’s trust in one area. Then, as we see your SEO rankings steadily increasing or remaining stable, we will move onto the next location. It’s easier to convince Google, “Hey since you already know we offer great information about therapy for depression in Denver, you can also now trust us to provide great information about depression to people in Boulder.”
Get Ranking and Expand Your Business
Our hope for our clients is that by getting ranking on Google, you can reach all of your business dreams. Want to move from solo practice to group practice? Or do you want to open a second or third office? Whatever your hope is, we want to help you along the way. If you are interested in learning more about our SEO consulting services or are ready to get started, follow the easy steps below.
- Schedule a free 30-minute consult call.
- Chat with one of our SEO Specialists to learn more about our services.
- Start working on your site’s SEO and moving closer to reaching your dreams!
Services at Simplified SEO Consulting
For many therapists, SEO is a foreign concept. And when our founder, Jessica, started SEO work, she felt the same way! You’re not alone if you’re feeling like this marketing stuff is way over your head. And if you want to get started and take a more hands-off approach, check out our Done For You SEO Package. But if you’re more hands-on and want to learn the ins and outs, check out our DIY Online SEO Courses and Done With You Package.
About the Author
Olivia Bahr is an SEO Specialist and Content Writer here at Simplified. She received a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Missouri in 2020 and plans to begin working toward a Master’s of Social Work in the Fall of 2021. Olivia’s experience is centered around trauma work and domestic violence. And she is passionate about women’s and LGBTQ+ issues.
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